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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
24
Ranking in other categories
Master Data Management (MDM) Software (5th)
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 (5th), 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 8.5%, down 12.4% compared to last year.
Reltio Cloud, on the other hand, focuses on Cloud Master Data Management (MDM), holds 9.3% mindshare, down 17.2% since last year.
Master Data Management (MDM) Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft MDS8.5%
Semarchy xDM11.1%
TIBCO EBX9.3%
Other71.1%
Master Data Management (MDM) Software
Cloud Master Data Management (MDM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Reltio Cloud9.3%
Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC)18.9%
Semarchy xDM12.9%
Other58.9%
Cloud Master Data Management (MDM)
 

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.
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

"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."
"I would recommend Microsoft MDS to companies that need a simple solution at no cost."
"Compared to other databases, it is easier to manage and administer."
"The advantage of Microsoft MDS is that it's so handy, so customizable, and easy to use."
"Technical support is very good."
"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."
"It has been 200% useful in our organization."
"It gives you the flexibility to have in-depth experience; it allows you to collect data and save it as a golden record, and you have the flexibility for data stewardship."
"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 most valuable feature of Reltio Cloud is the customization we can make in its functionality."
"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."
"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."
"We can store the data and enrich it from multiple sources."
"It is a scalable product, and the scalability is good. We can configure users."
"Reltio Cloud offers advantages over competitors, including a dashboard with a good amount of detail that looks significantly better than Informatica or Stibo."
"Its user interface is different from that of other MDM solutions like Informatica"
 

Cons

"From what we have seen, speaking to customers, Microsoft MDS was sometimes a bit slow."
"I do not like using Silverlight and Internet Explorer. The new 2019 version gets rid of that, which is one of the reasons why we are looking to switch."
"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."
"There are occasions when the solution maintains SD and we get duplications of MDS."
"I would like to separate the website from the database side. By default, you have the webserver running on the same server as it is the database."
"It would be a better option to have an on-cloud version."
"Stability can be fragile at times. If you are not attentive or make a mistake, it can cause problems."
"In my 30+ years in IT I've never experienced a tool that only allows you to create reactive rules that identify bad data but never prevent it from getting saved. In a large enterprise I would rule this as a show stopper."
"The solution's UI could be enhanced, and its record filtering could be expanded."
"Ultimately, technical complexity emerges as the primary challenge we face, revealing opportunities for improvement."
"There are many issues. For example, sometimes, errors related to tokenization occur while creating a match rule."
"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 download process can be quite slow"
"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."
"Initially, the UI was limited in features."
"The deployment is difficult."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
9%
Computer Software Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

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 Business2
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise13
 

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 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: July 2026.
904,680 professionals have used our research since 2012.