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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.
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.
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

"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."
"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."
"There are not really many areas of the product that need improvement because the product stays up-to-date with data management needs."
"Informatica provides a comprehensive solution for on-the-fly or real-time data masking."
"Informatica Cloud Data Integration is stable."
"The solution allows the complete governance process, starting from the data quality, those definitions, and it can get the data quality in the EDC."
"Informatica MDM stands out as a tool that can give you the flexibility needed for doing channel-specific data quality or business validation."
"The most valuable feature of Informatica Axon has been the data marketplace."
"The solution is stable."
"The Mapping Designer allows for declarative ETL development (visual scripting) that leverages a wide array of different transformations."
"The product's most valuable feature is the ability to select the data flow and lineage."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft MDS is its management."
"The best thing about it is that it comes with the Microsoft package."
"Enables non-technical people to directly interact with the BI system."
"The tool is easy to use."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft MDS is its compatibility with ETL tools like SSIS, which simplifies operations for end-users."
"The ease of use is valuable."
"It has been a long-standing tool in our organization since it was free."
"Compared to other databases, it is easier to manage and administer."
 

Cons

"The tool is difficult to understand from a customer perspective and for developers."
"IBM InfoSphere MDM's UI is complicated. It also needs to improve its on-prem configuration."
"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."
"The product could be improved in the area of architecture and technology. All the parts are old."
"Its look and feel needs improvement. It has a lousy look and feel. Informatica PIM is designed specifically for the retail industry. They need to make sure that it is also applicable to all the other industries and verticals."
"We'd like to see the microservices, which don't run yet because the solution is not yet fully cloud-based."
"They have too many diversified products. If you don't know Informatica, it's very confusing and feels very idiotic."
"Their UI needs improvement. Their scorecards and reporting also need improvement. Their data quality reporting, especially their dashboards and scorecards, is lackluster at best. Its reporting capabilities are limited. If you want to do anything beyond its limited reporting capabilities, then you're going to have to use an external reporting tool such as Power BI or something like that."
"Enhancements on the UI front, such as multiple templates and improved grid views, would be beneficial."
"The tools required to migrate existing mappings and server rules through cloud data quality are not available."
"The error information provided is not informative, as compared to Power Center."
"Most of the Microsoft partners, especially digitally, are separate. Personnel are business people, and they do not have technical expertise, so you end up as a company spending a lot of money training your staff and your engineers."
"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."
"More generic related things can be included in the services."
"From my understanding, MS, as of 2021, will not maintain the product going forward."
"There are occasions when the solution maintains SD and we get duplications of MDS."
"JMD repositories have records that come in thousands and millions, which takes a long time to process."
"The Microsoft license cost could be lower."
"The program's navigation tools could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It may be costly for small organizations but adds value for large organizations with demanding workflows."
"The product is very expensive"
"It is an expensive solution. I would say it is the most expensive solution in the market."
"The price is very high and has become a big concern for our customers who require the solution in order for their business to function smoothly."
"We got a 50% discount."
"There is no doubt that it is very expensive, but the brand value comes at a cost. Other MDM solutions in the market that haven't proven themselves like Informatica are also pretty expensive. We need to understand that MDM itself is very expensive to implement. So, Informatica is also pretty expensive. I would rate it a two out of five for being pretty expensive."
"We switched to Informatica PIM because it was cheaper than the Oracle solution. It is cheaper initially, but they will bundle it later. This is what happens in the industry."
"A yearly subscription is paid based on the number of people using the solution. Price-wise, it falls under the medium range since it is neither very costly nor too cheap."
"I rate the product's pricing a five on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive."
"I would like to see better pricing."
"The pricing of this solution is good."
"The solution does require a license and we have enterprise licenses."
"Product licensing is very complicated. It would be helpful to have an online calculator to estimate the cost of a license."
"With Microsoft, we buy everything though an agreement, so we purchase volume licensing every year."
"MDS is a part of the SQL Server enterprise license. I am not aware of any additional costs."
"SAP is more expensive than Microsoft."
"Microsoft MDS is an expensive solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
26%
Healthcare Company
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Insurance Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Insurance Company
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
 

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, Microsoft, TIBCO and others in Master Data Management (MDM) Software. Updated: May 2025.
855,156 professionals have used our research since 2012.