Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) Reviews

We are using it to understand the assets that we have from their technical metadata perspective, but we're also using it to align our business glossaries with the actual physical data location where the data is stored. Using their Claire or AI engine helps facilitate that. We've been doing that for a while.

The other thing we're trying to do is extend that metadata capability to include extended lineage and provenance attributes. We're trying to incorporate those into the existing EDC environment, and hopefully, when we get Axon, we'll try to figure out how we would expose that to the customer. We will figure out whether we're going to expose that directly or whether we're going to have to augment Axon with an additional UI layer.

From my standpoint, Informatica offers a pretty robust set of scanning tools that can scan a variety of sources of information. It offers a central repository that you can go to for interrogating and finding data. You can find the data that you're looking for based on enhanced metadata.

The other thing that we're working on is extending the existing Informatica data quality capabilities within the EDC so that we have a more robust understanding of not only what the data is and where it is located but also the quality of that data. We are doing this so that when people are looking for data, they see not only where they can find the data, but they also feel confident that the data is going to meet their needs.

The capability of the tool to scan and capture the metadata from a variety of sources is one of the capabilities that I find most useful. The central repository into which it is going to put that captured metadata is the best.

The model is somewhat flexible. There are certain aspects of the model that are not as flexible as we would like. It doesn't do certain things to a great level of depth. So, in situations where we want to drill in to do something specific, we have to essentially copy that data into our own structures in order to add that additional layer of flexibility.

Robust process management or workflow management, like Bonita, should be incorporated into the Informatica tool stack because it offers very simplistic workflow capabilities. If we had more dynamic and robust workflow capabilities, we could make use of that a lot more. Currently, we have to do a lot of pre-work outside of the Informatica tools before we can get the data loaded and start using it because they're UIs. I haven't dealt with Axon. So, I don't know exactly how that's going to change things, but with the EDC tool, I can't say the user interface is useless, but people don't use it because they find it cumbersome.

Its UI, without considering Axon, is probably their least desirable part. It has some interesting capabilities, but it is not what I would call cutting edge or super. It is not as intuitive as I would've expected. Its UI is probably prior to Axon. It is a little dated, and even Axon has been out there for a while now, but it is a little dated. That's probably why they went out and bought the company that originally made Axon.

I have been using this solution for five or six years.

It is very stable.

We're using it for our enterprise. We are not the largest enterprise in the world, but we're a pretty good size. We have 20,000 people working here and petabytes of data flowing through various systems. It is less about the people using it directly as opposed to the systems using it. It is really a matter of the system interfaces that are automating. We're trying to automate the metadata as much as possible so that when people are looking at their data, they can also see the associated metadata. Sometimes, we have to pull the metadata out of EDC and feed it into other systems so that as they're using these other systems, they can see the metadata flows with it.

I haven't dealt much with them directly, but I've had colleagues create tickets all the time. Generally, they're pretty good. 

I'm more from the end-user perspective. From a system standpoint, there is a different team that sets things up on the server and establishes various types of configurations. I do work with them, but I'm not actually doing that work. 

They have three people that are actively managing the system, and they are system administrators. There are also various people who might be testing things at any one point in time, and then there are various analysts who might be creating data to feed into the system, such as definitions of business terms. The same people may review the results once it gets into the engine. When it starts to process that data and makes the associations between the terms and the actual metadata where it is linking the two up, somebody has to go in and validate that, especially the exceptions or the ones that don't have a high enough matching score. So, there are probably three or four system admin folks, and those are more technical folks, and then you have maybe 20 people who might be putting in data, validating the data, and so on. Those are still primarily an IT function. They have subject matter expertise, but they're still reporting up through the IT group, and then, we'll eventually get to the point where we have a more robust set of business users who are reviewing and vetting that information.

I have no idea what the price actually is. It is probably not going to be the cheapest, but it is a pretty stable and robust platform from the backend standpoint. 

I would rate it an eight out of ten.

Informatica MDM is used for customer affiliations and sites and hierarchy management.

Informatica MDM has helped our organization because we now work from a harmonized single record for customers and patients. We're able to have an aggregation or hierarchy view, which drives a whole variety of things, such as data quality and data reliability.

The most valuable feature of Informatica MDM is hierarchy management. It's not something that's typically available and effective within ERPs.

Informatica MDM can improve the data catalog and data marketplace.

Informatica MDM is expanding in AI by making it much more efficient and automated stewardship-related work. I'd like to see that accelerated and made available for on-premise.

I have been using Informatica MDM for approximately four years.

The stability of Informatica MDM is good.

Informatica MDM is scalable.

We have approximately 100 people using this solution in my company and their roles vary. For example, we have stewards, data analysts, platform administrators, architects, developers, and support teams. The active users are primarily stewards and data analysts.

We rate Informatica MDM support on an annual basis and we have quarterly executive business reviews where we discuss support issues.

Positive

We previously used SAP for MDM. We switched because there were new use cases that SAP couldn't meet. 

The initial setup of Informatica MDM is more complex than it should be.

We used a third party for the implementation of Informatica MDM.

We have approximately 20 people that do the maintenance and support of the solution. This includes support admin teams and architect engineers. We have a BA for each of the domains, shared architecture, shared engineers, ETL, and MDM. Additionally, we rely heavily on third-party assistance.

We have seen an ROI in duplicate data management, visibility to market share, and reduction in risk.

I rate the licensing cost of Informatica MDM a five out of ten.

We did go through a solution selection and RFP process before we chose Informatica MDM.

My advice to others is for them to look at SaaS and cloud options first.

I rate Informatica MDM a seven out of ten.

Informatica MDM has a lot coming ahead from a solution standpoint, which is a benefit for them. However, there's a lot of configuration involved to keep the solution going and this is why I would encourage a SaaS solution for anyone coming in.

Informatica MDM is used for all data management practices use cases, such as centralized master data, cataloging, and metadata management.

The most valuable features of Informatica MDM are its reliability, match functions, and integration capabilities. The out-of-box functionality of deduplication and built-in data models ensure faster implementation.

Informatica MDM could improve the interdependency with integration. The solution sometimes becomes a bit difficult to change considering a lot of interdependency with the integration. There can be some improvement in the workflows and they can introduce more artificial intelligence.

In a future release, Informatica MDM could improve the UI and create an easier way to change the existing setup.

I have been using Informatica MDM for approximately 20 years.

Informatica MDM is stable.

Informatica MDM is scalable. However, sometimes it becomes difficult to perform the change. When it comes to volumes, it's fantastic and very fast.

We have an entire organization of approximately 80,000 using the solution.

The technical support from Informatica MDM is good.

I have previously used IBM, SAP MDG, and Parallels.

If an organization has a quite complex setup with different systems then I would recommend Informatica SAP MDM because of the integration capabilities. If the organization only has one ERP, then it's not advisable to use Informatica MDM because SAP MDG is quite integrated with SAP.  The IBM solution I use quite a long time before, but I don't know how they are doing today.

The setup of Informatica MDM is easy.

We have two people that do the development and maintenance of the solution.

Informatica MDM recently changed its pricing model. It's usage-based but I don't have much insight into the current pricing.

Whether to use Informatica MDM or not is highly depends upon what is the use case and the core structure you have in the organization. If you have a small company with limited systems, then you use something lightweight MDM. Where you have more than one ERP, all technology interacting with each other, then I would suggest a solution, such as Informatica MDM, it is a good deal.

I rate Informatica MDM a seven out of ten.

In the past, people used Informatica MDM because it was one of the leading tools at that point in time to work on an on-premises model. It was the leading tool in the market, offering vast customization options and matching and merging options that were better compared to other solutions. The way the data lineage or the customization options it gave, the tool was good. Now, the tool has a changed dynamic, and it is currently available on the cloud. Apart from Informatica MDM, there are other tools, as well as the market, that are completely on the cloud.

The feature of the product that has been most helpful in improving data quality revolves around Informatica DQ or IDQ, which is one of the tools Informatica offers. IDQ helps cater to the scoring of the data, clean up the data, and integrate it.

In terms of the room for improvement required in the product, I would say that the product is still in the maturing phase, specifically on the cloud. The product is not too user-friendly to do the configurations. There are a couple of areas in the product where I feel improvements can be made, but if I consider the algorithms used in the match process, the tool is very robust.

I have been using Informatica MDM for nine to ten years. My company is a partner of Informatica, and we also implement the tool.

Stability-wise, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

In terms of scalability, I would say that the product is currently more available in the cloud. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a five out of ten. The scalability on the cloud is good. On the cloud, by default, the tool becomes quite scalable.

Informatica provides premium products. The product is mainly meant for enterprise-level customers because the tool is available at the premium cost.

I have not used the technical support provided by the product. If you asked me about the support offered for the tool's on-premises model, I would say they were really good. We really liked Informatica's support. With the cloud, I'm not aware of the support.

If one is a difficult setup and ten is easy, I rate the product's initial setup phase as a five.

If you are talking about the product on the cloud, the initial configuration must be done. There is quite a lot of refresh which takes place every time we have to publish something, and then we have to wait for some time. It is not that you make a change, but you can see it immediately in the tool. The wait period is quite long. If you are a first timer, it takes time for that person to figure out the product. Once you get the hang of it, then it becomes easy.

An end-to-end implementation would take nine to ten months, or maybe a little more than that, depending upon the customer's desired features.

The tool does give a good ROI.

The product is not very pocket-friendly for small and medium-sized businesses, and it is understandable because of the kind of features the tool gives.

On a scale of one to ten, if one is a cheap solution and ten is an expensive one, I rate the tool's price as seven.

Informatica MDM is able to handle complex data integration scenarios with the help of IDCM, which offers the power of an ETL tool.

Speaking about the AI part, I feel the product is still in the maturing phase.

My first preference would be for Welkio, and only after that would I prefer Informatica MDM, so I would say that it won't be my first choice.

I rate the tool a seven out of ten.

We use the tool to collect, integrate, and process the data from different sources. Later, we direct the processed data to the required solution for analysis purposes.

It is a cloud service integration platform providing flexible and scalable data management architecture. It enables seamless integration with large data ecosystems, including Hadoop and NoSQL databases. It supports real-time data streaming platforms as well.

They could provide more robust performance for data integration processes. It would help in improving the data quality more efficiently.

We have been using Informatica Data Integration Hub for the past six months.

I rate the platform’s stability a seven out of ten. The complexity depends on the types of data. It has a robust software architecture.

The product offers two types of scaling mechanisms. We can add more nodes, integrate the service grid, and distribute workloads across multiple processing units. Also, we can add more resources, including CPU memory. It enhances the capability to handle large data volumes.

We can even utilize the load-balancing feature while handling high volumes of data. I rate the scalability an eight out of ten for efficient adaptability, pricing, and performance.

The technical support services are good.

The complexity of the initial setup depends on several factors, including types and volumes of data. It also depends on the data integration and configuration.

Working with a healthcare client with diverse locations, we faced the challenge of analyzing data in isolation, making it difficult to generalize findings across different areas. With the help of Informatica Data Integration Hub, we can collect data from various locations and enhance business insights.

We are familiar with centralized publishing and subscription models. It ensures the enforcement of data governance policies across all data sources and consumers, promoting data consistency and quality.

The automated artificial data synchronization facilitated by the data integration hub has proven invaluable in supporting our daily operations. It ensures the continuous updating of data, preventing delays and inaccuracies that may arise from using outdated information in analyses. This capability became particularly crucial during the sudden changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing us to adapt swiftly to the evolving business landscape. However, they could provide us with real-time data to increase the efficiency of manufacturing processes.

I advise others to understand the different data resources available in the organization before making the purchase decision. I rate it an eight out of ten.

We use Informatica Cloud Data Integration to migrate to the cloud, upgrade our data warehouse, and implement master data management. It helps us with in-depth analysis, leveraging shared history, and addressing data governance questions.

The most valuable features of Informatica Cloud Data Integration for our clients are the AI capabilities within Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services. It excels in mapping development, searching for contracts in data governance, creating data quality rules, and designing merging processes. The ability to identify duplicates and automate analysis coverage is particularly beneficial. Additionally, the cost-effective option of using Informatica Cloud Data Integration for smaller projects or departments has made it more accessible and attractive for experimentation.

One area where Informatica Cloud Data Integration could improve is in providing more accelerators for certain functionalities. For example, for master data management, having additional accelerators could streamline implementation. Additionally, enhancing compatibility with metadata sharing across different applications, similar to what is achievable with PowerCenter, would further enhance the product's capabilities.

I would like to see more connectors for on-premise databases in the next version of Informatica Cloud Data Integration. Currently, CDI free is a great option for cloud integration, but expanding the connectors to include databases like Oracle or MySQL for on-premise environments would make the tool more versatile and accessible for smaller businesses or those not fully in the cloud.

I have been working with Informatica Cloud Data Integration since 2016.

Informatica Cloud Data Integration has been generally stable, with occasional editor issues. However, SLAs are consistently respected, and we typically experience minimal downtime, averaging around two to three hours per month.

The scalability of Informatica Cloud Data Integration is high. With advanced pushdown optimization, it performs well in various environments like Snowflake and AWS. It is suitable for companies of all sizes; for small to medium enterprises, starting with fewer IPUs is cost-effective, and scalability allows for growth as needed.

I would rate Informatica's vendor support as a seven out of ten. It is generally good, but there is room for improvement, especially as they shift focus from on-premise to the cloud. We often find answers in the community for software issues, but sometimes we encounter challenges that require official support tickets.

Neutral

The initial setup for Informatica Data Integration is straightforward. Deployment is simple, involving exporting and importing development processes. The ability to pilot the Informatica Data Integration platform from various APIs makes continuous integration and deployment easy to manage through API calls.

I would rate Informatica's pricing as an eight out of ten in terms of affordability. Starting with a small IPU volume is cost-effective, and as we grow, the pricing adjusts favorably based on consumption, which makes it reasonable for our needs.

I would rate Informatica Cloud Data Integration overall as an eight out of ten. It is a comprehensive platform covering data integration, API integration, data quality, data governance, master data, and privacy tools—all within one platform. The accessibility to all functionalities with the purchase of IPUs is a significant advantage compared to the past where certain features required additional payments and permissions.

My company does not specifically focus on selling the solution to a particular sector. My company generally sells the solution to various sectors, including manufacturing and finance.

Informatica Enterprise Data Catalog is a compact tool. Many products operate as a data system solution or as a data catalog tool. The product is helpful when it comes to data transformation. If you would like to solve specific data-related problems, Informatica Enterprise Data Catalog can serve as a useful product.

I cannot specifically point out an area in Informatica Enterprise Data Catalog that needs improvement since it properly functions as a data catalog tool. You cannot use something like Atlas to get catalog ranges, making Informatica Enterprise Data Catalog a comparatively powerful tool. The UX and UI of the solution are areas with certain shortcomings where improvements can be made in the future.

If I want to get some extra features in the product, I can contact Informatica's research and development team, who can add some new features to the product and make the tool available in the market.

I have been using Informatica Enterprise Data Catalog for more than ten years. My company has a partnership with Informatica.

Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Though there are some bugs in the solution, Informatica's research and development team, along with Informatica's customer service team, supports my company in solving such bug-related issues.

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

Informatica Enterprise Data Catalog can be a good solution that is really easy to use when it comes to enterprise-sized companies, but it may pose some challenges for small and medium-sized companies.

Most companies to whom my company provides the solution are enterprise-sized businesses.

I rate the technical support a ten out of ten. My company has a partnership with Informatica, and we provide Informatica's products to the end users or customers. Informatica has to provide my company with good support in order to hold on to its customers who deal with my company.

Positive

I rate the product's initial setup a nine and a half to ten on a scale of one to ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy.

Most of the companies to whom my company provides the solution deploy it on an on-premises model. My company also sells the cloud version of the solution while also offering our customers the option to move from on-premises to the cloud version of the solution.

My wife runs a pharmacy, and she uses an ERP solution for sales-related activities, the data of which I can move to the cloud in ten minutes if she chooses Informatica Enterprise Data Catalog.

With Informatica Enterprise Data Catalog, measuring the return on investment can be hard. I rate the return on investment a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is zero return on investment, and ten is a hundred percent return on investment.

The price of the product is something that may vary from customer to customer. I rate the product's pricing a five on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive.

If a customer or business wants to easily maintain their data domains, they can opt for Informatica Enterprise Data Catalog.

I rate the overall product an eight to nine out of ten.

Test data management is a common use case. When conducting testing in lower environments, we want to avoid exposing sensitive information. To achieve this, we use Data Masking to modify the data. 

For example, we change personally identifiable information, phone numbers, and emails so that they cannot be viewed. The modified data retains the structure and format but doesn't reveal the actual information.

The tool is mainly valuable for testing teams, as it helps protect sensitive data during testing. It can also be used to mask production data for different users, ensuring that only authorized individuals can access sensitive information. These are the main reasons why we use this tool.

I think there's only one area that could be improved. Currently, when we apply the Data Masking rate, we don't have a way to view the masked data. It would be helpful if there was a feature to allow us to see the actual information.

Once the data is masked, it cannot be reversed. Having the ability to revert it back to the actual value would be beneficial, especially if we need to see the original information. Although our enrollment has decreased, it would still be helpful to have that feature.

I have used Data Masking as part of my work.

Stability is good. It's definitely reliable.

Scalability is good. It's definitely scalable to handle higher volumes across different platforms as well. It performs well in terms of scalability. 

Additionally, when it comes to implementing more source systems, there haven't been any issues.

Our experience with customer service from Informatica has been excellent. They are always available and responsive.

Positive

The initial setup is generally straightforward. However, there can be some challenges during the on-prem installation process, even though we have the steps and prerequisites. Dealing with installation issues is quite common, but overall, it's not excessively complex to set up.

The need for maintenance depends on the team. Sometimes, the solution you configure in the tool determines the level of maintenance required. However, overall, maintenance hasn't been a significant issue.

Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten.