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Microsoft MDS vs Reltio Cloud 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft MDS
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Master Data Management (MDM) Software (4th)
Reltio Cloud
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Master Data Management (MDM) (2nd), AI Data Analysis (4th), AI Customer Experience Personalization (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Data Integration and Access solutions, they serve different purposes. Microsoft MDS is designed for Master Data Management (MDM) Software and holds a mindshare of 8.2%, down 11.3% compared to last year.
Reltio Cloud, on the other hand, focuses on Cloud Master Data Management (MDM), holds 10.3% mindshare, down 16.9% since last year.
Master Data Management (MDM) Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft MDS8.2%
Semarchy xDM11.5%
TIBCO EBX9.5%
Other70.8%
Master Data Management (MDM) Software
Cloud Master Data Management (MDM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Reltio Cloud10.3%
Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC)18.6%
Semarchy xDM14.3%
Other56.8%
Cloud Master Data Management (MDM)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1524357 - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Architect at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Has supported endpoint management while revealing areas where usability and latency can improve
The couple of times we found issues with technical support from Microsoft for Microsoft MDS, they resolved them. The response time and understanding were adequate, though there was always a language barrier between the teams. The teams we worked with were in Korea, and it was sometimes a language issue.
reviewer2826747 - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Domain Lead at a government with 10,001+ employees
Unified data has created trusted golden records but complex AI matching still needs clearer control
Reltio Cloud has greatly enhanced our data management, and I acknowledge there are areas where our team continues to face challenges. Specifically, the AI-based matching feature operates like a black box, making it difficult to understand why certain records are matched or not matched accurately. If there could be better visual debugging and clarity regarding why records are matched, it would significantly aid our decision-making process. The technical configuration, particularly regarding data models and rule matching, can be overly complex for business users, hence a more user-friendly approach, with simplified guidelines, would be incredibly beneficial. Additionally, data stewardship can present complexities, and clearer actions can facilitate addressing these challenges. Performance issues can arise with larger data models and numerous data sources impacting system use, hence enhancements in optimization and ready-to-use features for complex configurations are essential. Pricing can also be convoluted; therefore, a clearer cost model would aid users in comprehending the structure. While data lineage has its merits, it is complex to interpret; thus, improved visualization would greatly benefit users. Ultimately, technical complexity emerges as the primary challenge we face, revealing opportunities for improvement.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Technical support is very good."
"What I like about Microsoft, is that it has a huge database with many users."
"Enables non-technical people to directly interact with the BI system."
"The ease of use is valuable."
"More generic related things can be included in the services."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft MDS is its management."
"It has been 200% useful in our organization."
"The solution is easy to install."
"The matching feature of Reltio Cloud is highly effective compared to many other tools available. Additionally, it is almost ready to use out-of-the-box, reducing the implementation time."
"It is a scalable product, and the scalability is good. We can configure users."
"The cloud feature is very beneficial, and the scalability performance feature is excellent."
"Reltio Cloud has positively impacted my organization because we were able to promote our data and sell data to our customers."
"Reltio Cloud has introduced a single source of truth, a solution to issues caused by teams sharing data via email and losing track of the latest updates, and as a result, up to 97-78% of operations now have a clearer view, allowing us to focus more on enhancing our operations rather than rectifying data discrepancies, thus productivity has surged, leading to significant cost reductions, with my estimate being over a million dollars in savings within the last few months, enabling faster decision-making and real-time data access without the need for manual compilation."
"We can store the data and enrich it from multiple sources."
"The most valuable feature is real-time synchronization. You can see the events as soon as they are posted within a couple of fraction seconds."
"Reltio Cloud has positively impacted my organization by reducing the amount of manual effort needed and making it easy to manage downstream systems."
 

Cons

"JMD repositories have records that come in thousands and millions, which takes a long time to process."
"Stability can be fragile at times. If you are not attentive or make a mistake, it can cause problems."
"Microsoft MDS is outdated and lacks modern capabilities."
"The Microsoft license cost could be lower."
"More generic related things can be included in the services."
"If one system has reached capacity or has stopped, then the whole system stops and it is quite difficult to solve the problem."
"Microsoft MDS isn't getting strong support because Microsoft is focusing more on cloud solutions."
"In the next version, I would like to see integration with Azure."
"What could be improved about Reltio Cloud was minimal."
"The download process can be quite slow"
"The customer support is adequate, but not exceptional."
"The deployment is difficult."
"The support team is slow to respond when we need assistance with workflow deployments. We must rely on their availability and contact them to receive the required JAR files."
"Ultimately, technical complexity emerges as the primary challenge we face, revealing opportunities for improvement."
"There is some lag in developing new features for specific business requirements. If a new feature is needed, we have to raise a request in the developer portal through the IDEA portal. This process takes time to develop, which can be a drawback when immediate business needs arise."
"We need manual data modeling and configuration to tailor the platform to our requirements."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"SAP is more expensive than Microsoft."
"The solution does require a license and we have enterprise licenses."
"MDS is a part of the SQL Server enterprise license. I am not aware of any additional costs."
"With Microsoft, we buy everything though an agreement, so we purchase volume licensing every year."
"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."
"I would like to see better pricing."
"Microsoft MDS is an expensive solution."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Media Company
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise15
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise13
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft MDS?
More generic related things can be included in the services.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft MDS?
Microsoft MDS was pretty affordable. We implemented the solution without a problem.
What needs improvement with Microsoft MDS?
I cannot really give specifics about disadvantages. From what we have seen, speaking to customers, Microsoft MDS was sometimes a bit slow. The frustration they had was just around usability and use...
What needs improvement with Reltio Cloud?
In future updates of Reltio Cloud, I would like to see features such as AI for match and merge, which can create predefined AI address doctors and match and merge for customer data, easily integrat...
What is your primary use case for Reltio Cloud?
I use Reltio Cloud for customer data management, specifically for C-MDM purposes.
What advice do you have for others considering Reltio Cloud?
Reltio Cloud was not purchased through AWS Marketplace or directly from the vendor. It was already available in my company at that time, so I used the system to showcase its capabilities. What coul...
 

Also Known As

Microsoft Master Data Services, Microsoft MDM, Microsoft SQL Server Master Data Services, MS MDS
No data available
 

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
iMiDiA, Slalom, MeritDirect, Cognizant
Find out what your peers are saying about TIBCO, SAP, Qlik and others in Master Data Management (MDM) Software. Updated: May 2026.
892,868 professionals have used our research since 2012.