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CEO at Shiraz University
Real User
User-friendly solution with a good dashboard
Pros and Cons
  • "It's already very user-friendly and has a good dashboard."
  • "Sometimes when we want to publish to other types of databases it's not easy to publish to those databases. For example, the Jet Database Engine. Before the SSIS supported Jet Database Engine but nowadays it doesn't support the Jet Database Engine. We connect to many databases such as Access database, SparkPros databases and the other types of databases using Jet Database Engines now and SSIS now doesn't seem to support it in our databases."

How has it helped my organization?

This product is always used in projects because I'm in a company that develops software for other companies and we accept this type of work like programming and developing data models and writing the script for organizations to transfer their data between databases. We usually use these tools, and it's a cheap tool for us.

What is most valuable?

Usually, when I want to import data from other databases I use this solution. It's been about fifteen years that I've worked with an SQL server, and I'm a software developer. I've had many companies with different databases, and it's ranged from FoxPro, EDX and Oracle, and some other databases. When I want to import data I usually use this tool for importing data from the other databases to the server. It is really good, and it's solved many problems for me because I can choose the source table, destination table, source field, and destination field. I can match these things, I can write some queries to do this and because of that, I use this tool.

What needs improvement?

Sometimes when we want to publish to other types of databases it's not easy to publish to those databases. For example, the Jet Database Engine. Before the SSIS supported Jet Database Engine but nowadays it doesn't support the Jet Database Engine. We connect to many databases such as Access database, SparkPros databases and the other types of databases using Jet Database Engines and SSIS now doesn't seem to support it in our databases.

In future releases, it would be helpful to support new SQL databases. It would also be helpful if there was a way to use SQL with other languages like Python or ASP.NET.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for 15 years.
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August 2025
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is very good and I recommend it to my friends, my coworkers, and the other companies.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was very easy for us and very good.

What about the implementation team?

I installed the solution by myself.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price is important to us. We are based in Iran, and we look for products with a good price because of the sanctions. Some other products such as Oracle are expensive here and we do not recommend these products to our customers. They are expensive and they are very difficult to work with them. They are very difficult and very complicated but Microsoft products are not like that.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I used this product when I was a student so I chose this technology because I understood it best. 

What other advice do I have?

We chose the solution because we have some data in Oracle and we wanted to extract it and load the data into SQL Server

The type of port, like SSIS, I always recommend other companies to use it and other Microsoft products because they are very easy to use. There are very handy tools. It's very user-friendly and has a good dashboard.

I would rate the solution nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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Senior Director Business Intelligence at Xtivia
Real User
An inexpensive tool with a short learning curve
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuables features are the relatively short learning curve, and the automation capabilities provided through the BIML add-in for SSDT."
  • "I would like to see more standard components out of the box, such as SFTP, and Data Compression components."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use case for this solution varies according to the customer, but it typically involves moving data from OLTP systems into a data warehouse and/or data marts.

How has it helped my organization?

This solution has provided an inexpensive tool and it is easy to find experienced developers.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features are the relatively short learning curve, and the automation capabilities provided through the BIML add-in for SSDT.

What needs improvement?

The UI could use refinement. I would like to see more standard components out of the box, such as SFTP, and data compression components.

For how long have I used the solution?

More than five years.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
SSIS
August 2025
Learn what your peers think about SSIS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: August 2025.
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PeerSpot user
Business Process and Strategy Specialist Advisor at NTTData
Consultant
Top 5Leaderboard
It was a easily adaptable to our group. The scalability needs some improvement.

What is our primary use case?

Movement of data and creation of files. ALl the typical things that you would have a ETL solution do. Data movements were in the millions and no calculations were completed. This means it was always a select * from where ever it was coming from and going to. Light translations like concatenation was being used. 

How has it helped my organization?

SSIS was easily adaptable to our group. It was cheaper than the other tools that we compared it to, however I feel that we got what we paid for.

What is most valuable?

The packaging and how it is organized is good for someone that really has never seen ETL before. 

What needs improvement?

Scalability of SSIS needs some improvement. Seems to get sluggish as soon as we hit a high volume of data.

For how long have I used the solution?

Still implementing.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Again it failed a lot and by a lot I mean every day. The failures were false alarms and caused many sleepless night for our company that I used to work for.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

SSIS is good for smaller shops that don't really have a high volume of data.

How are customer service and technical support?

I would rate the customer service as poor. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We were using Hyperion Application Link. We switched because HAL was being sunset.

How was the initial setup?

Never participated in the initial setup.

What about the implementation team?

In-house.

What was our ROI?

For the money, it's a decent tool. However, if the budget was larger I would have gone with a different tool

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Look at how this product is sold to you. Ask yourself, am I getting everything that I need. Its more expensive to get the additional adapters after the fact.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We looked at ODI, Informatica, and DataStage. All three we had in-house. ODI was the better option and after dealing with SSIS for only a few months, we ended up using ODI.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
GaryM - PeerSpot reviewer
GaryMData Architect at World Vision
Top 5LeaderboardReal User

Curious people's experiences when they mention "fail a lot" or scalability. I've used many ETL tools in my career - most of them very expensive and I'd put SSIS up against any of them for reliability and performance (within limits).

Scalability is largely comparing to expectations and it depends on your expectations. I think people too often compare completely different architectures and are surprised when they scale differently. SSIS is single server. No MPP going on here folks. You get a lot more than you've paid for (which is really nothing is you already own SqlServer). SSIS sure beats the open source stuff I've seen out there that really sucks. Try Pentaho written in Java if you want slow. I've read where people have custom coded front ends to fire multiple SSIS servers and there's ways of partitioning data flows but if you are getting into that you might be on the wrong tool. Consider the opposite - most people are running SSIS on the target database box so its competing with the database server as well as not utilizing more than one server. I'm doing that and actually getting quite great performance (again - its all about expectations).

So yes if you need millions per second SSIS is not the tool you want. My benchmark with SSIS is @10,000 rows per second to stage large rows through a data flow. I'm guessing if you need a lot faster than that you have significant volumes and big pockets so why would you look at a free tool that's designed to be installed on a database server?

As for failing, it would only fail due to buffers if you did something with altering buffers that you should not have done. That would be your bad sorry. Or you're doing something else silly like running on 4gb VM and didn't set a max memory on the Sql Server so basically everything crawls or fails. Hey - some of you are laughing but some are probably scratching their heads and asking, so what's wrong with that?

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student at University of Newcastle
User
A change in the metadata source cripples the whole ETL process, requiring each module to be manually reopened. The solution can be deployed into the cloud through Data Factory
Pros and Cons
  • "It has the ability to be deployed into the cloud through Data Factory, and run completely as a software as a service in the cloud."
  • "A change in the metadata source cripples the whole ETL process, requiring each module to be manually reopened."

What is our primary use case?

SSIS is a very flexible solution that allows data to be generated through code or external software. As a result, we can create reproducible patterns and improve code quality.

How has it helped my organization?

Because of the code generation, code quality improved and the time to develop decreased. This led to a quicker and more agile development phase.

What is most valuable?

It has the ability to be deployed into the cloud through Data Factory, and run completely as a software as a service in the cloud.

What needs improvement?

Metadata management. A change in the metadata source cripples the whole ETL process, requiring each module to be manually reopened.

For how long have I used the solution?

More than five years.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Brian Dandeneau - PeerSpot reviewer
Brian DandeneauBusiness Process and Strategy Specialist Advisor at NTTData
Top 5LeaderboardConsultant

First,
Great review and thanks for posting.

There are a few things you can do to lessen the crippling effect of a change to the source. Use variables to loosen the grip the source has, making it more dynamic.

I would agree that unless you have been doing this for years and are a top consultant in the field you wouldn't know this. You could also argue that it could be over verbalization and troubleshooting this can be a bear in SSIS.

Again Thanks for posting. Keep the reviews coming.
V/r,
Brian Dandeneau
CEO Applied Governance

Assistant Manager at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
MSP
In addition to the ETL challenges, it allows us to do DBA activitities, scripting and many other tasks.
Pros and Cons
  • "In SSIS, the scope is not only to handle ETL challenges, but it will allow us to do so many other tasks, such as DBA activities, scripting, calling any .exe or scripts, etc."
  • "SSIS can improve in handling different data sources like Salesforce connectivity, Oracle Cloud's connectivity, etc."

How has it helped my organization?

For the full version of the SQL Server, SSIS, SSAS and SSRS will come as additional features for free. Hence, my organization need not spend extra money for other ETL, reporting and analysis tools. This can give very good flexibility.

What is most valuable?

In SSIS, the scope is not only to handle ETL challenges, but it will allow us to do so many other tasks, such as DBA activities, scripting, calling any .exe or scripts, etc.

What needs improvement?

SSIS can improve in handling different data sources like Salesforce connectivity, Oracle Cloud's connectivity, etc. Also, handling of the different data types will be a big challenge here; so expecting improvement in these areas.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

There were no stability issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There were no scalability issues.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is very good.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Based on the client's requirements, we switched over to this solution.

How was the initial setup?

The setup is straightforward.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We looked at Informatica and DataStage.

What other advice do I have?

Don't worry, go ahead.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Brian Dandeneau - PeerSpot reviewer
Brian DandeneauBusiness Process and Strategy Specialist Advisor at NTTData
Top 5LeaderboardConsultant

Thanks for the review and keep them coming.

I like what you put in here for improvements. However, don't hold your breath for Oracle Cloud integration. Most Oracle ETL/ELT tools don't have direct cloud integration yet and its not on the roadmap for a few years.
V/r,
Brian Dandeneau
CEO Applied Governance

PeerSpot user
Business Intelligence Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Consultant
All the necessary types of enumerators are available, but writing custom components and sharing them across multiple ETL streams is tricky.

Valuable Features:

  • Compatibility with the rest of Microsoft BI stack
  • Scripting component which opens unlimited possibilities: by having the full .Net stack/libraries available, if you need a yellow rubber duck to quack every million rows, it will quack
  • Inter-stream dependency mechanism built directly into the tool; the whole ETL solution can be driven off it without having to employ third party software
  • Parallel processing of a data flow: let's say there's five steps in the flow and ech step consumes output from the preceding step; once step #1 is completed and its data passed to step #2, the engine will feed the next batch of rows to step #1. Once the first batch of rows reaches the last step, there are five concurrent steps working on five different data sets, maximizing utilization of server resources
  • All the necessary types of enumerators (files, xml nodes, rows and many more)

Improvements to My Organization:

  • SSIS packages are stored in XML-like format; we keep them in SVN which makes it very easy to track changes
  • Built-in dependency tool is really great; you can not only react to success/failure results, but you can evaluate any expression in the flow and execute (or bypass) any components based on the result of that expression. This gives you full control to build decision trees of any complexity

Room for Improvement:

  • Writing custom components and sharing them across multiple ETL streams is tricky and requires specialistic voodoo knowledge
  • Make the GUI less eye-candy and more responsive; especially the scripting component needs some TLC regarding UI responsiveness

Initial Setup:

It's easy to deploy, you just need a simple file-copy mechanism that is sufficient for most deployment scenarios.

Other Advice:

The good:

  • Straightforward, intuitive, quick to learn
  • Built-in debugger: variables, data viewers, breakpoints - everything you would expect from a modern software development tool
  • Sleek, snappy UI
  • Great flexibility with storing and deploying ETL components

The bad:

  • Third party plug-ins may become incompatible with future versions of SSIS
  • Upgrading is usually painful and time consuming despite what MS says
  • Compatibility issues may arise when used with non-Microsoft technologies
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
it_user102120 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user102120Business Intelligence Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Consultant

Thanks Gary. Yes, I am aware of the new SSISDB database and I am slowly migrating some of the projects to it. It is much more convenient, especially the way you can configure your solution on per-environment basis. Plus it is flexible, too. You can have just one instance of the SSISDB database for all your environments or one instance per environment, or even some hybrid mode. You can control and track progress of your executions using purely T-SQL, so lots of goodies. Haven't had a chance to play around with 2016 yet but things seem to be going in the right direction anyway.

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PeerSpot user
Senior Consultant with 51-200 employees
Vendor
It allows us to add C# or other code into ETL flow, but it doesn't have a built-in version control, so you have to get that from other vendors too (so it lacks support for multiple developers).

What is most valuable?

Its easy to use, fast to develop. Quite easy to also add C# or other code into ETL flow. Transfer to production is much faster than for example with IBM Infosphere Datastage, you can just copy the packages. Haven't found bugs much at all. Its license cost is also quite cheap compared to IBM and Informatica offerings. Overall when choosing a new ETL software I would look into SSIS or one of the open source tools.

What needs improvement?

-If you want to connect to SAP for example you have to buy add-in from other company and the same applies to many other sources.

-It doesn't have a built-in version control, so you have to get that from other vendors too (so it lacks support for multiple developers).

-Visual studio crashes sometimes.

-Doesn't have good ELT functionality, though ofcourse one can just do SQL.

-Overall there's many small things that could be done to make development faster and the product is not definitely perfect, but one has to compare to offerings of other vendors, which are not 'perfect' from usability and performance standpoint eather.

For how long have I used the solution?

Been using it for 5 years now.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability not on the same level as with IBM Datastage.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Many customers are switching from IBM Datastage to SSIS. Think its the ease of use and license costs.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Developer at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
Consultant
Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services is one of the most effective ETL tools available in the market

Valuable Features:

Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services provides you the ability to build ETL solutions with very minimum background knowledge. If you are already familiar with DTS packages or fairly new to ETL, it is very easy for you to start with your first assignment using SSIS.Microsoft SSIS not only provides you the traditional ETL tasks for loading data from source to destination, it also provides you the ability to send emails using it and write your custom code using Script task and offers to process SSAS task, which makes it stand out from its competitors.It is specifically designed to provide high data transfer using parallel computational logic.Very easy to configure and deploy and maintenance is very low.

Room for Improvement:

It is unable to provide separate user account for each user like Data Hub. Actually Microsoft SSIS is more designed to build ETL solutions for enterprise level unlike Data Hub where each user can access the database and have their own sets of databases.Need to improve error logging although it does provide error logs but there is still more room for improvement in this area. Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services is one of the most effective ETL tools available in the market.Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services is very low cost compared to the market’s leader Informatica (Power Center) and almost offers everything you need to build your ETL solution.

Other Advice:

You need to have Microsoft SQL Server (Enterprise Edition) licensed to run Microsoft SSIS on your production environment. Like every other Microsoft product, It offers a very vibrant MSDN community along with Microsoft support staff for assistance.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
GaryM - PeerSpot reviewer
GaryMData Architect at World Vision
Top 5LeaderboardReal User

2016 version due out in a few months is even much better and the first significant upgrade since 2012...if you haven't yet used SSIS I'd wait until 2016 and start there if you can. 2014 is unchanged from 2012.

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