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Informatica PowerCenter vs SAS Access 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

Informatica PowerCenter
Ranking in Data Integration
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
81
Ranking in other categories
Data Visualization (9th)
SAS Access
Ranking in Data Integration
56th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of Informatica PowerCenter is 8.9%, down from 11.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAS Access is 0.3%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration
 

Featured Reviews

Deepak Shiv - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides multiple transformations in one toolset and helpful when extracting data from multiple sources
Error handling capability is quite good in Informatica PowerCenter because it provides a very detailed session log, which is really helpful to identify errors. In addition, there are KB articles published by Informatica that are really helpful. So, error handling and the KB articles provided by Informatica are very helpful. Even if you face any issues or errors, we can usually resolve them. If the error cannot be solved with Informatica PowerCenter, we can raise a case with Informatica, and their support team will help us address that issue. If it cannot be solved with that particular version, they will consider it and try to solve it with the next patch or hotfix. AI Initiatives: Our company also has organizational AI or machine learning initiatives. However, Informatica PowerCenter doesn't fit into AI-related things because it's an on-premise tool. It doesn't have a significant role in the field. It is just a small ETL on-premises tool. So basically, in the AI field, Informatica PowerCenter is not going to be that impactful. Informatica has launched IICS and IDMC (Informatica Data Management Cloud and Informatica Cloud), where their AI comes into the picture. But for Informatica PowerCenter, AI does not come into the picture at all.
Robert Heck - PeerSpot reviewer
The solution is stable, scalable, and flexible
I rate the solution eight out of ten. The number of people required to maintain the solution is dependent on the other applications running. The solution in itself does not require a lot of maintenance. The solution is flexible and I recommend it when you have more complex applications with special requirements.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's very easy to use it to develop mappings and workflows."
"Reusable definition of data sources and the out-of-the-box availability of a large number maplets for common transformation functions."
"Technical support, and their approach is good. They have a support portal and support tickets. If you open a ticket it has multiple levels of severity from level one to very high or critical."
"Easy, scalable, robust platform to integrate heterogeneous source platform's data into the unified data warehouse."
"The most complex task, in this case, was to read and transform BLOB data, and Java transformation in Informatica Power Center was a great solution."
"Among all the solutions I have used, I found Informatica PowerCenter to be much more stable in terms of application."
"Informatica PowerCenter has been implementing mapping design, data flow, and workflow execution for years."
"It has a Data Catalog that uses the Model repository."
"The most valuable feature is you have native access to the external databases."
"The most valuable part of SAS/ACCESS is what it is made for: connecting to remote systems that are not part of your physical SAS environment."
"The most valuable aspect of the solution is the ease of access to the data in those databases."
 

Cons

"PowerCenter could be improved by having more big data components. Normally, we prefer Informatica as a relational database, but nowadays, companies are trying to understand and use big data components. I think it would be useful if we had more chances to create a hub ecosystem because customers try to use some data integration tasks by SQL, Spark and Spark codes, and Scala, but at the end of the day, the company will understand that we need to trace all the steps. An ETL tool is a must for that company, if we're talking about the regulated industries like finance, telcos, etc. If Informatica's biggest ecosystems feature were okay, I would prefer to use it."
"While on-premises is a better product, we really need to move to the cloud and need the cloud to be as robust as this product."
"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."
"This solution needs the functionality to do batch processing of data. It also lacks connectivity to NoSQL, unstructured data sources."
"The solution can improve by providing more connectivity by having native ODBC or JDBC connections available. It will be easier and more people could start using it."
"An issue which should be addressed is that the solution only allows us to do structured, as opposed to unstructured, data processing."
"Its scalability can be improved. It is not scalable."
"Requires an established data center because there is no option for software as a service."
"The pricing model needs to be reconsidered and adjusted."
"The solution can provide access to the newer databases that come out sooner."
"I can't really recall any missing feature or general improvement that is needed. We don't really add too many new kinds of databases and therefore our needs are already met."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Our client has purchased the license, and we are using it."
"Cost could be improved."
"I rate the solution's pricing a four out of ten. The price is very high, and it doesn't understand the market now."
"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."
"Compared to other tools, I think PowerCenter is a bit expensive. When I compare it to Oracle, if you want to use Oracle databases, you can easily get an ODI tool, so it's easier to handle. Informatica is a standalone tool—it's an independent company—and there are no databases around them, so it's quite expensive to use. Generally, large companies use PowerCenter because of the price. If companies want to expand their usage areas, they try to consider if it's easy to implement and easy to understand the pricing. I think the pricing is a barrier for Informatica."
"The pricing for Informatica PowerCenter is expensive. Some clients have simple needs and only want to integrate and store data. Some clients have small needs, while some clients have bigger needs and focus more on performance and time. The licensing cost for Informatica PowerCenter isn't good. In my project, if I remember correctly, the company pays €20,000 per year for the Informatica PowerCenter license. I'm not aware of additional costs that you need to pay for some features of the solution. On a scale of one to five, I'm rating its price a three."
"Our customers pay a licensing fee yearly."
"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."
"The solution's pricing and licensing are expensive."
"The pricing model is complex and is based on modular packages as well as the size of the applicable environment."
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Comparison Review

it_user90069 - PeerSpot reviewer
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
18%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
27%
Computer Software Company
10%
Insurance Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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Which Informatica product would you choose - PowerCenter or Cloud Data Integration?
Complex transformations can easily be achieved using PowerCenter, which has all the features and tools to establish a real data governance strategy. Additionally, PowerCenter is able to manage huge...
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Also Known As

PowerCenter
SAS/Access
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, LexisNexis, Rabobank
Los Angeles County, West Midlands Police, Credit Guarantee Corporation, Canada Post, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty
Find out what your peers are saying about Informatica PowerCenter vs. SAS Access and other solutions. Updated: May 2025.
856,278 professionals have used our research since 2012.