IBM InfoSphere DataStage vs Qlik Compose comparison

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IBM InfoSphere DataStage and Qlik Compose based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Data Integration solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed IBM InfoSphere DataStage vs. Qlik Compose Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,386 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
"It's a robust solution.""The most valuable feature is the product's versatility to inject data.""ETL is the most valuable feature.""The product is easy to deploy.""As a data integration platform, it is easy to use. It is quite robust and useful for volumetric analysis when you have huge volumes of data. We have tested it for up to ten million rows, and it is robust enough to process ten million rows internally with its parallel processing. Its error logging mechanism is far simpler and easier to understand than other data integration tools. The newer version of InfoSphere has the data catalog and IDC lineage. They are helpful in the easy traceability of columns and tables.""We like the flexibility of modeling.""The most valuable feature is the data integration for data warehousing.""It works with multiple servers and offers high availability."

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"The technical support is very good. I rate the technical support a ten out of ten.""Qlik Compose is good enough. It is user-friendly and intuitive.""One of the most valuable features was the ability to integrate multiple source systems that mainly used structured IDBMS versions.""It's a stable solution.""As long as you pick the solution that best fits with your requirements, you won't find that performance is a problem. It's good.""One of the most valuable features of this tool is its automation capabilities, allowing us to design the warehouse in an automated manner. Additionally, we can generate Data Lifecycle Policies (DLP) reports and efficiently implement updates and best practices based on proven design patterns.""I have found it to be a very good, stable, and strong product.""There were many valuable features, such as extracting any data to put in the cloud. For example, Qlik was able to gather data from SAP and extract SAP data from the platforms."

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Cons
"The interface needs improvement. It is really too technical. That is the main problem.""We would be happy to see in next versions the ability to return several parameters from jobs. Now, jobs can return just one parameter. If they could return several parameters, that would be great.""The documentation and in-application help for this solution need to be improved, especially for new features.""The initial setup could be more straightforward.""The setup is extremely difficult.""Reduced cost would allow more customers to choose the product. It's quite expensive in relation to the cost of other similar solutions.""Its documentation is not up to the mark. While building APIs, we had a lot of problems trying to get around it because it is not very user-friendly. We tried to get hold of API documentation, but the documentation is not very well thought out. It should be more structured and elaborate. In terms of additional features, I would like to see good reporting on performance and performance-tuning recommendations that can be based on AI. I would also like to see better data profiling information being reported on InfoSphere.""In the future, I would like to see more integration with cloud technologies."

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"I'd like to have access to more developer training materials.""There could be more customization options.""I believe that visual data flow management and the transformation function should be improved.""It would be better if the first level of technical support were a bit more technically knowledgeable to solve the problem. I think they could also improve the injection of custom scripts. It is pretty difficult to add additional scripts. If the modeling doesn't give you what you want, and you want to change the script generated by the modeling, it is a bit more challenging than in most other products. It is very good with standard form type systems, but if you get a more complicated data paradigm, it tends to struggle with transforming that into a model.""My issues with the solution's stability are owing to the fact that it has certain bugs causing issues in some functionalities that should be working.""The solution has room for improvement in the ETL. They have an ETL, but when it comes to the monitoring portion, Qlik Compose doesn't provide a feature for monitoring.""There should be proper documentation available for the implementation process.""When processing data from certain tables with a large volume of data, we encounter significant delays. For instance, when dealing with around one million records, it typically takes three to four hours. To address this, I aim to implement performance improvements across all tables, ensuring swift processing similar to those that are currently complete within seconds. The performance issue primarily arises when we analyze the inserts and updates from the source, subsequently dropping the table. While new insertions are handled promptly, updates are processed slowly, leading to performance issues. Despite consulting our Qlik vendors, they were unable to pinpoint the exact cause of this occurrence. Consequently, I am seeking ways to optimize performance within Qlik Compose, specifically concerning updates."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "High-cost of ownership: They could take a page from open source software."
  • "Pricing varies based on use, and it is not as costly as some competing enterprise solutions."
  • "Small and medium-sized companies cannot afford to pay for this solution."
  • "The cost is too high."
  • "It's very expensive."
  • "Our internal team takes care of group licensing and cost. We don't have individual licenses. We have group licensing at the company level. Usually, IBM doesn't charge anything separately on the licensing side. For storage and everything else, we are paying around $6,000 per month, which is not very high. It includes Linux data storage, execution, and licensing. They're charging $40 for one-hour execution. Based on that, we are spending around $2,000 on the production environment and $1,000 on the lower environment for testing and development-side executions. For the mainframe, we are using the Db2 mainframe database, and we are spending around $1,000 on the Db2 mainframe database as well. All this comes out to be around $6,000. We, however, would like to have some cost reduction."
  • "The price is expensive but there are no licensing fees."
  • "It is quite expensive."
  • More IBM InfoSphere DataStage Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is very expensive, I rate the solution a six."
  • "The price of the solution is expensive."
  • "While they outperform Tableau, there's room for improvement in Qlik's pricing structures, especially for corporate clients like us."
  • More Qlik Compose Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer: My company currently uses the free version of the product, and we are definitely switching to a paid one. We needed a tool that can help us not only integrate our data but use it effectively. For the… more »
    Top Answer: I think the tool may cause some difficulties if you have not used other data integration solutions before. I have worked at companies that used different tools for data integration, and they work… more »
    Top Answer:IBM Cloud Paks makes a big difference in your data integration. My company has been using it alongside IBM InfoSphere DataStage and while the main product is good on its own, this one truly expands… more »
    Top Answer:There are two products I know about * TimeXtender : Microsoft based, Transformation logic is quiet good and can easily be extended with T-SQL , Has a semantic layer that generates metat data for cubes… more »
    Top Answer:The most valuable is its excellence as a graphical data representation tool and the versatility it offers, especially with drill-down capabilities.
    Top Answer:While they outperform Tableau, there's room for improvement in Qlik's pricing structures, especially for corporate clients like us.
    Ranking
    7th
    out of 94 in Data Integration
    Views
    11,053
    Comparisons
    9,113
    Reviews
    14
    Average Words per Review
    439
    Rating
    7.9
    18th
    out of 94 in Data Integration
    Views
    2,162
    Comparisons
    1,624
    Reviews
    10
    Average Words per Review
    460
    Rating
    7.7
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Compose, Attunity Compose
    Learn More
    Overview

    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.

    Qlik Sense is a powerful business intelligence tool that offers a range of features to help organizations make faster and more informed decisions. Its primary use cases include operational and financial dashboards, self-service reporting, and centralized access to cross-functional reports. The solution is praised for its mobile platform, ease of use, data-sharing capabilities, and extensibility. 

    Qlik Sense has helped organizations improve data literacy, reduce time consumed in complex reports, and provide widely available MI to senior stakeholders. It also enables self-service analytics, improves data quality and governance, enhances collaboration, and reduces costs.

    Sample Customers
    Dubai Statistics Center, Etisalat Egypt
    Poly-Wood
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company54%
    Transportation Company8%
    Healthcare Company8%
    Financial Services Firm8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm26%
    Manufacturing Company11%
    Computer Software Company11%
    Insurance Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Manufacturing Company11%
    Computer Software Company11%
    Retailer6%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business46%
    Midsize Enterprise7%
    Large Enterprise48%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business16%
    Midsize Enterprise9%
    Large Enterprise74%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business36%
    Midsize Enterprise9%
    Large Enterprise55%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business17%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise70%
    Buyer's Guide
    IBM InfoSphere DataStage vs. Qlik Compose
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about IBM InfoSphere DataStage vs. Qlik Compose and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    IBM InfoSphere DataStage is ranked 7th in Data Integration with 36 reviews while Qlik Compose is ranked 18th in Data Integration with 12 reviews. IBM InfoSphere DataStage is rated 7.8, while Qlik Compose is rated 7.6. The top reviewer of IBM InfoSphere DataStage writes "User-friendly with a lot of functions for transmission rules, but has slow performance and not suitable for a huge volume of data". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Qlik Compose writes "Easy matching and reconciliation of data". IBM InfoSphere DataStage is most compared with IBM Cloud Pak for Data, SSIS, Azure Data Factory, Talend Open Studio and Informatica PowerCenter, whereas Qlik Compose is most compared with Qlik Replicate, Talend Open Studio, Azure Data Factory and SSIS. See our IBM InfoSphere DataStage vs. Qlik Compose report.

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    We monitor all Data Integration 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.