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Microsoft MDS vs ON EBX comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 5, 2026

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

Microsoft MDS
Ranking in Master Data Management (MDM) Software
4th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
ON EBX
Ranking in Master Data Management (MDM) Software
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Master Data Management (MDM) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Master Data Management (MDM) Software category, the mindshare of Microsoft MDS is 9.9%, down from 12.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ON EBX is 9.0%, down from 11.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Master Data Management (MDM) Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
TIBCO EBX9.0%
Microsoft MDS9.9%
Other81.1%
Master Data Management (MDM) Software
 

Featured Reviews

NA
Data Management Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Centralized master data has improved data quality but now requires a clearer future roadmap
An area where Microsoft MDS can be improved is that Microsoft has announced Microsoft MDS is being removed from SQL Server two thousand twenty-five. The future of the product is genuinely uncertain, and that's something any organization evaluating it needs to factor in seriously. Microsoft MDS is still supported on SQL Server two thousand twenty-two and earlier, but the trajectory is clear that Microsoft is not investing in Microsoft MDS going forward. I would also say that the cloud story is a gap because there's no native cloud version of Microsoft MDS. For clients who are moving workloads to Azure, that's an increasingly awkward conversation. Microsoft's direction for MDM in the cloud is through other capabilities like Azure Purview and Dataverse, but those are different products with different feature sets.
reviewer2731320 - PeerSpot reviewer
Associate Director at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Improved workflow collaboration and data flexibility enhance team efficiency, but performance and logout issues require attention
Regarding improvements or enhancements in TIBCO EBX, when it comes to 5.8 to 5.9, there was a really good feature added, which is the hyperlink. When you click on a table, you navigate to deeper tables. If there is a table with ten fields, those ten fields are taken from a second table and interrelated to a third table, you can keep clicking on each field and go deeper and deeper. To come each level above, there is a hyperlink created on the top. You just need to click on the hyperlink and keep navigating back, similar to certain websites. However, there were some drawbacks I noticed with the latest version 6, particularly in terms of performance, where in a few cases, the performance was impacted, necessitating work to get things sorted. Additionally, the logout from the application happened randomly or sometimes it wasn't logging out, which is a compliance issue since users expect to log out after a certain time. Version 6 introduced a strong filtration logic. All EBX versions have a separate section for filters that offer text search and advanced search options. In EBX 6, they enhanced the search feature deeply, including conjunctions and, or, else, allowing you to create your own logic for how you need the filter to work. They also introduced a top-level search feature, where you enter some text, and it searches the entire table. With the latest update of TIBCO EBX, there are a few issues with the workflow that need improvement. When going through a workflow, there are functionalities to upload files, and sometimes you need to attach files for evidence. That section of EBX had certain issues. We dropped the plan to switch to EBX 6 due to other technical limitations on our side. Those were a few pending items we had raised to them, and they were working on resolving them. From a usage point of view, those were the main concerns, but they introduced a good idea about the side panel. The pagination concept was introduced to navigate among different domains, and in the left panel, you have search capabilities and pagination functionality.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The zero incremental license cost plus the operational improvements from having clean, consistent master data, reduced errors, faster reporting, and cleaner compliance provide a solid ROI."
"We used Azure Cloud service to set it up, and it was very easy to setup and configure."
"I like the ease of deployment, as it is very easy to deploy and provision a machine, and I like the analytics and that I can run them, which makes it easier to do analytics compared to our previous tools, while Microsoft BI is quite good."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft MDS is its management."
"Compared to other databases, it is easier to manage and administer."
"The ease of use is valuable."
"It's very easy to use."
"The best thing about it is that it comes with the Microsoft package."
"The most valuable features of TIBCO EBX are that is a complete tool and everything can be done inside, including data governance. We are able to model everything according to the needs of the company. If the company needs five people to agree to a change in data, they can do it with TIBCO EBX. They can model it with any particular rules. Additionally, there is dynamic data modeling, simple workflows using the GUI that comes from the server."
"The product is extremely flexible."
"This solution allows the user to have complete control, and is 100% customizable."
"Great MDM product."
"The initial setup is easy and straightforward."
"EBX is a multi-domain product, which makes it easy to switch between domains like customer, agent, or vendor."
"The program is very user-friendly and the .com order is easy to design."
"TIBCO EBX saves a lot of time and gives considerable flexibility to business users who might not be completely technical but can work on it in specific areas."
 

Cons

"If one system has reached capacity or has stopped, then the whole system stops and it is quite difficult to solve the problem."
"Stability can be fragile at times. If you are not attentive or make a mistake, it can cause problems."
"If Microsoft MDS were part of Azure, it would be significantly more helpful."
"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."
"From what we have seen, speaking to customers, Microsoft MDS was sometimes a bit slow."
"There are occasions when the solution maintains SD and we get duplications of MDS."
"Microsoft MDS isn't getting strong support because Microsoft is focusing more on cloud solutions."
"Microsoft MDS is outdated and lacks modern capabilities."
"TIBCO EBX could improve by making the building of rules less complex and the repository is not robust."
"The tool has to improve mapping and workflow. It should be made more robust."
"In terms of improvements that this solution needs, it should support big data."
"Everything is updated through forms, and working with UI web forms. It's more record-based processing. It is not mass-based processing. This is one of the things that are not good for TIBCO EBX. Another problem is we cannot join tables and prepare a view where the tables are joined. Someone can code it but it is not a feature of the solution without code. You have to take data from a table, combine it with data from another table and then present it. This could be done better."
"The design should be easier and more visual."
"Version 6 moves to open source but is not very stable and not very usable."
"With a huge amount of data (multi-million rows in a table), the tool may slow down."
"The product does not scale well horizontally. We find the scalability to be quite inferior to other options."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"The pricing of this solution is good."
"Product licensing is very complicated. It would be helpful to have an online calculator to estimate the cost of a license."
"The solution does require a license and we have enterprise licenses."
"SAP is more expensive than Microsoft."
"I would like to see better pricing."
"Microsoft MDS is an expensive solution."
"The price of TIBCO EBX is too high. The solution can only be used in a project that has good sponsorship that can afford it."
"TIBCO EBX is a very expensive solution. There is an annual fee to use the solution."
"TIBCO EBX is cheaper than Informatica."
"This solution is costly compared to other products on the market, but this is due to the complete functionality that is provided. The pricing model is very straightforward, and is worked out on a pay-per- instance basis, and only applies to active instances."
"I'm just involved in technical, but I understand that its pricing is similar to HP so it is quite expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Energy/Utilities Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise15
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise19
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft MDS?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing shows that the licensing is one of Microsoft MDS's genuine advantages, as it's included in SQL Server Enterprise Edition at no additional cost....
What needs improvement with Microsoft MDS?
An area where Microsoft MDS can be improved is that Microsoft has announced Microsoft MDS is being removed from SQL Server two thousand twenty-five. The future of the product is genuinely uncertain...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft MDS?
My main use case for Microsoft MDS is as a central master data repository for clients running SQL Server-based data environments. The typical scenario is a mid-sized organization that has product d...
What needs improvement with Orchestra Networks EBX?
The support portal needs improvement. Tickets are handled by junior engineers who struggle to solve issues in a timely manner. Frequent updates to the software are necessary, yet a number of featur...
What is your primary use case for Orchestra Networks EBX?
TIBCO EBX was used by one of our clients to manage financial data. It is primarily utilized by the operational and admin teams to keep the application running 24/7. We have integrated it with SAP s...
 

Also Known As

Microsoft Master Data Services, Microsoft MDM, Microsoft SQL Server Master Data Services, MS MDS
TIBCO MDM, Orchestra Networks EBX
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
BNL, SunGard, TUI Group, Uti Worldwide, Yellow Pages Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft MDS vs. ON EBX and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
915,383 professionals have used our research since 2012.