Informatica PowerCenter Reviews

Informatica PowerCenter is a data integration tool. We use it as an extract, load, transform tool and we can transfer data from production to test or to any other environment.

We have several use cases. For example,  we use it to create data warehouse applications, which are used for analytics and to help generate business value.

Another use case is to modify a test environment such that it is compliant with GDPR regulations. We can use it to transfer production data to a test environment for the purpose of facilitating our testing. Another use case is that if we are working on a data warehouse application, it can be used to extract data from different sources to load into the target environment.

The most valuable features are that it is quick and easy to use. Anybody can master it in a short time.

The interface is very clean and clear.

This tool integrates with distributed systems.

I would like to see improvements made to the custom transformations. It should be more open for users that want to write their own code and use cases. As it is now, writing custom transformations is not user-friendly.

I have been working with Informatica PowerCenter for approximately two years.

This is a stable product.

Informatica PowerCenter is scalable.

We have one person in the company in charge of administration. 

I am part of a seven-person team that uses it, although there are a lot of other applications in the company that make use of PowerCenter. The number of users overall is huge.

We plan to increase our usage in the future.

Our admin team is from Informatica, and if we have any problems then we contact them. For example, the tool that I work on directly interacts with PowerCenter, where PowerCenter works as a backend for my application. If I have connectivity issues or need special access to PowerCenter, I contact the admin team and they help me to sort out the issues.

Prior to PowerCenter, I used an open-source tool called Talend. It was not very good.

The installation is not complex. It is easy to do because you just need one database, such as Oracle, set up as the backend, and some executable files.

I was not involved in the deployment. Another team in our company was responsible for it.

The licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis.

In summary, this is a good tool and I definitely recommend it. It integrates with distributed systems and if the use cases involve data ETL then this is the best tool to use.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

We use the solution for businesses that wish to analyze their raw data. The solution allows us to do data cleansing and to transform the raw data into useful, insightful information.

Informatica PowerCenter is a very strong tool which offers a host of features. We can use heterogeneous data to easily merge and derive the useful information. Also, flag files processing is very useful.

An issue which should be addressed is that the solution only allows us to do structured, as opposed to unstructured, data processing. Also, the EPA related data processing should be improved. 

Processing capabilities should be streamlined.

I prefer a third party scheduler tool to that of Informatica scheduler, since the latter is not one which is very physical. The solution is not so helpful if one wishes to perform multiple tasks simultaneously. 

We have been using Informatica PowerCenter for nearly eight years.

Scalability could be improved, as it is of an intermediate level. 

We have plans to increase usage. 

Technical support is really great.

Deployment was simple and straightforward. 

Licensing costs are excessive and pose an obstacle to someone who lacks familiarity with the solution and wishes to have a proper understanding of it. 

We have a team of around 40 to 50 people who use the solution.

I would, for sure, recommend the solution to others, since I feel it to be a really strong tool. It is very robust and has complex capabilities. It allows one to accomplish tasks with ease. We are talking about a strong ETL for those who are undertaking ETL related tasks.

We receive the data files from insurance carriers. We load the data, do some processing, and then make the data available to their internal systems. We apply some business transformations and data validations and share the data in the healthcare domain and EDI B2B exchange.

Its version varies based on the customer, but when it comes to the cloud, we have the latest version. We have been using Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services (IICS) for two years. We have used IICS for two purposes. One is for data integration, and the other one is for application integration.

Complex transformations can be easily achieved by using PowerCenter. The processing layer does transformations and other things. About 80% of my transformations can be achieved by using the middle layer. For the remaining 15% to 20% transformations, I can go in and create stored procedures in the respective databases. Mapplets is the feature through which we can reuse transformations across pipelines. Transformations and caching are the key features that we have been using frequently. 

Informatica PowerCenter is one of the best solutions or products in the data integration space. We have extensively used PowerCenter for integration purposes. We usually look at the best bridge solution in our architecture so that it can sustain for maybe a couple of years. Usually, we go with the solution that fits best and has proven and time-tested technology.

Its licensing can be improved. It should be features-wise and not bundle-wise. A bundle will definitely be costly. In addition, we might use one or two features. That's why the pricing model should be based on the features. The model should be flexible enough based on the features.

Their support should also be more responsive to premium customers.

We have been dealing with this product for around 20 years.

It is stable.

It is easy to scale. It has the concept of a grid, but it is too costly because you also need Informatica big data edition. Informatica PowerCenter has its own software licensing called big data edition. So, whenever we want to scale to a huge volume, we need to go with big data. It has horizontal scaling, which always impacts the price. I can go for a four-node cluster grid or an eight-node cluster grid, which will have an impact on the price.

We have scaled it for one of our enterprise customers, and we had a little bit of complexity in setting it up, but we were able to achieve the desired goals with respect to the performance.

We have been in touch with Informatica support. They should be more responsive. They should react quickly to premium customers.

Different products are suitable for different use cases. One unified product cannot address multiple use cases. For example, Informatica may not be suitable for real-time integration, but it may be helpful for batch integration. Similarly, MuleSoft caters to low latency, but it doesn't get into high latency, which means it is not suitable for larger data processing systems. That's why we need to have a combination of technologies. For example, I may say that I have a resource or a person who has a primary skill and a secondary skill. Primary skill is specialized, and then secondary skill is complementary to that. Similarly, every product has a primary thing and a secondary thing. For Informatica, it is the batch processing, not the real-time data processing. It only processes the structured data, but it does not process unstructured data. For unstructured data, you need to go for a different product. For the cloud version, they have introduced IICS specifically for catering to the application integration requirements.

It is a simple process because we have a pool of experts in our team. Some manual work could be required. We did have challenges while setting it up, but we could also resolve those challenges. 

We provide development, integration, operations, and maintenance services for Informatica solutions to the customers. We do ETL monitoring, and we monitor the daily loads and resolve and manage the pipeline features. 

We also handle the change requests coming from the customer and performance optimization. We may sometimes also look at the transformations optimization, caching, and all those things.

It is for big enterprises. We have leveraged Informatica for big enterprises but not for small and medium enterprises because it is a very costly product as compared to other products. We propose this solution only for enterprise customers. For small to medium enterprises, we would propose the Microsoft solution.

Its licensing is currently bundle-wise. It should be features-wise and not bundle-wise.

It is a very mature product, but now everyone is moving to the cloud. They need to give more attention and focus more on the IICS rather than PowerCenter. PowerCenter on-premises will cater to one or two industries, and they should give more features in IICS. It can cater to only 70% of the features of Informatica PowerCenter. The data integration is currently not as mature in IICS. It doesn't have Mapplets, and we have faced some constraints. We have already logged a service request for this.

I would rate Informatica PowerCenter a nine out of ten.

Our primary use case for Informatica PowerCenter is for insurance and enterprise data warehouse creation.

The features I find most valuable is that the solution is very user-friendly and the graphical design is very easy to understand.

I would like to see an improvement in the digital adoption. It would be nice if they could be cheaper, because the training is very expensive as they do everything online.

Compared to other solutions, Informatica PowerCenter is very stable.

The solution is scalable. They have a cloud version for a small company. So nowadays start-ups or small companies are using the cloud version, while the big companies like banks and insurance companies are using the full-fledged enterprise version. We have about 100 users in our company and we plan to increase our usage of Informatica PowerCenter.

The technical support is very, very good. They make sure to come on site and help us to fix any issues we may have.

We previously used a Microsoft solution but that was not very scalable. That is why we switched to Informatica, as it is much more scalable. 

The initial setup was really straightforward and easy and it took us about 15 minutes. Three people are enough to do the maintenance. 

I rate this solution an eight out of ten and I will recommend others to use it, even though it is a little expensive, compared to other solutions.

We use it for data integration. It's a great tool.

It reduces a lot of legacy coding.

It works with any multi-database, so it works with Sybase, SQL Server. Also, the performance is really good and it is easy to use.

It has everything we want. We were looking for a feature but they have already it in Informatica 10. We are using Informatica 9.6.1 but they added the feature we were thinking about in 10.1.

The stability is great.

Scalability, durability, everything. It is the leader in the market.

We are using technical support every year, it's part of like maintenance we get from Informatica. Year by year they are improving. They're up to the mark.

The initial setup is not straightforward. You need expertise to do it.

Licensing is a one time cost. But maintenance costs depend on what you want, how long you need it. Maintenance is a kind of insurance. With health insurance, you don't know whether you will get sick or need to go to hospital or not but you have to have insurance. It's the same thing with support.

If you have that expertise in resolving issues, if you have enough experience in your IT department, I would say you don't need the support. But in practice, they recommend you go with the support. If you want support you have to pay for it.

When you want to convert all your company products into Microsoft, the equivalent to the Informatica product in Microsoft is SSAS. That's where the decision was made to go with the SSAS as the primary option, going forward.

If you are a small company it depends on how much data integration you need. I cannot blindly say you should always go with Informatica because it depends what your needs are and whether you can afford Informatica or not.

I would give Informatica a 10-plus out of 10 because it satisfies all our requirements, it is robust and scalable.

We are a solution provider and this is one of the products that we implement for our clients.

The most valuable features are the monitoring tools and the reporting manager.

Integrating new tools can be tricky and challenging.

I have been working with Informatica PowerCenter for more than five years.

I have not seen any issues with respect to stability. 

We have been in frequent contact with the Informatical help center. It is not only me but other people in the company. They have been very good at supporting us.

We were using the cloud version of PowerCenter with one of our clients, but they have since moved to MuleSoft.

Usually, the initial setup for PowerCenter is straightforward. The is nothing complex about it. However, if you are integrating new tools or if you are putting in an adapter for a product like the Amazon Cloud Service or RedShift, it will be challenging.

The price of this solution is high.

With an interval of every couple of years, they upgrade to a new version and stop supporting the previous versions. At this point, you need to acquire a new license. 

If you are looking to add a new adapter then it will be more costly.

My advice is that if you are looking for a traditional on-premises service, PowerCenter is a good option to stick with. If on the other hand, you want a cloud-based service then there are better options.

In summary, this is a good product, and other than integrating with other tools, I don't face any challenges.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

Informatica PowerCenter is used for data integration.

To me, what's most valuable in Informatica PowerCenter is the flexibility in building the integration pipeline. Usually, you need to have a platform to be able to integrate with different technologies, including legacy data such as the mainframe. The platform should also be rich enough to transform the data per your business requirement, with no restrictions.

Rich integration and rich transformation capabilities are the two key capabilities in Informatica PowerCenter. The solution also offers ease of use.

Another valuable feature of Informatica PowerCenter is the drag-and-drop integration because it's GUI-based, similar to IBM and Oracle.

Areas for improvement in Informatica PowerCenter include scalability and high availability or the clustering configuration because that's still very basic. The elasticity or scaling of the platform needs a lot of improvement. For example, when it comes to DR handling or building an active-active or active-passive cluster, Informatica PowerCenter is still not that powerful.

Automation also needs improvement in the solution. Improving automation leads to some improvement in the stability of Informatica PowerCenter and other aspects related to it.

What I'd like to see in the next release of Informatica PowerCenter is real-time capability because the solution is mainly for patches, and to have real-time integration, you need to count on some additional components from Informatica. I would expect more integration and a complete platform in terms of real-time capability or patching with minimal interventions or minimal components to be aligned together.

I've been using Informatica PowerCenter for six or seven years.

I'm still using it as my company has many solutions that leverage Informatica PowerCenter, though the solution isn't that active nowadays because Informatica has a different strategy to promote the cloud-based data integration offering.

Informatica PowerCenter is still in the market, and what my company is using is the on-premise version.

Informatica PowerCenter is a stable solution, and I would rate its stability seven out of ten. There's a small improvement needed in terms of stability because it's linked to the clustering and high availability. Somehow you'll need a lot of automation to get Informatica PowerCenter to handle the workload, and in certain situations, there could be failures.

I found the technical support for Informatica PowerCenter brilliant. I'm even giving it a rating of four out of five just because I can't give it a five. Informatica support is even awarded for customer satisfaction if I remember correctly.

The initial setup for Informatica PowerCenter was simple. It was a straightforward setup, and it wasn't complicated at all.

Pricing for Informatica PowerCenter isn't cheap, but if I compare it with IBM, it's as expensive as IBM, however, Informatica PowerCenter is more innovative, especially when compared to a giant company such as IBM that has thousands of products.

Informatica PowerCenter is limited only to data management, but it has new features that come out every quarter. Points for ease of use and flexibility go to Informatica PowerCenter, but price-wise, IBM and Informatica are equal because they're both expensive.

I evaluated Talend, which is an open-source data engineering and data integration platform. Comparing the two solutions, Informatica PowerCenter is still more robust and has an extendable platform. You can add other capabilities, such as data quality and so on, but if you'll be focusing only on data integration, Talend, especially coming from an open-source mindset, would be a good competitor.

My preference, because I had experience with IBM and Talend, would be Informatica PowerCenter because of the ease of use, flexibility, and features that come with it.

Informatica PowerCenter is an on-premise data integration solution, but two or three years ago, Informatica introduced a new, intelligent data platform. That new platform is the equivalent of Informatica PowerCenter in terms of capability, but the only difference is that it's a fully on-cloud solution.

Informatica PowerCenter is best for big enterprises. Technically, you can use it for any scale, but practically you will get the most output when you're dealing with high volumes and heavy processing. This is from a technical aspect. Price-wise, it's not a cheap platform, so only enterprises with a bigger data management budget will be able to afford to invest in a data management platform such as Informatica PowerCenter.

My rating for Informatica PowerCenter is eight out of ten. Eight is a fair rating because it's a very stable and very mature product.

My company has a partnership with Informatica and other vendors. I'm a system integrator.

Our company has requirements to move from legacy systems to new cloud systems. This helps migrate the data. We have complex logic and integrations on some of the systems, and Informatica makes migrations possible.

The cloud version is very useful.

The features provided are great.

It is stable and reliable.

Technical support is quite helpful.

The setup is very simple. 

There are a lot of cloud connectors missing on the on-premises. These do exist on the cloud, however.

We'd like better integrations with ServiceNow and Splunk. It's not so integrated with the infrastructure. We need more compatibility and more detailed information on operational insights. 

The solution does not scale.

I've used the solution for more than ten years. 

The stability is great. There are no bugs or glitches. I'd rate it nine out of ten. It is extremely reliable. 

PowerCenter is not scalable, however, the cloud is very scalable. 

We have 100 developers on the solution. 

Technical support is very helpful. We are very satisfied with the assistance we get.

Positive

I have previously used several other tools. However, PowerCenter is very stable. 

PowerCenter is very easy to install. I'm not sure about the cloud deployment, however. 

The deployment and configuration might take about three hours. 

If the environment is small, you only need one or two people for deployment and maintenance; however, if the environment is bigger, you likely will need more. 

We did not need any help from a third party. We have teams that can install the solution in-house. 

I'm not sure about the details of licensing, however, we pay for the license yearly. 

I am a customer and end-user.

I'm not sure if I would recommend PoerCenter. However, I would definitely recommend the cloud.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. Unfortunately, it doesn't scale and lacks some cloud connectivity.