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IBM InfoSphere MDM vs Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) vs Semarchy xDM 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 Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM InfoSphere MDM7.8%
SAP Master Data Governance21.6%
Microsoft MDS13.0%
Other57.599999999999994%
Master Data Management (MDM) Software
Data Management Platforms (DMP) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC)14.1%
Palantir Foundry25.9%
Adobe Audience Manager6.2%
Other53.8%
Data Management Platforms (DMP)
Master Data Management (MDM) Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Semarchy xDM8.2%
SAP Master Data Governance21.6%
Microsoft MDS13.0%
Other57.2%
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.
SaurabhGaonshindhe - PeerSpot reviewer
Modular structure and AI features stream new reporting processes
One of my clients has a requirement; they want to integrate metadata into the process, which means, for example, if I just want to implement a new field into my database, that field needs to be reflected throughout, let's say, 200 mappings. This highlights the need for a data-driven approach. My experience with technical support from Informatica is quite interesting; I would rate it as nine out of ten for Informatica PowerCenter kind of products or the Informatica integration products, because my team can do some hands-on using their free licenses or one-month kind of products. However, for products Master Data Management or related to MDM or Data Governance, there is no way by which we can directly practice, and my team struggles at that point.
Syed-Hasan - PeerSpot reviewer
Quick MVP development facilitated by low-code data management
Semarchy xDM's unique selling point is its quick turnover time, allowing for the rapid development of a proof of concept or minimum viable product. Its low-code approach, essentially a wrapper for SQL, enables easy and quick development. The core features include validation business rules, deduplication, merging, and consolidation from multiple sources.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"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."
"I have rated the stability a ten out of ten due to a high level of satisfaction."
"Their new licensing is very flexible. With Informatica Cloud, you have plenty of items under the same umbrella, such as services, offerings, data quality, and data masking. You have also got master data management and API management. What I really like about them is that you don't need to go to Informatica and say that you need a data integration module. You would say that you need iPaaS or Informatica Cloud. They'll then try to understand your needs and give you IPUs, which are the processing units. If I purchased a hundred IPUs from Informatica as a customer, I can use 70 IPUs for data integration. I would also need data quality, so I can use 10 IPUs for data quality. I can use the remaining 20 IPUs for API management. Down the line, if I see that my initial data integration needs for the development phase are met, then out of the 70 IPUs assigned for data integration, I can use 30 IPUs for data masking. I can shuffle these numbers in any way within the Informatica Cloud umbrella for the tenure for which I have subscribed to these IPUs. I can use all services the way I want. This flexibility is what I really love about Informatica. It also has got good connectors."
"We've used the solution for quite some time, so in our organization, the product is pretty mature."
"Replication allows us to fully replicate all objects from Shop Floor Data Collection (SFDC) to in-house/on-premises database in one job."
"The program is stable and scalable."
"Offers data lineage feature"
"Informatica is user-friendly, stable, and scalable. These three aspects are the most valuable for us. If we can make it work well with the CRM, we can continue or try again this year to complete that part of the project. I am confident that this kind of solution is what we need because we have a third-party resource that works in the development."
"It has been leading the market with hierarchy management and all the different match concepts and algorithms. They're very robust."
"Semarchy xDM's unique selling point is its quick turnover time, allowing for the rapid development of a proof of concept or minimum viable product."
"The flexibility of Semarchy xDM allows for possible deployment on-premises, in the cloud, or both."
"Their documentation is excellent."
 

Cons

"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 tool is difficult to understand from a customer perspective and for developers."
"The product is really only created for large organizations."
"IBM InfoSphere MDM's UI is complicated. It also needs to improve its on-prem configuration."
"The cost of Informatica MDM is expensive and has room for improvement."
"The setup is complex."
"The licenses are too expensive compared to before, which is why customers are now preferring other data metadata management tools like OneTrust, Collibra, and Azure Purview."
"There are also some technical issues sometimes with integrations because clients have a lot of different types of data sources."
"With the solution, we had some issues, and we have every day, and we used to open a ticket. Sometimes, there are data issues and transformation issues."
"The UX and UI of the solution are areas with certain shortcomings where improvements can be made in the future."
"Informatica Enterprise Data Catalog could improve by having a much better user interface. It is not user-friendly."
"One area that needs to improve is the user experience because it is very complex. The trial version is very complex so it's not easy to start using the program immediately. You must study the rules first."
"They need to make the workflow more enhanced or dynamic in its functionality."
"There is room for improvement in the developer experience, particularly for those who are SQL proficient, as having more direct access would be beneficial."
"There is room for improvement in terms of local support."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It may be costly for small organizations but adds value for large organizations with demanding workflows."
"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."
"I rate Informatica MDM's price a six on a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price."
"Informatica MDM's price could be lower."
"The product is very expensive"
"Informatica MDM recently changed its pricing model. It's usage-based but I don't have much insight into the current pricing."
"My understanding is that Informatica is quite expensive compare to other tools that are available in the market."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing nine and a half out of ten."
"The price is neither too high nor too low."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
26%
Healthcare Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Insurance Company
7%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Retailer
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business42
Midsize Enterprise24
Large Enterprise134
No data available
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Semarchy xDM?
The pricing model is based on the number of golden records. It is considered reasonable to good compared to other pro...
What needs improvement with Semarchy xDM?
There is room for improvement in the developer experience, particularly for those who are SQL proficient, as having m...
What is your primary use case for Semarchy xDM?
The primary use case of Semarchy xDM is as a data management tool, specifically for master data management and refere...
 

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
Semarchy Intelligent MDM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

L'Oreal S.A., Kingland Systems, Oncor, Farmaceuticos Maypo, Volkswagen Financial Services
The Travel Company, Carbonite
DiamondStream, Oakley, Araymond, EBU/Eurovision, Groupe Roullier, BOSE, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Putnam Investments, BAE Systems, Mundi Pharma, Merck, Elsevier, CMA CGM
Find out what your peers are saying about SAP, TIBCO, Microsoft and others in Master Data Management (MDM) Software. Updated: August 2025.
867,445 professionals have used our research since 2012.