IBM Informix vs Teradata comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Informix
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
15th
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Embedded Database (6th)
Teradata
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
7th
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Data Warehouse (3rd)
 

Market share comparison

As of June 2024, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the market share of IBM Informix is 2.3% and it increased by 28.3% compared to the previous year. The market share of Teradata is 5.9% and it increased by 10.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools
Unique Categories:
Embedded Database
16.7%
Data Warehouse
15.6%
 

Featured Reviews

PK
Jul 31, 2023
A robust database system with strong concurrency and scalability, ideal for large-scale processing
I am mostly an Informix programmer, so it was easy for me. The deployment took one to two hours. This is some development addition, so deploying it on a real Informix server would take more time. But nothing extremely long. I did the deployment myself. This server runs on Linux. As for the steps of deployment, You need to download Microsoft. Then I registered with IBM and got a link. I downloaded a package and software, and then I checked the product with it whether they were all fulfilled and supported the operating system, and then I ran installation scripts.
SurjitChoudhury - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 20, 2024
Offers seamless integration capabilities and performance optimization features, including extensive indexing and advanced tuning capabilities
We created and constructed the warehouse. We used multiple loading processes like MultiLoad, FastLoad, and Teradata Pump. But those are loading processes, and Teradata is a powerful tool because if we consider older technologies, its architecture with nodes, virtual processes, and nodes is a unique concept. Later, other technologies like Informatica also adopted the concept of nodes from Informatica PowerCenter version 7.x. Previously, it was a client-server architecture, but later, it changed to the nodes concept. Like, we can have the database available 24/7, 365 days. If one node fails, other nodes can take care of it. Informatica adopted all those concepts when it changed its architecture. Even Oracle databases have since adapted their architecture to them. However, this particular Teradata company initially started with its own different type of architecture, which major companies later adopted. It has grown now, but initially, whatever query we sent it would be mapped into a particular component. After that, it goes to the virtual processor and down to the disk, where the actual physical data is loaded. So, in between, there's a map, which acts like a data dictionary. It also holds information about each piece of data, where it's loaded, and on which particular virtual processor or node the data resides. Because Teradata comes with a four-node architecture, or however many nodes we choose, the cost is determined by that initially. So, what type of data does each and every node hold? It's a shared-no architecture. So, whatever task is given to a virtual processor it will be processed. If there's a failure, then it will be taken care of by another virtual processor. Moreover, this solution has impacted the query time and data performance. In Teradata, there's a lot of joining, partitioning, and indexing of records. There are primary and secondary indexes, hash indexing, and other indexing processes. To improve query performance, we first analyze the query and tune it. If a join needs a secondary index, which plays a major role in filtering records, we might reconstruct that particular table with the secondary index. This tuning involves partitioning and indexing. We use these tools and technologies to fine-tune performance. When it comes to integration, tools like Informatica seamlessly connect with Teradata. We ensure the Teradata database is configured correctly in Informatica, including the proper hostname and properties for the load process. We didn't find any major complexity or issues with integration. But, these technologies are quite old now. With newer big data technologies, we've worked with a four-layer architecture, pulling data from Hadoop Lake to Teradata. We configure Teradata with the appropriate hostname and credentials, and use BTEQ queries to load data. Previously, we converted the data warehouse to a CLD model as per Teradata's standardized procedures, moving from an ETL to an EMT process. This allowed us to perform gap analysis on missing entities based on the model and retrieve them from the source system again. We found Teradata integration straightforward and compatible with other tools.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most valuable feature is concurrency and locking because my customers usually use databases in OLTP mode. So, for a large number of competitive users. Other features that are well valued are quick large-scale data types. It is better than Oracle."
"IBM Informix benefits users with high availability and good integration capabilities."
"Replication, all levels of replication, query charting, and the MongoDB embedded are the most valuable features of this solution."
"The stability is incredible. I have customers with uptimes of several years."
"This solution has made financial reporting possible by allowing financial people the opportunity to set Informix to "Auto Pilot" so that they can attend other duties."
"Replication is a valuable feature and easy to use."
"It supports multiple applications and business intelligence tools."
"The initial setup is pretty easy."
"​Parallel processing features have helped to easily dump any size of data and retrieve data with great performance."
"The two types of partitioning have been very significant for us - row and columnar partitioning."
"Teradata's best feature is its speed with historical data."
"It effectively has allowed us to remove over 20 portion copies of the data sets on other DB platforms for real-time operational reporting purposes."
"Teradata can be deployed on-premise, on the cloud, or in a virtual machine, which means customers can move without having to create their architecture all over again."
"I've never had any issues with scalability."
"I like this solution's ease of design and the fact that its performance is quite good. It is stable as well."
"The functionality of the solution is excellent."
 

Cons

"There should be more intelligence surrounding discovering data to be able to automatically create indexes."
"The support team could include local engineers to establish efficient communication. It will help us speed up the escalation process."
"It would be helpful to have IBM salespeople know that Informix exists, and sell it. Currently, it is completely ignored by IBM."
"The technical support services need substantial improvement."
"I would like to see backups from secondary servers."
"The pricing is a bit expensive."
"The solution lacks some functionality."
"I really would love to have a QT plugin."
"Teradata's pricing is quite high compared to Redshift, Synapse, or GCP alternatives."
"I would like to see an improved Knowledge Base on the web."
"Teradata could improve by being less complicated. There are some aspects that are not available on the Unix server and a Unix system is required to access some data, such as in case of an emergency."
"Teradata needs to expand the kind of training that's available to customers. Teradata only offers training directly and doesn't delegate to any third-party companies. As a result, it's harder to find people trained on Teradata in our market relative to Oracle."
"Data synchronization to the DR site."
"I would like to see more integration with many different types of data."
"The increasing volumes of data demand more and more performance."
"An additional feature I would you like to see included in the next release, is that it needs to be more cloud-friendly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I am not aware of the licensing costs or terms."
"The product has reasonable pricing. We purchase its yearly license."
"The free edition can be enough to handle moderate-size implementations, but you may want a pay for edition to benefit from more functionality, such as replication."
"For me, it's always too expensive."
"It's a very expensive product."
"Teradata is a very expensive solution."
"The cost of running Teradata is quite high, but you get a good return on investment."
"Teradata is expensive, so it's typically marketed to big customers. However, there have been some changes, and Teradata is now offering more flexible pricing models and equipment leasing. They've added pay-as-you-go and cloud models, so it's changing, but Teradata is generally known as an expensive high-end product."
"The price of Teradata could be less expensive."
"The solution requires a license."
"Teradata is expensive but gives value for money, especially if you don't want to move your data to the cloud."
"The price of Teradata is on the higher side, and I think that it where they lose out on some of their business."
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Comparison Review

it_user232068 - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 5, 2015
Netezza vs. Teradata
Original published at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/should-i-choose-net Two leading Massively Parallel Processing (MPP) architectures for Data Warehousing (DW) are IBM PureData System for Analytics (formerly Netezza) and Teradata. I thought talking about the similarities and differences…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
54%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Retailer
5%
Computer Software Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
25%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Informix?
It supports multiple applications and business intelligence tools.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Informix?
The product has reasonable pricing. We purchase its yearly license.
What needs improvement with IBM Informix?
The key areas for improvement revolve around understanding the current customer trends and demands, particularly in software and database requirements. The product's performance could be better com...
Comparing Teradata and Oracle Database, which product do you think is better and why?
I have spoken to my colleagues about this comparison and in our collective opinion, the reason why some people may declare Teradata better than Oracle is the pricing. Both solutions are quite simi...
Which companies use Teradata and who is it most suitable for?
Before my organization implemented this solution, we researched which big brands were using Teradata, so we knew if it would be compatible with our field. According to the product's site, the comp...
Is Teradata a difficult solution to work with?
Teradata is not a difficult product to work with, especially since they offer you technical support at all levels if you just ask. There are some features that may cause difficulties - for example,...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Informix
No data available
 

Learn More

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Shaspa, Hildebrand, Kaifa, Ranhill Powertron, Federaci‹ Farmacutica (FedeFarma), Camden Council, The German Aerospace Center (DLR), Myers, Votorantim Group, Doosan Infracore, GreenIvory
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Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Informix vs. Teradata and other solutions. Updated: May 2024.
787,226 professionals have used our research since 2012.