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Informatica PowerCenter pros and cons

Vendor: Informatica
4.0 out of 5
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Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Informatica PowerCenter is recognized for its powerful and efficient ETL capabilities, capable of handling complex transformations and managing large volumes of data.
Its scalability and stability make it ideal for integrating data from heterogeneous sources and performing high-volume data transformations seamlessly.
The tool's ability to reduce legacy coding and simplify data integration processes is highly valued by organizations.
PowerCenter provides excellent technical support, which is an essential asset for businesses seeking reliable assistance and timely resolutions.
Its comprehensive transformation features, including partitioning and optimization, enhance performance and streamline development efforts.

CONS

Informatica PowerCenter lacks advanced analytics features, requiring organizations to invest in additional products for business intelligence needs.
The integration with cloud applications is not seamless, and users need to perform significant configuration work to connect with various cloud services.
High licensing costs make Informatica PowerCenter less competitive compared to other more affordable data integration tools.
Scalability is an issue, with performance affected by the ingestion of large data volumes.
Documentation, especially for new users and developers, is seen as inadequate and could benefit from clearer explanations and more examples.
 

Informatica PowerCenter Pros review quotes

it_user677700 - PeerSpot reviewer
DW Admin at a hospitality company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jun 4, 2017
Once you figure it out, it is a powerful and simple ETL tool. Its stability has been very satisfactory.
it_user488589 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technology Architect at Broadridge Financial Solutions
Jun 15, 2017
The ability to scale through partitions helped us to improve the performance.
it_user793938 - PeerSpot reviewer
Integration developer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Dec 26, 2017
Good product if you are trying implement data quality, data integration, and data management projects.
Learn what your peers think about Informatica PowerCenter. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
884,192 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user808662 - PeerSpot reviewer
Works at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Jan 25, 2018
Reusable definition of data sources and the out-of-the-box availability of a large number maplets for common transformation functions.
MM
Student at Ontario Ministry of Labour
Mar 5, 2018
Informatica PowerCenter has been implementing mapping design, data flow, and workflow execution for years.
VS
Lead Application Developer and Informatica Administrator at a healthcare company with 501-1,000 employees
May 23, 2018
It reduces a lot of legacy coding.
it_user1080720 - PeerSpot reviewer
ETL Reporting Analytics Consultant at Accenture
May 2, 2019
The most valuable features are the dynamic reading of the file metadata profile, and the ability to define business rules that are used to verify and validate the uploaded files.
it_user1030422 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director of Innovation & Development Department at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Jul 18, 2019
Technical support is great. It's one of the reasons we really like them. When you compare support from IBM and support from Informatica, Informatica is much better.
AE
Data Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Dec 30, 2019
The partitioning and optimization to help enhance our development is a very valuable aspect of Informatica PowerCenter.
it_user1119516 - PeerSpot reviewer
Project Manager at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jul 29, 2019
The performance and design of Informatica have been very valuable. I find the performance faster than, say, Oracle Data Integrator or DataStage.
 

Informatica PowerCenter Cons review quotes

it_user677700 - PeerSpot reviewer
DW Admin at a hospitality company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jun 4, 2017
The UI is outdated and old-fashioned, at least in our current version. Also, we have experienced some stability issues with the Workflow Monitor application.
it_user488589 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technology Architect at Broadridge Financial Solutions
Jun 15, 2017
We had to take on a large volume of data from the legacy Sybase system. This was taking a very long time, i.e., more than a day. We were trying to improve it with partitions to gpload, but we were told that we can't go more than four partitions.
it_user793938 - PeerSpot reviewer
Integration developer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Dec 26, 2017
There can be scalability issues. Huge amounts of data ingestion will impact performance.
Learn what your peers think about Informatica PowerCenter. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
884,192 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user808662 - PeerSpot reviewer
Works at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Jan 25, 2018
While Informatica is great for data-integration, it does not have any analytics features. Thus, organizations have to always look for another product for their BI needs.
MM
Student at Ontario Ministry of Labour
Mar 5, 2018
Integrated Reporting service should be more smoothly transitioned from view to function to be in sync with the main design.
VS
Lead Application Developer and Informatica Administrator at a healthcare company with 501-1,000 employees
May 23, 2018
The initial setup is not straightforward. You need expertise to do it.
it_user1080720 - PeerSpot reviewer
ETL Reporting Analytics Consultant at Accenture
May 2, 2019
The developer tool documentation can be enhanced with a more clear explanation of each utility, accompanied by relevant examples, so that developers are able to create programs with ease.
it_user1030422 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director of Innovation & Development Department at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Jul 18, 2019
Now they are migrating to a new version, and they have something that is called Informatica Developer. Previously, they just had PowerCenter. Now, when they move everything to Informatica Developer it's not as good or stable like it was when it was PowerCenter, though it has some nice features. This Developer tool could be better.
AE
Data Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Dec 30, 2019
The multiple interfaces in Informatica PowerCenter are not great for the user experience. Because of this, I think it can cause confusion for any beginner developer.
it_user1119516 - PeerSpot reviewer
Project Manager at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jul 29, 2019
As a connector to big data, it is not well developed. We've had problems connecting Informatica with Hadoop. The functionality to connect Informatica with Hadoop, for me it's not good.