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Informatica PowerExchange vs SSIS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.9
Informatica PowerExchange enables smarter decisions, streamlines data pipelines, and saves costs, showing ROI within weeks for digital transformation.
Sentiment score
7.3
SSIS offers cost-effective data management with no extra fees, but some users prefer alternatives with a larger budget.
It is considered cost-efficient because it leads to the re-utilization of channels and platforms, which saves time and money.
Using SSIS has proven cost-effective as there are no additional fees outside the SQL Server license, and it significantly enhances data management efficiency.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.1
Informatica PowerExchange support is seen as knowledgeable but receives mixed reviews due to varying response times and availability.
Sentiment score
6.0
Users find SSIS support mixed; many prefer online solutions and community forums over Microsoft’s challenging and costly support.
Their support aligns with what I have experienced with Informatica data quality teams, and it is quite effective.
Informatica's technical support team is very supportive and provides help whenever required.
The support was good enough, and they were able to resolve all the issues I raised in the past.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.0
Informatica PowerExchange offers robust scalability for diverse sources and transformations, suitable for medium to large data environments.
Sentiment score
6.8
SSIS is scalable for various enterprises, requiring proper configuration for optimal performance, but may lack compared to alternatives.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Informatica PowerExchange is praised for stability despite some issues with resource load, visibility, and log maintenance in newer versions.
Sentiment score
7.5
SSIS is stable and reliable, though occasional performance issues are noted; proper infrastructure enhances its effectiveness.
Technical errors sometimes occur, such as network breakages at the source level, which breaks connectivity.
It processes large volumes of data quickly.
 

Room For Improvement

Informatica PowerExchange needs better integration, user-friendliness, real-time processing, cloud features, and affordability while addressing performance and support challenges.
SSIS needs user interface, performance, compatibility, integration, error logging, scalability improvements, and better real-time, security, and API support.
One area that could be improved is performance, as PowerExchange sometimes has less performance compared to native connectors when dealing with a huge volume of data.
The addition of data quality dashboards or measures would also help in profiling data to assess its health before sharing or moving it.
Within the South African context, if you are getting your enterprise agreement from First Technology, they don't provide support.
SSIS has a difficult learning curve when dealing with complex transformations.
 

Setup Cost

Informatica PowerExchange pricing depends on capacity, with variable costs based on usage, but offers moderate cost-efficiency.
SSIS is economical for SQL Server users, offering value without extra setup costs compared to pricier ETL tools.
Informatica PowerExchange is considered cost-efficient due to reduced number of APIs needed.
The pricing and cost depend heavily on SAP's licensing structure, especially if using SAP integration services.
Utilizing SSIS involves no extra charges beyond the SQL Server license.
 

Valuable Features

Informatica PowerExchange is lauded for versatile data integration, real-time capabilities, scalability, and support for diverse data sources and formats.
SSIS is popular for its ease of use, scalability, integration, cost-effectiveness, and powerful ETL capabilities with Microsoft products.
It also reduces the number of APIs needed for new integrations by offering a unified exchange platform.
The primary advantage of Informatica PowerExchange is being able to extract data from source systems that Informatica does not natively support.
PowerExchange is one of the best software solutions to build integrations with non-Oracle or standard database services, especially for SAP and Hana products.
One of the best aspects of SSIS is that it is built into Microsoft SQL Server, so there are no additional costs involved.
SSAS is included in the base installation of SQL Server.
 

Categories and Ranking

Informatica PowerExchange
Ranking in Data Integration
12th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SSIS
Ranking in Data Integration
3rd
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
74
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of Informatica PowerExchange is 1.1%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SSIS is 7.7%, down from 7.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration
 

Featured Reviews

Mohammad Faizan Ahmad - PeerSpot reviewer
Helpful in handling areas like complex data sources and data processing but needs improved support services
The major challenge with the tool stems from the fact that if you are implementing it in the cloud, then it has to be within the framework. Another challenge is the large volume of data. Informatica PowerExchange is a product through which we enable connectivity, so it is not an application product or a stand-alone tool, but Informatica's core systems or IICS uses it to connect to multiple systems. The major challenge associated with the tool is on the infrastructure side. The tool's features could be something faster with more connectors. A number of connectors can help connect to a wide variety of applications. The tool should focus on reducing the resilient time, like, if any network disconnectivity happens, then auto-reconnection and the retry method should be more robust so that manual intervention is not required. We communicate with the tool's support team as we need to raise our issues with them. I have already worked with Informatica and have a total experience of around eight to nine years; the one problem with the tool is its support team since they take a lot of time to address a particular issue. If one time you schedule a call and explain the situation to them about the issue, the support team will raise tickets and take notes. They will ask you to share the logs or screenshots of the errors, and you will get no resolution. The support team will randomly give you some documents and expect you to go through them, and if you get back to them with questions, a new person will be allocated, and you will have to start explaining everything again. I would not say it is a pleasant experience.
Sean Achim - PeerSpot reviewer
Building impactful organizational KPIs with ease and precision
Stability is rated at 10. One other important aspect I appreciate is that SSAS is included in the base installation of SQL Server. Obviously, it requires installation, but it is readily available, which is a major strength. It's all about setting it up, configuring it, and then using it. If there are additional costs associated with it or separating it as a second product, that would be a disadvantage. The area of improvement is really in education. Microsoft is trying to push everything as a Power BI solution or trying to get people to solve the problems which are solved with SSAS in another space in Power BI, or in Power Pivot, is not enough. There's not enough marketing, conversation, and support around that space. As a result, we end up with people not understanding that you need to build your models correctly, and then they try to model everything inside of Power BI, or another visualization tool, without first building the data model. That leads people to consider alternate solutions because SAP and others argue that their whole thing is in memory, and they disseminate misleading information. Additionally, what would be very helpful is local user group developments, so getting people around the table and teaching them how to use it. That is the biggest problem; it's not the technology itself. The challenge lies in Microsoft withdrawing a lot of the qualifications and watering down its emphasis, leading to a perception that this is supposed to be an elite product.
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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
27%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
8%
Insurance Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Informatica PowerExchange?
Informatica PowerExchange is considered cost-efficient due to reduced number of APIs needed, enabling re-utilization of existing channels, cutting down on development and training costs.
What needs improvement with Informatica PowerExchange?
It would be helpful to have more metadata provided, which is useful for engaging more users in data exchange. The addition of data quality dashboards or measures would also help in profiling data t...
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 SSIS. The collection helps organizations boost productivity with code-free compo...
What do you like most about SSIS?
The product's deployment phase is easy.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SSIS?
Utilizing SSIS involves no extra charges beyond the SQL Server license. It's an economical choice for my clients.
 

Also Known As

PowerExchange, Connectors
SQL Server Integration Services
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ACH Food, BNSF Railway Company, Illinois State University
1. Amazon.com 2. Bank of America 3. Capital One 4. Coca-Cola 5. Dell 6. E*TRADE 7. FedEx 8. Ford Motor Company 9. Google 10. Home Depot 11. IBM 12. Intel 13. JPMorgan Chase 14. Kraft Foods 15. Lockheed Martin 16. McDonald's 17. Microsoft 18. Morgan Stanley 19. Nike 20. Oracle 21. PepsiCo 22. Procter & Gamble 23. Prudential Financial 24. RBC Capital Markets 25. SAP 26. Siemens 27. Sony 28. Toyota 29. UnitedHealth Group 30. Visa 31. Walmart 32. Wells Fargo
Find out what your peers are saying about Informatica PowerExchange vs. SSIS and other solutions. Updated: May 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.