Informatica PowerCenter vs SSIS comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Mar 31, 2022

We performed a comparison between Informatica Powercenter and SSIS based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: Informatica PowerCenter users say the setup is a simple process but requires some level of knowledge because some manual work is required. For skilled users, the setup is easy, and some did it themselves. SSIS users say the initial setup is easy.
  • Features: Valuable features of Informatica PowerCenter include the metadata repository, the data warehouse application console, its stability, and scalability. Users value the ease of connection with multiple new systems, both structured and semi-structured. Other valuable features are the user-friendly interface, the automated scheduling feature, and the ability to manage large datasets. However, users mention that the solution is lacking the ability to do batch processing of data.

    SSIS users value the debugging capabilities and the easy integration with Microsoft tools. Other valued SSIS features are the ease of use and the script component. However, users say it should have more supported programming languages.
  • Pricing: Informatica PowerCenter users say the price is on the higher side compared to other tools. On the other hand, SSIs users say that the solution is cost-effective, although the cloud offering is very costly.
  • Service and Support: Informatica PowerCenter users feel that to get adequate support, they need to escalate to higher-level support. The regular support could be more responsive. SSIS users are very happy with the support, especially with the large community of users.

Comparison Results: Informatica PowerCenter is a more advanced option if you can afford the higher price. However, SSIS scored better in terms of ease of deployment and service and support.

To learn more, read our detailed Informatica PowerCenter vs. SSIS 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
"The most valuable aspects of Informatica PowerCenter are the many features, ease of use, and user-friendliness.""PowerCenter performs well during data transformation and optimization.""It provides everything I need. Nothing is missing. PowerCenter is a good tool for on-premise databases.""We use Informatica PowerCenter to transfer the transitional database to and from the data warehouse. This is very efficient as it enables us to quickly find our data reports and the data, so we can build AI models.""Informatica PowerCenter is a very good ETL tool.""Technical support is great. It's one of the reasons we really like them. When you compare support from IBM and support from Informatica, Informatica is much better.""It's very easy to use it to develop mappings and workflows.""The technical support for Informatica PowerCenter is good."

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"The interface is very user-friendly.""The UI is very user-friendly.""It's something I needed for bulk imports. I'm not a big fan of it, but I haven't seen anything better.""The workflow features have been very valuable. You can have automated workflows and all the steps are controlled. The workflow functionality of integration services is excellent.""This solution is easy to implement, has a wide variety of connectors, has support for Visual Basic, and supports the C language.""The technical support is very good.""SSIS integrates well with SQL servers and Microsoft products.""We can connect with multiple data sources easily using an external connector in SSIS."

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Cons
"If we could have the option of performance improvement within Informatica, and if it could have more features, that would be ideal.""Integrated Reporting service should be more smoothly transitioned from view to function to be in sync with the main design.""PowerCenter could integrate better with cloud applications. We had to do a lot of configuration work using API integrations to connect with cloud applications. Informatica Cloud Data Integration has a generic connector that you can use directly, so it's much easier.""There is some room for improvement in terms of pricing.""Lacks ability to calculate cost of the product.""PowerCenter could be improved by having more big data components. Normally, we prefer Informatica as a relational database, but nowadays, companies are trying to understand and use big data components. I think it would be useful if we had more chances to create a hub ecosystem because customers try to use some data integration tasks by SQL, Spark and Spark codes, and Scala, but at the end of the day, the company will understand that we need to trace all the steps. An ETL tool is a must for that company, if we're talking about the regulated industries like finance, telcos, etc. If Informatica's biggest ecosystems feature were okay, I would prefer to use it.""In terms of performance improvement and tuning, there should be a bit more guidance and documentation.""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."

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"SSIS can improve in handling different data sources like Salesforce connectivity, Oracle Cloud's connectivity, etc.""A change in the metadata source cripples the whole ETL process, requiring each module to be manually reopened.""It's a legacy tool, that is nearing the end of its useful life.""When I compare Talend and SSIS, Talend provides more features. With Talend, we can handle a large volume of data. Talend is usually used to treat a large volume of data, which makes it better than SSIS on the data side. Talend also has a very good Talend Management Console to schedule the jobs and do other things. It can also be easily connected to version control tools such as GitHub or SVN. The last time I used SSIS, it was connected through TSS for the Windows Console version. I am not sure it has been improved or not. If it is not improved, Microsoft should improve it. They should change the product to provide another console.""There are a lot of things that Microsoft could improve in relation to SSIS. One major problem we faced was when attempting to move some Excel files to our SQL Server. The Excel provider has a limitation that prevents importing more than 255 columns from a particular Excel file to the database. This restriction posed a significant issue for us.""Video training would be a helpful addition.""I would also like to see full integration with our BI because then our full load of data will be available in our organization. They should incorporate an ATL process.""I would like to see better technical documentation because many times information is missing."

More SSIS 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 →

  • "This solution has provided an inexpensive tool, and it is easy to find experienced developers."
  • "My advice is to look at what your configuration will be because most companies have their own deals with Microsoft."
  • "This solution is included with the MSSQL server package."
  • "It would be beneficial if the solution had a less costly cloud offering."
  • "Based on my experience and understanding, Talend comes out to be a little bit expensive as compared to SSIS. The average cost of having Talend with Talend Management Console is around 72K per region, which is much higher than SSIS. SSIS works very well with Microsoft technologies, and if you have Microsoft technologies, it is not really expensive to have SSIS. If you have SQL Server, SSIS is free."
  • "We have an enterprise license for this solution."
  • "It comes bundled with other solutions, which makes it difficult to get the price on the specific product."
  • "All of my clients have this product included as part of their Microsoft license."
  • More SSIS Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Answers from the Community
    Netanya Carmi
    GaryM - PeerSpot reviewerGaryM
    Real User

    Curious why you would compare these 2 tools and why you wouldn't be looking for a PaaS solution?  


    SSIS is free verses Informatica is the opposite. But there are no plans to fully embrace SSIS within Azure. They have moved to ADF and Synapse pipelines. 


    That said there is IR (Integration Runtime) so you can run SSIS in Azure but it's limited in terms of SSIS add-ons. Clearly, the future for Microsoft is Azure and Synapse so don't count on SSIS staying around for many more years. 


    In fact, the BiXpress add-on has been deprecated by its new owner. And I would NOT recommend using SSIS without BiXpress as its built-in logging and error control is awful. 


    I'm looking at us migrating from SSIS to ADF over the next few years.

    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Azure Data Factory is flexible, modular, and works well. In terms of cost, it is not too pricey. It offers the stability and reliability I am looking for, good scalability, and is easy to set up and… more »
    Top Answer:SSIS PowerPack is a group of drag and drop connectors for Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services, commonly called SSIS. The collection helps organizations boost productivity with code-free… more »
    Top Answer:Complex transformations can easily be achieved using PowerCenter, which has all the features and tools to establish a real data governance strategy. Additionally, PowerCenter is able to manage huge… more »
    Top Answer:I have found its most valuable features to be its package management capabilities and the flexibility it offers in designing workflows.
    Top Answer:The pricing of SSIS is generally considered reasonable in comparison to other data integration tools in the market. In terms of licensing, I find Microsoft's pricing policy generally favorable… more »
    Top Answer:In upgrading SSIS, we encountered challenges fixing SQL Server and performance issues, including problems during a failover in our data warehouse. After resolving these issues and conducting load… more »
    Ranking
    3rd
    out of 94 in Data Integration
    Views
    20,419
    Comparisons
    16,998
    Reviews
    30
    Average Words per Review
    472
    Rating
    7.6
    2nd
    out of 94 in Data Integration
    Views
    19,950
    Comparisons
    16,201
    Reviews
    33
    Average Words per Review
    471
    Rating
    7.7
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    PowerCenter
    SQL Server Integration Services
    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.

    SSIS is a versatile tool for data integration tasks like ETL processes, data migration, and real-time data processing. Users appreciate its ease of use, data transformation tools, scheduling capabilities, and extensive connectivity options. It enhances productivity and efficiency within organizations by streamlining data-related processes and improving data quality and consistency.

    Sample Customers
    University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, LexisNexis, Rabobank
    1. Amazon.com 2. Bank of America 3. Capital One 4. Coca-Cola 5. Dell 6. E*TRADE 7. FedEx 8. Ford Motor Company 9. Google 10. Home Depot 11. IBM 12. Intel 13. JPMorgan Chase 14. Kraft Foods 15. Lockheed Martin 16. McDonald's 17. Microsoft 18. Morgan Stanley 19. Nike 20. Oracle 21. PepsiCo 22. Procter & Gamble 23. Prudential Financial 24. RBC Capital Markets 25. SAP 26. Siemens 27. Sony 28. Toyota 29. UnitedHealth Group 30. Visa 31. Walmart 32. Wells Fargo
    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 Firm23%
    Healthcare Company8%
    Computer Software Company8%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm17%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Government7%
    Healthcare Company6%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business15%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise74%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business15%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise74%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business27%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise55%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business18%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise69%
    Buyer's Guide
    Informatica PowerCenter vs. SSIS
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Informatica PowerCenter vs. SSIS 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 SSIS is ranked 2nd in Data Integration with 33 reviews. Informatica PowerCenter is rated 8.0, while SSIS is rated 7.6. 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 SSIS writes "SSIS 2016 - The good, the bad, and the ugly". Informatica PowerCenter is most compared with Informatica Cloud Data Integration, Azure Data Factory, Databricks, AWS Glue and Informatica PowerExchange, whereas SSIS is most compared with Talend Open Studio, Oracle Data Integrator (ODI), IBM InfoSphere DataStage, AWS Glue and Azure Data Factory. See our Informatica PowerCenter vs. SSIS 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.