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SAS Data Integration Server vs SSIS 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

SAS Data Integration Server
Ranking in Data Integration
38th
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SSIS
Ranking in Data Integration
1st
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
76
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of SAS Data Integration Server is 0.7%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SSIS is 4.0%, down from 7.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SSIS4.0%
SAS Data Integration Server0.7%
Other95.3%
Data Integration
 

Featured Reviews

NN
Works at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
Offloads processes on the server side but needs better installation syntax
One area for improvement is the installation process. Another point could be the syntax, as it sometimes involves using syntax names that are not intuitive. For example, to calculate the difference between two dates, the general syntax in SAS is called the data difference or data net function. However, another name is used, such as NF and INK. Without knowledge of SAS programming, it becomes unclear what these functions mean. It is not good to define function names this way.
Chris Farris - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager, Data Operations at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
User-friendly interface facilitates efficient data migration and reduces operational overhead
Its usability and ease of use are standout features. It is really easy to use - almost too easy at times. Users don't have to be experts to use their tool set and utilize the clicking mechanisms, drop down boxes, and other features to build a package and run it. The configuration is very easy and the system is very stable. I would rate it at a 10 as it is highly reliable; we have never had any problems with it. Very little maintenance is required on my side. While you need to keep the product up to date, the maintenance requirements are minimal. SSIS integrates with all Microsoft tools seamlessly. We have used it against Oracle, DB2 and SQL. It integrates and can move data around from any data platforms, making it very diverse in that standpoint. It is a very robust tool that can work with many data sources, and its main strength is that it is extremely easy to use.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"A key feature allows us to enhance job performance by offloading processing to the server side, rather than processing on the server itself."
"The solution is very stable."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is its amazing capabilities in regard to data handling."
"A key feature allows us to enhance job performance by offloading processing to the server side, rather than processing on the server itself."
"The solution offers very good data manipulation and loading."
"A key feature allows us to enhance job performance by offloading processing to the server side, rather than processing on the server itself."
"It has a drag and drop feature that makes it easy to use. It has a good user experience because it takes into account your most-used tools and they're lined up nicely so you can just drag and drop without looking too far. It also integrates nicely with Microsoft."
"The solution is stable."
"It is easy to set up. The deployment is also very quick."
"With this solution, there is the potential to expand, so that you can immediately write code onto the SQL server."
"The initial setup was easy."
"You can get data from any data source with SSIS and dump it to any outside source. It is helpful. Getting, extracting, converting, and dumping data doesn't require much effort because we can do everything in the user interface. You drag and drop, then give the required input. It's intuitive."
"It is easily scheduled and integrates well with SQL Server and SQL Server Agent jobs."
"I have used most of the standard SQL features, but the ones that stand out are the Data Flows and Bulk Import."
 

Cons

"The initial setup had issues, and even after using it for about one year, it was still not fixed."
"The initial setup had issues, and even after using it for about one year, it was still not fixed."
"One area for improvement is the installation process."
"The transform tool has limited access. They should make it more flexible."
"The initial setup of SAS Data Integration Server was complex."
"So I would like to see improved integration with other software."
"The high prices attached to the product can be an area of concern where improvements are required."
"It's difficult to refactor SSIS. It gets cumbersome to reuse the solution."
"There's no support for it at all. If you haven't undergone the qualifications, you wouldn't even know you should phone someone."
"Microsoft's technical support has decreased in quality over the last few years, becoming less responsive and tending to pass problems on instead of solving them."
"We're in the process of switching to Informatica, and we need to work out data lineage and data profiling and to improve the quality of our data. SSIS, however, is not that compatible with Informatica. We managed to connect it to Informatica Metadata Manager, but we don't get good lineage, so we have to redo all our ETLs using the Informatica process in order to accept the proper data lineage."
"There are a lot of things that Microsoft could improve in relation to SSIS. One major problem we faced was when attempting to move some Excel files to our SQL Server. The Excel provider has a limitation that prevents importing more than 255 columns from a particular Excel file to the database. This restriction posed a significant issue for us."
"Integration and the user interface are areas with certain shortcomings that require some improvements."
"SSIS is cumbersome despite its drag-and-drop functionality. For example, let's say I have 50 tables with 30 columns. You need to set a data type for each column and table. That's around 1,500 objects. It gets unwieldy adding validation for every column. Previously, SSIS automatically detected the data type, but I think they removed this feature. It would automatically detect if it's an integer, primary key, or foreign key column. You had fewer problems building the model."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is an expensive program."
"My advice is to look at what your configuration will be because most companies have their own deals with Microsoft."
"All of my clients have this product included as part of their Microsoft license."
"SSIS is fairly well-priced - I would rate it at four out of five."
"This solution is a free of charge addition to our SQL licence. However, the only way this tool can be utilized is as a feature of the SQL licence, which may make it unattractive to organizations who don't wish to purchase the wider-ranging licence."
"The solution is available at a lesser price than that of Informatica."
"Based on my experience and understanding, Talend comes out to be a little bit expensive as compared to SSIS. The average cost of having Talend with Talend Management Console is around 72K per region, which is much higher than SSIS. SSIS works very well with Microsoft technologies, and if you have Microsoft technologies, it is not really expensive to have SSIS. If you have SQL Server, SSIS is free."
"We have an enterprise license for this solution."
"It would be beneficial if the solution had a less costly cloud offering."
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Comparison Review

it_user90069 - PeerSpot reviewer
BI Expert at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Feb 20, 2014
Informatica PowerCenter vs. Microsoft SSIS - each technology has its advantages but also have similarities
Technology has made it easier for businesses to organize and manipulate data to get a clearer picture of what’s going on with their business. Notably, ETL tools have made managing huge amounts of data significantly easier and faster, boosting many organizations’ business intelligence operations…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
26%
Computer Software Company
8%
Insurance Company
7%
Healthcare Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business27
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise57
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with SAS Data Integration Server?
One area for improvement is the installation process. Another point could be the syntax, as it sometimes involves using syntax names that are not intuitive. For example, to calculate the difference...
What is your primary use case for SAS Data Integration Server?
I am involved in the ETR job. My role is focused on executing the ETR job.
What advice do you have for others considering SAS Data Integration Server?
I use it without further details. For example, if I use SAS to connect to a NetEazt database or purchase a shared asset to ODBC, I can connect to any database with ODBC connection support. The over...
Which is better - SSIS or Informatica PowerCenter?
SSIS PowerPack is a group of drag and drop connectors for Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services, commonly called SSIS. The collection helps organizations boost productivity with code-free compo...
What do you like most about SSIS?
The product's deployment phase is easy.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SSIS?
It was included in our licensing for SQL server, and our licensing for SQL server was extremely cheap, making it a very good price point for us.
 

Also Known As

SAS Enterprise Data Integration Server, Enterprise Data Integration Server
SQL Server Integration Services
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Credit Guarantee Corporation, Cr_dito y Cauci‹n, Delaware State Police, Deutsche Lufthansa, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, DSM, Livzon Pharmaceutical Group, Los Angeles County, Miami Herald Media Company, Netherlands Enterprise Agency, New Zealand Ministry of Health, Nippon Paper, West Midlands Police, XS Inc., Zenith Insurance
1. Amazon.com 2. Bank of America 3. Capital One 4. Coca-Cola 5. Dell 6. E*TRADE 7. FedEx 8. Ford Motor Company 9. Google 10. Home Depot 11. IBM 12. Intel 13. JPMorgan Chase 14. Kraft Foods 15. Lockheed Martin 16. McDonald's 17. Microsoft 18. Morgan Stanley 19. Nike 20. Oracle 21. PepsiCo 22. Procter & Gamble 23. Prudential Financial 24. RBC Capital Markets 25. SAP 26. Siemens 27. Sony 28. Toyota 29. UnitedHealth Group 30. Visa 31. Walmart 32. Wells Fargo
Find out what your peers are saying about SAS Data Integration Server vs. SSIS and other solutions. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.