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IBM InfoSphere Information Server vs Informatica PowerExchange [EOL] comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 11, 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 ...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Data Integration (30th), Metadata Management (6th)
Informatica PowerExchange [...
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

MI
Senior Data Engineer at Mohammed Mansour Alrumiah
Faced challenges with customer support and documentation but have benefited from reliable data integration over the years
As for utilizing the platform's metadata management feature, I have not worked on that feature yet, but personally, I have done that. To evaluate the effectiveness of IBM InfoSphere Information Server's data integration capabilities, if IBM is providing all the solutions we are using, then it is definitely a helpful thing. Mostly, the other thing is that it is a big area including data governance, data lineage, data management, and metadata, but every customer is not putting that much effort and money on that. They mostly migrate the data, use it, and forget it, but slowly things are changing. I am working in Saudi Arabia, so here also data governance, data management, and those kinds of things are getting attention. Regarding how scalable IBM InfoSphere Information Server is, I need to learn how to tune performance and scalability on the cloud. I am familiar with localized hardware, but on the cloud, I still have to do the work around it. In the beginning, we estimate the load and based on that, we put the hardware, but if there is continuous increase, I believe IBM also faces problems. Scalability needs to be improved because once the demand comes, you should be able to improve it, but for that, documentation on how to add hardware or resources to the software needs to be proper. I do not have much hands-on experience with that.
HA
Sr. IT & Data Governance and Management Consultant & Technical Lead at a government with 51-200 employees
Facilitates seamless data exchange for Middle Eastern government entities while reducing costs and simplifying integration processes
Informatica PowerExchange is important for services and common services implementations. This allows workflow communication between different entities, providing proper services. The tool's governance features include HA rules, responsibilities, and policies which are highly valued. It also reduces the number of APIs needed for new integrations by offering a unified exchange platform that facilitates easy-to-use services without the need for coding.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Over the years of working with IBM InfoSphere Information Server, I see basically the strength of the tool, capability, and load balancing, which I see is really good."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"IBM InfoSphere Information Server is stable."
"This solution is extremely flexible and scalable."
"The integration with different technologies is the most valuable feature."
"Deploying the solution is straightforward for me."
"The agentless RCDC enablement through PowerExchange is a great idea and has worked very well so far."
"In terms of the return on investment, the tool is very helpful in the digital transformation process since multiple systems are available."
"The data transformation is the solution's most valuable feature."
"The transformation work called for Informatica PowerExchange. It was easy to work with this and very stable."
"From the product feature or product capability perspective, the aspects around integration, transformation, and standardization are valuable. It's fairly easy to use. It has a GUI-based interface."
"It is easy to integrate the solution with other tools."
"I would rate Informatica PowerExchange nine out of ten due to its robust functionality within the Informatica ecosystem and its seamless integration with other Informatica products."
"The user interface and user experience are perfectly all right."
 

Cons

"We have decided to decrease the usage of metadata management because we did not see any significant advantages."
"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."
"Their technical support needs improvement."
"Unlike other tools, IBM tools do not provide much help from the internet, so additional support should be available."
"There are certain shortcomings in the cloud side of the solution, where improvements are required."
"This solution would benefit from the engine being made more lightweight."
"The solution needs better integration with other tools."
"I would like to have easier integration with cloud platforms."
"I would like the stability to improve."
"Real-time has not been enhanced that much over the past few years. There has not been as many features added like they did before."
"V10.2 is very stable, but we are still struggling to make V10.5 stable. We found services that were down, and PowerExchange stopped working."
"One area that could be improved is performance, as PowerExchange sometimes has less performance compared to native connectors when dealing with a huge volume of data."
"Should diversify more, maybe with a reporting and visualization utility,"
"I have minimal exposure to PowerExchange at this point."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing cost of IBM InfoSphere Information Server depends on how many users there are."
"It's expensive. In fact, nobody would buy any product of Informatica if the price was the only consideration. It costs money, and it doesn't come cheap, but it provides value for money in many ways."
"There are licensing and connector costs. Basically, Informatica is pay-as-you-use."
"The cost of PowerExchange is reasonable. It does not rely on complicated formulas or unrealistic equations. The pricing model is straightforward. There is one component, and real-time integration is included. Some other solutions require purchasing additional modules or third-party plugins for this capability."
"An annual package license fee is required."
"There is a need to pay towards the licensing cost of the product. It is an expensive product."
"Many users don't prefer to use the product, considering the high costs attached to the licensing part of the solution."
"The product is not very expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
19%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Insurance Company
9%
Retailer
7%
Financial Services Firm
23%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise12
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with IBM InfoSphere Information Server?
As for utilizing the platform's metadata management feature, I have not worked on that feature yet, but personally, I have done that. To evaluate the effectiveness of IBM InfoSphere Information Ser...
What is your primary use case for IBM InfoSphere Information Server?
My usual use case for IBM InfoSphere Information Server is ETL, where we take data from one source to another data warehouse solution.
What advice do you have for others considering IBM InfoSphere Information Server?
Currently, IBM InfoSphere Information Server is deployed on-premises in my organization. Mostly it is on-premises only, but slowly things are changing towards pro-cloud. It will not be a public clo...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Informatica PowerExchange?
Informatica PowerExchange is considered cost-efficient due to reduced number of APIs needed, enabling re-utilization of existing channels, cutting down on development and training costs.
What needs improvement with Informatica PowerExchange?
It would be helpful to have more metadata provided, which is useful for engaging more users in data exchange. The addition of data quality dashboards or measures would also help in profiling data t...
 

Also Known As

InfoSphere Information Server, IBM Information Server
PowerExchange, Connectors
 

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
ACH Food, BNSF Railway Company, Illinois State University
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Informatica, IBM and others in Data Integration. Updated: January 2026.
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