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Informatica PowerCenter vs SAS Access vs Toad Data Point 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

As of July 2025, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of Informatica PowerCenter is 8.5%, down from 11.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAS Access is 0.4%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Toad Data Point is 0.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration
 

Featured Reviews

Deepak Shiv - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides multiple transformations in one toolset and helpful when extracting data from multiple sources
Error handling capability is quite good in Informatica PowerCenter because it provides a very detailed session log, which is really helpful to identify errors. In addition, there are KB articles published by Informatica that are really helpful. So, error handling and the KB articles provided by Informatica are very helpful. Even if you face any issues or errors, we can usually resolve them. If the error cannot be solved with Informatica PowerCenter, we can raise a case with Informatica, and their support team will help us address that issue. If it cannot be solved with that particular version, they will consider it and try to solve it with the next patch or hotfix. AI Initiatives: Our company also has organizational AI or machine learning initiatives. However, Informatica PowerCenter doesn't fit into AI-related things because it's an on-premise tool. It doesn't have a significant role in the field. It is just a small ETL on-premises tool. So basically, in the AI field, Informatica PowerCenter is not going to be that impactful. Informatica has launched IICS and IDMC (Informatica Data Management Cloud and Informatica Cloud), where their AI comes into the picture. But for Informatica PowerCenter, AI does not come into the picture at all.
Robert Heck - PeerSpot reviewer
The solution is stable, scalable, and flexible
I rate the solution eight out of ten. The number of people required to maintain the solution is dependent on the other applications running. The solution in itself does not require a lot of maintenance. The solution is flexible and I recommend it when you have more complex applications with special requirements.
Aaron Payne - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers power developers the tooling they need
I am not the end user of this solution. I am not close enough to it because I manage the platform that it runs against. The end users who use the Toad tool come against the database that my team manages, so it is hard for me to provide any area for improvement when it comes to the Toad tool. However, in the administration case, cost is a significant issue. The Mac license is incredibly expensive. It is 1,600 dollars each, which is more than the Windows version. Scalability is difficult when it is that costly.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It has good standard features for ETL development."
"It's very easy to use it to develop mappings and workflows."
"The most valuable features are the monitoring tools and the reporting manager."
"My overall experience with Informatica PowerCenter is positive."
"The performance and design of Informatica have been very valuable. I find the performance faster than, say, Oracle Data Integrator or DataStage."
"Has a good visual tool for data mapping."
"Informatica PowerCenter provides multiple transformations in one particular toolset. You don't need to apply any coding."
"Technical support is great. It's one of the reasons we really like them. When you compare support from IBM and support from Informatica, Informatica is much better."
"The most valuable aspect of the solution is the ease of access to the data in those databases."
"The most valuable feature is you have native access to the external databases."
"The most valuable part of SAS/ACCESS is what it is made for: connecting to remote systems that are not part of your physical SAS environment."
"We love it."
"The most valuable features of Toad Data are you could write a parameterized query and it wouldn't error out, it would give you the parameters that you could input. The auto-formatting feature is useful because it was great for keeping your queries neat and understandable. The auto comment, and uncomment toggles that you could do were convenient."
"The Connectivity and Connection Manager supports a broad number of connection types, and it is trivial for end-users to set up their own connections to sources."
"The best thing about it is its automation features."
"I have never experienced any issues with customer service."
"With Toad Data Point, I can automate most steps automatically."
"It provides better SQL development tooling than SQL Developer, which is not a sufficient tool for all development use cases. It offers power developers the tools they need."
"One of the greatest features is that you can get data from anywhere to anywhere with Toad Data Point."
 

Cons

"Lacks ability to calculate cost of the product."
"Its interface can be modernized. It is an old product. I have been working with it for 14 years, and it still looks the same. It hasn't been modernized much. It also needs to handle more modern formats, such as JSON files. It works with the old text files and databases, but it does not always work with the newer, modern stuff. You need to make your own programs to support that kind of stuff. Support is also a kind of difficult with Informatica. They don't do direct support and rely on using their distributors around the globe for support, which means that you kind of have to go through this layer of different companies before you get help."
"The multiple interfaces in Informatica PowerCenter are not great for the user experience. Because of this, I think it can cause confusion for any beginner developer."
"In the future, I would like to see Informatica PowerCenter integrate a more powerful dashboard."
"They should release new versions for the solution's on-premises setup."
"As a connector to big data, it is not well developed. We've had problems connecting Informatica with Hadoop. The functionality to connect Informatica with Hadoop, for me it's not good."
"The reputation of Informatica is that it is expensive."
"Informatica are very rigid when it comes to cloud migrations which discourages customers in moving their solution to the cloud."
"I can't really recall any missing feature or general improvement that is needed. We don't really add too many new kinds of databases and therefore our needs are already met."
"The pricing model needs to be reconsidered and adjusted."
"The solution can provide access to the newer databases that come out sooner."
"The Mac license is incredibly expensive. It is 1,600 dollars each, which is more than the Windows version."
"I used their report writing a little bit, however, it could improve since it's not a really good report writer and it's a little clunky."
"Toad Data could improve by having additional features, such as query prediction. This could help someone who's not the strongest programmer. If the software could help them write queries correctly it would be very helpful, especially for small development teams or teams that lack the input skills necessary to write and program efficiently."
"It's not user-friendly. Once you start using it, you eventually get to know the features."
"I used their report writing a little bit, however, it could improve since it's not a really good report writer and it's a little clunky."
"It's not user-friendly. Once you start using it, you eventually get to know the features."
"On the scheduling server, some scheduled reports just sit there and never execute for the first time. After manually executing the first time, they run with no issues."
"The Mac license is incredibly expensive. It is 1,600 dollars each, which is more than the Windows version. Scalability is difficult when it is that costly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are using an annual license for Informatica PowerCenter."
"The price is mostly reasonable."
"I consider this to be an expensive product."
"It's much more expensive, almost three times more expensive than most other solutions."
"The licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"Informatica PowerCenter is reasonably priced. It is less expensive than Pentaho. There is a standard version fee in Taiwan. It is a one-time yearly subscription price that is approximately $3,010 US dollars for three users."
"Licensing costs are excessive and pose an obstacle to someone who lacks familiarity with the solution and wishes to have a proper understanding of it."
"The pricing for Informatica PowerCenter is expensive. Some clients have simple needs and only want to integrate and store data. Some clients have small needs, while some clients have bigger needs and focus more on performance and time. The licensing cost for Informatica PowerCenter isn't good. In my project, if I remember correctly, the company pays €20,000 per year for the Informatica PowerCenter license. I'm not aware of additional costs that you need to pay for some features of the solution. On a scale of one to five, I'm rating its price a three."
"The pricing model is complex and is based on modular packages as well as the size of the applicable environment."
"The solution's pricing and licensing are expensive."
"The cost of this product is reasonable."
"The Mac licenses are expensive, costing 1,600 dollars each. This is much higher than for the Windows version. I maintain a very limited number of licenses due to this cost."
"The price of Toad Data Point was approximately $500 annually."
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Comparison Review

it_user90069 - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 20, 2014
Informatica PowerCenter vs. Microsoft SSIS - each technology has its advantages but also have similarities
Technology has made it easier for businesses to organize and manipulate data to get a clearer picture of what’s going on with their business. Notably, ETL tools have made managing huge amounts of data significantly easier and faster, boosting many organizations’ business intelligence operations…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Insurance Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
23%
Insurance Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
30%
Healthcare Company
12%
Insurance Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

How does Azure Data Factory compare with Informatica PowerCenter?
Azure Data Factory is flexible, modular, and works well. In terms of cost, it is not too pricey. It offers the stabil...
Which is better - SSIS or Informatica PowerCenter?
SSIS PowerPack is a group of drag and drop connectors for Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services, commonly called ...
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...
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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Toad Data Point?
The pricing for Toad Data Point is where it gets into trouble. Microsoft is free, so if you get SQL Server, you get a...
What needs improvement with Toad Data Point?
I used their report writing a little bit, however, it could improve since it's not a really good report writer and it...
What is your primary use case for Toad Data Point?
When I use it, I'm using it for writing SQL or testing SQL code. I used to use it for moving data, loading files into...
 

Also Known As

PowerCenter
SAS/Access
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, LexisNexis, Rabobank
Los Angeles County, West Midlands Police, Credit Guarantee Corporation, Canada Post, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty
Concordia University
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Informatica, Talend and others in Data Integration. Updated: July 2025.
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