IBM InfoSphere DataStage vs Oracle Integration Cloud Service comparison

IBM InfoSphere DataStage is a high-quality data integration tool that aims to design, develop, and run jobs that move and transform data for organizations of different sizes. The product works by integrating data across multiple systems through a high-performance parallel framework. It supports extended metadata management, enterprise connectivity, and integration of all types of data.

The solution is the data integration component of IBM InfoSphere Information Server, providing a graphical framework for moving data from source systems to target systems. IBM InfoSphere DataStage can deliver data to data warehouses, data marts, operational data sources, and other enterprise applications. The tool works with various types of patterns - extract, transform and load (ETL), and extract, load, and transform (ELT). The scalability of the platform is achieved by using parallel processing and enterprise connectivity.

The solution has various versions, catering to different types of companies, which include the Server Edition, the Enterprise Edition, and the MVS Edition. Depending on which version a company has bought, different goals can be achieved. They include the following:

• Designing data flows to extract information from multiple sources, transform the data, and deliver it to target databases or applications.
  
  
• Delivery of relevant and accurate data through direct connections to enterprise applications.
  
  
• Reduction of development time and improvement of consistency through prebuilt functions.
  
  
• Utilization of InfoSphere Information Server tools for accelerating the project delivery cycle.

IBM InfoSphere DataStage can be deployed in various ways, including:

• As a service: The tool can be accessed from a subscription model, where its capabilities are a part of IBM DataStage on IBM Cloud Park for Data as a Service. This option offers full management on IBM Cloud.
  
  
• On premises or in any cloud: The two editions - IBM DataStage Enterprise and IBM DataStage Enterprise Plus - can run workloads on premises or in any cloud when added to IBM DataStage on IBM Cloud Pak for Data as a Service.
  
  
• On premises: The basic jobs of the tool can be run on premises using IBM DataStage.

IBM InfoSphere DataStage Features

The tool has various features through which users can integrate and utilize their data effectively. The components of IBM InfoSphere DataStage include:

• AI services: The tool offers services such as data science, event messaging, data warehousing, and data virtualization. It accelerates processes through artificial intelligence (AI) and offers a connection with IBM Cloud Paks - the cloud-native insight platform of the solution.
  
  
• Parallel engine: Through this feature, ETL performance can be optimized to process data at scale. This is achieved through parallel engine and load balancing, which maximizes throughput.
  
  
• Metadata support: This feature of the product uses the IBM Watson Knowledge Catalog to protect companies' sensitive data and monitor who can access it and at what levels.
  
  
• Automated delivery pipelines: IBM InfoSphere DataStage reduces costs by automating continuous integration and delivery of pipelines.
  
  
• Prebuilt connectors: The feature for prebuilt connectivity and stages allows users to move data between multiple cloud sources and data warehouses, including IBM native products.
  
  
• IBM DataStage Flow Designer: This feature offers assistance through machine learning design. The product offers its clients a user-friendly interface which facilitates the work process.
  
  
• IBM InfoSphere QualityStage: The tool provides a feature that automatically resolves data quality issues and increases the reliability of the delivered data.
  
  
• Automated failure detection: Through this feature, companies can reduce infrastructure management efforts, relying on the automated detection that the tool offers.
  
  
• Distributed data processing: Cloud runtimes can be executed remotely through this feature while maintaining its sovereignty and decreasing costs.

IBM InfoSphere DataStage Benefits

This solution offers many benefits for the companies that utilize it for data integration. Some of these benefits include:

• Increased speed of workload execution due to better balancing and a parallel engine.
  
  
• Reduction of data movement costs through integrations and seamless design of jobs.
  
  
• Modernization of data integration by extending the capabilities of companies' data.
  
  
• Delivery of reliable data through IBM Cloud Pak for Data.
  
  
• Utilization of a drag-and-drop interface which assists in the delivery of data without the need for code.
  
  
• Effective data manipulation allows data to be merged before being mapped and transformed.
  
  
• Creating easier access of users to their data by providing visual maps of the process and the delivered data.

Reviews from Real Users

A data/solution architect at a computer software company says the product is robust, easy to use, has a simple error logging mechanism, and works very well for huge volumes of data.

Tirthankar Roy Chowdhury, team leader at Tata Consultancy Services, feels the tool is user-friendly with a lot of functionalities, and doesn't require much coding because of its drag-and-drop features.

Oracle Integration Cloud Service is a cloud-based integration tool that seamlessly integrates on-premise applications with Oracle Cloud (SaaS) or other cloud apps (for example, Workday, Salesforce, etc.) to other cloud apps. Oracle’s solution combines all the capabilities of application integration, process automation, visual application building, and integration analytics into a single unified cloud service. The solution offers real-time and batch-based integration, structured and unstructured processes, case management, stream analytics, and integration insight. All of these capabilities together allow users to service all their end-to-end integration needs in one cohesive platform.

Oracle Integration Cloud Service Features

Oracle Integration Cloud Service has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

• Visual application builder service
• Integration insight
• Process automation
• Visual application design
• SaaS and on-premises integration
• Stream analytics
• Easy setup

Oracle Integration Cloud Service Benefits

There are many benefits to implementing Oracle Integration Cloud Service. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

• Powerful dashboards: The solution provides users with all the information they need via powerful dashboards that require no coding, configuration, or modification.

• Agility: Oracle Integration Cloud Service brings agility to organizations with an easy, visual, low-code platform that simplifies day-to-day tasks by getting employees, customers, and partners the services they need to work anywhere, anytime, on any device.

• Visual development environment: With the solution’s visual development environment, users can rapidly create and host engaging business applications.

• Top-tier security: With Oracle Integration Cloud Service, users are protected with various forms of top-tier security, including physical protection, OS security, and virtualization layer security, as well as tenant isolation for devoting more resources towards a specific user or customer.

• More than 50 native app adapters: Because the solution has more than 50 native app adapters, users can quickly connect to thousands of SaaS or on-premises applications seamlessly.

Reviews from Real Users

Oracle Integration Cloud Service is a solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Some of its major advantages are that it has good adapters, is user friendly, and produces a solid ROI.

Rishabh S., Business and Technology Delivery Associate Manager at Accenture, says, “It has good performance, easy integration, is user-friendly, and also has helpful technical support. The dashboard provided by Oracle Integration Cloud for monitoring and error handling is very intuitive. You do not need a third-party dashboard or logging framework when you initiate the integration. There are a lot of adapters, which is what I like the most.”

“The most valuable features of this solution are the SFTP adapters, file adapters, and risk adapters, that we use in everyday projects,” says PeerSpot user Arun N., Technical Manager at a financial services firm.

Kanhaiya C., Solution Architect at Tata Consultancy, explains, "Oracle Integration Cloud Service is a really good product and the ROI is very good with it. It lowers development time. A development cycle that may have taken a year without Oracle Integration Cloud Service can drop down to three or four months with it."