Informatica PowerCenter

Informatica PowerCenter is a unified enterprise data integration platform for accessing, discovering, and integrating data from various systems, in any format, and delivering that data throughout the enterprise.

PowerCenter provides a solid infrastructure to build applications on a repeatable, reusable and flexible platform, at the same time implanting resiliency, recovery, restart and failover capabilities.

Informatica might not be as recognizable as IBM generally in IT tools market but it's a significant player in the data integration market. Founded in 1993, Californian Informatica is one of the most known companies in software industry though. For users interested in dedicated data integration solutions, Informatica offers whole suite. Informatica Platform, which is the name of the suite, consists of PowerCenter, PowerExchange, Data Services, Data Replication, Ultra Messaging, and Cloud Data Integration. The last one being a response to a new demand of the market - cloud computing.

Informatica data integration - strengths

functionality range
different data integration styles support
new market demands following
easy changes of DI style
wide range of uses
one of the leaders in large deployments
range of connectivity
transformation capabilities
scalability
vendor support

One of key features of Informatica Platform is its support for different data integration styles followed with easy changes between one and another style. Users can therefore quickly adapt Informatica Platform to their sophisticated needs or preferences. Additionally, the platform is updated on regular basis so it follows the newest market trends for data integration. Among its bests are bulk-batch ETL, real-time data flow, data federation and efficient messaging. What is more, changes between different data integration styles aren't accidental. They're facilitated thank to diverse alignment points and can be used to benefit from synergy effects.

Once Informatica Platform is being often chosen for the largest deployments, its wide choice of uses is considered one of its best sides. Range of connectivity, transformation capabilities, scalability, and developer productivity, being the core of the Informatica platform, are what the system is praised for too. Followed with good support by vendor and service on the required level, it makes Informatica Platform one of the most interesting choices in data integration market.

What else is important, is the attitude of the company which is constantly working on product development. Therefore Informatica Platform is considered one of the most timely tools in the data integration market. Its regular updates help ensuring that users can use the platform regardless of how new and fresh their ideas are.

Informatica ETL - Weaknesses

not as good as required focus on conservative customers
too much attention paid to the newest trends
not enough integration between different Informatica products
work environment that requires some work
pricing model
total cost of ownership

What some people consider the best side of Informatica's approach to data integration is considered its most meaningful disadvantage at the same time. The question is its approach to the newest trends in DI. Informatica's point of view is to focus on the new trends so that the customers could have their data integrated according to the newest standards. However, there is quite a lot of people involved in data integration processes in their companies who consider old, conservative methods much better. Informatica on the other hand, seems to disregard their needs from some point of view. Beside this, it's often highlighted that the integration between different products, which systems developed by Informatica consist of, is below the expectations. If worked out better, could significantly improve the position of Informatica in customers' hierarchy of vendors.

Eventually, there is a question of costs which also aren't the best aspect of Informatica products. It is generally thought that the cost of purchase and - furthermore - the cost of ownership are way too high in comparison to other vendors' offers. However, it seems that Informatica is aware of the issue and it's preparing itself to release new solutions for customers who pay more attention to costs.

Informatica list of products & services

Data Integration Products

Informatica PowerCenter: A powerful data integration platform that enables organizations to connect, transform, and integrate data from various sources. It supports ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes and is widely used for building data warehouses and data lakes.
Informatica Cloud Data Integration: A cloud-based data integration solution that provides pre-built connectors for various data sources and targets, including cloud and on-premise applications. It allows for real-time and batch data integration.
Informatica Cloud Data Integration Elastic (CDI-E): Offers advanced, scalable data integration capabilities in the cloud. It is designed to handle large volumes of data and provides flexibility for cloud-native and hybrid environments.
Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services (IICS): A comprehensive suite of cloud data management tools that includes data integration, application integration, and API management.

Data Quality Products

Informatica Data Quality (IDQ): A data quality management solution that allows organizations to profile, cleanse, standardize, and enrich data. It ensures that data used for analytics and business processes is accurate, consistent, and reliable.
Informatica Cloud Data Quality: A cloud-based version of Informatica Data Quality that provides similar capabilities for ensuring high-quality data across cloud and hybrid environments.

Data Governance and Privacy

Informatica Axon Data Governance: A comprehensive data governance solution that provides capabilities for data stewardship, policy management, and data lineage. It helps organizations manage data assets and ensure compliance with data regulations.
Informatica Data Privacy Management: A solution designed to help organizations identify, classify, and protect sensitive data. It provides data masking, encryption, and monitoring to ensure data privacy and security.

Master Data Management (MDM)

Informatica MDM: A master data management solution that enables organizations to create a single, trusted view of their critical data entities, such as customers, products, and suppliers. It helps improve data quality, consistency, and governance.
Informatica Customer 360: A specialized MDM solution focused on creating a unified, 360-degree view of customer data across various touchpoints and systems.
Informatica Supplier 360: An MDM solution tailored for managing supplier data, improving supplier relationships, and ensuring compliance with supplier-related regulations.

Cloud and Application Integration

Informatica Cloud Application Integration: A service that allows for the integration of various cloud applications and on-premise systems. It supports real-time, event-driven integration and process automation.
Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services (IICS) Application Integration: Part of the IICS suite, it provides advanced integration capabilities for connecting and synchronizing data across applications, both in the cloud and on-premise.

Data Cataloging and Metadata Management

Informatica Enterprise Data Catalog (EDC): A data cataloging solution that helps organizations discover, organize, and manage metadata across the enterprise. It provides data lineage, impact analysis, and data discovery capabilities.
Informatica Cloud Data Governance and Catalog: A cloud-based solution for data governance and metadata management, allowing organizations to catalog, govern, and manage data assets in the cloud.

Data Integration Hub

Informatica Data Integration Hub: A centralized data hub that enables the integration of data across various systems and applications. It allows for the synchronization and sharing of data across the enterprise in a controlled and efficient manner.

Data Engineering

Informatica Big Data Management: A solution designed to manage and process large volumes of data in big data environments, such as Hadoop and Spark. It provides capabilities for data integration, data quality, and governance in big data platforms.
Informatica Data Engineering Integration: A solution that provides scalable and high-performance data integration for big data environments, supporting both on-premise and cloud deployments.

AI and Machine Learning

Informatica CLAIRE: An AI-powered metadata engine that leverages machine learning to automate data management tasks, improve data quality, and enhance data governance. CLAIRE is embedded across Informatica’s product suite to provide intelligent insights and recommendations.

Test Data Management

Informatica Test Data Management: A solution that enables organizations to create, manage, and maintain secure and high-quality test data for development and testing purposes. It supports data masking and subsetting to protect sensitive data while providing realistic test environments.

Cloud Data Warehousing

Informatica for Cloud Data Warehousing: Solutions specifically designed to support data warehousing in the cloud, such as integration with Snowflake, Google BigQuery, Amazon Redshift, and Microsoft Azure Synapse. It provides tools for data integration, quality, and governance tailored for cloud data warehouse environments.

Data Security Solutions

Informatica Data Masking: Solutions for securing sensitive data by masking or encrypting it, ensuring that data privacy is maintained in non-production environments or when sharing data across different teams or third parties.