MohamedFouda - PeerSpot reviewer
Informatica Developer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Real User
It's a good tool for on-premise databases
Pros and Cons
  • "It provides everything I need. Nothing is missing. PowerCenter is a good tool for on-premise databases."
  • "PowerCenter has three clients. I wish they would consolidate everything into one GUI, not three. Also, we had a persistent issue with the Informatica Developer tool but it was solved when we migrated to the newest one."

What is most valuable?

PowerCenter is the market leader, so more organizations use it than other tools. It's a feature-rich solution, so that's why it's at the top of the market.

What needs improvement?

PowerCenter has three clients. I wish they would consolidate everything into one GUI, not three. Also, we had a persistent issue with the Informatica Developer tool but it was solved when we migrated to the newest one. 

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using PowerCenter for about three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I think PowerCenter is stable. Organizations that try Informatica stick with it for a long time. No one uses Informatica and quickly switches to something else. It has been the leader in the market for many years.

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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Any feature that PowerCenter doesn't provide can be found in IDQ. IDQ covers any missing options, so I think it's PowerCenter's scalability is fine.

How are customer service and support?

There were a few times when Informatica support took a while to solve the issues, but they always fixed the problem in the end. There was only one ticket that took a long time to solve. I rate their support eight out of 10. 

How was the initial setup?

I rate PowerCenter eight out of 10 for ease of deployment. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate Informatica PowerCenter eight out of 10. It provides everything I need. Nothing is missing. PowerCenter is a good tool for on-premise databases. If you're going to implement PowerCenter, you need to think about your requirements to determine what tools to use.

For example, I need the repository to auto-refresh. When I make changes to a project, workflow, mapping, or session, I want everything to refresh automatically. Otherwise, you must disconnect from the repository and reconnect for the changes you made to be reflected in your project.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Resource Manager at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Simple to deploy with a host of features
Pros and Cons
  • "Deployment was simple and straightforward."
  • "An issue which should be addressed is that the solution only allows us to do structured, as opposed to unstructured, data processing."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution for businesses that wish to analyze their raw data. The solution allows us to do data cleansing and to transform the raw data into useful, insightful information.

What is most valuable?

Informatica PowerCenter is a very strong tool which offers a host of features. We can use heterogeneous data to easily merge and derive the useful information. Also, flag files processing is very useful.

What needs improvement?

An issue which should be addressed is that the solution only allows us to do structured, as opposed to unstructured, data processing. Also, the EPA related data processing should be improved. 

Processing capabilities should be streamlined.

I prefer a third party scheduler tool to that of Informatica scheduler, since the latter is not one which is very physical. The solution is not so helpful if one wishes to perform multiple tasks simultaneously. 

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Informatica PowerCenter for nearly eight years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability could be improved, as it is of an intermediate level. 

We have plans to increase usage. 

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is really great.

How was the initial setup?

Deployment was simple and straightforward. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Licensing costs are excessive and pose an obstacle to someone who lacks familiarity with the solution and wishes to have a proper understanding of it. 

What other advice do I have?

We have a team of around 40 to 50 people who use the solution.

I would, for sure, recommend the solution to others, since I feel it to be a really strong tool. It is very robust and has complex capabilities. It allows one to accomplish tasks with ease. We are talking about a strong ETL for those who are undertaking ETL related tasks.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
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Associate Manager at a consultancy with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Easy to use and very good for quickly integrating a huge amount of data develop reports and main advantage is increaing the performance
Pros and Cons
  • "Informatica PowerCenter is very good for integrating a huge amount of data in a very short duration, such as a minute. It is also very easy to use. After you provide the source and the target, mappings are automatically done, which makes it easy to use for the development team."
  • "Its scalability can be improved. It is not scalable."

What is our primary use case?

We are using Informatica PowerCenter to process the data of the files in the landing zone. These files contain a huge amount of data, and Informatica PowerCenter is the source for us to push the data to Azure Synapse. We are using its latest version.

How has it helped my organization?

Using Informatica PowerCenter, we can create workflows, tasks, and more. Performance is improved while developing ETL solutions and mappings can be done easily because of the UI features.

What is most valuable?

Informatica PowerCenter is very good for integrating a huge amount of data in a very short duration, such as a minute.

It is also very easy to use. After you provide the source and the target, mappings are automatically done, which makes it easy to use for the development team.

What needs improvement?

Its scalability can be improved. It is not scalable.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We have not experienced any technical challenges with this solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is not scalable. Currently, we have three users of this solution.

How are customer service and support?

We have not experienced any technical challenges with this solution.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have used the Microsoft Business intelligence for developing SSIS packages for ETL development and Azure has more advantages where ETL development reporting and analysis can be done in a single  environment using synapse analytics 

How was the initial setup?

There is no installation. After they provide the URL, you just log in. You just need the server details, and you can just log in with your Windows credentials.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Our client has purchased the license, and we are using it.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I've only used Informatica PowerCenter.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others. I would rate Informatica PowerCenter an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Senior Data Architect at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Cloud-based, good performance, stable, and connects well with multiple sources
Pros and Cons
  • "The number of docs has been reduced drastically, which is very good."
  • "The real-time database connectivity when getting the real-time data using the VPN is an area that needs improvement."

What is most valuable?

We like that it is cloud-based and the performance is good. The number of docs has been reduced drastically, which is very good.

What needs improvement?

If you were migrating or connecting with multiple sources, initially there were issues that caused network latency. In the latest version, there are fewer bugs.

The real-time database connectivity when getting the real-time data using the VPN is an area that needs improvement.

Being able to generate reports on all of the status of the monitoring tools and the job qualities would be very helpful to provide to the operational team.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Informatica PowerCenter for 12 years.

We are using version 10.4.1, which is the latest version.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is very stable. It's a solution that has been in place for 20 or 22 years.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. It is very easy.

When compared with Linux or Windows, it was very easy and simple to install.

It takes two days maximum to implement one nanometer.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?


What other advice do I have?

When compared with other ETL or ELP tools, Informatica PowerCenter is the best for connecting to multiple sources, which is better when you have large loads. 

I would definitely rate Informatica PowerCenter a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Kirill Slivchikov - PeerSpot reviewer
Owner at 7Spring Consult
Real User
Top 5
Integrates well and assists with ETL transformation tasks
Pros and Cons
  • "The most complex task, in this case, was to read and transform BLOB data, and Java transformation in Informatica Power Center was a great solution."
  • "Include more instruments for LOGs analysis, interpretation, and job corrections."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case for this solution is at a Russian bank.

The goal was to integrate DWH with a banking core system that used Pervasive SQL 2000 DB. The bank as our client in the field of Data Warehousing asked us to extract data from their core banking system and build a Data Mart for preparation of regulatory reports.

How has it helped my organization?

Informatica PowerCenter moved forward the technology level of ETL-process management of the bank with visualization and standardization of ETL development instead of a huge volume of scripting used previously. Moreover, the task of integration of systems based on different technology platforms was successfully solved.

What is most valuable?

The most complex task, in this case, was to read and transform BLOB data, and Java transformation in Informatica Power Center was a great solution. The second task that was solved with Java transformation was the correct transformation of the Amount field (each amount in PSQL 2000 is stored in three different fields). These tasks were solved by using PSQL 2000 Java SDK library imported to Informatica PowerCenter Java Transformation.

What needs improvement?

I hope that the next release of this solution will:

  • Work with HADOOP and other BigData solutions.
  • Have an ability to compile code to run it quicker.
  • Include new features for parallel job execution.
  • Include more instruments for LOGs analysis, interpretation, and job corrections.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for more than a year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It works stably but needs a dedicated professional admin in the project team.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's scalable and can be supplemented by a Data Quality solution.

How are customer service and technical support?

We used the vendor's distant support and the expertise was excellent.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

As we are a consulting and data management company, the instruments we have to use during the project are chosen by our customers.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of this solution was straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented this solution at the customer's site as consultants. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We are also using IBM DataStage, Oracle Data Integrator, SAP Data Services. From project to project it's up to the customer.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Lead BI&A Consultant at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Stable, easy to install, and has a good graphical user interface
Pros and Cons
  • "It has a Data Catalog that uses the Model repository."
  • "The pricing could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution for ETL processes.

What is most valuable?

It has a very good graphical interface.

It has the possibility to intervene in the automatic ETL. 

It has a lot of components. 

It has a Data Catalog that uses the Model repository.

What needs improvement?

The pricing could be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been providing Informatica PowerCenter since 2005.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Informatica PowerCenter is a very stable product.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support could be faster.

How was the initial setup?

The latest versions are easy to install because it's cloud-based. You needed approximately four hours to install the older versions.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It's quite expensive.

Our customers pay a licensing fee yearly.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others. It is also a question of the purpose and how big the company is. It's an investment.

I would rate Informatica PowerCenter a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Data Architecture/Management at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Stable, reduces your administrative overhead, and the DAC is helpful
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features are the metadata repository and the data warehouse application console."
  • "The only problem with this product is the level of complexity with the number of levels of transformation that you have to go through."

What is our primary use case?

This product is primarily used with an Oracle product called OBI EE, Oracle Business Intelligence. It is used for integration and data visualization.

How has it helped my organization?

This is the best tool that we have.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features are the metadata repository and the data warehouse application console.

What needs improvement?

The only problem with this product is the level of complexity with the number of levels of transformation that you have to go through. I would say that's the biggest issue.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been working with Informatica PowerCenter for about seven years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I think that PowerCenter is pretty stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have three different instances of this running. There is one for development, one for pre-production, and one for production. As far as having to scale linearly, we haven't had the need by putting additional nodes for high availability or load balancing. It's not something that we've necessarily needed. We have not scaled up, either. So, no vertical and no horizontal scaling. It was pretty much used out of the box.

We have two people who are using this solution and they are developers.

How are customer service and technical support?

Oracle came in and they implemented a lot of the functionality that we needed. Beyond what we received from Oracle, there were very few times where we needed support.

Most of the time, the only thing we needed technical support was with Oracle patches and we ran into a problem, something broke.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Initially, we were doing a custom PL/SQL ETL type of procedure.

We just decided to go to an automated tool, something that was more visual.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is pretty straightforward. I don't think that there were any problems with it.

What about the implementation team?

We had a lot of assistance from Oracle and the implementation took less than a week.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It's much more expensive, almost three times more expensive than most other solutions.

What other advice do I have?

Oracle put Informatica into their product line. They use Informatica fo do the integrations.

The one benefit is that you reduce your administrative overhead by implementing this tool, and you get more functionality out of it versus most other tools. 

With a lot of other tools, you have to do a lot of hacking in order to get things to work properly for you, whereas with Informatica, you have a lot of flexibility.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user808662 - PeerSpot reviewer
Works at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
UI-based ability to create data mapping
Pros and Cons
  • "Reusable definition of data sources and the out-of-the-box availability of a large number maplets for common transformation functions."
  • "Easy, scalable, robust platform to integrate heterogeneous source platform's data into the unified data warehouse."
  • "UI-based ability to create data mapping."
  • "While Informatica is great for data-integration, it does not have any analytics features. Thus, organizations have to always look for another product for their BI needs."

What is our primary use case?

Data Integration: Integrates heterogeneous source platforms data into the unified data warehouse.

How has it helped my organization?

Easy, scalable, robust platform to integrate heterogeneous source platform's data into the unified data warehouse.

What is most valuable?

Data Integration. The UI-based ability to create data mapping. Also, reusable definition of data sources and the out-of-the-box availability of a large number maplets for common transformation functions.

What needs improvement?

Cost! 

Also, BI features. While Informatica is great for data-integration, it does not have any analytics features. Thus, organizations have to always look for another product for their BI needs.

For how long have I used the solution?

More than five years.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Informatica PowerCenter Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: March 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Informatica PowerCenter Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.