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IBM Cloud Pak for Data vs SAS Data Management comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.9
IBM Cloud Pak for Data helps large enterprises improve data quality, boosting AI processes and enhancing decision-making productivity.
Sentiment score
5.8
SAS Data Management boosts data accuracy, reduces storage costs, and is vital in banking, finance, and pharmaceutical sectors.
We have been able to drive responsible, transparent, and explainable AI workflow to operationalize AI and mitigate risk and regulatory compliance easily.
Senior Data Analyst at Wipro
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.4
IBM Cloud Pak for Data's support is responsive and available 24/7, despite some delays due to system complexity.
Sentiment score
7.1
Customer service satisfaction with SAS Data Management is high, despite regional differences and limited online resources, thanks to responsive support.
Cloud Pak is a complicated system, and it's often difficult to find the right resource in IBM to help with specific issues.
Data asset management engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Customer support should be more responsive and reach and respond on time.
Senior Data Analyst at Wipro
IBM support is very supportive, and I would rate them an eight out of ten based on our long relationship with them.
EDW Manager at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
The support for SAS in Brazil is not the best one, but the support in Sweden is really good, as they visit the company and work to solve the issues.
Data Scientist & Scrum Master at Volvo Group
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
IBM Cloud Pak for Data is praised for impressive scalability and compatibility, despite being resource-intensive, with ratings mostly 8-10.
Sentiment score
6.8
SAS Data Management is highly scalable, supporting enterprise tasks with robust servers, comparable to Oracle and Microsoft solutions.
I have not noticed any downtime or lagging, especially when dealing with large data, so it is relatively very scalable.
Senior Data Analyst at Wipro
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
IBM Cloud Pak for Data is generally stable and well-rated, with users emphasizing scalability despite minor tool integration concerns.
Sentiment score
7.2
SAS Data Management is highly stable, especially on Linux, but might need client-side configurations for optimal performance.
 

Room For Improvement

IBM Cloud Pak for Data needs better integration, support, features, and pricing to attract small businesses and simplify adoption.
SAS Data Management needs improved usability, licensing, integration, cloud features, scalability, stability, and enhanced automated reporting and documentation.
Setting up the hybrid and multi-cloud environments is a long job and it takes time.
Senior Data Analyst at Wipro
I would love Cloud Pak to come with a demo database that illustrates the different components of data management in a logical way, so I can see the whole picture instead of just the area I'm specializing in.
Data asset management engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
I do not know if Cognos has all the features that users are looking for since we provide it as our standard and do not maintain infrastructure for other tools.
EDW Manager at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
There is significant room for improvement, especially with regard to using a hybrid approach that involves both CAS and persistent storage.
Associate Director at Woodpecker Analytics & Services
 

Setup Cost

IBM Cloud Pak for Data's high pricing and complexity make it more suitable for large enterprises than smaller companies.
SAS Data Management is powerful but costly, with affordability challenges for businesses, though educational trials and market-based pricing options exist.
The setup cost is very expensive.
Data asset management engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Regarding my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing, for a small organization, the price might be relatively high, but for huge enterprises such as ours, the price is relatively affordable.
Senior Data Analyst at Wipro
From my experience, SAS Data Management is an expensive tool.
Associate Director at Woodpecker Analytics & Services
 

Valuable Features

IBM Cloud Pak for Data excels with data virtualization, low-code navigation, robust security, and efficient data integration and collaboration.
SAS Data Management provides user-friendly, comprehensive data handling with strong integration, quality, governance, and flexible connectivity features.
We have been able to save approximately 80 percent of our time. We are not doing data analysis manually, so this relieves our data department of dealing with data.
Senior Data Analyst at Wipro
The benefits of choosing IBM Cognos, in addition to saving on cost, include having institutional knowledge about maintaining this infrastructure and enough people who have developed on Cognos in the past, which creates comfort in its use.
EDW Manager at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
From there, I can work my way into a more granular level, applying all of that information on top of my actual data to understand what my data looks like, where it came from, and where it went wrong, managing it throughout the cycle.
Data asset management engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
The best features I appreciate about SAS Data Management tool are that it's easy to create the flows and schedule data, and the tables are not too big, making it easy to control the ETL process, including user access which is also easy to manage in SAS.
Data Scientist & Scrum Master at Volvo Group
SAS Data Management stands out because of its data standardization, transformation, and verification capabilities.
Associate Director at Woodpecker Analytics & Services
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Cloud Pak for Data
Ranking in Data Integration
23rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Data Virtualization (3rd)
SAS Data Management
Ranking in Data Integration
28th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Data Quality (7th), Data Governance (22nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of IBM Cloud Pak for Data is 1.3%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAS Data Management is 1.0%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM Cloud Pak for Data1.3%
SAS Data Management1.0%
Other97.7%
Data Integration
 

Featured Reviews

ArchanaSingh - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Data Analyst at Wipro
Collaborative data platform has transformed analytics and now drives faster decisions
The best features IBM Cloud Pak for Data offers include robust data visualization, centralized data analytics, data reliability, and compatibility with hybrid and multi-cloud environments. The compatibility with hybrid and multi-cloud environments has helped our organization as data visualization is very simple. Migrations, reading, analysis, and data management from other sources are performed without problems of requirements. We have a team of experts in IBM Cloud Pak for Data to maintain security and correct data management easily. I find this cloud excellent for visualizing and managing data across networks and also fulfilling fastest data storage, making it less complex and completely improving productivity in my organization. Everything is managed in multiple environments without any problem. IBM Cloud Pak for Data has positively impacted my organization, and I have noticed some improvement since we started using this tool. Configuration with hybrid and multi-cloud environments has been very seamless and easy. It is a robust platform capable of working with multiple data sources where we gain insights to make data-driven decisions easily. It automates data analysis for quick and better performance. We have seen improvements in analysis and data correction from multiple sources. Our productivity in the company is growing, thanks to the data analysis team. We have also seen a robust hybrid and multi-cloud access system working seamlessly. I can share specific outcomes that show how productivity has grown and how performance has improved since the data is automated, and the analysis is done much faster, saving us a lot of time. We have been able to save approximately 80 percent of our time. We are not doing data analysis manually, so this relieves our data department of dealing with data. We have been relieved of a lot of duties, and now we are able to focus on other strategic tasks. Our productivity has greatly increased since we are able to make concrete and data-driven decisions easily.
FK
Data Scientist & Scrum Master at Volvo Group
Has supported centralized data access and improved governance through unified administration
The best features I appreciate about SAS Data Management tool are that it's easy to create the flows and schedule data, and the tables are not too big, making it easy to control the ETL process, including user access which is also easy to manage in SAS. The data integration tools with SAS Data Management were quite good because they allowed me to do all lineage, to manage and see all the variables, find the libraries where the data is, and understand the data in just one tool. Offering another development environment combining code and predefined objects, where I could just drag and drop to achieve what I needed, although some objects were not too good, but some were effective. The metadata management feature of SAS Data Management helps a lot; creating your data marts or data lake with good naming conventions, library conventions, and so on is very important because it allows easy queries to find the whole structure, though I think metadata governance also depends on first definitions, not only on the tool. SAS Data Management is very good for data governance; for me, it was the best tool I worked with in data management, although I don't have too much experience with others, and it truly helped a lot.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
27%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
4%
Financial Services Firm
28%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Large Enterprise12
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise8
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Cloud Pak for Data?
The pricing and setup cost are handled by a different procurement team. Our IT procurement team is centralized, so licensing and the actual cost of the software are taken care of by a different tea...
What needs improvement with IBM Cloud Pak for Data?
I do not know if Cognos has all the features that users are looking for since we provide it as our standard and do not maintain infrastructure for other tools.
What is your primary use case for IBM Cloud Pak for Data?
The main use case for IBM Cognos is for business intelligence and reporting.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAS Data Management?
From my experience, SAS Data Management is an expensive tool.
What needs improvement with SAS Data Management?
There is significant room for improvement, especially with regard to using a hybrid approach that involves both CAS and persistent storage.
What is your primary use case for SAS Data Management?
The main idea for using SAS Data Management was to bring all data inside SAS. I brought the finance area and the sales area in the company that I have worked, along with some market planning data, ...
 

Also Known As

Cloud Pak for Data
SAS Data Management Platform, Data Management Platform, DataFlux
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Qatar Development Bank, GuideWell, Skanderborg Music Festival
Data Management, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Absa, Aegon, Allianz Global Corporate & SpecialtyAusgrid, Bank of Queensland, Bell, BMC Software, Canada Post, Ceska pojistovna, Chantecler, Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, Credit Guarantee Corporation, Cr_dito y Cauci‹n, Delaware State Police, Deutsche Lufthansa, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, DSM, Enerjisa, ERGO Insurance Group, Florida Department of Corrections, Generali Hellas, Gitanjali Group, Gloucestershire Constabulary, GS Home Shopping, HealthPartners, IAG New Zealand, iJET, Invacare, Livzon Pharmaceutical Group, Los Angeles County, Miami Herald Media Company, Netherlands Enterprise Agency, New Zealand Ministry of Health, Nippon Paper, North Carolina Office of Information Technology Services, Orlando Magic, OTP Group, PITT OHIO, Plano Independent School District, RWE Poland, Spanish Air Force, Stockholm County Council, Telus, The Travel Corporation, Transitions Optical, Triad Analytic Solutions, UNIQA, US Census Bureau, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, West Midlands Police, XS Inc., Zenith Insurance
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Cloud Pak for Data vs. SAS Data Management and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.