Informatica PowerCenter vs Oracle Data Integrator (ODI) comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Sep 1, 2022

We performed a comparison between Informatica PowerCenter and Oracle Data Integrator ODI based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: Users of both solutions share mixed reviews regarding deployment.
  • Features: Users of both products are happy with their stability and scalability, and data integration capabilities.

    Informatica Powercenter users like that it is robust. Users mention that the solution is dated, and would prefer it if it could handle more modern formats, such as JSON.

    Users of ODI like the solution’s ease of use. Reviewers say the interface and migration process could be improved.
  • Pricing: Users feel both solutions are expensive.
  • Service and Support: Users of Informatica PowerCenter are satisfied with the support. Users ofODI share mixed reviews.
  • ROI: Users of both solutions report an ROI.

Comparison Results: The two solutions received similar ratings. However, users of Informatica PowerCenter report a better experience with technical support.

To learn more, read our detailed Informatica PowerCenter vs. Oracle Data Integrator (ODI) Report (Updated: March 2024).
763,955 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 PowerCenter is a very good ETL tool.""Deployment was simple and straightforward.""It has very good monitoring and process monitoring.""If the systems get migrated or upgraded, the amount of resources required are very minimal. We can change the connections and establish a new connection. It's very helpful.""Enterprise-scale ETL solution that's very stable and is easy to scale. It integrates and connects with multiple new systems, both structured and semi-structured.""It is easy to use, and it is quick for developing things. It is fairly powerful, and it can integrate with a lot of different platforms without much hassle.""What I like most about Informatica PowerCenter is that it's the best tool in the market for data integration. Currently, I work in L'Oréal, where a new system from SAP is used. Informatica PowerCenter integration with SAP is very, very fast and very, very simple, so you have the server flow from SAP, and through Informatica PowerCenter, you can ingest the data and make that data available for the business more quickly.""The reliability of the product and the way of orchestration of different services is valuable to us."

More Informatica PowerCenter Pros →

"The initial setup is easy.""The most valuable features of ODI are the ease of development, you can have a template, and you can onboard transfer very quickly. There's a lot of knowledge modules available that we can use. If you want to connect, for example, a Sibyl, SQL, Oracle, or different products, we don't have to develop them from scratch. They are available, but if it's not, we can go into the marketplace and see if there's a connector there. Having the connector available reduces the amount of hard work needed. We only have to put the inputs and outputs. In some of the products, we use there is already integration available for ODI, which is helpful.""Oracle provides great documentation.""​All our systems can be widely integrated by ODI, such as transactional systems, our data warehouses, and B2B integration.""Easy to understand, very developer-friendly, and has a big forum community and lots of documentation for support.""The most valuable feature that we use is the Knowledge Modules.""I do not have to maintain a separate ETL instance. I can change the SQL when something is not performing correctly.""ODI is a very accessible tool, especially since the mapping functionality has been added."

More Oracle Data Integrator (ODI) Pros →

Cons
"Some of the conversions are done inside the product. We use work tables that are created by the engine itself, but the names of the work tables are very long, and they don't have any meaning, which makes it a bit difficult to understand and follow exactly what is happening inside.""Its interface can be modernized. It is an old product. I have been working with it for 14 years, and it still looks the same. It hasn't been modernized much. It also needs to handle more modern formats, such as JSON files. It works with the old text files and databases, but it does not always work with the newer, modern stuff. You need to make your own programs to support that kind of stuff. Support is also a kind of difficult with Informatica. They don't do direct support and rely on using their distributors around the globe for support, which means that you kind of have to go through this layer of different companies before you get help.""Informatica are very rigid when it comes to cloud migrations which discourages customers in moving their solution to the cloud.""Compared to solutions offering similar functionalities, Informatica PowerCenter is not very flexible regarding customized integrations.""The price of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required, considering the fact that the present licensing charges of the tool are expensive.""The documentation could be improved.""The developer tool documentation can be enhanced with a more clear explanation of each utility, accompanied by relevant examples, so that developers are able to create programs with ease.""Informatica PowerCenter could improve by having a single interface because half of the system is still in the legacy interface and many other elements are moved to the developer client. It would be good if there was a single interface for the end user and developers."

More Informatica PowerCenter Cons →

"Stability could be improved because some operators have issues.""ODI could improve by being more user-friendly. Informatica, which is also an ETL tool, similar to ODI, but Informatica is very user-friendly, easy to use, and simple to integrate, compared to ODI. ODI has many features, put them all together, and sometimes we get confused about which ones to use, which ones not to use.""The interface of ODI could be improved. For example, navigating and finding functions can be difficult. For example, you have to know which step you need to go to look at where your job status is. The logical step is a bit complex compared to other tools. It's much easier to get a graphical view, but with ODI, it's graphical, plus you have to know all the other pieces that fit around it. You have to think about the logical and physical aspects.""​The stability of the software could be improved. Sometimes, the software just crashes. ​""We used a third party to do the implementation of ODI.""The resource management aspect of the solution could be improved.""It would be really good if Oracle considered enabling the tool to integrate with some other platforms that are deprecated simply for commercial reasons""Reverse engineering is complicated and challenging to manage."

More Oracle Data Integrator (ODI) Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "We have found the pricing very cost-effective. The licensing is CPU and data source-based."
  • "Cost could be improved."
  • "Licensing is a one time cost. But maintenance costs depend on what you want, how long you need it. Maintenance is a kind of insurance. With health insurance, you don't know whether you will get sick or need to go to hospital or not but you have to have insurance. It's the same thing with support. If you have that expertise in resolving issues, if you have enough experience in your IT department, I would say you don't need the support. But in practice, they recommend you go with the support. If you want support you have to pay for it."
  • "Price-wise, it's more expensive than SSIS, but it's a better tool, so it has more features. Licensing is on a yearly basis."
  • "Its maintenance is expensive."
  • "It's much more expensive, almost three times more expensive than most other solutions."
  • "We are satisfied with the pricing."
  • "I consider this to be an expensive product."
  • More Informatica PowerCenter Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Being an ODI developer, I never had to pay for this product. I know that the pricing/licensing is not really low, but the product is really good."
  • "We found that the cost compared to other integration tools is a little high, but the solution works great."
  • "The solution is expensive because of the model they use. The cost is for the license and for support."
  • "ODI comes included when buying the cloud version of the Oracle database license."
  • "There is a standard license to use the solution but there are other costs in addition, such as hardware and operating system."
  • "Per user, it is $900 USD per year, though they will give some discount. However, even a 60% to 70% of discount for each won't help us much. On top of that, there is the perpetual license you must pay at the outset."
  • "I have yet to determine the exact figure for Oracle Data Integrator (ODI) pricing, but it has lower pricing than Informatica."
  • "The Oracle Data Integrator (ODI) pricing isn't expensive, but it's not cheap, so it's in the middle. I'd rate the pricing as three out of five."
  • More Oracle Data Integrator (ODI) Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
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    Top Answer:The solution is very expensive. If it is cheaper, more people can use it. Oracle licensing is complex to understand. We pay a yearly licensing fee.
    Ranking
    3rd
    out of 94 in Data Integration
    Views
    20,419
    Comparisons
    16,998
    Reviews
    30
    Average Words per Review
    472
    Rating
    7.6
    4th
    out of 94 in Data Integration
    Views
    15,880
    Comparisons
    9,106
    Reviews
    15
    Average Words per Review
    435
    Rating
    8.1
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    PowerCenter
    ODI
    Learn More
    Overview

    Informatica PowerCenter is a data integration and data visualization tool. The solution works as an enterprise data integration platform that helps organizations access, transform, and integrate data from various systems. The product is designed to support companies in the full cycle of a project, from its initial rollout to critical deployments. Informatica PowerCenter allows developers and analysts to collaborate while accelerating the work process to deploy projects within days instead of months.

    The Advanced edition of the product provides an additional real-time engine which allows companies to have always-on enterprise data integration. This ensures seamless collaboration and increment of data lineage visibility and impacts analysis.

    The Premium edition of the solution offers an early warning system that detects unexpected behaviors or incorrect utilization of resources in the workflows and alerts companies in the case that these occur. This version of the product also offers automatic data validation, which ensures data accuracy and reduces testing time and expenditure of resources for by up to 90%.

    Informatica PowerCenter Features

    The product provides users with various features which allow them to execute data integration initiatives such as analytics, data warehousing, data governance, consolidation, and application migration. The features of the solution include:

    • Collaboration: Informatica PowerCenter offers role-based tools and processes which enable business self-service while benefiting from high-quality IT resources.

    • Automation: Through various automations and easy-to-use software, users can utilize graphical and codeless tools and initiate effective data integration without additional knowledge.

    • Scalability: The tool provides high scalability to users, which ensures seamless performance and minimum downtime. PowerCenter also has adaptive load balancing, pushdown optimization, and dynamic partitioning.

    • Monitoring: Through the extensive monitoring feature, the operations and governance of the solution are easily overseen by users. The tool also provides alerts that can prevent damage to the system.

    • Real-time data: Through real-time data, users can monitor applications and analytics, ensuring their efficient operation.

    • Prototyping: Informatica lets its users collaborate with information technology to prototype, profile, and validate results in a timely manner.

    • Connectivity: Users can access and integrate data from different types of sources through high-performance connectors.

    • Automated data validation testing: The product offers script-free automated and repeatable audit and validation of data.

    • Data transformation: This feature allows users to use comprehensive parsing of JSON, PDF, XML, Microsoft Office, and the Internet of Things (IoT) for non-relation data.

    • Cloud applications connectivity: The product allows for seamless connection to cloud application sources and targets.

    Informatica PowerCenter Benefits

    The benefits of using Informatica PowerCenter include:

    • The tool can work over a wide range of systems and platforms and also allows for lean integration.

    • It enhances the quality and speed of performance and optimizes the cost of the process for your organization.

    • PowerCenter supports multiple databases, including TPump, Parallel Transporter Fastload, and Teradata MLoad.

    • The tool is very easy to monitor and maintain, which simplifies the data integration process for companies.

    • The centralized error logging system allows users to locate errors in a timely manner and correct them.

    • The tool can convert data from an application to another format, as it serves as one of the most powerful data transformation solutions.

    • PowerCenter can also serve as middleware between two applications.

    • The solution offers both parallel processing and load balancing.

    • PowerCenter is a tool with a high level of security, which also minimizes essential administration activities.

    • The solution ensures the quality of information, as it does not allow invalid or unwanted data to be uploaded to the source.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Yahya T., a developer and architect at L'Oreal, says the product is stable, provides good support, and integrating it with other systems is very fast.

    Mohamed E., a senior manager for Data management and data governance at a tech company, says PowerCenter is stable, mature, and offers flexibility in building the pipeline and has a drag-and-drop mode because it's GUI-based; technical support is brilliant.

    Oracle Data Integrator (ODI) is a data integration software solution that provides a unified infrastructure to streamline data and application integration projects. It uses a powerful design approach to data integration, which separates the declarative rules from the implementation details. The solution is based on a unique ELT (Extract Load Transform) architecture, eliminating the need for a standalone ETL server and proprietary engine. 

    Oracle Data Integrator Features

    ODI has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

    • Automatic documentation generation
    • Visualization of data flows in the interfaces
    • Customization of generated code
    • Automatic reverse-engineering of existing applications or databases
    • Graphical development and maintenance of transformation and integration interfaces
    • Robust data integrity control features, assuring the consistency and correctness of data
    • Powerful core differentiators
    • Heterogeneous ELT, declarative design and knowledge modules
    • Flexibility and modularity
    • Oracle Data Integrator repository
    • Topology navigator
    • Operator Navigator
    • Security Navigator
    • Integrator Console
    • ODI domains

    Oracle Data Integrator Benefits

    There are many benefits to implementing ODI. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

    • Efficient architecture: Oracle Data Integrator has a simple architecture that utilizes the source and target servers to perform complex transformations, making it an efficient solution.
    • Supports all platforms: ODI gives you platform independence by supporting all platforms, hardware, and OSes with the same software.
    • Cost-effective: Oracle Data Integrator reduces costs associated with initial hardware and software acquisition, and also decreases maintenance costs because it eliminates the need for an ETL Server and an ETL engine.
    • Automatic detection of faulty data: By using ODI, faulty data is recycled before insertion in the target application, providing you with a data quality firewall.
    • Easy development and maintenance: With a low learning curve, Oracle Data Integrator increases developer productivity while facilitating ongoing maintenance. 
    • Active integration: ODI includes all styles of data integration: data-based, event-based and service-based.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by PeerSpot users currently using the Oracle Data Integrator (ODI) solution.

    Brian D., Business Process and Strategy Specialist Advisor at NTTData, says, “The Knowledge Module (KM) is my favorite feature of ODI. This is where I learned how to use variables to make jobs dynamic. I took that knowledge and created a KM that would go into iTunes and pull the sales of eBooks. Making something that is reusable, like a KM, is important to not only reduce build time but also maintenance in the future.”

    Ashok S., Applications Support Manager at a marketing services firm, mentions, "The most valuable features of ODI are the ease of development, you can have a template, and you can onboard transfer very quickly. There's a lot of knowledge modules available that we can use. If you want to connect, for example, a Sibyl, SQL, Oracle, or different products, we don't have to develop them from scratch. They are available, but if it's not, we can go into the marketplace and see if there's a connector there. Having the connector available reduces the amount of hard work needed. We only have to put the inputs and outputs. In some of the products, we use there is already integration available for ODI, which is helpful."

    Sample Customers
    University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, LexisNexis, Rabobank
    Griffith University, Kansas City Power & Light, Keste, Raymond James Financial, Valdosta State University
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company22%
    Financial Services Firm20%
    Retailer7%
    Insurance Company7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm17%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Insurance Company7%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm26%
    Comms Service Provider11%
    Computer Software Company9%
    University6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm16%
    Computer Software Company14%
    Government8%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business15%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise74%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business15%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise74%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business29%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise54%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business17%
    Midsize Enterprise12%
    Large Enterprise71%
    Buyer's Guide
    Informatica PowerCenter vs. Oracle Data Integrator (ODI)
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Informatica PowerCenter vs. Oracle Data Integrator (ODI) and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    763,955 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Informatica PowerCenter is ranked 3rd in Data Integration with 30 reviews while Oracle Data Integrator (ODI) is ranked 4th in Data Integration with 15 reviews. Informatica PowerCenter is rated 8.0, while Oracle Data Integrator (ODI) is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Informatica PowerCenter writes "Stable, provides good support, and integrating it with other systems is very fast, but its pricing is expensive". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Oracle Data Integrator (ODI) writes "We can make all the EPM tools work together as one and we can create a puzzle that will increase the performance and capability of all EPM tools". Informatica PowerCenter is most compared with Informatica Cloud Data Integration, Azure Data Factory, SSIS, Databricks and IBM InfoSphere DataStage, whereas Oracle Data Integrator (ODI) is most compared with Oracle Integration Cloud Service, SSIS, Azure Data Factory, Oracle GoldenGate and Talend Open Studio. See our Informatica PowerCenter vs. Oracle Data Integrator (ODI) report.

    See our list of best Data Integration vendors.

    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.