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IBM InfoSphere DataStage vs Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) 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 InfoSphere DataStage ROI varies; optimization boosts performance 200%, enhancing project management despite some inefficiencies and manual interventions.
Sentiment score
7.1
Informatica IDMC enhances data quality, efficiency, and analytics, offering secure integration and reduced cloud migration costs for businesses.
We see return on investment from this solution in terms of time; time reduction or cost benefits is what we are getting very good results from.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.1
IBM InfoSphere DataStage support is 24/7 but inconsistent, with quality varying by region and needing efficiency improvements.
Sentiment score
6.9
Informatica's customer service is praised for quick, knowledgeable support, though response times can vary with customization and membership levels.
We also have the flexibility to submit a feature request to be included as part of the wishlist, potentially becoming a product feature in subsequent releases.
IBM tech support has allocated dedicated resources, making it satisfactory.
If they are unsure how to resolve an issue, they keep customers informed, providing updates about progress and ensuring communication with the product team to deliver accurate responses.
The response time is pretty good because we have someone in-house, who is an expert from Informatica, in our team who can help us with any sort of queries usually.
I would rate it as nine out of ten for Informatica PowerCenter kind of products or the Informatica integration products.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
IBM InfoSphere DataStage is praised for scalability and connectivity but some users find scaling resource-intensive.
Sentiment score
7.3
Informatica IDMC delivers scalable, flexible data management across cloud and on-premise environments, accommodating diverse enterprise needs efficiently.
I find Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) to be a sustainable and scalable solution.
As a SaaS platform, IDMC is quite scalable and provides complete flexibility.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
IBM InfoSphere DataStage is generally stable, though newer versions and installation issues on certain OS may impact stability.
Sentiment score
7.7
Informatica Cloud is highly rated for stability, despite occasional issues; support effectively resolves any reported bugs.
Stability is crucial because IDMC holds business-critical data, and it needs to be available all the time for business users.
 

Room For Improvement

IBM InfoSphere DataStage needs usability improvements, modern database support, better pricing, documentation, stability, and enhanced cloud integration and DevOps.
Informatica IDMC requires improvements in integration, user interface, performance, support consistency, connectivity, automation, data tagging, and pricing.
I wonder if it supports other areas, such as cloud environments with open source support, or EdgeShift.
The solution needs improvement in connectivity with big data technologies such as Spark.
The observability concept in Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) needs improvement as the capabilities are not up to the mark compared to the industry.
One of my clients has a requirement; they want to integrate metadata into the process, which means, for example, if I just want to implement a new field into my database, that field needs to be reflected throughout, let's say, 200 mappings. This highlights the need for a data-driven approach.
I also want to see integration with other Informatica products, such as IICS, to leverage the metadata from EDC.
 

Setup Cost

IBM InfoSphere DataStage is costly for small businesses but competitive for large enterprises, cheaper than Informatica yet pricey overall.
Informatica IDMC, a costly solution for large enterprises, offers extensive features and flexibility, justifying its premium pricing.
Pricing for IBM InfoSphere DataStage is moderate and not much expensive.
It ranges from a quarter million to a couple of million a year.
The licenses are too expensive compared to before, which is why customers are now preferring other data metadata management tools like OneTrust, Collibra, and Azure Purview.
I think the costs are reasonable for the kinds of features that Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) has.
 

Valuable Features

IBM InfoSphere DataStage excels in parallel processing, scalability, robust data integration, and ease of use, enhancing data management efficiency.
Informatica IDMC excels in data management with strong integration, AI-driven analytics, and a flexible user interface.
The failure detection has been very useful for us, as well as the load balancing feature.
As we are a financial organization, security is our main concern, so we prefer enterprise tools.
Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) can connect to pretty much any application, including Oracle Analytics and Power BI, and it works quite seamlessly.
The platform's ability to pull in data from other platforms without the need for an additional integration tool enhances its appeal.
In on-premise, we call it EDC for metadata management, while in cloud-based technologies, it is known as the Metadata Command Center, which serves the same purpose as EDC concerning CDGC.
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM InfoSphere DataStage
Ranking in Data Integration
6th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Informatica Intelligent Dat...
Ranking in Data Integration
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
186
Ranking in other categories
Data Quality (1st), Business Process Management (BPM) (10th), Business-to-Business Middleware (6th), API Management (7th), Cloud Data Integration (3rd), Data Governance (2nd), Test Data Management (3rd), Cloud Master Data Management (MDM) Solutions (1st), Data Management Platforms (DMP) (2nd), Data Masking (1st), Metadata Management (1st), Test Data Management Services (3rd), Product Information Management (PIM) (1st), Data Observability (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of IBM InfoSphere DataStage is 3.7%, down from 5.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) is 3.6%, down from 6.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC)3.6%
IBM InfoSphere DataStage3.7%
Other92.7%
Data Integration
 

Featured Reviews

Swetha S - PeerSpot reviewer
The solution streamlines design, development, and deployment with effective ETL features
The support has been really good. Typically, if we have any issues, we raise a ticket with IBM, and they help us resolve the issues if required. We also have the flexibility to submit a feature request to be included as part of the wishlist, potentially becoming a product feature in subsequent releases.
SaurabhGaonshindhe - PeerSpot reviewer
Modular structure and AI features stream new reporting processes
One of my clients has a requirement; they want to integrate metadata into the process, which means, for example, if I just want to implement a new field into my database, that field needs to be reflected throughout, let's say, 200 mappings. This highlights the need for a data-driven approach. My experience with technical support from Informatica is quite interesting; I would rate it as nine out of ten for Informatica PowerCenter kind of products or the Informatica integration products, because my team can do some hands-on using their free licenses or one-month kind of products. However, for products Master Data Management or related to MDM or Data Governance, there is no way by which we can directly practice, and my team struggles at that point.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
28%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Insurance Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise25
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business42
Midsize Enterprise24
Large Enterprise134
 

Questions from the Community

Would you upgrade to more premium versions of IBM InfoSphere DataStage?
My company currently uses the free version of the product, and we are definitely switching to a paid one. We needed a tool that can help us not only integrate our data but use it effectively. For ...
Is IBM InfoSphere DataStage more difficult to use compared to other tools in the field?
I think the tool may cause some difficulties if you have not used other data integration solutions before. I have worked at companies that used different tools for data integration, and they work ...
Do you rely on IBM Cloud Paks for your data? Have you utilized this product, or do you use IBM InfoSphere DataStage without it?
IBM Cloud Paks makes a big difference in your data integration. My company has been using it alongside IBM InfoSphere DataStage and while the main product is good on its own, this one truly expands...
How does Azure Data Factory compare with Informatica Cloud Data Integration?
Azure Data Factory is a solid product offering many transformation functions; It has pre-load and post-load transformations, allowing users to apply transformations either in code by using Power Q...
Which Informatica product would you choose - PowerCenter or Cloud Data Integration?
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...
What are the biggest benefits of using Informatica Cloud Data Integration?
When it comes to cloud data integration, this solution can provide you with multiple benefits, including: Overhead reduction by integrating data on any cloud in various ways Effective integration ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
ActiveVOS, Active Endpoints, BPM, Address Verification, Persistent Data Masking, Cloud Test Data Management, PIM, , Enterprise Data Catalog, Data Integration Hub, Cloud Data Integration, Data Quality, Cloud API and App Integration
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Dubai Statistics Center, Etisalat Egypt
The Travel Company, Carbonite
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM InfoSphere DataStage vs. Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
867,953 professionals have used our research since 2012.