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IBM InfoSphere Information Server vs Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

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 Data Integration
31st
Ranking in Metadata Management
7th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Informatica Intelligent Dat...
Ranking in Data Integration
3rd
Ranking in Metadata Management
1st
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
182
Ranking in other categories
Data Quality (1st), Business Process Management (BPM) (13th), Business-to-Business Middleware (4th), API Management (8th), Cloud Data Integration (3rd), Data Governance (2nd), Test Data Management (3rd), Cloud Master Data Management (MDM) Solutions (1st), Data Management Platforms (DMP) (1st), Data Masking (2nd), Test Data Management Services (3rd), Product Information Management (PIM) (1st), Data Observability (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of IBM InfoSphere Information Server is 0.8%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) is 4.4%, down from 7.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration
 

Featured Reviews

UmeshKumar1 - PeerSpot reviewer
Prompt support, reliable, but lacking scalability
IBM InfoSphere Information Server has multiple tools in that product suite. However, we mainly use it as an integration tool I have been using IBM InfoSphere Information Server for approximately five years. IBM InfoSphere Information Server is stable. IBM InfoSphere Information Server should be…
Raj Sethupathi - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers profiling and address standardization but can be complicated
Informatica Data Quality has its data warehouse, primarily using Oracle and some SQL databases. You need a database to host the data. The cleansed version of the data is stored in the data warehouse. It integrates with PowerCenter and other Informatica tools. The integration details can be complex, but a regional setup is involved in this process. Profiling smaller datasets, such as 10,000-50,000 records, worked fine. However, unexpected issues could arise with larger datasets, such as thousands of records or more, especially with tables containing many columns. Handling tables with fifty or more columns can be challenging, even in Excel. A mismatch in data types could cause the entire system to crash. Continual enhancements are being made to address these issues, which can be unique to specific industries like finance and healthcare.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This solution is extremely flexible and scalable."
"The integration with different technologies is the most valuable feature."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"IBM InfoSphere Information Server is stable."
"The best thing about Informatica Axon is that it integrates with the Electronic Data Capture and the Axon system."
"Axon does one interesting thing that I don't think other tools do as well. It lets you rate data and incorporates Informatica's data quality feature into it. There are little indications and graphics that show you how good the data quality is, and you can drill into it to see where potential issues lie."
"It gives you accountability to centralize your data and have it available to different applications."
"It is a very stable solution...It is a scalable solution."
"It's good for tool management, maintaining the golden record of customer status."
"The technical support services are good."
"Axon has a marketplace that allows you to showcase all the assets the data owner has, so they can request access. That's one feature we use extensively. Axon also offers great visibility and intuitive searchability, allowing you to easily search data assets. You can check the lineage and see the work EDC does. EDC handles all the classification, cataloging, and lineage. It's integrated with Axon, and anyone can see that."
"I like the fact that you can find almost any product connection that you need and the list is always expanding."
 

Cons

"Their technical support needs improvement."
"This solution would benefit from the engine being made more lightweight."
"There are certain shortcomings in the cloud side of the solution, where improvements are required."
"IBM InfoSphere Information Server should be more scalable. It should have the option to change the configuration to run on a single, non-multiple node, or multi-threading processing."
"Informatica Axon does not provide complete transparency about the level of detailing you need and the logic used in ETL."
"Informatica MDM has a complex user interface, which could be improved."
"The only thing that I can imagine that might be improved is how the available transactions verify addresses used. These transactions have a valid end date and must be used within the agreed timeframe."
"Informatica Enterprise Data Catalog could improve by having a much better user interface. It is not user-friendly."
"There are some limitations with Informatica Axon when one tries to connect or integrate it with Jira."
"The error information provided is not informative, as compared to Power Center."
"Performance also needs to be significantly improved, especially when connecting to SFDC for read and write operations."
"New machine learning could be added to Informatica MDM because the solution is outdated and is not moving with the current trends. The solution is good, but it definitely needs a lot of improvement and needs to speed up as per the market."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing cost of IBM InfoSphere Information Server depends on how many users there are."
"Our customers sometimes are able to negotiate a much better price for Informatica Cloud Data Integration based on their relationship with the vendor."
"Informatica Axon is a costly solution. I rate Informatica Axon a four out of ten for its pricing."
"Informatica MDM recently changed its pricing model. It's usage-based but I don't have much insight into the current pricing."
"Informatica MDM is a costly solution because it comes as a bundle. They are also globally positioning themselves and are definitely working on very upgraded technologies. If someone wanted to do it on the cloud, they have a lot of flexibility because they upgrade themselves according to the current needs. It definitely comes with a lot of features and that's the reason why it's costly. The licensing cost should be approximately one million dollars. It's about four to five times that of other vendors."
"The solution is very expensive."
"Informatica MDM's pricing is not cheap but comparable to other vendors."
"The price is high, but the competitors are even higher, like Collibra."
"Informatica Cloud Data Integration is famously known for its high price. The vendor targets large enterprises, and not medium or small companies. These large companies, and organizations, handle large amounts of data. If you go into any large bank, such as American or Canadian banks, these banks use this solution because it is more reliable, secure, and has more functionality."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
22%
Government
14%
Insurance Company
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Insurance Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM InfoSphere Information Server?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
What needs improvement with IBM InfoSphere Information Server?
There are certain shortcomings in the cloud side of the solution, where improvements are required. In our company, we are presently in the process of doing a PoC phase since we have the solution cu...
What is your primary use case for IBM InfoSphere Information Server?
I use IBM InfoSphere Information Server in retail banking for transformation purposes.
How does Azure Data Factory compare with Informatica Cloud Data Integration?
Azure Data Factory is a solid product offering many transformation functions; It has pre-load and post-load transformations, allowing users to apply transformations either in code by using Power Q...
Which Informatica product would you choose - PowerCenter or Cloud Data Integration?
Complex transformations can easily be achieved using PowerCenter, which has all the features and tools to establish a real data governance strategy. Additionally, PowerCenter is able to manage huge...
What are the biggest benefits of using Informatica Cloud Data Integration?
When it comes to cloud data integration, this solution can provide you with multiple benefits, including: Overhead reduction by integrating data on any cloud in various ways Effective integration ...
 

Also Known As

InfoSphere Information Server, IBM Information Server
ActiveVOS, Active Endpoints, BPM, Address Verification, Persistent Data Masking, Cloud Test Data Management, PIM, , Enterprise Data Catalog, Data Integration Hub, Cloud Data Integration, Data Quality, Cloud API and App Integration
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Canadian National Railway Company, Chickasaw Nation Division of Commerce, Swedish Armed Forces, BG RCI, Janata Sahakari Bank Ltd., University of Arizona, Biogrid Australia
The Travel Company, Carbonite
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM InfoSphere Information Server vs. Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.