Dataloader.io vs. Informatica PowerCenter (legacy)

Dataloader is an incredible asset for a large organization or an organization that has a robust Salesforce environment. Specifically, Dataloader has allowed our sales team to focus on driving sales while our operations team can load the data they need in a manner that allows for robust reporting and tracking on our sales process. Organizations with less robust Salesforce environments or Salesforce environments in which many people are expected to maintain their own information likely do not need Dataloader.

Incentivized

Informatica Powercenter is the centerpiece of our overall enterprise data warehouse strategy. It's a critical enablement to ensure we can feed in multiple data stream and transform them into digestible data within our data warehouse. With its flexible capabilities and API availability, we were able to feed in industry standard data format as well as home grown data structure. Overall, we are very pleased with their capability and contribution to our data warehouse strategy.

Incentivized

• The selection of objects is much better and more extensive than the Salesforce built in data loader.
• Cross referencing of fields for record IDs is easy to use. I can work through this so much more quickly than using the built in Salesforce data loader.
• Success and error files are easy to identify what needs to be fixed (errors) and identification of records created (successes), so you can quickly do spot checks in your Salesforce org after doing a data load.
• The number of rows per month for a basic package, 100,000, is great for our business.

Incentivized

• Informatica has a wide range of support for databases. Pretty much every mainstream DBMS is compatible here.
• Designing ETL mappings and workflows is a very intuitive process, and takes minimal learning time and effort even for a beginner.
• Informatica's biggest strength is its sheer performance. It is unmatched in terms of handling large volumes of data.

Incentivized

• At the moment, I can't find a way to rename jobs. This would be useful to organize what was previously created hastily by techs in a rush.
• A preview of the job, especially upserts, would take a great deal of stress away from some of us (especially those who are not so confident in their ETL practice).
• A native vlookup equivalent may be a welcome addition.

• One of the challenges of PowerCenter is the lack of integration between the components and functionality provided by PowerCenter. PowerCenter consists of multiple components such has the repository service, integration service, metadata service. Considerable time and resources were required to install and configure these components before PowerCenter was available for use.
• In order to connect to various data sources such as Netezza database or SAS datasets, PowerCenter requires the installation and configuration of separate plug-ins. We spent considerable time trouble-shooting and debugging problems while trying to get the various plug-ins integrated with PowerCenter and get them up and running as described in the documentation.
• PowerCenter works well with structured data. That is, it is easy to work with input and output data that is pre-defined, fixed, and unchanging. It is much more difficult to work with dynamic data in which new fields are added or removed ad-hoc or if data format changes during the data ingest process. We have not been as successful in using PowerCenter for dynamic data.
• One of the challenges of learning PowerCenter is that it is difficult to find documentation or publications that help you learn the various details about PowerCenter software. Unlike SAS Institute, Informatica does not publish books about PowerCenter. The documentation available with PowerCenter is sparse; we have learned many aspects of this technology through trial and error.

Incentivized

It is easy to use and doesn't require a security token, so I enjoy using it. It also doesn't require any download or installation, which is sometimes a blocker to gettingthings done if the company has limits. also, the dataloader.io is easy for other people to pick up, so others can have visibility into the data jobs that have occurred

Our team enjoys using Informatica and feels that it is one of the best ETL tools on the market.

It is an intuitive application to use. Within a few clicks, you can be signed in to your org and ready to perform tasks. Data imports/exports/updates are streamlined so you can quickly start and configure your jobs. These can run in the background while you set up new tasks. Job history and tasks currently running on are on your home screen.

Incentivized

The tool is very flexible and will meet most, if not all, of your data transformation needs. It is an expert-level tool, so building your knowledge-base and user-base (and keeping that base healthy!) is very important. But it will pay off with strong data management and the ability to leverage that data in ways you haven’t thought of yet. Bottom line, data is money, and PowerCenter helps you monetize your data.

Incentivized

Dataloader is made for updating, inserting, and deleting of contacts. For these operations this tool is excellent.

Incentivized

Positives; - Multi-user development environment. - The speed of transformation. - Seamless integration with other Informatica products. Negatives; - There should be fewer windows, to maintain developers' focus while using. You probably need two big monitors when you start development with Informatica Power Center. - Oracle Analytical functions should be natively used. - E-LT support as well as ETL support.

Incentivized

Customer support might be where Dataloader.io saves money. Most of the competitors offer 24/7 live support but Dataloader.io only offers support via email and the community. Those types of support work fine until you need an answer right away. Some questions can't wait until the next business day or business hours for a reply.

Incentivized

Informatica power center is a leader of the pack of ETL tools and has some great abilities that make it stand out from other ETL tools. It has been a great partner to its clients over a long time so it's definitely dependable. With all the great things about Informatica, it has a bit of tech burden that should be addressed to make it more nimble, reduce the learning curve for new developers, provide better connectivity with visualization tools.

Incentivized

The UI of Dataloader.IO is far more advanced, user-friendly, and current, than any of the options above. The ability to several tasks (Imports/Exports) at one time. Cloud-based with very easy access to current Imports or Exports, as well previous versions that had previously been run. You can see Imports or Exports across all time, even if you change filter criteria.

Incentivized

Basically the two solutions have, more or less, the same functions and features.The difference, for me, is that ThreatQuotient make more features over the security and I think is oriented to a SOC enviroments. InformaticaExchange Connectors is oriented to the quality, integration and distribution of the data in order to ensure the reliability and access of data from different sources, as well as the integration in a single repository of enterprise data (External/internal)

Incentivized

• HUGE time saving. When we need to clean or review data, we used to have to do it line by line. This can do the work within excel and make cleanup/management an afternoons work as opposed to a week.
• Rollback what you did/change/deleted is relatively simple if you remember to back up the data you are manipulating.

Incentivized

• PowerCenter has been instrumental in being the center of all data movement within the organization.
• It has also provided a foundation for which re-usability and scalability are the focus.
• Finding talent with experience and expertise in PowerCenter is far more likely due to its presence and market share.

Incentivized