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IBM InfoSphere Information Server 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM InfoSphere Information ...
Ranking in Data Integration
32nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Metadata Management (7th)
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 (23rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of IBM InfoSphere Information Server is 0.9%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAS Data Management is 1.3%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SAS Data Management1.3%
IBM InfoSphere Information Server0.9%
Other97.8%
Data Integration
 

Featured Reviews

MI
Senior Data Engineer at Mohammed Mansour Alrumiah
Faced challenges with customer support and documentation but have benefited from reliable data integration over the years
As for utilizing the platform's metadata management feature, I have not worked on that feature yet, but personally, I have done that. To evaluate the effectiveness of IBM InfoSphere Information Server's data integration capabilities, if IBM is providing all the solutions we are using, then it is definitely a helpful thing. Mostly, the other thing is that it is a big area including data governance, data lineage, data management, and metadata, but every customer is not putting that much effort and money on that. They mostly migrate the data, use it, and forget it, but slowly things are changing. I am working in Saudi Arabia, so here also data governance, data management, and those kinds of things are getting attention. Regarding how scalable IBM InfoSphere Information Server is, I need to learn how to tune performance and scalability on the cloud. I am familiar with localized hardware, but on the cloud, I still have to do the work around it. In the beginning, we estimate the load and based on that, we put the hardware, but if there is continuous increase, I believe IBM also faces problems. Scalability needs to be improved because once the demand comes, you should be able to improve it, but for that, documentation on how to add hardware or resources to the software needs to be proper. I do not have much hands-on experience with that.
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The initial IBM InfoSphere Information Server is straightforward and you can choose what type of installation you want, such as a customized installation, with clear-cut documentation that, if followed, works fine and the installation has not given us issues."
"Reduces the loading and development time for Datawarehouse ETL."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"The integration with different technologies is the most valuable feature."
"Data connections, data partitioning, flexibility, and performance are the most valuable features."
"This solution is extremely flexible and scalable."
"IBM InfoSphere Information Server is stable."
"The integration with different technologies is the most valuable feature."
"The SAS Data Management software has enabled us to have a single source of truth for any data that was earlier being fetched from multiple source systems at multiple times."
"The monitoring capabilities are very good."
"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."
"National Quality Knoledge Base Matching features QPI (Quality Performance Indicator) analysis approach"
"Previously our business users would have to write complex SQL or issue requests to the technical team in order to get the information needed, and they find it much easier using the Dataflux product to access the information stored in the database for the type of analyses they have to do on a day to day basis."
"The tool is reliable, quick, and powerful."
"In terms of which features I have found most valuable, I would say the importing and exporting features. Additionally, the data sorting, categorizing and summarizing features, especially how it can summarize based on categories. These are the key features."
"I find the solution to be very stable."
 

Cons

"We have decided to decrease the usage of metadata management because we did not see any significant advantages."
"This solution would benefit from the engine being made more lightweight."
"IBM InfoSphere Information Server should be more scalable. It should have the option to change the configuration to run on a single, non-multiple node, or multi-threading processing."
"Heavy use of scratch disk which sometimes leads to failure."
"Their technical support needs improvement."
"This solution would benefit from the engine being made more lightweight."
"IBM InfoSphere Information Server should be more scalable. It should have the option to change the configuration to run on a single, non-multiple node, or multi-threading processing."
"Their technical support needs improvement."
"Complex, as usual with SAS"
"The pricing of the solution needs to be improved. They need to work to make it more affordable."
"One problem is accessing the data using a solution other than SAS. The SAS data, which we create in the SAS, cannot be accessed by other tools."
"We implemented it a while ago, and we are trying to improve the data delivery performance. We are looking into how to get faster and automated reporting. We would need better designs and workflows."
"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."
"The solution is very expensive."
"For the amount of features that we use, the licensing is expensive."
"We find we often have to go back and re-train users when there are changes made to the solution because the changes are not intuitive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing cost of IBM InfoSphere Information Server depends on how many users there are."
"The solution is expensive."
"The licensing model for vCenter is a perpetual license with yearly payments."
"The tool is a bit expensive."
"While it is even free for personal use on the cloud, it can be expensive for desktop installations and enterprise use."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Construction Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
20%
Healthcare Company
7%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise8
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with IBM InfoSphere Information Server?
We are using the on-premises version of IBM InfoSphere Information Server, but we feel that all new development is mainly for the cloud. We receive corrections of errors, but we do not see new func...
What is your primary use case for IBM InfoSphere Information Server?
My usual use case for IBM InfoSphere Information Server is ETL, where we take data from one source to another data warehouse solution.
What advice do you have for others considering IBM InfoSphere Information Server?
We are about to change our platform from IBM AIX to SUSE Linux, as our whole platform is changing, so everyone should change from IBM to SUSE Linux. It would be very difficult for us to have a diff...
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

InfoSphere Information Server, IBM Information Server
SAS Data Management Platform, Data Management Platform, DataFlux
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Canadian National Railway Company, Chickasaw Nation Division of Commerce, Swedish Armed Forces, BG RCI, Janata Sahakari Bank Ltd., University of Arizona, Biogrid Australia
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 InfoSphere Information Server vs. SAS Data Management and other solutions. Updated: May 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.