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IBM InfoSphere MDM vs Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) vs Microsoft MDS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

Master Data Management (MDM) Software
Data Management Platforms (DMP)
Master Data Management (MDM) Software
 

Featured Reviews

SoumikDolui - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides inbuilt data model and good matching engine
It's a tough tool for developers. Right now in the market, I think Informatica MDM is number one and is used a lot. IBM MDM was developed by some other company and IBM developed it more. There are definitely some flaws. The tool is difficult to understand from a customer perspective and for developers. Generally, customers can understand Informatica MDM and its functionality easily. If a developer is facing issues with IBM MDM, then a customer will definitely not understand most of the functionality. That is the main concern. IBM is introducing some Next-Gen MDM, where they are using a lot of current technologies and machine learning. Most of the problems we may be facing right now are probably solved in that version.
Saikat Ghosh - PeerSpot reviewer
Match and merge functionality is still the best but cloud version needs more functionality
There are various areas for improvement in IDMC. Enhancements on basic data management functionality and the UI front, such as multiple templates and improved grid views, would be beneficial. Bulk data management features could be improved from the UI perspective to get to the level of the on prem versions of Informatica MDM. The tool needs to mature but missing small but important features, like restricted dynamic attributes functionality, data inheritance rules in master hierachies, identifiers not being passed in jobs is a drawback.
Satyam Saxena - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced data management and cost effective with flexible integration capabilities
If Microsoft MDS were part of Azure, it would be significantly more helpful. Additionally, integrating fuzzy duplication within MDS itself, rather than relying on SSIS, would streamline operations. The current requirement to store data in Azure tables after processing it in MDS, due to its lack of direct Azure integration, is a drawback.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"There are not really many areas of the product that need improvement because the product stays up-to-date with data management needs."
"When users update their information on one product, the data is sent to a database. My approach was to maintain a master data record, ensuring that each platform loads the latest updated record. Instead of having three separate records, the system keeps one master data record, storing the historical records for reference."
"The features that are most valuable are the governance, the end-profiling and the ETL which allows you to see the metadata repositories."
"The advantage is that the matching engine is very good, so that's why customers generally prefer it. From the inbuilt data model perspective, IBM MDM is good."
"The most valuable feature is its ability to extract metadata from various sources- be it an old SaaS application or the latest cloud application."
"Able to customize data search and data sharing."
"Informatica MDM's most valuable feature is the interconnection between multiple Master Data domains."
"What I like best about Informatica MDM is its structured, table-based approach. Unlike Reltio, where data is only visible through the UI and cloud-based, the solution allows access to normalized tables. This means I can directly query and see data in each table. For instance, I can easily get all customer details from the customer table. However, for more complex queries, like seeing all customer interactions with the organization, some SQL knowledge is needed to join different tables and retrieve the details."
"REST API: Excellent for scripting control and reporting mechanisms"
"Multifeatured and easily scalable data catalog, with good data domain discovery and data profiling features."
"I definitely would recommend the Informatica solution to other people."
"We have a lot of integrations, and it's very easy to create integrations. They have a lot of connectors."
"It's very easy to use."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft MDS is its management."
"Enables non-technical people to directly interact with the BI system."
"Compared to other databases, it is easier to manage and administer."
"It has been a long-standing tool in our organization since it was free."
"The tool is easy to use."
"The solution is easy to install."
"More generic related things can be included in the services."
 

Cons

"The tool is difficult to understand from a customer perspective and for developers."
"The product is really only created for large organizations."
"We also want better cloud integration, so we could do things in the cloud if we needed to. This would be a good feature to add in a future release."
"IBM InfoSphere MDM's UI is complicated. It also needs to improve its on-prem configuration."
"Compared to other tools in the market, Informatica MDM is costly."
"I have encountered some issues using the substitution, which is one of the techniques of data masking."
"The user interface can be a bit more functionality-aligned."
"I would like to see support for more data sources."
"Informatica's support understands the solution, but they lack the experience we need for our use case. That was one thing that we prioritized when we started searching for this kind of solution."
"We currently have issues with real-time integration."
"Informatica MDM's UI is not intuitive enough."
"Some functionalities can be a challenge in the cloud."
"There are occasions when the solution maintains SD and we get duplications of MDS."
"Stability can be fragile at times. If you are not attentive or make a mistake, it can cause problems."
"Microsoft MDS' language should be simple so everyone can use it easily."
"Microsoft MDS is outdated and lacks modern capabilities."
"From my understanding, MS, as of 2021, will not maintain the product going forward."
"More generic related things can be included in the services."
"The only drawback is that it does not have the matching, merging, and all true MDM components. For these, you have to use another competent called Data Quality Services (DQS). You need to plug it in and use it along with MDS for true MDM. Both of these are integrated together, but you have to do them separately, whereas, in Profisee, there are a couple of screens where you can configure the matching process, create matching rules, and other things, and everything is in one product, which is not the case with MDS. In order to implement a true MDM, you need MDS, DQS, and SSIS. You have to use MDS to store your golden records, DQS to configure and standardize all your rules and matching percentages, and SSIS to load the data to DQS and MDS. At the same time, you also need Melissa Data to clean up your addresses to validate and standardize the addresses. That's the main component of true MDM. It would be good if they can create a true matching component inside MDS and merge MDS and DQS."
"It would be a better option to have an on-cloud version."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It may be costly for small organizations but adds value for large organizations with demanding workflows."
"The price is comparable."
"We saw an ROI. We have been able to get data from various sources and consolidate it into a data lake, which is helping us in data analytics."
"The price is neither too high nor too low."
"The product is highly-priced."
"It's offers value for money. They're more competitive with respect to pricing and offerings."
"The product is not very pocket-friendly for small and medium-sized businesses, and it is understandable because of the kind of features the tool gives."
"It's an expensive solution."
"You can purchase licenses for this solution at different intervals. For example, annually or every three years. They recently changed their terms for licensing and now it is more flexible."
"With Microsoft, we buy everything though an agreement, so we purchase volume licensing every year."
"Product licensing is very complicated. It would be helpful to have an online calculator to estimate the cost of a license."
"SAP is more expensive than Microsoft."
"The pricing of this solution is good."
"The solution does require a license and we have enterprise licenses."
"I would like to see better pricing."
"Microsoft MDS is an expensive solution."
"MDS is a part of the SQL Server enterprise license. I am not aware of any additional costs."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
26%
Healthcare Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Insurance Company
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM InfoSphere MDM?
When users update their information on one product, the data is sent to a database. My approach was to maintain a mas...
What needs improvement with IBM InfoSphere MDM?
IBM InfoSphere MDM's UI is complicated. It also needs to improve its on-prem configuration.
What is your primary use case for IBM InfoSphere MDM?
When users update their information on one product, the data is sent to a database. My approach was to maintain a mas...
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 transfor...
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...
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 r...
What do you like most about Microsoft MDS?
More generic related things can be included in the services.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft MDS?
Microsoft MDS is free. Currently, there is no pricing concern with the tool.
What needs improvement with Microsoft MDS?
Microsoft MDS is outdated and lacks modern capabilities. It is too slow and does not support automated mapping or AI-...
 

Also Known As

InfoSphere MDM, InfoSphere Master Data Management
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
Microsoft Master Data Services, Microsoft MDM, Microsoft SQL Server Master Data Services, MS MDS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

L'Oreal S.A., Kingland Systems, Oncor, Farmaceuticos Maypo, Volkswagen Financial Services
The Travel Company, Carbonite
ETA a.s., Apeejay Surrendra Group, Blue Star Infotech, Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation, The Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, New Belgium Brewing
Find out what your peers are saying about SAP, TIBCO, Microsoft and others in Master Data Management (MDM) Software. Updated: August 2025.
865,140 professionals have used our research since 2012.