ETL Solutions Transformation Manager Reviews

Transformation Manager fits into every product we're doing today. Some of them are large scale, but others are simple. We have to deal with so much data in the gaming industry, so Transformation Manager provides us with real-time insights and reporting. Our banking clients get data from various source systems, including different databases and applications. In those use cases, we use Transformation Manager to generate reports as well as customer and product insights. 

Another company wanted to build a fraud-detection application, and we're helping them with that. While conducting a fraud check, you can also understand customer spending. We tried to come up with some specific product campaigns and brand promotions, so that is where we also use the solution. It's a cloud-based solution deployed on AWS. We haven't tried Azure or Google Cloud Platform, but AWS is becoming more expensive. 

Transformation Manager is the backbone of every data pipeline these days because the solution has been on the market for 20 to 30 years, and we use it for various industries, including financial services, manufacturing, healthcare, etc. They have data sitting in silos, and Transformation Manager is one of the only ways to extract, transform and roll the data.

Back in the day, we could only get reports and analyze what happened after the fact, but today now we can generate real-time insights. Transformation Manager feeds your data science projects. We generate models and then give them to the clients, so they can come up with real-time predictions and recommendations in addition to reporting. 

Transformation Manager reporting could be better. There are better options for reporting tools these days. We use Microsoft BI sometimes, but Tableau is becoming too expensive. Microsoft BI's visualization features are maturing. 

I would like it if we could set the solution up to process and respond to real-time events. For example, say I want to configure an app to run based on the mileage a car has driven, and I configure the metering system, so the event occurs every 15 days. Let's say we want to automatically send an alert to EMS, police, etc. if a car gets into an accident. 

Transformation Manager is more of a conventional tool for reporting, extracting volume, bulk loading, etc. but there should be more provisions for dealing with real-time events, creating some insights, and dealing with perishable data. Ten minutes after the accident, the data doesn't have value. It has value before you saved the person. 

We have been using Transformation Manager for about three and a half years.

We get decent support. It's okay but not great. 

Transformation Manager isn't as easy as Mongo DB because it requires a lot of configuration. It's a bit complicated but manageable. There's a learning curve. It takes at least a day to set the solution up and get it ready for any project, but it may take two days in some cases. Transformation Manager is managed and maintained by a 50-member team specializing in establishing data pipelines.

The pay-as-you-go model has replaced perpetual licensing, but many enterprises say they are paying more since moving to the cloud. Still, cloud platforms benefit smaller companies and offer one-click provisioning.

The licensing could be more flexible. For example, there could be different models based on the wall limit, the number of users, or the amount of data you process. Those different metering mechanisms should be there.

I rate ETL Solutions Transformation Manager nine out of 10. If you asked me to recommend a solution, I'll tell you to evaluate all your options, including some open-source products, Snowflake, etc. 

There is always room for improvement because the need for data solutions is on the rise while the variety and volume of data are growing. Every ETL provider needs to constantly improve, whether you are a consultant, implementation partner, or a product company, like Informatica.