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IBM InfoSphere Information Governance Catalog vs SAP Information Steward comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 3, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM InfoSphere Information ...
Ranking in Metadata Management
9th
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SAP Information Steward
Ranking in Metadata Management
10th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Data Quality (15th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Metadata Management category, the mindshare of IBM InfoSphere Information Governance Catalog is 3.0%, down from 3.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP Information Steward is 3.0%, up from 2.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Metadata Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM InfoSphere Information Governance Catalog3.0%
SAP Information Steward3.0%
Other94.0%
Metadata Management
 

Featured Reviews

MF
Data Architect at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
Provides good catalog integration but requires too much coding
This is a complex solution and quite expensive. The technology has changed and I think IBM needs to be more flexible with their licensing model. We've been with them for over 10 years and they were unable to provide decent options for us. As the consumer, they weren't offering much flexibility and certainly not the support we were looking for given our long-standing relationship with them. There is also too much coding required compared with other solutions where you can do a lot directly in the environment and see how the policies apply.
FranciscoSantos - PeerSpot reviewer
Director at Pixel Studio PTY
Provides accurate data that is validated against a personalized reference tool
For most SAP customers, Information Steward is enough because it is able to build quality data rules to detect issues in the source systems like SAP HANA, Business Warehouse, or other systems. A business user can first organize their data into several data domains. For example, procurement, human resources, and logistics setup. The domains can build data quality dimensions where you can describe the kind of rule that you are going to use. The user then can immediately see if something is wrong with their data using traffic lights. Another great feature of SAP Information Steward is the accuracy that the content is followed by validating against the reference tool. With the solution, you are creating data quality dimensions. Within these dimensions, you are creating business data quality rules that are looking for specific fields. From these rules, you can create a scorecard. The scorecard will highlight the percentage of good data and ensure the user can feel confident that the data is accurate within predetermined limits. SAP tables have field names that are very cryptic, making them hard to understand the meaning of the fields. Metapedia helps describe these fields in business terms.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Ability to connect with multiple types of sources."
"The solution allows us to leverage a concept called Open IGC to create custom assets and data lineages that are not technologies typically supported by IBM via connectors."
"What I liked about IBM InfoSphere Information Governance Catalog is that it seemed to have most of the options that you would want from a government catalog. The features of the product are very rich and comprehensive."
"IBM tools always get inherent trust from companies."
"The graphic flows and the lineage are the most valuable features of this solution."
"It is easy to use."
"The valuable feature is that you can connect with multiple types of sources."
"The feature I found most valuable in IBM InfoSphere Information Governance Catalog is the lineage as it's very powerful and it provides data analytics in terms of where the data lives and where it goes. The interface is also clear, though it could still be sorted out, but the lineage is the most powerful thing in the solution."
"The most valuable features are data quality insight, metadata management, and metadata dictionary."
"The Data Cleansing and the scorecard dashboard are very valuable. Additionally, the financial aspect of SAP Information Steward is very good. When a rule is incorrect then it will show how much is it costing the business. These features are very valuable."
"Setup is straightforward."
"Data integration is much easier with Information Steward - irrespective of the data sources, integration is very smooth and easy."
"Initial setup was straightforward."
"The product has improved company efficiency because we're able to categorize the need for user access at the folder level across storage enterprise wide."
"The data profiling was excellent, as was the ease of generating the dashboards."
"The solution is very fast."
 

Cons

"A complex solution that requires a lot of coding."
"An area for improvement in IBM InfoSphere Information Governance Catalog is that it's missing a lot of connectors. Clients complain about not being able to connect some data sources because there's no available connector, so my company raised that issue with IBM. In some cases, third-party connectors are available, but not for all data sources. Another area that needs improvement in the solution is stability because it also has some stability issues. This is the same issue with the other IBM products bundled with IBM InfoSphere Information Governance Catalog. The solution is connected with IBM Infosphere Information Analyzer and IBM InfoSphere DataStage in my company, so if one has issues with stability, the rest of the products are affected as well."
"The simplicity of usage could improve. Perhaps the simplicity of use for end users, not for system integrators, but for the user, the end users."
"The simplicity of usage could improve, perhaps the simplicity of use for end users, not for system integrators, but for the end users."
"A few years ago, I would have rated the solution an eight or nine. With competition in the market and other products available, IBM needs to focus on fixing existing issues and adding more customizable features that provide the end user with a better product."
"There were two failed installations and IBM could never actually get the product to work."
"The scalability has room for improvement."
"We are currently evaluating other products because we want to move more quickly than we can with InfoSphere and we're held back because of all the coding."
"The solution could improve by incorporating other applications, such as Power BI to show more visualization. More interaction with other solutions would be a good benefit."
"SAP is a bit pricey, and better tools are available for a lower price."
"Performance could be improved."
"In some cases they have given extraneous or erroneous information, which is completely useless."
"SAP Information Steward is an expensive solution compared to others."
"A problem with the solution is that it does not allow us to review the results of Information Stewards for other analogies."
"From a performance perspective, sometimes it behaves weirdly. When we are connecting with the file-based system, it doesn't give us the correct results, or it somehow shows us there is this issue with the data or the file connectivity."
"A problem with the solution is that it does not allow us to review the results of Information Stewards for other analogies."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing for IBM InfoSphere Information Governance Catalog is per user."
"In terms of pricing, I find IBM InfoSphere Information Governance Catalog excessive. It's at the top end of the price range in terms of what you get for your money. It's an expensive product, and contractually, IBM is difficult to deal with. I can't remember the exact cost of IBM InfoSphere Information Governance Catalog, but it could be in the region of three hundred thousand pounds."
"IBM InfoSphere Information Governance Catalog is expensive."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"I do not know if there were additional costs beyond the standard licensing fees."
"SAP Information Steward is an expensive solution compared to others."
"A bit pricey, and better tools are available for a lower price."
"Smaller-sized organizations may not be able to invest in SAP Information Steward because of the cost."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
34%
Manufacturing Company
10%
University
7%
Legal Firm
5%
Manufacturing Company
20%
Government
17%
Comms Service Provider
5%
Retailer
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Large Enterprise7
 

Also Known As

IBM Information Governance Catalog
Information Steward, SAP Data Insight
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Rabobank, QuadReal Property Group, Jakarta Smart City
American Water, Graphic Packaging International, OSRAM Licht AG, Maxim Integrated
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM InfoSphere Information Governance Catalog vs. SAP Information Steward and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
885,286 professionals have used our research since 2012.