Informatica PowerExchange [EOL] Reviews

Positive

Neutral

PowerExchange primarily helps us with connections to non-Oracle-based services. We use it for SAP connectors and connecting to other cloud instances. It also assists in building our data warehouse. We utilize it for data extraction.

PowerExchange is one of the best software solutions to build integrations with non-Oracle or standard database services, especially for SAP and Hana products. It is a scalable middleware product, which allows us to efficiently extract data. In my company, PowerExchange is used to build our data warehouse.

I have minimal exposure to PowerExchange at this point. I will start working with it midyear, so I do not have much experience to suggest improvements.

I am about to start working on it soon and will have more experience with it in six months.

For the cases we have had, PowerExchange has been stable, and we have not experienced any issues.

I am not sure about the scalability, however, it is standard. We use IDQ or Informatica PowerCenter to pull the data, with PowerExchange as the medium.

We have a standard support feature which enables us for any Informatica product we use at the company. Their support aligns with what I have experienced with Informatica data quality teams, and it is quite effective.

Positive

I have heard about other tools, like SAP CPI and PIPO, yet have not worked with them. I have written specifications and mappings for integrations.

I have not been involved in the initial setup of PowerExchange, however, from what I have heard, it is straightforward, and people have not reported any complexities.

The pricing and cost depend heavily on SAP's licensing structure, especially if using SAP integration services. Informatica is seen as broader in integrations.

I have heard about SAP CPI and PIPO, however, I have not evaluated them personally.

I believe PowerExchange is a nine out of ten. 

I don’t have any complaints or suggestions for improvements as they have been good with what they offer.

I worked for clients in building IT implementation in their projects. I have also worked for a bank in Bahrain. I worked for waste management organizations, implementing IT solutions in their companies. I worked for Emaar Properties, the company that developed Burj Khalifa. All the companies have their internal IT, and I was part of their digital solution team in which we were working on multiple projects in the IT domain, with Power BI's reporting, database programming, ETL, and data integration areas.

The major challenge with the tool stems from the fact that if you are implementing it in the cloud, then it has to be within the framework. Another challenge is the large volume of data. Informatica PowerExchange is a product through which we enable connectivity, so it is not an application product or a stand-alone tool, but Informatica's core systems or IICS uses it to connect to multiple systems. The major challenge associated with the tool is on the infrastructure side.

The tool's features could be something faster with more connectors. A number of connectors can help connect to a wide variety of applications. The tool should focus on reducing the resilient time, like, if any network disconnectivity happens, then auto-reconnection and the retry method should be more robust so that manual intervention is not required.

We communicate with the tool's support team as we need to raise our issues with them. I have already worked with Informatica and have a total experience of around eight to nine years; the one problem with the tool is its support team since they take a lot of time to address a particular issue. If one time you schedule a call and explain the situation to them about the issue, the support team will raise tickets and take notes. They will ask you to share the logs or screenshots of the errors, and you will get no resolution. The support team will randomly give you some documents and expect you to go through them, and if you get back to them with questions, a new person will be allocated, and you will have to start explaining everything again. I would not say it is a pleasant experience.

I have been using Informatica PowerExchange for five years. I have ten years of working experience with Informatica.

Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight and a half out of ten.

The technical support for the solution is very bad. I rate the technical support a six out of ten.

Neutral

With Informatica, I have used multiple products, like Informatica PowerCenter, Informatica Cloud, IICS, Informatica Cloud Data Quality (CDQ) and Informatica PowerExchange. I have a very robust knowledge on Informatica platform.

Around three engineers were needed to deploy the tool.

The maintenance part is there, but not in a full-fledged manner, and to do so, there are three developers.

In terms of the return on investment, the tool is very helpful in the digital transformation process since multiple systems are available. The digital transformation process requires immediate data connectivity. You would want near real-time data activity, and you may want to connect to the source system and fetch the data immediately, but without IICS and Informatica PowerExchange, this won't be possible. The tool actually saves a lot of money by around 30 to 40 percent.

There are licensing and connector costs. Basically, Informatica is pay-as-you-use. There is one product cost and then the additional number of connectors or applications to which you are connecting. You have to pay for it. There are separate licenses for Salesforce and some other tools.

The price of the tool is high, especially when compared to similar products from Microsoft.

Informatica PowerExchange is a tool that comes with IICS. It is used by multiple organizations that want to move data from legacy systems or integrate data from multiple different systems, be it on-prem or cloud systems. Informatica Power Exchange is basically a powerful platform. The tool helps us to synchronize data from the source to the target. It also helps and enables the organization to deliver data right from read data from multiple sources or systems and enables it to parse different formats. It is basically used to connect to multiple sources and parse the data. Informatica PowerExchange is a tool that comes with IICS. It is used by multiple organizations that want to move data from legacy systems or integrate data from multiple different systems, be it on-prem or cloud systems. Informatica Power Exchange is basically a powerful platform. The tool helps us to synchronize data from the source to the target. It also helps and enables the organization to deliver data right from read data from multiple sources or systems and enables it to parse different formats. It is basically used to connect to multiple sources and parse the data.

The tool's most effective features for handling complex data sources include change data capture, real-time support, and data processing. Informatica PowerExchange is used to connect to legacy systems. Its main purpose is to connect to legacy systems, be it IBM, any other mainframe, or legacy system.

Change data capture is a mechanism through which the Informatica product retrieves only the new or changed datasets. It helps improve data performance. Instead of reading data, the change data capture enables processing only the new information that has been changed.

The tool helps us to connect to AI-based modules wherein we can use Informatica PowerExchange. Through Informatica PowerExchange, we can connect to AI-specific modules, and we can integrate with any other platforms so that we can enable services or bots.

The product came in as a bundle packet because we are using Informatica CDM, and we have been using Informatica products. The one advantage of Informatica is that if they are able to sell one product to a client, there is a high chance that some other products from Informatica will also be pulled in.

The positive part is the fact that Informatica has an ecosystem. With Informatica CDM, we can connect the cloud with Informatica PowerExchange. No customer will go for Informatica PowerExchange until and unless they are using Informatica's solutions.

I recommend the tool to others who have an ecosystem that supports Informatica.

Owing to the high prices and bad support, I rate the tool a seven out of ten.

There are two primary use cases. One is standard data warehousing, which is batch loading with a transformation. We prefer to do push-down to data because we have invested a lot in the platform. We are doing ETL for standard data warehousing, which is a batch mode loading with pushdown to Teradata. We use it for schedule monitoring. Everything is enabled to Informatica for that batch. Second, with PowerCenter, we are doing real-time capturing from negative source systems and then replicating data in our data warehouse platform.

The major challenge we faced was to install the agent on application databases. Using PowerExchange, we were able to install the agent in the PDC installation process. Our CD server manages the PowerExchange server, which captures data from the application databases in near real-time. The agentless RCDC enablement through PowerExchange is a great idea and has worked very well so far.

We are setting up our ecosystem, and PowerExchange is a relatively new addition to our suite. Initially, we had a tough time getting it up and running, but not primarily due to PowerExchange itself. It was more likely due to network settings, port enablement, and server setups. This took quite a long time, and we did not get great support from Informatica. We raised the issue many times in South Arabia, but it lingered for a while on both the network and vertical sides before we could identify and fix the root cause and get the whole ecosystem up and running. Support was not good enough to help us get the whole environment up and running. The installation process is cumbersome, and that should be made easier.

I have been using Informatica PowerExchange for seven or eight months, but I worked on a project back in 2008 or 2009. Currently, our legacy system is on V10.2, and the new setup we are setting up is V10.5. I’m an independent consultant.

V10.2 is very stable, but we are still struggling to make V10.5 stable. We found services that were down, and PowerExchange stopped working. We face these issues very, very often, very regularly. We are still in the phase of trying to make V10.5 stable. Most of the time, the issues are due to network or firewall access permissions, security patches, or firewall upgrades. We are facing issues with the Informatica server as well. If there is a change in the firewall or network settings, it would definitely impact Informatica. The issue is that the messages or notifications we receive are not self-explanatory or clear enough to identify the right pause period.

We have around three or four people on our team, and we have around eight to ten resources from the vendor or third-party supplier who are working with us. In total, we have a group of around fourteen people working on this project within a working month. We would like to increase the usage if everything goes well and is stabilized. We are happy with Informatica.

The initial setup is a little tricky and takes around two to three months to complete.

We have a local vendor in Saudi Arabia who is working to set up the whole environment. They have a big team, and I know of at least two people from their side who were working on this whole setup. They were engaging Informatica support as well, so maybe two or three people were totally engaged in this to get the setup up and running. The warnings, errors, and failures should be self-explanatory and facilitate us in identifying the right issue and getting it fixed.

I'm a contractor with a government entity, and the government entity is using Informatica. I work as a Solution Architect for the whole ecosystem, and one of the products under our umbrella is Informatica PowerExchange. We are trying to rationalize and consolidate all the products that are related to data engineering and data governance under the suite of Informatica. We are trying to converge all our ETL tools, data components, and data quality under the Informatica umbrella. We are researching and exploring how good this idea is. Implementing Informatica PowerExchange is a very good experience overall. I would recommend it because it is a well-integrated product for all data-related use cases, such as data quality, data engineering, and data cataloging. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

PowerExchange is a data integration tool. We use PowerExchange when we have data sitting in silos in different systems and databases, and the customer wants to capture and analyze it. Customers usually want to bring the data into one place or build a central data warehouse to perform analytics or reporting. The solution can ingest data from different systems and bring it to the data warehouse.

The product’s flexibility is valuable. It supports open APIs. It has multiple native connectors with different systems. We can also write APIs to connect to different systems. The flexibility of connecting to different systems is the biggest advantage of the tool. It is one of the best data integration tools in the market.

CDC lets customers get updates on their data quite fast. It captures the data from the last read data up to the new read data. It captures the data change and provides updates faster. These updates are much faster than uploading the data. The incremental data makes data capturing much faster.

Data transformation and mapping complexity are very crucial. Data is available in different systems in all formats. The format can be structured or non-structured. It can be PDFs, images, social media feeds, or vector DBs. PowerExchange can handle all sorts of formats.

Informatica is now moving to the cloud. PowerExchange is not being promoted as it used to be. The product is not suitable for application integration. There are other tools in the market that are better.

I rate the tool’s stability a nine out of ten.

The tool is highly scalable. It is highly available and has multiple deployment options. We have more than ten customers.

The customer support is good. The team takes a little bit of time to resolve the issues. The team works on shifts. It takes time, but the support is good.

The ease of setup depends on the customer's requirements, how many datasets and tables they have, and how many different databases we have to connect. It also depends on whether the data repositories are on-premise or cloud. However, whether the deployment is simple or complex, the tool supports everything. We follow a typical software deployment.

Depending on the complexity, customers can easily see the ROI within a few weeks or months of deployment. ROI is easily calculatable once we define what we’re using the tool for.

The product is not very expensive. However, the price can grow depending on the customer’s needs and the data feed they want. It depends on how many tables and ingestion pipelines the customers have. There is a different subscription for the cloud.

We provide the solution to our customers. If customers want a cloud solution, PowerExchange is not the best option. IDMC best suits customers looking for a cloud option to integrate different databases. IDMC is a better option for hybrid and cloud setups. PowerExchange is suitable for on-premise solutions. Overall, I rate the product a nine out of ten.

We use the solution to fill the data warehouse from multiple data sources. We have 1500 pipelines built-in production.

The valuable features are access path and accessibility. The population of data is fast. It handles big data better than competitors like SSIS. If you move ten terabytes of data, PowerExchange can do that easily.

The solution's UI and pricing could be better. PowerCenter uses multiple tools for different tasks. For example, one tool is used for workflows, another for mappings, and another for scheduling. This necessitates switching between other client-based interfaces, which can be cumbersome. For instance, when building a pipeline, you may start with one tool but switch to another for orchestration and a third for scheduling. Additionally, you'll encounter yet another separate tool for tasks like data quality. While the interfaces may have a consistent look and feel, navigating different tools can be frustrating.

I have been using Informatica PowerExchange for a year.

I rate the solution’s stability an eight or nine out of ten.

The solution is scalable.

15 users, including developers, are using this solution.

The initial setup is easy and takes a week to complete. To deploy, prepare the hardware and open the firewall. Two admins are enough for the deployment and maintenance of the solution.

Deployment was done in-house.

We have streamlined all the pipelines through Informatica. 1500 pipelines are built and deployed in production. We have more than 60 sources from which we collect the data in a data warehouse. It's a big value.

The solution has an annual subscription, which is expensive.

I recommend the solution.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

In my company, the tool is useful for data onboarding purposes. You can use Informatica PowerExchange if you have to deal with different data sources in your company and you want to have everything in one common environment, like a data warehouse. Informatica PowerExchange can connect to different sources, including flat-file databases and different types of data sources. The tool helps you onboard all the data into a single target or different targets.

Though Informatica PowerExchange is available as a cloud solution, it can be made better by providing something similar to how Apache Spark is developed, which provides functionalities like in-memory execution, making it much faster in terms of execution compared to Informatica. If Informatica PowerExchange can have the capability to work like Apache Spark, then it will be a much better and improved product.

Apache Spark and Informatica PowerExchange are ETL tools. Apache Spark has a machine learning algorithm, an area where Informatica PowerExchange lacks.

Informatica PowerExchange is a complex tool to work with, especially with the VSAM files, since it has its own architecture, but the underlying data has its own architecture of which mapping the metadata with the data is very difficult, but with certain capabilities and analysis, it is possible to do it. If Informatica PowerExchange had automation capabilities that could automatically provide protection, then it would be a better product.

I have been using Informatica PowerExchange for five years.

It is a stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a six out of ten.

It is a scalable and versatile solution.

Around seven people in my company use the product.

The solution is deployed on an on-premises model.

There is a need to pay towards the licensing cost of the product. It is an expensive product.

The solution has streamlined our company's batch data processing workflows. In our company, we have different data sources, so it is not possible to get all the information at a single point without Informatica PowerExchange.

The features I found to be most effective for managing data across various sources stem from the fact that it connects to different sources, irrespective of the type of source. The tool helps to validate the data because it has an in-built product that helps us validate the data coming from different sources. Users can integrate the tool with data quality and rules. Informatica PowerExchange helps our company in terms of the correct data since it helps us connect with a single source of truth.

I cannot comment on how the change in the data capture capability of Informatica PowerExchange enhanced our company's data synchronization area since it is not currently being used. Informatica PowerExchange has the capability to connect with mainframe data sources, like flat-file databases. I mostly use a product from Informatica, which helps me create workflows. Informatica PowerExchange helps me connect with different sources within Informatica.

Informatica PowerExchange helps connect with legacy data sources like the mainframe data sources or VSAM files that are considered outdated. With the help of Informatica PowerExchange, users can read data from legacy data sources, a feature that no other technology in the market provides since no other tools can bring out the data from the mainframe. Informatica PowerExchange can bring out the data from the mainframe data sources even if it has to deal with a complex architecture.

I recommend the product to those who plan to use it. The tool can be preferred by users like banks or those who want a solution that has been in the market for around twenty years. Banks prefer to go with Informatica PowerExchange over the new cloud solutions that are available in the market since they offer more reliability and stability.

The solution has impacted our company's data governance practices because it is a procedure to deal with data quality rules product known as Informatica Data Quality or IDQ. With Informatica Data Quality, if you set up the rules, then while reading the data from the source, it will flag whether the data has the right quality or if there are some breaches when it comes to GDPR compliance.

I rate the overall tool an eight out of ten.

I use the solution in my company for data integrations and building a data warehouse or data lake. It is mainly used for the integration of common data services. The tool gets used based on the requirements related to the data lake or data warehouse, which were needed by Informatica.

Informatica PowerExchange is used in our organization for the integration of some of the planning tools.

The product's functionality attached to the logs is an area of concern where improvements are required. Sometimes, the product takes time to identify certain gaps in scenarios where pipelines are broken. The product fails to provide clear visibility to help users maintain the pipelines, making it an area where improvements are required.

The product's high costs can be an area of concern where improvements are required.

I have been using Informatica PowerExchange for a couple of years. My company takes care of the implementation of the product for our clients.

It is a stable solution. It is one of the most trustworthy products in terms of data integration.

Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Improvement is required in the product since it should provide users with more visibility in terms of log maintenance so that the developers can easily identify the need to monitor the pipelines, whether the pipelines are broken, and if it is easy to configure certain pipelines while being able to identify the performance offered. The aforementioned areas should be easily identifiable to avoid bottlenecks during the processing phase.

The product offers good scalability. The scalability features are supported as the product is available on the cloud

Hardly one or two people from my company's customer list use the product. There are very few people who use the features provided by Informatica PowerExchange since most cloud services nowadays have their own native tools.

My company doesn't have to communicate with the product's support team since we have expertise related to the tool.

The product's initial setup phase was not complex. The tool is easy to install onto any of the servers, and you can integrate it.

The deployment process includes steps like identifying how much capacity the tool would require, dataflows, the kind of services required, and the platforms on which you need certain services.

The solution is deployed on the cloud.

The time required to deploy the solution depends on the kind of servers users want to use with the product. Sometimes, the deployment needs to be planned out properly when you need more servers in your environment. If you have to deal with only simple use cases in your company, you just need to install the product onto any of your servers or nodes and run it in your environment. If you need to deal with simple or straightforward use cases, the product can be deployed in your environment in a day or two. Depending on whether you need to deal with simple or complex use cases, the product's deployment process may take time, as multiple products need to be integrated with the server on which Informatica PowerExchange is deployed.

An admin from Informatica's team is required to help our company with the installation process. An integrator or consultant would be required to take care of the product's installation process.

Many users don't prefer to use the product, considering the high costs attached to the licensing part of the solution.

The product helped streamline our company's batch data processing workflow in a good way since it provides us with all the information, consisting of details like what kind of configurations need to be carried out, which can help maintain the pipelines that connect two different systems and the area from where you can push data from point A to point B.

The problem is not attached to the solution's ability to provide support and have the ability to respond to security threats, but it's terms from the fact that Trend Micro is more focused on Apex One. When you contact Trend Micro for Worry-Free Services Suites, the type of support provided for the product is similar to the one provided to those who possess some basic licenses. In general, it takes a lot of time to get a response from the product's support team when you face any problems.

The product supports our company's data governance because it is an established solution in the market that supports all the cloud-based features. The product supports features that allow the distribution of data across nodes. The product also offers high performance and supports high scalability features. The tool attempts to follow some of the best practices through the development to ensure how the design has been implemented. The tool also looks at the best features that you will implement during the designing phase in the development process. The tool looks into the configurations from the hardware point of view. The tool considers factors like how much configuration is required based on the capacity and requirements of users. The product follows best practices in areas like hardware and design.

To those who plan to use the solution, I suggest that they look into the prices and the use cases they want to handle on the cloud. Informatica offers an old product named Informatica PowerCenter, which was the renowned and standard product preferred by clients considering its availability at a global level. The marketing of Informatica PowerExchange has not been done properly, owing to which people are not aware of its existence in the market.

The data quality part of the solution is more about the design and not about the product. The tool has the capability to support the data quality features, and it is something that is taken care of from the design and development point of view. You can implement data quality to figure out how to design or handle the best practices in the solution. There should be a focus on the design and development part of the solution since the product has a lot of capabilities.

I rate the overall tool a nine out of ten.

We are using the solution in banking, telecommunication, and insurance companies. We use it to take data from sources and make data warehouse models.

The pushdown feature is valuable. We use pushdown after transferring and when we use TPT. It is easy to integrate the solution with other tools. It is the best solution.

Pushdown optimization could be improved. Pushdown optimization cannot be used very well if the users do not know how to use Informatica.

I have been using the solution for 15 years.

The product is stable. We do not have problems related to stability.

The product is easy to scale. We are a medium-sized company.

The technical support is good.

Positive

The product is easy to install. I can deploy the tool and do whatever I want with it. Informatica has a platform that we use to teach people. It is effective. The learning curve is good.

Sometimes, we use Oracle GoldenGate for data capture. We use the columns on the table to see the batch update dates or the created dates. We have also used ODI. Informatica is better than Oracle and SSIS. Informatica’s user interface is better than that of other tools. It is easier to integrate it with other systems.

My organization is a partner. I am a consultant. The data is completed in the morning. We get it at night from the source systems to the data warehouse. We do it in batches. Overall, I rate the product an eight out of ten.