Informatica PowerCenter Reviews

PowerCenter performs well during data transformation and optimization. 

PowerCenter could integrate better with cloud applications. We had to do a lot of configuration work using API integrations to connect with cloud applications. Informatica Cloud Data Integration has a generic connector that you can use directly, so it's much easier. 

I used Informatica PowerCenter for around five years.

PowerCenter is stable. 

I rate Informatica PowerCenter 7.5 out of 10 for scalability. It has limited options for connecting with real-time applications, such as IBM and cloud applications. 

Setting up PowerCenter isn't easy. It requires some in-depth knowledge and specialists who know how to deploy the solution. Deployment takes a couple of days. We did everything in-house with one or two people. 

Informatica is beneficial if your data is advanced, structured, and optimized and if you are generating reports to use in decision-making.

The license is baased on the number of users and connectors. A medium-sized organization has few applications and connectors, whereas a massive organization needs many more licenses. It needs to connect all the enterprise business applications, like Salesforce, SAP, Oracle, etc. 

I rate Informatica PowerCenter seven out of 10. It's a good product that many organizations in banking continue to use because it isn't easy to migrate to something else. 

This solution is really the backbone of what we do. Informatica PowerCenter is one of the most used platforms for data governance in the banking and insurance industry. It's quite expensive so it's not used much outside the industry, but it's very reliable and strong in everything connected to data management and data governance strategy. For our industry, that is crucial. We are customers of Informatica and I'm the head of big data and solution architecture. 

From my point of view, the solution has two valuable features. It has the ability to manage a huge quantity of data along with a high level of reliability from a performance point of view. Secondly, it has all the tools and features within the platform to establish a real data governance strategy. That includes lineage data preparation, ETL, ELP, everything regarding monitoring and processes that are implemented in the platform. It's quite feature full in that regard.

The solution currently requires quite an established data center in place because there is no option for software as a service so the best option to install the platform is on-prem. I know Informatica is thinking about it because they are introducing a brand new platform for big data management, but it doesn't yet have the same level of features as PowerCenter. This is something they can improve on. There are some significant differences between the two platforms.

The other issue is price. I understand this is a high-level professional tool designed for big companies that have a great need for managing huge amounts of data and I understand these kinds of tools are quite expensive, but sometimes the cost is too high. Their focus is obviously a high-level market but I think there would be other companies who would want to use it but it's too expensive for them. 

I'd like to see improved on-prem support like Cloudera which is very oriented towards traditional databases, like Oracle, SQL Server and others. 

We've been using this solution for five years. 

It is clearly a stable solution, otherwise it would not be used in industries such as banking and insurance. Technically speaking, it's very stable and reliable. In my opinion, it's one of the most stable and reliable platforms for data governance.

Technical support is good and a lot has improved over the years. 

Most of my customers use solutions in the cloud so I've used Azure in AWS and GCP. There are lots of services, platform services, or software as a service, tools that are used for the same purposes or objectives, like data governance, data preparation, data integration. It's hard to compare because the environment is completely different and they have different issues. PowerCenter is quite a traditional technology. A product like Hadoop, for example, for storage and process management, has the same objectives but they are fulfilled in a completely different way.

The initial setup is not so easy but once it's been deployed it's quite reliable from a performance point of view.

My advice for this product is to be aware of what's involved and be sure about deploying and using it because it's a very technical tool, something you cannot buy and install in some weird brutal machine. It requires planning and has to be managed, not only in terms of using it, but also economically speaking, because of the cost.

I would rate this solution a nine out of 10. 

We are implementing our master data management integration solution. The idea is to have the data cleaned, and have a catalog set up so that we have a library we can consult to see what type of data is being used. At the same time, have a tool to provide a three hundred and sixty-degree view of our customer data. We will also have a unique repository and a data link that we're setting up in Azure.

We will be moving all of our storage to the cloud so that we have a single repository, and this data will be accessible by our tools such as Tableau, for integration with our reporting. 

Currently, we are in a hybrid-cloud environment, but our intention is to be cloud-based using Azure.

The two most important components are the building and integration. On top of that, you can clean and analyze your data to make sure that you don't have any corruption. In the end, you have structured, proper data for use in an integrated BI solution.

I would like to see the inclusion of a tool that allows you to report performance metrics. For example, it can determine whether the connectivity is correct, or how long it's taking the integration to move data from one place to another. This would allow administrators to govern the performance and better maintain the solution. Having a tool that can work is nice, but we're not sure if it works accurately without something to evaluate performance.

Integration with Artificial Intelligence would benefit this solution. The system should start to learn the behavior of your connections, and understand where your data is coming from to ensure that the process is being done correctly. As the system learns the stages, it will be able to easily identify problems. For example, if I have different databases where I want to store information, such as pictures in one and PDF files in another, it will be able to distinguish that.

We are still launching this solution so I cannot tell you if it is stable or not. We believe that with the support and resources we are getting, it will be. Our vision is to be as stable as possible, and we do not want to lose any data.

We performed some testing with our Asian platform and it was working fine. We are working in several countries at the same time, integrating their products, and we are hoping that it goes as smoothly as the one from Asia. This tool should allow us to scale, but we will have to wait and see.

We have between fifty and sixty people using this solution.

Informatica is assisting us with the implementation and they know what we are trying to accomplish. They have visibility as to what our company does, and having people like that helps a lot. Overall, at the moment we are very happy with the support and their contribution.

We did not have another solution in place before this. We knew that it was something that we needed to do. Since we are moving from on-premise to the cloud, we needed something to help us with the integration.

We hired somebody from Informatica to help us with the implementation. We have no complaints about their service.

Choosing this solution was a little bit complex for us because there are a lot of different vendors in that space. We had to do a proper evaluation and negotiation to get to the solution that we needed. Some vendors offer a certain package, whereas others offer another package, and there are certain components from one vendor that we needed in the other one. There is where the complexity came from. In the end, we choose the one that we thought was the proper solution for us.

There is a lot of competition in the space, and the vendors want to get good companies where they can implement their solution. It doesn't mean that every product fits every organization. My advice for anybody researching this type of solution is to meet with all of the vendors, discuss the proof of concept based on what the company has, and see if the solution is really the proper one for them. The vendors need to be honest in evaluating whether the product can really fit the needs, and they should be able to justify it.

Overall, we are satisfied with the product so far, as well as the support. In any tool, there's always something to chase and always something that can be done better.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

I am using Informatica PowerCenter to upskill and learn to use new tools.

I found the map links, work links, and workflows valuable. They are important features.

It would be better if I could do all the work within a single window. If I'm working on any mapping and if I have to switch to sessions, I have to open a new window altogether. If I have to get into workflows, I have to open a new window. It was also very expensive. In the next release, I would like it to be more user-friendly.

I have been using Informatica PowerCenter for over two years. 

Informatica PowerCenter is a stable solution.

Informatica PowerCenter is a scalable solution. Expanding is easy, and we can execute multiple workflows based on events. I don't see any constraints, and it looks pretty good. We have approximately 50 or more people supporting or developing applications for various clients.

I have experience with SSIS, and I compared the features. They are different, especially on the navigation front and the user interface. The SQL server integration service is always handy in Azure. Most of the time, you'll be using Microsoft products, so their interface is very user-friendly. But in Informatica, it'll be completely different, especially on the mapping side. When you map from the first to the next target, you have to know how to connect the source and targets. But in SSIS, it's easy for a layperson to understand how the data flows.

The price could be better. It's very expensive.

On a scale from one to five, I would give Informatica PowerCenter's price a one.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give Informatica PowerCenter a nine.

Informatica PowerCenter is a data integration tool.

The most valuable features of Informatica PowerCenter are the ease of use, and development, and is simple to find resources.

Informatica PowerCenter could improve by having a single interface because half of the system is still in the legacy interface and many other elements are moved to the developer client. It would be good if there was a single interface for the end user and developers.

In the next release, Informatica PowerCenter would be beneficial to have run time column propagation. Other solutions have this feature but it is missing in this solution.

I have been using Informatica PowerCenter for approximately 18 years.

Informatica PowerCenter is stable.

The scalability of Informatica PowerCenter is good.

We have approximately seven people using the solution.

The support is good from Informatica PowerCenter and they have been responsive.

I rate the support from Informatica PowerCenter an eight out of ten.

Positive

The implementation of Informatica PowerCenter is easy.

The price of Informatica PowerCenter is expensive, but it does give value.

This is an amazing solution. If I ranked it in terms of all of the data integration solutions, I would rank it first.

I rate Informatica PowerCenter a seven out of ten.

We use Informatica PowerCenter primarily for its processes. We derive dashboards, functionalities and graphs with the information it provides. We create reports, generate excels, and data scientists use the information to generate reports in Tableau, Power BI or other tools.

It is UI friendly and has all the advantages of an ETL tool. In addition, integration is possible between Oracle and SQL.

It is also relatively expensive but is worth the price because the software provides a good experience. The resources we need exist, and the people are available.

We have been using this solution for about six months. It is private on Oracle but available at our data centre.

It is a stable solution, and there are no significant issues. In addition, it is a relatively easy solution for any beginner or intermediate-level person using it. The only problem is that it is moderately expensive, which is essential to emphasize.

Everything in the market is shifting to the cloud, namely Oracle, Azure, and any other cloud. If a company has a solution on a license, they will use something with the cloud on Google, Azure or AWS. It would be good if Informatica collaborated with Oracle, Azure or AWS, allowing for greater functionalities and benefits.

I believe it is a scalable solution, but I do not have all the details on scalability. For example, in AWS, there are databases like PostgreSQL, SQL and Oracle. So, it would be good if, for a specific price, Informatica PowerCenter could be available in Azure or have the ability to use Azure in the ETL tool.

About six to seven developers use Informatica PowerCenter in my company.

The technical support is helpful.

The setup was easy. However, the solution could have better documentation on basic steps or blocks that specify what to do. For example, a particular topic could be described at length in a video so people can understand it.

Installation is also relatively easy, but when we tried to include data warehousing, extraction or ETL functionality, we needed specific configurations and capacity. That is a pain point for users, developers and architects. However, it became easier after several periods.

In terms of costs, it is moderately expensive, but I am unsure of the exact price. It would be good if Informatica PowerCenter incorporated free trails or learnings to help beginners use the solution. There should also be more campaigns similar to other ETL tools.

My advice would be for Informatica to decrease the price. Generally, companies have more customers when prices are lower. So even if the company grows with a lower margin, the number of users would be higher, which would be beneficial.

I rate this solution an eight out of ten. Regarding advice, it is important that ETL functionalities are readily available and that it is GUI friendly.

We use the solution primarily as an ETL.

It helps with the automation process. We have a lot of requests from the user to create for them data alerts. We have had some success using Informatica. 

It is an excellent tool. It covers our needs. 

The solution is used mostly to handle our daily data loads in our data warehouse. We've been successful so far using it. 

It provides monitoring and we can therefore be aware of what is happening when we are handling jobs. 

The ETL and monitoring tools are the most useful for us.

The transformations we need to do, to comply with user requests, is very easy with this product.

The solution is stable.

It can scale. 

We also have a data integrator, and if we were to compare the software together, the one thing Informatica doesn't have is the ability to create the script inside the solution. We need to rely on Unix or Windows. We can't do the scripting in Informatica itself. We need better integration potential. 

The FTP tools that the solution has are limited. 

If you want to transfer a ZIP file, it is a pain. You need to use Command-Line. Sometimes we just want to transfer a file. It should be easy to move them from A to B.

I want to eliminate interdependencies on the script. If Informatica could do everything, it would be a more powerful tool.

We'd like to have all of the capabilities available in the cloud available also on PowerCenter.

The solution is expensive. 

I've been using the solution for four years. 

Sometimes we have problems, however, the problems are in the database, not Informatica. The solution is very stable. It's reliable. I'd rate it ten out of ten. 

We're in the process of moving to the cloud. 

PowerCenter itself can scale. 

I've never contacted technical support. Typically, I will Google an answer to my questions. It's easy to find what I need on their website or online. 

I did not use a different solution. This is my first experience working with a data center. I did use the ETL from Microsoft that came with the SQL server. 

I didn't handle the installation. I did practice installing on my workstation to practice, and it was easy. However, for the entire company, it was handled by a third party. 

While it is on-premises right now, we have plans to move everything to the cloud in the short term. We are working on that right now.

The installation process is done by a third party.

I don't deal with licensing and have never seen an invoice. I am aware it is expensive, however. It's as expensive as Oracle. When you want to use the best brands, you have to pay.

I did not evaluate other solutions. By the time I came to the company, this solution was already in use.

When I was in another bank, we selected Informatica which was a recommendation of a consultant. Informatica at that time was one of the best ETL tools, even though it was expensive. 

I'm an end-user.

The solution is very popular. I'd rate it ten out of ten. It is an excellent tool.

Informatica PowerCenter is being used for data warehouse development, using ETL and ELT, e.g. Informatica PowerCenter for ETL and Informatica Cloud Data Integration for integration between systems, e.g. with their downstream systems.

What I like most about Informatica PowerCenter is that it enables integration and connection with multiple new systems, both structured and semi-structured. I also find its adapters for multiple source systems valuable. Its features meet industry standards. It is a proven high-performing enterprise-scale ETL solution.

Though I wasn't able to explore all features of Informatica PowerCenter, it would be good if Informatica can also have connectivity with NoSQL compliant, unstructured data sources, e.g. Microsoft Azure Data Factory or Talend.

The cloud-based solution mostly focuses on continuous data stream processing, but not on batch processing. If Informatica enhances this cloud-based solution to also do the batch processing of data, and also integrate semi-structured and unstructured data processing, that will be more beneficial.

I've been working with Informatica PowerCenter for 15 years.

I find this solution very stable.

Informatica PowerCenter is easy to scale.

The support team is responsive. They're able to address our issues.

The initial setup for Informatica PowerCenter was straightforward.

Implementation for this solution was in-house. It was done by our own team.

I evaluated Oracle Data Integrator, Talend, and Microsoft Azure Data Factory.

We are using these solutions: Oracle Data Integrator with different versions, Informatica PowerCenter, Informatica Cloud Data Integration, and Talend. Matillion, we explored, but we don't use it for our company. We are a consulting partner. We are an implementation partner, so our consultants use these to implement solutions to many of our customers. We are an indirect partner through Oracle, and not a direct partner of Informatica.

Informatica PowerCenter is deployed both ways: on-premises and on cloud, but on cloud very recently. In the past two years, we have been using the cloud version. Deployment for this solution could take one to two days, if the person doing it is knowledgeable.

We have a team of 70 members who are data engineers and data analysts, but for the actual installation, setup, and configuration, we have another team made up of system/application administrators. We have a shared service model with 50+ associates who take care of this service. They will take a day or two to complete the deployment. Given all the infrastructure details available from the customer, it wouldn't take more than a day or two, worst case two days on average to set up and start the system, for it to be ready for working on and developing the ETL.

To maintain this solution, in a shared service model, e.g. not dedicated, it requires two to three people, but if it is dedicated, then one person can handle the maintenance.

There are two ways we are using this ETL solution. Number one: as part of Oracle's prepackaged solution, and number two: as an independent solution.

I don't deal with the licensing, but as part of Oracle's pre-packaged analytics solutions, we did use them. There's a one-time fee plus yearly support. That is their model, but I don't know the costs associated.

My advice to new customers of this solution is that if they are looking for an enterprise scale data warehouse and data management solution, Informatica PowerCenter is one of the go-to proven tools. Its limitations are on these two areas: one is that it needs to enable the cloud-based version to do batch processing, e.g. heavy data loads, and two is that it needs to enable connectivity to the NoSQL compliant and unstructured data sources.

Keeping the two product limitations out, e.g. the cloud version has limitations for batch processing and is unable to process unstructured and semi-structured data, my rating for Informatica PowerCenter is an eight out of ten.