Azure Data Factory vs. IBM DataStage

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Azure Data Factory
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft's Azure Data Factory is a service built for all data integration needs and skill levels. It is designed to allow the user to easily construct ETL and ELT processes code-free within the intuitive visual environment, or write one's own code. Visually integrate data sources using more than 80 natively built and maintenance-free connectors at no added cost. Focus on data—the serverless integration service does the rest.N/A
IBM DataStage
Score 7.6 out of 10
N/A
IBM® DataStage® is a data integration tool that helps users to design, develop and run jobs that move and transform data. At its core, the DataStage tool supports extract, transform and load (ETL) and extract, load and transform (ELT) patterns. A basic version of the software is available for on-premises deployment, and the cloud-based DataStage for IBM Cloud Pak® for Data offers automated integration capabilities in a hybrid or multicloud environment.N/A
Pricing
Azure Data FactoryIBM DataStage
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Azure Data FactoryIBM DataStage
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Azure Data FactoryIBM DataStage
Considered Both Products
Azure Data Factory
Chose Azure Data Factory
Azure Data Factory fits well into our overall systems architecture where we already utilize largely Azure services and also Microsoft based products in the on-premises environment. I think cost structure is also very competitive with Azure Data Factory. Most services provide a …
Chose Azure Data Factory
Azure Data Factory helps us automate to schedule jobs as per customer demands to make ETL triggers when the need arises. Anyone can define the workflow with the Azure Data Factory UI designer tool and easily test the systems. It helped us automate the same workflow with …
Chose Azure Data Factory
The easy integration with other Microsoft software as well as high processing speed, very flexible cost, and high level of security of Microsoft Azure products and services stack up against other similar products.
Chose Azure Data Factory
I'd chose data factory because its very easy to use, its UI is beautiful, it's library for .net is very useful and it lives within the microsoft ecosystem.
Chose Azure Data Factory
Azure Data Factory is a relatively new player in the space, and its feature set marks it as such. It does not have the full features of a more mature product set such as any of the above. However, it does allow for the creation of ETL/ELT flows/pipelines with minimal initial …
IBM DataStage
Chose IBM DataStage
IBM DataStage performes bettere than SSIS in every aspect. IBM DataStage performes better than SAP Data Services in terms of variables and job orchestration flexibility. It is as strong as ODI, but less complex to implement. It allows to write SQL queries as dbt and glue, but I …
Chose IBM DataStage
its very good and i would get best support from ibm if their is any issue.i would upgrade it very easily.ibm red books are very good for learning and getting expertise on the product.we would get frequent updates when their is a patch released.it would be easy to integrate with …
Chose IBM DataStage
With effective capabilities and easy to manipulate the features and easy to produce accurate data analytics and the Cloud services Automation, this IBM platform is more reliable and easy to document management. The features on this platform are equipped with excellent big data …
Chose IBM DataStage
IBM Infosphere DataStage has been in the market for more than a decade now. It is reliable and the user community online is vast and which helps with the resolution identification easily. IBM has done a good job keeping up with guiding connectors and links for new databases …
Chose IBM DataStage
It's obvious since they both are from the same vendors and it makes it easier and can get better rates for licensing. Also, sales rapes are very helpful in case of escalations and critical issues.
Chose IBM DataStage
Currently not using any of the Informatica tools, so, I don't have a real way of comparing the tools. But comparison against Microsoft SSIS (Sql Server Integration Services) I'd say DataStage stacks favorably. DataStage is a powerful tool for ETL processes that integrates …
Chose IBM DataStage
We chose IBM InfoSphere DataStage because it is the tool that has been used, historically, at the company level. In the near future, nothing prevents us from orienting ourselves to new solutions in view of a restructuring of architecture.
Chose IBM DataStage
We have very limited experience of using Informix and should not provide any comments. But datastage works real well for us.
Chose IBM DataStage
Compared to other ETL tools, the connectors really work, and makes the developments less complex because they facilitate the development of the processes. The maintenance of the processes is simple, since it is a very visual tool, and you can count on the technical …
Chose IBM DataStage
DataStage offers better integration capabilities without the need to write code manually. It also has a native ETL engine whereas MSIS requires a SQL Server. It has better integration capabilities with data quality, data profiling and data governance tools. The main drawback of …
Chose IBM DataStage
No, it wasn’t my decision to use such an ETL product. I’m just the administrator at this point. I’ve heard there are other products there that are even on cloud support. That is much easier to use, more agile, and user-friendly. That doesn’t have that barrier from user to …
Features
Azure Data FactoryIBM DataStage
Data Source Connection
Comparison of Data Source Connection features of Product A and Product B
Azure Data Factory
9.0
Ratings
7% above category average
IBM DataStage
9.5
Ratings
12% above category average
Connect to traditional data sources9.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Connecto to Big Data and NoSQL9.00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Data Transformations
Comparison of Data Transformations features of Product A and Product B
Azure Data Factory
8.5
Ratings
4% above category average
IBM DataStage
8.0
Ratings
2% below category average
Simple transformations9.00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Complex transformations8.00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Data Modeling
Comparison of Data Modeling features of Product A and Product B
Azure Data Factory
7.2
Ratings
10% below category average
IBM DataStage
6.3
Ratings
23% below category average
Data model creation8.00 Ratings5.00 Ratings
Metadata management7.00 Ratings5.00 Ratings
Business rules and workflow7.00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Collaboration6.00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Testing and debugging7.00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Data Governance
Comparison of Data Governance features of Product A and Product B
Azure Data Factory
7.5
Ratings
8% below category average
IBM DataStage
6.0
Ratings
30% below category average
Integration with data quality tools7.00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Integration with MDM tools8.00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Azure Data FactoryIBM DataStage
Small Businesses
Skyvia
Skyvia
Score 9.9 out of 10
Skyvia
Skyvia
Score 9.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
IBM InfoSphere Information Server
IBM InfoSphere Information Server
Score 8.0 out of 10
IBM InfoSphere Information Server
IBM InfoSphere Information Server
Score 8.0 out of 10
Enterprises
IBM InfoSphere Information Server
IBM InfoSphere Information Server
Score 8.0 out of 10
IBM InfoSphere Information Server
IBM InfoSphere Information Server
Score 8.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Azure Data FactoryIBM DataStage
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.0
(0 ratings)
9.6
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Azure Data FactoryIBM DataStage
Likelihood to Recommend
In a data pipeline, you will be able to add different kinds of activities for example connect from your on-premise SFTP and move CSV files to storage accounts. As well data factory has its own data flow if you are an ETL developer who experimented with maybe you have worked with SSIS, thus, you will start quickly with this new feature of the data factory.
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Excellent Cloud data mapping tool and easy creating multiple project data analytics in real-time and the report distribution are excellent via this IBM product. Easy tool to provide data visualization and the integration is effective and helpful to migrating huge amounts of data across other platforms and different websites insights gathering.
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Pros
  • Creating ETL and ELT workflows as well as orchestrating and monitoring pipelines without writing any code.
  • Hybrid data integration is easily and agilely possible through this software.
  • It has lot of various useful components
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  • Very reliable in handling data extraction, data transformation and loading
  • Flexibility in connecting to different type of databases, relational or non-relational
  • Great features such as parallel processing, hash handling, etc.
  • You can also take advantage of its FTP functions, and scheduling features if you need to.
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Cons
  • Learning curve for pipeline creation interface.
  • Alerting isn't necessarily built in. Had to work around this to meet team needs.
  • With GIT enabled, some features can only be done via git, while some need to be done via the portal.
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  • You must understand and know the algorithms, since the wrong use of them generates more time in processing.
  • Metadata. You need to develop with connectors, and taking all the Metadata from the menu, all the data that you complete manually, you can't track it.
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Usability
So far product has performed as expected. We were noticing some performance issues, but they were largely Synapse related. This has led to a shift from Synapse to Databricks. Overall this has delayed our analytic platform. Once databricks becomes fully operational, Azure Data Factory will be critical to our environment and future success.
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Because it is a flexible tool that can manage many flows and create a strong solution with a interesting use of variables. Easy to scale up as you can copy jobs arleady build and modify them. SQL queries allow to be fast in development and have the pushdown feature, but you loose a little of user friendly look. Metadata management is not strong as a visual feature, but can be determine by job codes.
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Performance
No answers on this topic
It could load thousands of records in seconds. But in the Parallel version, you need to understand how to particionate the data. If you use the algorithms erroneously, or the functionalities that it gives for the parsing of data, the performance can fall drastically, even with few records. It is necessary to have people with experience to be able to determine which algorithm to use and understand why.
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Support Rating
We have not had need to engage with Microsoft much on Azure Data Factory, but they have been responsive and helpful when needed. This being said, we have not had a major emergency or outage requiring their intervention. The score of seven is a representation that they have done well for now, but have not proved out their support for a significant issue
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IBM offers different levels of support but in my experience being and IBM shop helps to get direct support from more knowledgeable technicians from IBM. Not sure on the cost of having this kind of support, but I know there's also general support and community blogs and websites on the Internet make it easy to troubleshoot issues whenever there's need for that.
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Alternatives Considered
Azure Data Factory fits well into our overall systems architecture where we already utilize largely Azure services and also Microsoft based products in the on-premises environment. I think cost structure is also very competitive with Azure Data Factory. Most services provide a visual interface for designing ETL workflows, but our team found Azure Data Factory's interface more intuitive.
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No, it wasn’t my decision to use such an ETL product. I’m just the administrator at this point. I’ve heard there are other products there that are even on cloud support. That is much easier to use, more agile, and user-friendly. That doesn’t have that barrier from user to administrator to the developer standpoint.
Read full review
Return on Investment
  • Limiting the amount of data moving up and down from the cloud for cloud-native applications.
  • Overall simple to use interface which is actually easier for a first time ETL developer than SSIS.
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  • Not directly related to ROI or cost figures. Only comment here is that IBM tools tend to be more costly than average ETL tools, but it depends on if the company is an IBM shop.
  • One positive aspect is the company has had not a need to switch ETL tool for years.
  • Upgrading to newer versions of the tool brings flexibility in the tool and up-to-date features in relation to other applications.
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ScreenShots