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Microsoft MDS vs Reltio Cloud 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)
Reltio Cloud
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Master Data Management (MDM) (2nd), AI Data Analysis (4th), AI Customer Experience Personalization (8th)
 

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.
Reltio Cloud, on the other hand, focuses on Cloud Master Data Management (MDM), holds 9.4% mindshare, down 17.1% 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 (%)
Reltio Cloud9.4%
Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC)18.7%
Semarchy xDM13.6%
Other58.3%
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.
reviewer2826747 - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Domain Lead at a government with 10,001+ employees
Unified data has created trusted golden records but complex AI matching still needs clearer control
Reltio Cloud has greatly enhanced our data management, and I acknowledge there are areas where our team continues to face challenges. Specifically, the AI-based matching feature operates like a black box, making it difficult to understand why certain records are matched or not matched accurately. If there could be better visual debugging and clarity regarding why records are matched, it would significantly aid our decision-making process. The technical configuration, particularly regarding data models and rule matching, can be overly complex for business users, hence a more user-friendly approach, with simplified guidelines, would be incredibly beneficial. Additionally, data stewardship can present complexities, and clearer actions can facilitate addressing these challenges. Performance issues can arise with larger data models and numerous data sources impacting system use, hence enhancements in optimization and ready-to-use features for complex configurations are essential. Pricing can also be convoluted; therefore, a clearer cost model would aid users in comprehending the structure. While data lineage has its merits, it is complex to interpret; thus, improved visualization would greatly benefit users. Ultimately, technical complexity emerges as the primary challenge we face, revealing opportunities for improvement.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It has been a long-standing tool in our organization since it was free."
"What I like about Microsoft, is that it has a huge database with many users."
"The backup and restore functionality are the solution's most valuable aspects."
"Enables non-technical people to directly interact with the BI system."
"It is very easy to deploy and provision a machine."
"Compared to other databases, it is easier to manage and administer."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft MDS is its compatibility with ETL tools like SSIS, which simplifies operations for end-users."
"Unlike specialized tools, MDS is adaptable for various industries, making it a versatile choice for master data management."
"The survivorship feature is great because we can define it, prioritize the sources, and only allow those sources to survive when making the golden record."
"The matching feature of Reltio Cloud is highly effective compared to many other tools available. Additionally, it is almost ready to use out-of-the-box, reducing the implementation time."
"There are default limitations and considerations. For instance, Reltio can store a maximum of 200 values for a single attribute. If your data exceeds this limit, you can request Reltio support to increase the limit. However, be aware that increasing this limit may impact performance, potentially slowing down data loading times."
"It is very easy to learn. The"
"Reltio Cloud has positively impacted my organization by reducing the amount of manual effort needed and making it easy to manage downstream systems."
"We can store the data and enrich it from multiple sources."
"Its user interface is different from that of other MDM solutions like Informatica"
"The cloud feature is very beneficial, and the scalability performance feature is excellent."
 

Cons

"The only drawback is that it does not have the matching, merging, and all true MDM components. For these, you have to use another competent called Data Quality Services (DQS). You need to plug it in and use it along with MDS for true MDM. Both of these are integrated together, but you have to do them separately, whereas, in Profisee, there are a couple of screens where you can configure the matching process, create matching rules, and other things, and everything is in one product, which is not the case with MDS. In order to implement a true MDM, you need MDS, DQS, and SSIS. You have to use MDS to store your golden records, DQS to configure and standardize all your rules and matching percentages, and SSIS to load the data to DQS and MDS. At the same time, you also need Melissa Data to clean up your addresses to validate and standardize the addresses. That's the main component of true MDM. It would be good if they can create a true matching component inside MDS and merge MDS and DQS."
"The Microsoft license cost could be lower."
"The program's navigation tools could be improved."
"The duplication feature is not so good."
"The only drawback is that it does not have the matching, merging, and all true MDM components."
"In the next version, I would like to see integration with Azure."
"The solution could be better integrated into Microsoft's other products."
"Microsoft MDS' language should be simple so everyone can use it easily."
"Reltio Cloud could be improved in two specific areas. Firstly, the API capability needs to be enhanced, as when utilizing the REST API and posting a significant amount of data, there are multiple rejections from the MDM side. This can be due to the MDM server not responding or being unable to process the request. Therefore, I suggest that the API capacity should be increased to handle larger amounts of data. Additionally, I have noticed that the response time from the servers can take up to a minute or a few seconds, which can be improved for a faster response time."
"There is some lag in developing new features for specific business requirements. If a new feature is needed, we have to raise a request in the developer portal through the IDEA portal. This process takes time to develop, which can be a drawback when immediate business needs arise."
"Sometimes, the service goes down for maintenance or when we run a lot of jobs so things get pushed to the queue and results don't get delivered on time."
"Initially, the UI was limited in features."
"What could be improved about Reltio Cloud was minimal."
"The deployment is difficult."
"Reltio Cloud can be improved by providing the possibility to connect with other connectors and databases such as Snowflake, Databricks, and eventually with Azure Data Factory."
"The download process can be quite slow"
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Product licensing is very complicated. It would be helpful to have an online calculator to estimate the cost of a license."
"I would like to see better pricing."
"The solution does require a license and we have enterprise licenses."
"With Microsoft, we buy everything though an agreement, so we purchase volume licensing every year."
"SAP is more expensive than Microsoft."
"The pricing of this solution is good."
"Microsoft MDS is an expensive solution."
"MDS is a part of the SQL Server enterprise license. I am not aware of any additional costs."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
Media Company
8%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise15
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise13
 

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 Reltio Cloud?
In future updates of Reltio Cloud, I would like to see features such as AI for match and merge, which can create predefined AI address doctors and match and merge for customer data, easily integrat...
What is your primary use case for Reltio Cloud?
I use Reltio Cloud for customer data management, specifically for C-MDM purposes.
What advice do you have for others considering Reltio Cloud?
Reltio Cloud was not purchased through AWS Marketplace or directly from the vendor. It was already available in my company at that time, so I used the system to showcase its capabilities. What coul...
 

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
iMiDiA, Slalom, MeritDirect, Cognizant
Find out what your peers are saying about TIBCO, SAP, Qlik and others in Master Data Management (MDM) Software. Updated: June 2026.
900,644 professionals have used our research since 2012.