Informatica MDM vs Microsoft MDS comparison

Cancel
You must select at least 2 products to compare!
Informatica Logo
5,422 views|3,857 comparisons
94% willing to recommend
Microsoft Logo
2,016 views|990 comparisons
89% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Informatica MDM and Microsoft MDS based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Cloud Master Data Management (MDM) Solutions solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Informatica MDM vs. Microsoft MDS Report (Updated: July 2022).
767,995 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"Informatica MDM stands out as a tool that can give you the flexibility needed for doing channel-specific data quality or business validation.""I like that Informatica MDM has robust matching technology. Informatica MDM is also porting the external Java applications for validations. I can consider that a must-have. It is also exposed to Rest API calls, and we can engage in real-time integrations with any third-party systems.""Its data cleansing capabilities are very valuable. The match and merge and the audit trail functionalities are very good.""It comes with lot of features and is a one-stop-shop solution for integration, data modeling, and data governance. Everything can be built under one particular umbrella. If any issues come up, then there won't be any blame game saying that it could be an integration issue or an MDM hub issue because it's wholly owned by Informatica. That's the biggest advantage of Informatica MDM over that of any other tools that are available on the market.""This is where I think MDM shines - with its strong fuzzy matching algorithm. This is the essence of Informatica MDM. Based on these results, I can write our match conditions and then perform the corresponding data management activities.""It has improved our organization because it has made our data more reliable. Data is the most important asset these days, and in order to trust your data, you need these tools to make sure that your data is clean and reliable.""The fuzzy matching capability is a great feature.""The ability to aggregate and put together data from around fifty sources into one environment allows us to have a preview of everything in a single place, which is something we did not have previously in our company."

More Informatica MDM Pros →

"Technical support is very good.""It is very easy to deploy and provision a machine.""The backup and restore functionality are the solution's most valuable aspects.""The tool is easy to use.""It's very easy to use.""The most valuable feature is the administration console.""Enables non-technical people to directly interact with the BI system.""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."

More Microsoft MDS Pros →

Cons
"Inserting the GenAI into the master data management will reduce the overall effort of operational activities.""Informatica MDM has limitations with connectivity.""The tool should provide a unified user interface to manage the data objects.""I think they should work really hard on UI.""I feel the out-of-the-box APIs or the API management could be improved slightly from their current state. It could be more user-friendly.""The integration could be a bit better. The process is something new.""Informatica's issue is the licensing. Right now, there are a lot of new gen MDMs that are offering a lot in a single licensing model.""We promote our code changes from a lower to a higher environment, which is highly complex when working with a multi-domain MDM like Informatica. This is the biggest obstacle for Informatica MDM, and I think they should change it because that's very time consuming."

More Informatica MDM Cons →

"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.""The Microsoft license cost could be lower.""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.""From my understanding, MS, as of 2021, will not maintain the product going forward.""Most of the Microsoft partners, especially digitally, are separate. Personnel are business people, and they do not have technical expertise, so you end up as a company spending a lot of money training your staff and your engineers.""It would be a better option to have an on-cloud version.""JMD repositories have records that come in thousands and millions, which takes a long time to process.""In the next version, I would like to see integration with Azure."

More Microsoft MDS Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "it's expensive, but if you're looking for a stable solution, Informatica MDM is a good one to choose."
  • "It's pretty high for us. It's more on the higher side, like low to middle high."
  • "It is expensive. That's probably the biggest drawback. The business has heartache paying the license, but that's mainly because they don't realize what value it brings. The key thing about the MDM solution is that it is in the backend, and no one sees what it is actually doing. You don't know it is a problem until it is not there."
  • "Informatica MDM's pricetag should come down. They have to cut some costs."
  • "There is no doubt that it is very expensive, but the brand value comes at a cost. Other MDM solutions in the market that haven't proven themselves like Informatica are also pretty expensive. We need to understand that MDM itself is very expensive to implement. So, Informatica is also pretty expensive. I would rate it a two out of five for being pretty expensive."
  • "It's offers value for money. They're more competitive with respect to pricing and offerings."
  • "Informatica MDM recently changed its pricing model. It's usage-based but I don't have much insight into the current pricing."
  • "Informatica MDM's price could be lower."
  • More Informatica MDM Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The pricing of this solution is good."
  • "With Microsoft, we buy everything though an agreement, so we purchase volume licensing every year."
  • "I would like to see better pricing."
  • "MDS is a part of the SQL Server enterprise license. I am not aware of any additional costs."
  • "SAP is more expensive than Microsoft."
  • "The solution does require a license and we have enterprise licenses."
  • "Microsoft MDS is an expensive solution."
  • More Microsoft MDS Pricing and Cost Advice →

    report
    Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Cloud Master Data Management (MDM) Solutions solutions are best for your needs.
    767,995 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Answers from the Community
    Richard Tibbetts
    InitZero - PeerSpot reviewerInitZero
    Real User

    Hi @Richard Tibbetts,


    There's no short answer to your question. Nearly all existing MDM solutions on the market offer a broad range of patterns to ingest master data from various sources and distribute cleanse and consolidated information, also to the Azure stack. Many vendors offer prebuilt connectors for the most common sources (databases, various file types, storages, business applications including MS Dynamics, Salesforce, etc.), but also support a generic way of ingesting/exposing data via Rest APIs, file drops, etc.


    MS MDS is an extension of the MS SQL server 2016. I don't know Microsoft plans to extend it, but I know that Profisee and CluedIn are very active in promoting their solutions as-built having Azure in mind and being a part of the stack.


    Informatica MDM has three types of offerings these days: on-prem, hosted MDM, and cloud-native option - they differ in the functionality and integration options.


    Obviously, there are many more MDM tools on the market particularly good in various data domains (products, customers/suppliers - so yours, multi-domain, etc).


    I think that you should start your MDM journey by answering which current challenges you try to solve or what new capabilities you need to enable to the organisation. Once these questions are answered and based on your organization's Enterprise Architecture principles, look for the best fitting tool. It may (or may not) be the one that fits the best into the Azure Reference Architecture.


    I hope this helped.

    InitZero - PeerSpot reviewerInitZero
    Real User

    It's probably worth to add the Microsoft promotes using CluedIn as MDM solution on Azure stack. Please have a look at the Microsoft documentation:


    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-...


    Last week Microsoft and CluedIn had a joined demo seesion. Perhaps you can ask for a link to a recording: https://www.linkedin.com/posts...


    GaryM - PeerSpot reviewerGaryM
    Real User

    I agree with @InitZero... 


    I would add that there's no future roadmap for MDS and they don't have an Azure solution for it.  Since it's a free product with an SQL license, don't expect Microsoft to invest in it.  


    Even though we are highly dependent upon it currently I'm starting to look towards the future where we need to find a replacement - hopefully, a PaaS solution. It would be great if Microsoft came out with something in Azure but I'm not hopeful at this point.

    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:This is where I think MDM shines - with its strong fuzzy matching algorithm. This is the essence of Informatica MDM. Based on these results, I can write our match conditions and then perform the… more »
    Top Answer:Pricing can vary because Informatica doesn't have a standard price across the board. It depends more on the sales representatives in different regions. They essentially call the shots and decide the… more »
    Top Answer:I feel the out-of-the-box APIs or the API management could be improved slightly from their current state. It could be more user-friendly. In future releases, I would love to have more reports and… more »
    Top Answer:Unlike specialized tools, MDS is adaptable for various industries, making it a versatile choice for master data management.
    Top Answer:Microsoft MDS is cost-effective because it comes with SQL Server Enterprise Edition at no extra software cost. The main expenses are for deployment, but it saves money by reducing the need for custom… more »
    Top Answer:Microsoft MDS isn't getting strong support because Microsoft is focusing more on cloud solutions. Profisee initially made MDS, which Microsoft bought. Profisee now handles the cloud version. There are… more »
    Ranking
    Views
    5,422
    Comparisons
    3,857
    Reviews
    22
    Average Words per Review
    558
    Rating
    8.0
    Views
    2,016
    Comparisons
    990
    Reviews
    7
    Average Words per Review
    391
    Rating
    8.0
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Siperian, Customer 360
    Microsoft Master Data Services, Microsoft MDM, Microsoft SQL Server Master Data Services, MS MDS
    Learn More
    Overview

    Informatica MDM solution delivers the market-leading foundation on which to build that trusted 360-degree view. Companies around the globe rely on Informatica MDM to give business users easy access to the data that drives their strategic decisions about cutting costs, increasing revenues, improving operations, reducing risk, and capitalizing on opportunities. As the industry’s only true end-to-end MDM solution, it incorporates data integration, data quality, data governance, business process management, and master data management on a single vendor-agnostic platform to ensure faster time-to-value.

    Microsoft Master Data Services (MDS) is an SQL server solution for master data. MDS enables users to organize and manage a business's master set of data into models while also creating rules for updating the data and control over who can edit it. In addition, the master dataset can be shared with other people in your organization through Excel.

    In Master Data Services, you create a model, which is the highest level container in the structure of your master data. This model can then be used to group similar data. Within the model, there can be one or more entities that are similar to a table. Those entities contain members that are the data records. For example, your model can include commodities such as style, color, and product if you manage online product data. The color entity may contain members for various colors. Models may also have attributes that contain values that describe entity members and can be defined within the entities.

    There are also attributes that contain values that help describe entities within entity members. There are two different types of attributes:

    • Free-form attributes - include numbers, dates, text, or files.
    • Domain-based attributes - includes values that can be used as attribute values for other entities.

    Features of Microsoft MDS

    Microsoft MDS offers a variety of features that provide a central management of master data, while accommodating access to editors and other consumers of the information. These features include:

    • Data Validation: With a proactive monitoring process in Business Rules, users can ensure data validity before the lists are used.

    • Domain Agnostic: Any data type or data schema can be supported by the MDS system.

    • Security: Without risking unauthorized changes, IT teams are empowered to control access at the attribute, entity, and record levels.

    • Web-based UI: There is no need to install software, as the web-based user interface gives access to a vast user base.

    • Versioning: Each model in MDS can be versioned, allowing for users to tab particular versions for subscribing systems.

    • Hierarchy Management: MDS offers functional and versatile management of business hierarchies with various hierarchy types and specialized controls.

    • Transaction Logging: MDS offers a transaction log to keep track of changes, as well as the ability to explain why changes were made.

    Reviews from Real Users

    For those managing large quantities of master data, Microsoft MDS is a solution of choice for a number of reasons. Two of those are its ability to empower everyone to interact with the BI system as well as its integration with Azure active directory.

    Satyam S., a senior software developer at a manufacturing company, notes, "Enables non-technical people to directly interact with the BI system."

    An individual contributor at a pharma/biotech company writes, "One of the main features I have found useful is the integration with Azure active directory."

    Sample Customers
    UPMC, Citrix
    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
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company21%
    Financial Services Firm17%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Retailer8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company14%
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Manufacturing Company11%
    Energy/Utilities Company7%
    REVIEWERS
    Non Profit17%
    Manufacturing Company17%
    Retailer8%
    Government8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company15%
    Financial Services Firm10%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    Government7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business17%
    Midsize Enterprise6%
    Large Enterprise77%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business17%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise72%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business40%
    Midsize Enterprise10%
    Large Enterprise50%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business16%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise69%
    Buyer's Guide
    Informatica MDM vs. Microsoft MDS
    July 2022
    Find out what your peers are saying about Informatica MDM vs. Microsoft MDS and other solutions. Updated: July 2022.
    767,995 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Informatica MDM is ranked 1st in Cloud Master Data Management (MDM) Solutions with 43 reviews while Microsoft MDS is ranked 2nd in Master Data Management (MDM) Software with 18 reviews. Informatica MDM is rated 8.0, while Microsoft MDS is rated 7.6. The top reviewer of Informatica MDM writes "Optimize business processes while ensuring that users see a return on their investment from the use of the product". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Microsoft MDS writes "Useful Excel plug-in, good scalability, and good integration with SQL Server and other Microsoft products". Informatica MDM is most compared with Reltio Cloud, SAP Master Data Governance, Profisee, IBM InfoSphere MDM and Stibo STEP MDM, whereas Microsoft MDS is most compared with Profisee, SAP Master Data Governance, TIBCO EBX, Reltio Cloud and Semarchy xDM. See our Informatica MDM vs. Microsoft MDS report.

    We monitor all Cloud Master Data Management (MDM) Solutions reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.