

Alation Data Catalog and erwin Data Intelligence compete in the data management and governance category. erwin Data Intelligence seems to have the upper hand due to its comprehensive mapping and automation capabilities.
Features: Alation Data Catalog offers robust systems for connecting data and people, fostering enhanced data understanding and governance. It features active data governance, impressive search capabilities, and an extensive business glossary. erwin Data Intelligence stands out with its detailed mapping and lineage capabilities, reverse and forward engineering, metadata management, and Smart Data Connectors.
Room for Improvement: Alation Data Catalog faces challenges with end-to-end data lineage, search functionality, and integration with BI tools. Users also desire better data governance and improved lineage capabilities. erwin Data Intelligence needs enhancements in UI intuitiveness, automation of mapping processes, and more extensive AI integration. Versioning complexities and technical support need refinement.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both Alation and erwin support deployment across various environments, including cloud and on-premises. Alation's technical support is responsive but sometimes delayed in complex cases. erwin's support focus has improved, emphasizing quicker resolution of support tickets and enhanced deployment efficiency.
Pricing and ROI: Alation Data Catalog's pricing requires careful consideration of licensing models, being somewhat expensive but offering positive ROI through time savings. erwin Data Intelligence is competitively priced, with structured licensing providing cost benefits through automation and efficiencies, appealing to cost-conscious buyers.
We have seen a return on investment, having saved close to 10.5% of our costs, with expected ROI growing yearly by about 17%.
Instead of going into Google or consulting a colleague, I can just go to Alation Data Catalog, search there, and understand everything by myself.
Compared to competitor products like Collibra, erwin Data Intelligence is more cost-effective, providing a data catalog and data lineage views without the high costs associated with governance software.
Some of them have dragged on for six months, which is much longer than we would ever want some support issues to go on.
we have defined several SLAs that have resolved critical issues and incidents with excellent support.
we have been able to contact them, and they have been able to help us whenever we have had issues
Quest technical support is very good, as they provide not only a technical help desk but also a data automation team that creates and customizes smart connectors, offering a wealth of skilled support.
For technical support, they need to improve response time.
As data sizes grow, we can also scale categorizations, calibrations, and the types of data we ingest and catalog through this tool.
Alation Data Catalog's scalability is really good since everything is cloud and everything gets pulled into the system via Snowflake and DBT automatically.
Alation Data Catalog's scalability has met our needs as our data and user base has grown.
Regarding scalability, I would rate erwin Data Intelligence as an eight or nine for its ability to expand.
When we tried to connect erwin Data Intelligence to ERP on Oracle Cloud, specifically Oracle Fusion, we encountered many problems.
It has never gone down when we wanted to access it.
Alation Data Catalog has been stable for me, as I haven't seen much downtime.
From my experience, Alation Data Catalog is stable.
It is good for small and medium enterprises, but larger enterprises with huge amounts of metadata might face some issues.
From my perspective, I would rate the stability of erwin Data Intelligence as an eight or nine out of ten.
The platform needs improvement in integrating with BI tools, reducing manual efforts, and facilitating a smooth connection.
Additionally, bringing in AI capabilities to automate tracking and labeling can optimize how we handle data information levels.
Alation Data Catalog can be improved by enhancing their lineage capabilities to make it easier for us as users to search the lineage without having to use the Alation Data Catalog user interface.
erwin Data Intelligence could improve particularly in the UI, as they are using old technologies that are not modern and do not serve the current requirements of the modern market.
The dashboard in erwin Data Intelligence is customizable, and you can easily create different views.
Collibra is a little bit expensive than Alation, but I presented the benefits of having that platform, so that little bit of money was not a big deal.
Discussions with the vendor partners provided a detailed breakdown of costs and how they can be reduced over time.
It was the only data catalog tool where I could save and even create SQL queries.
Importantly, we establish a single source of truth, centralizing metadata and standardizing definitions, which minimizes confusion and helps with consistent data use across the organization.
My stakeholders can find relevant data assets quickly using a Google search without needing technical jargon, reducing the time spent searching for data.
This feature is probably the most valuable because it allows for automated reverse engineering of lineage.
The mind maps clarify for the business the related business terms and the relation between the business terms and other technical terms and technical data products, and they are very effective.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| Alation Data Catalog | 3.9% |
| erwin Data Intelligence | 1.9% |
| Other | 94.2% |

| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 4 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 2 |
| Large Enterprise | 15 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 2 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 4 |
| Large Enterprise | 15 |
Alation pioneered the data catalog market and is now leading its evolution into a platform for a broad range of data intelligence solutions including data search & discovery, data governance, lineage, stewardship, analytics, and digital transformation.
Thanks to its powerful Behavioral Analysis Engine, inbuilt collaboration capabilities, and open interfaces, Alation combines machine learning with human insight to successfully tackle even the most demanding challenges in data and metadata management. With Alation, analysts are empowered to search, query and collaborate on their data to achieve faster, more accurate insights.
Trusted by 400+ enterprises worldwide like Salesforce, Nasdaq, LinkedIn, Finnair, and Cisco.
Erwin Data Intelligence drives automation, supports data catalog and literacy, and offers Smart Data Connectors for efficient metadata handling. Its customization flexibility and integration facilitate enhanced data governance, visualization, analysis, and compliance.
Erwin Data Intelligence offers automation scripts that accelerate development, integrated data cataloging, data profiling, and lineage analysis to streamline information management. Users appreciate its capability in metadata harvesting, code engineering, and infrastructure integration. The tool provides flexibility to enhance governance and data visualization. While it performs well, users have noted challenges with API robustness and interface complexity, and there are opportunities to improve workflow integration, AI features, and large dataset handling. Companies rely on it for metadata management, automation of metadata mappings, and data governance to support compliance and literacy.
What are the main features of Erwin Data Intelligence?In industries such as finance, healthcare, and retail, organizations implement Erwin Data Intelligence for efficient metadata management and governance. It assists in automating lineage and mapping, supporting ETL procedures while enhancing compliance and data literacy efforts. Its flexibility and integration support create valuable data insights and governance improvements.
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