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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
23
Ranking in other categories
Master Data Management (MDM) Software (4th)
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 8.2%, down 11.3% compared to last year.
Reltio Cloud, on the other hand, focuses on Cloud Master Data Management (MDM), holds 10.3% mindshare, down 16.9% since last year.
Master Data Management (MDM) Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft MDS8.2%
Semarchy xDM11.5%
TIBCO EBX9.5%
Other70.8%
Master Data Management (MDM) Software
Cloud Master Data Management (MDM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Reltio Cloud10.3%
Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC)18.6%
Semarchy xDM14.3%
Other56.8%
Cloud Master Data Management (MDM)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1524357 - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Architect at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Has supported endpoint management while revealing areas where usability and latency can improve
The couple of times we found issues with technical support from Microsoft for Microsoft MDS, they resolved them. The response time and understanding were adequate, though there was always a language barrier between the teams. The teams we worked with were in Korea, and it was sometimes a language issue.
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 gives you the flexibility to have in-depth experience; it allows you to collect data and save it as a golden record, and you have the flexibility for data stewardship."
"The ease of use is valuable."
"It has been a long-standing tool in our organization since it was free."
"One of the main features I have found useful is the integration with Azure active directory."
"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."
"What I like about Microsoft is that it has a huge database with many users."
"The advantage of Microsoft MDS is that it's so handy, so customizable, and easy to use."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft MDS is its management."
"It is a scalable product, and the scalability is good. We can configure users."
"The cloud feature is very beneficial, and the scalability performance feature is excellent."
"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."
"Reltio Cloud offers advantages over competitors, including a dashboard with a good amount of detail that looks significantly better than Informatica or Stibo."
"Reltio Cloud has introduced a single source of truth, a solution to issues caused by teams sharing data via email and losing track of the latest updates, and as a result, up to 97-78% of operations now have a clearer view, allowing us to focus more on enhancing our operations rather than rectifying data discrepancies, thus productivity has surged, leading to significant cost reductions, with my estimate being over a million dollars in savings within the last few months, enabling faster decision-making and real-time data access without the need for manual compilation."
"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."
"We can store the data and enrich it from multiple sources."
"Its user interface is different from that of other MDM solutions like Informatica"
 

Cons

"If Microsoft MDS were part of Azure, it would be significantly more helpful."
"The version that I work with is on-premises and it required an additional virtual machine on the cloud. It would be a better option to have an on-cloud version."
"The Microsoft license cost could be lower."
"Stability can be fragile at times. If you are not attentive or make a mistake, it can cause problems."
"More generic related things can be included in the services."
"The stability could be improved."
"It would be a better option to have an on-cloud version."
"The program's navigation tools could be improved."
"The deployment is difficult."
"The customer support is adequate, but not exceptional."
"What could be improved about Reltio Cloud was minimal."
"Ultimately, technical complexity emerges as the primary challenge we face, revealing opportunities for improvement."
"Initially, the UI was limited in features."
"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."
"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."
"The solution's UI could be enhanced, and its record filtering could be expanded."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution does require a license and we have enterprise licenses."
"The pricing of this solution is good."
"With Microsoft, we buy everything though an agreement, so we purchase volume licensing every year."
"I would like to see better pricing."
"Product licensing is very complicated. It would be helpful to have an online calculator to estimate the cost of a license."
"Microsoft MDS is an expensive solution."
"SAP is more expensive than Microsoft."
"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
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Media Company
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise15
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise13
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft MDS?
More generic related things can be included in the services.
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 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: May 2026.
893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.