No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) vs SAP Information Steward comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 15, 2026

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

Informatica Intelligent Dat...
Ranking in Data Quality
1st
Ranking in Metadata Management
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
215
Ranking in other categories
Data Integration (1st), Business Process Management (BPM) (7th), Business-to-Business Middleware (2nd), API Management (5th), Cloud Data Integration (2nd), Data Governance (3rd), Test Data Management (2nd), Cloud Master Data Management (MDM) (1st), Data Management Platforms (DMP) (2nd), Data Masking (2nd), Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) (4th), Test Data Management Services (3rd), Product Information Management (PIM) (1st), Data Observability (2nd), AI Data Analysis (1st)
SAP Information Steward
Ranking in Data Quality
18th
Ranking in Metadata Management
10th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Data Quality category, the mindshare of Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) is 9.5%, down from 19.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP Information Steward is 2.9%, up from 3.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Quality Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC)9.5%
SAP Information Steward2.9%
Other87.6%
Data Quality
 

Featured Reviews

RC
Contractor at Sanlam
Cloud data catalog has streamlined lineage and quality while leaving more automation to improve
I have not explored IDMC's automation capabilities driven by AI and metadata too much at the moment, but it is on the cards. We are basically creating the foundation, as the whole migration has taken place recently and it is still early days. I think Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) is evolving, and as the vendors move forward, they pick up new concepts from each other. I have seen that products leapfrog each other, and from my experience over the years, the big players tend to copy features or add enhancements based on industry trends. I feel whatever the tool does not have now, there is a feedback loop allowing us to request new features, and we continually ask for different ways to do things as we have a pipeline into the product management team. It is difficult to say what additional features I would prefer to see in the next release of IDMC. I would appreciate more automation on the lineage front, with more AI to seamlessly join independent sources and create seamless lineage between different technologies, such as from file into database A into a different database and landing up in a reporting system such as Cognos, Qlik, Qlik Sense, QlikView, or Power BI.
FranciscoSantos - PeerSpot reviewer
Director at Pixel Studio PTY
Provides accurate data that is validated against a personalized reference tool
For most SAP customers, Information Steward is enough because it is able to build quality data rules to detect issues in the source systems like SAP HANA, Business Warehouse, or other systems. A business user can first organize their data into several data domains. For example, procurement, human resources, and logistics setup. The domains can build data quality dimensions where you can describe the kind of rule that you are going to use. The user then can immediately see if something is wrong with their data using traffic lights. Another great feature of SAP Information Steward is the accuracy that the content is followed by validating against the reference tool. With the solution, you are creating data quality dimensions. Within these dimensions, you are creating business data quality rules that are looking for specific fields. From these rules, you can create a scorecard. The scorecard will highlight the percentage of good data and ensure the user can feel confident that the data is accurate within predetermined limits. SAP tables have field names that are very cryptic, making them hard to understand the meaning of the fields. Metapedia helps describe these fields in business terms.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Troubleshooting is very easy and I believe performance is better than any other tool."
"Mapping designer seems to be easier to use even when compared with PowerCenter which is a great improvement."
"The data integration and synchronization features in IICS improve the data handling processes."
"Some of Axon's valuable features include creating your business glossaries, importing DQ rules, and creating change management."
"The product is the best in the industry (as it is multidomain) and the vendor support is excellent."
"This is where I think MDM shines - with its strong fuzzy matching algorithm. This is the essence of Informatica MDM. Based on these results, I can write our match conditions and then perform the corresponding data management activities."
"The solution scales well."
"It comes with lot of features and is a one-stop-shop solution for integration, data modeling, and data governance."
"Data integration is much easier with Information Steward - irrespective of the data sources, integration is very smooth and easy."
"The data profiling was excellent, as was the ease of generating the dashboards."
"Data insight is the most valuable feature."
"The most valuable features are data quality insight, metadata management, and metadata dictionary."
"The scorecard will highlight the percentage of good data and ensure the user can feel confident that the data is accurate within predetermined limits."
"Ability to collect information, monitor user access and to plan storage capacity."
"The Data Cleansing and the scorecard dashboard are very valuable. Additionally, the financial aspect of SAP Information Steward is very good. When a rule is incorrect then it will show how much is it costing the business. These features are very valuable."
"The solution is very fast."
 

Cons

"The error information provided is not informative, as compared to Power Center."
"One thing Informatica could improve is the way IPUs are used."
"Informatica is very expensive."
"IEDC can improve the comparison of lineages."
"They could provide more robust performance for data integration processes. It would help in improving the data quality more efficiently."
"I can't say the user interface is useless, but people don't use it because they find it cumbersome."
"Informatica Axon's response times and certain aspects of the admin panel could be enhanced for better usability."
"Support response time could be better."
"The solution could improve by incorporating other applications, such as Power BI to show more visualization. More interaction with other solutions would be a good benefit."
"We'd like to see some manipulation techniques included in SAP Information Steward."
"Granularity could be reduced from an application level to the object level."
"SAP is a bit pricey, and better tools are available for a lower price."
"The support team is not very responsive."
"SAP Information Steward could be improved by offering a cloud version of the product."
"From a performance perspective, sometimes it behaves weirdly. When we are connecting with the file-based system, it doesn't give us the correct results, or it somehow shows us there is this issue with the data or the file connectivity."
"Performance could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate the product's price a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is the cheapest and ten is the most expensive. The product is a bit expensive."
"Cost-wise, I think it is on the higher side, and that is why we are looking for some better options. Licensing costs are huge compared to other players in the market and for my company."
"You can purchase licenses for this solution at different intervals. For example, annually or every three years. They recently changed their terms for licensing and now it is more flexible."
"Licensing is difficult to understand, but the team is always available to explain anything. They are very helpful."
"Informatica MDM recently changed its pricing model. It's usage-based but I don't have much insight into the current pricing."
"I rate the licensing cost of Informatica MDM a five out of ten."
"Informatica MDM's price could be lower."
"The price is high, but the competitors are even higher, like Collibra."
"I do not know if there were additional costs beyond the standard licensing fees."
"Smaller-sized organizations may not be able to invest in SAP Information Steward because of the cost."
"SAP Information Steward is an expensive solution compared to others."
"A bit pricey, and better tools are available for a lower price."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Data Quality solutions are best for your needs.
900,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
7%
Computer Software Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
18%
Government
15%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business51
Midsize Enterprise27
Large Enterprise155
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

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 ...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

ActiveVOS, Active Endpoints, Address Verification, Persistent Data Masking
Information Steward, SAP Data Insight
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

The Travel Company, Carbonite
American Water, Graphic Packaging International, OSRAM Licht AG, Maxim Integrated
Find out what your peers are saying about Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) vs. SAP Information Steward and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.