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IBM InfoSphere Optim Test Data Management (TDM) vs Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 1, 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 Optim Test D...
Ranking in Test Data Management
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Informatica Intelligent Dat...
Ranking in Test Data Management
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
185
Ranking in other categories
Data Integration (3rd), Data Quality (1st), Business Process Management (BPM) (10th), Business-to-Business Middleware (5th), API Management (7th), Cloud Data Integration (3rd), Data Governance (2nd), Cloud Master Data Management (MDM) Solutions (1st), Data Management Platforms (DMP) (2nd), Data Masking (2nd), Metadata Management (1st), Test Data Management Services (3rd), Product Information Management (PIM) (1st), Data Observability (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Test Data Management category, the mindshare of IBM InfoSphere Optim Test Data Management (TDM) is 8.7%, down from 10.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) is 4.1%, up from 3.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Test Data Management
 

Featured Reviews

Ajai Lal - PeerSpot reviewer
Supports both legacy and non-legacy systems
The solution's initial setup is neither complex nor too easy. Around six or seven people, including database administrators, were involved in the solution's deployment. On a scale from one to ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy, I rate the solution's initial setup a four to five out of ten.
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The platform's ability to generate metrics is the most valuable feature for data management. It is a user-friendly and easy-to-use tool."
"The solution can be used on both legacy and non-legacy systems."
"I like the features compared to other tools. This tool is more flexible to use than other tools like an Oracle product or SAP product. I think IBM tools are more flexible, and this tool is also a good product."
"Data masking features are the most valuable, as non-production environments are used by diverse parties and data privacy has to be guaranteed."
"One of the most valuable features is that I don't need to buy a subscription for any functionality. With Informatica Cloud Data Management, I have all the functionality and features available. If I need to make an integration, I can go to that integration service. If I need to mask, provide, or clean some information, I can easily just pick up that feature and use it. It's very simple, and I have all the functions and capabilities I need to work with data."
"New tools are coming out that will enable you to achieve 90 percent of use cases with the out-of-the-box configuration, but I would like to keep Informatica tight here. Otherwise, you need a Java user edit course and other things to do multiple things that you cannot configure out of the box. They have to go through those use cases to do something if those can also be configured rather than coded."
"The solution is straightforward."
"It is very useful for testing purposes and designing mappings for small projects. If you go for IDQ in the mapping itself, you can see the data. You can then correct it, and test it so easily. It is working fine. It is also stable, scalable, and easy to deploy."
"The solution is applicable for both technical and business users."
"The scalability is very high."
"It has improved our organization because it has made our data more reliable. Data is the most important asset these days, and in order to trust your data, you need these tools to make sure that your data is clean and reliable."
"Offers data lineage feature"
 

Cons

"I think it could be more secure. I don't have experience with the security aspects concerning PII data, but I think it can still be streamlined a little more. It could also have some more features, and the initial setup could be more straightforward."
"TDM's efficiency in terms of generating reports needs improvement. It could work faster."
"I would like to be able to combine different masking functions on the same column map, making more complex masking without the need of writing an Lua procedure."
"While my company operates on the cloud, we have seen that Informatica Cloud Data Integration has some performance issues causing it to lag."
"Its cloud-based version has a few limitations compared to the on-premise version."
"The UI is extremely complex"
"The configurations could be better. It is a bit confusing because we must develop two tools when building a data model in Informatica MDM. Even though Informatica MDM is a single tool, we have our hub console plus the provisioning tool within that. Whatever data model we are building in the hub console, we have to develop it in the provisioning tool again. It is double the work to create a data model. We are also using external calls or the Java custom plans functions. This can be both positive and negative. Since MDM as a client does not support any complex validation, we have to depend on the external call or a Java call. Every time we deployed, the entire solution was impacted if something went wrong."
"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."
"Once the data is masked, we won't be able to reverse it back to its original value."
"The product isn't mature enough to provide suitable connectors to various data engines."
"Its pricing model can be improved. The response time from technical support can also be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We purchase TDM's yearly license."
"You have to pay yearly for the license, which comes at a reduced cost. The monthly payment option for a shorter project duration is also good."
"Informatica Axon is expensive."
"We have licenses, and we are provided with certain particular services in the solution."
"My understanding is that Informatica is quite expensive compare to other tools that are available in the market."
"Our customers sometimes are able to negotiate a much better price for Informatica Cloud Data Integration based on their relationship with the vendor."
"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."
"Informatica MDM's pricetag should come down. They have to cut some costs."
"I rate the product's pricing a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is the lowest price and ten is the highest price."
"Informatica is very expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Insurance Company
16%
Computer Software Company
11%
Educational Organization
10%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Insurance Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM InfoSphere Optim Test Data Management (TDM)?
The platform's ability to generate metrics is the most valuable feature for data management. It is a user-friendly and easy-to-use tool.
What needs improvement with IBM InfoSphere Optim Test Data Management (TDM)?
TDM's efficiency in terms of generating reports needs improvement. It could work faster.
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

IBM Optim Test Data Management, Optim Test Data Management, IBM InfoSphere Optim Test 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
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Dignity Health
The Travel Company, Carbonite
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM InfoSphere Optim Test Data Management (TDM) vs. Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
863,901 professionals have used our research since 2012.