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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
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Master Data Management (MDM) (2nd), AI Data Analysis (4th), AI Customer Experience Personalization (11th)
 

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 7.2%, down 11.4% compared to last year.
Reltio Cloud, on the other hand, focuses on Cloud Master Data Management (MDM), holds 11.9% mindshare, down 16.3% since last year.
Master Data Management (MDM) Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft MDS7.2%
Semarchy xDM12.5%
TIBCO EBX9.8%
Other70.5%
Master Data Management (MDM) Software
Cloud Master Data Management (MDM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Reltio Cloud11.9%
Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC)18.6%
Semarchy xDM15.6%
Other53.9%
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.
AG
Human Resources Head at AN INFOSYSTEMS BV
Consulting team maximizes cloud features while seeking workflow improvements
We are quite satisfied with the solution. The only issue we face is with the workflow feature. Every time we need to deploy our workflows, we must contact the Reltio Support Center. We have to rely on their availability and write to them to receive the required JAR files. They are slow to respond to these requests.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The best thing about it is that it comes with the Microsoft package."
"It has a very good feature called Excel plug-in. You just have to install the plug-in, and then it directly connects to the MDS instance where you can maintain and manage your data and publish it right through Excel. You don't need to go to the front end to make any changes. It has easy integration with SQL Server, and you can use SSIS to do the ETLs. It is a part of the Microsoft stack. It works with most of the Microsoft stuff."
"More generic related things can be included in the services."
"The tool is easy to use."
"Enables non-technical people to directly interact with the BI system."
"The ease of use is valuable."
"It has been a long-standing tool in our organization since it was free."
"It is very easy to deploy and provision a machine."
"There are default limitations and considerations. For instance, Reltio can store a maximum of 200 values for a single attribute. If your data exceeds this limit, you can request Reltio support to increase the limit. However, be aware that increasing this limit may impact performance, potentially slowing down data loading times."
"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."
"The survivorship feature is great because we can define it, prioritize the sources, and only allow those sources to survive when making the golden record."
"The most valuable feature of Reltio Cloud is the customization we can make in its functionality."
"The solution saves 30% to 40% of our time."
"The cloud feature is very beneficial, and the scalability performance feature is excellent."
"Reltio Cloud has positively impacted my organization by reducing the amount of manual effort needed and making it easy to manage downstream systems."
"Reltio Cloud has positively impacted my organization because we were able to promote our data and sell data to our customers."
 

Cons

"In the next version, I would like to see integration with Azure."
"The solution could be better integrated into Microsoft's other products."
"From my understanding, MS, as of 2021, will not maintain the product going forward."
"The program's navigation tools could be improved."
"Microsoft MDS' language should be simple so everyone can use it easily."
"The only drawback is that it does not have the matching, merging, and all true MDM components. For these, you have to use another competent called Data Quality Services (DQS). You need to plug it in and use it along with MDS for true MDM. Both of these are integrated together, but you have to do them separately, whereas, in Profisee, there are a couple of screens where you can configure the matching process, create matching rules, and other things, and everything is in one product, which is not the case with MDS. In order to implement a true MDM, you need MDS, DQS, and SSIS. You have to use MDS to store your golden records, DQS to configure and standardize all your rules and matching percentages, and SSIS to load the data to DQS and MDS. At the same time, you also need Melissa Data to clean up your addresses to validate and standardize the addresses. That's the main component of true MDM. It would be good if they can create a true matching component inside MDS and merge MDS and DQS."
"The stability could be improved."
"There are occasions when the solution maintains SD and we get duplications of MDS."
"Initially, the UI was limited in features."
"Sometimes, the service goes down for maintenance or when we run a lot of jobs so things get pushed to the queue and results don't get delivered on time."
"Reltio Cloud can be improved by providing the possibility to connect with other connectors and databases such as Snowflake, Databricks, and eventually with Azure Data Factory."
"The customer support is adequate, but not exceptional."
"The download process can be quite slow"
"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."
"The solution's UI could be enhanced, and its record filtering could be expanded."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"With Microsoft, we buy everything though an agreement, so we purchase volume licensing every year."
"I would like to see better pricing."
"Product licensing is very complicated. It would be helpful to have an online calculator to estimate the cost of a license."
"The pricing of this solution is good."
"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."
"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
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Media Company
8%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
8%
 

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 Enterprise10
 

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?
We are quite satisfied with the solution. The only issue we face is with the workflow feature. Every time we need to deploy our workflows, we must contact the Reltio Support Center. We have to rely...
What is your primary use case for Reltio Cloud?
We are currently using Reltio Cloud. We are consultants based in Europe, and we are using it for ourselves and our clients.
What advice do you have for others considering Reltio Cloud?
Our team consists of 35 plus members spread across India, Vietnam, and Portugal in Europe. The solution runs on AWS Cloud and is a well-known platform. TIBCO EBX has suffered some losses last year....
 

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 SAP, TIBCO, Qlik and others in Master Data Management (MDM) Software. Updated: February 2026.
883,760 professionals have used our research since 2012.