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Microsoft MDS vs Profisee comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Microsoft MDS
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
Master Data Management (MDM) Software (5th)
Profisee
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.4
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Master Data Management (MDM) (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Data Integration and Access solutions, they serve different purposes. Microsoft MDS is designed for Master Data Management (MDM) Software and holds a mindshare of 8.1%, down 11.6% compared to last year.
Profisee, on the other hand, focuses on Cloud Master Data Management (MDM), holds 6.7% mindshare, down 8.6% since last year.
Master Data Management (MDM) Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft MDS8.1%
Semarchy xDM11.2%
TIBCO EBX9.2%
Other71.5%
Master Data Management (MDM) Software
Cloud Master Data Management (MDM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Profisee6.7%
Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC)18.7%
Semarchy xDM13.6%
Other61.0%
Cloud Master Data Management (MDM)
 

Featured Reviews

NA
Data Management Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Centralized master data has improved data quality but now requires a clearer future roadmap
An area where Microsoft MDS can be improved is that Microsoft has announced Microsoft MDS is being removed from SQL Server two thousand twenty-five. The future of the product is genuinely uncertain, and that's something any organization evaluating it needs to factor in seriously. Microsoft MDS is still supported on SQL Server two thousand twenty-two and earlier, but the trajectory is clear that Microsoft is not investing in Microsoft MDS going forward. I would also say that the cloud story is a gap because there's no native cloud version of Microsoft MDS. For clients who are moving workloads to Azure, that's an increasingly awkward conversation. Microsoft's direction for MDM in the cloud is through other capabilities like Azure Purview and Dataverse, but those are different products with different feature sets.
reviewer2584719 - PeerSpot reviewer
MDM Lead at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
Unlocks efficient data mastering with custom interfaces and upcoming integrations
We use Profisee for mastering data between multiple systems like ERP and CRM within our company The product helps us by allowing us to bring data in from any system that we need, master it, and deliver clean records for data and analytics. Profisee's ability to master data using the Goldstein…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is easy to install."
"This product provides a robust, flexible, and secure way for my organization and our customers to manage master data without the need to write code."
"The ROI is terrific and it means you can avoid building or purchasing a solution."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft MDS is its compatibility with ETL tools like SSIS, which simplifies operations for end-users."
"The tool is easy to use."
"The beauty with Master Data Services is that it's centralized in one place and the problem with other solutions is that most of them have been created in house."
"I like the ease of deployment, as it is very easy to deploy and provision a machine, and I like the analytics and that I can run them, which makes it easier to do analytics compared to our previous tools, while Microsoft BI is quite good."
"We used Azure Cloud service to set it up, and it was very easy to setup and configure."
"The client is doing really well; in fact, they've been published in several IT magazines for their efforts, and also for their data cleansing efforts and their data stewardship."
"Profisee's customer service is very responsive, and they have a comprehensive training academy, Profisee Academy, that helps guide the implementation process."
"The product is able to utilize the SQL server toolkit and it has tight integration with the SQL server."
"Profisee is an all-in-one tool; all you need to do is plug in your data points from various data sources and you are good to go."
"The process of categorizing data, creating glossaries, and generating metadata is streamlined and less time-consuming."
"The most valuable features for ensuring data accuracy and quality are mappings and creating business rules."
"We really like the matching and merging features."
 

Cons

"Microsoft MDS isn't getting strong support because Microsoft is focusing more on cloud solutions."
"I do not like using Silverlight and Internet Explorer. The new 2019 version gets rid of that, which is one of the reasons why we are looking to switch."
"The duplication feature is not so good."
"Microsoft MDS' language should be simple so everyone can use it easily."
"There are occasions when the solution maintains SD and we get duplications of MDS."
"If one system has reached capacity or has stopped, then the whole system stops and it is quite difficult to solve the problem."
"The only drawback is that it does not have the matching, merging, and all true MDM components."
"The future of the product is genuinely uncertain, and that's something any organization evaluating it needs to factor in seriously."
"When we updated to version 7.1, there were some workflow issues."
"Profisee could improve in providing clearer data lineage information."
"A more convenient approach would involve integrating all the pre-existing elements into Profisee itself."
"The way training is laid out in their Profisee University, makes it really, really hard to find what you need fast."
"Some security complexities might add time to the setup."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"SAP is more expensive than Microsoft."
"Microsoft MDS is an expensive solution."
"I would like to see better pricing."
"With Microsoft, we buy everything though an agreement, so we purchase volume licensing every year."
"The solution does require a license and we have enterprise licenses."
"The pricing of this solution is good."
"Product licensing is very complicated. It would be helpful to have an online calculator to estimate the cost of a license."
"MDS is a part of the SQL Server enterprise license. I am not aware of any additional costs."
"The pricing is moderate, falling in the middle range—not excessively low nor overly expensive."
"We didn't come across any additional licensing fees."
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Answers from the Community

RT
Information Architect at Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Feb 7, 2022
Feb 7, 2022
Hi @Richard Tibbetts, There's no short answer to your question. Nearly all existing MDM solutions on the market offer a broad range of patterns to ingest master data from various sources and distribute cleanse and consolidated information, also to the Azure stack. Many vendors offer prebuilt connectors for the most common sources (databases, various file types, storages, business applications i...
2 out of 3 answers
InitZero - PeerSpot reviewer
Enterprise MDM Architect / Solution Arch at Volvo Group
Jan 14, 2022
Hi @Richard Tibbetts, There's no short answer to your question. Nearly all existing MDM solutions on the market offer a broad range of patterns to ingest master data from various sources and distribute cleanse and consolidated information, also to the Azure stack. Many vendors offer prebuilt connectors for the most common sources (databases, various file types, storages, business applications including MS Dynamics, Salesforce, etc.), but also support a generic way of ingesting/exposing data via Rest APIs, file drops, etc. MS MDS is an extension of the MS SQL server 2016. I don't know Microsoft plans to extend it, but I know that Profisee and CluedIn are very active in promoting their solutions as-built having Azure in mind and being a part of the stack. Informatica MDM has three types of offerings these days: on-prem, hosted MDM, and cloud-native option - they differ in the functionality and integration options. Obviously, there are many more MDM tools on the market particularly good in various data domains (products, customers/suppliers - so yours, multi-domain, etc). I think that you should start your MDM journey by answering which current challenges you try to solve or what new capabilities you need to enable to the organisation. Once these questions are answered and based on your organization's Enterprise Architecture principles, look for the best fitting tool. It may (or may not) be the one that fits the best into the Azure Reference Architecture. I hope this helped.
GM
Data Architect at World Vision
Feb 4, 2022
I agree with @InitZero...  I would add that there's no future roadmap for MDS and they don't have an Azure solution for it.  Since it's a free product with an SQL license, don't expect Microsoft to invest in it.   Even though we are highly dependent upon it currently I'm starting to look towards the future where we need to find a replacement - hopefully, a PaaS solution. It would be great if Microsoft came out with something in Azure but I'm not hopeful at this point.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
Media Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
18%
Healthcare Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise15
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft MDS?
Microsoft MDS was pretty affordable. We implemented the solution without a problem.
What needs improvement with Microsoft MDS?
I cannot really give specifics about disadvantages. From what we have seen, speaking to customers, Microsoft MDS was sometimes a bit slow. The frustration they had was just around usability and use...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft MDS?
I used only those two products within one year when I was still working with other products. I used to work with Windows Autopilot or Microsoft MDS in the past. For mobile devices, I could use Micr...
What needs improvement with Profisee?
Profisee is making improvements for the year 2024, including integrating directly with other solutions.
What is your primary use case for Profisee?
We use Profisee for mastering data between multiple systems like ERP and CRM within our company.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Microsoft Master Data Services, Microsoft MDM, Microsoft SQL Server Master Data Services, MS MDS
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ETA a.s., Apeejay Surrendra Group, Blue Star Infotech, Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation, The Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, New Belgium Brewing
NASDAQ, Rockwell Automation, ITT Industries, EY (Ernst & Young), Domino's, L3 Communications, Anheuser Busch, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Ameriprise Financial, GSO Capital Partners
Find out what your peers are saying about TIBCO, SAP, Qlik and others in Master Data Management (MDM) Software. Updated: June 2026.
900,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.