SSIS Reviews & Insights

Score6.5 out of 10

259 Reviews and Ratings

Community insights

TrustRadius Insights for SQL Server Integration Services are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.

Pros

Efficient Data Synchronization: Users have consistently praised SSIS for its ability to efficiently manage small-scale data synchronization tasks, enhancing productivity in data workflows. The tool's streamlined approach to syncing data has been noted as a time-saving benefit by many reviewers.

Rapid Data Transfer to SQL Server: Several reviewers have highlighted the tool's swift data transfer capabilities to SQL Server, particularly emphasizing its efficient handling of batch processes. This quick data movement feature not only accelerates tasks but also contributes to smoother operations within databases.

Real-Time Message-Based Functionality: Users highly value SSIS for its real-time message-based features and seamless integration with SQL Server and Visual Studio, facilitating agile data processing. The system's agility in handling real-time messages has been commended for improving responsiveness and connectivity across platforms.

SSIS Reviews

23 Reviews

Enterprises (1,001+ employees)

SSIS, the must have extension for SSMS

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

June 28, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

SQL Server Integration Service (SSIS) is a component of the Microsoft SQL Server database software that we use to execute a wide range of data migration tasks. SSIS is a fast & flexible data warehousing tool used for data extraction, loading, and transformation like cleaning, aggregating, merging data, etc. It makes it easy to move data from one database to another database. SSIS can extract data from a wide variety of sources like SQL Server databases, Excel files, Oracle and DB2 databases, etc.

Pros

Offers real-time, message-based capabilities
Tight integration with SQL Server and visual studio
Ease and speed of implementation
Standardized data integration

Cons

Sometimes create issues in non-windows environments.
SSIS lacks support for alternative data integration styles.
Problematic integration with other products.

Likelihood to Recommend

SSIS is an in-memory pipeline. That’s why it’s important to make sure that all transformations occur in memory
Try to minimize logged operations
Plan for capacity by understanding resource utilization
Optimize the SQL lookup transformation, data source, and destination
Schedule and distribute it correctly

Verified User

Analyst in Corporate (Utilities company, 1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience

One of the best on-premise ETL tools

Rating: 6 out of 10

Incentivized

June 25, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

SSIS is an on-premise data transformation tool and the first major ETL tool we have used. We use it to ETL data from Workday, and other internal applications/databases to our internal databases. The product addresses the issue of getting data from CSV files from our SFTP and performing update/insert/delete operations on the data in our internal databases.

Pros

Connect to various sources
Basic transformations are included
Connect to various destinations

Cons

We still need plugins to connect to SFTP and other sources. Many vendors in the market give this by default
It's an ETL tool and the ability to do ELT or ETLTL means spinning up more pipelines and packages
It still has compatibility issues in Visual Studio 2017

Likelihood to Recommend

SQL Server Integration Services is well suited for anyone beginning to learn ETL. It's a great tool, to understand the nuances of setting data integrations and transformations. SQL Server Integration Services is not meant for ELT or ETLTL operations, natively. The workaround would be to have multiple packages/pipelines where one package performs the EL and the other package performs the T.

Verified User

Manager in Information Technology (Design company, 5001-10,000 employees)

Vetted Review

6 years of experience

Amazing data warehousing tool

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

June 24, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We are currently using SQL Server as our central relational database. Getting data from multiple sources to our data depository is smooth. We use SQL Server Integration Services to copy and download large files as well as to draw out and modify data from several sources of data like XML data files, DB2 databases, and relational data sources and then load the data into a single destination.

Pros

I am able to use the GIS tools to easily generate solutions without coding.
Built in tasks that speed up web developing.
SSIS enables automated data preparations.
Amazing integration with Microsoft tools.
Creation of ETL mapping.

Cons

It depends so much on the Microsoft environment and has integration issues with other formats like JSON and Excel.
Error messages are unclear, this makes us spend a lot of time figuring out what has gone wrong making the debugging process hectic.

Likelihood to Recommend

We have used SSIS to perform extensive data migration tasks from various sources like DB2 databases, SQL server databases... It works speedily making it easy for us to move data from one database to the other. It also has a GUI that helps us extract, transform, and clean data easily without writing code. It works well except for the error messages.

Robbie Scott

Security Software Engineer in Information Technology at Tata Consultancy Services (Information Technology & Services, 10,001+ employees)

Vetted Review

4 years of experience

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Good for startups or companies with limited data variability, Big data companies will need better tools

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

June 24, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

SQL Server is the legacy Database and Data Warehouse in the company. SSIS is used for most ETLs where the data is sourced from / put into SQL Server, depending on the use case. It is an MS native and easy-to-use ETL tool that comes with the SQL Server Data Tools suite. I use the tool personally to deploy ETLs for business stakeholders as a request arises.

Pros

Standard ETL use cases for daily loads
Loading incoming data from Vendors which is placed on FTP and adding them to the SQL Warehouse
Creating outgoing data files and writing them to Vendor FTPs
Easy Active Directory integration for seamless connections to SQL Server
CI/CD by hosting the code on visualstudio.com

Cons

API connections are not a native functionality. We use Zappysys extensions but they work only in certain cases.
Dependency executions - no simple way to create a hierarchy/chain of executions. Ex: Define if the execution of the child process should be stopped if a parent fails or a certain condition is triggered in the parent process and then redirect to a different part of the chain (think like a flowchart for executions).

Likelihood to Recommend

Ideal for daily standard ETL use cases whether the data is sourced from / transferred to the native connectors (like SQL Server) or FTP. Best if the company uses MS suite of tools. There are better options in the market for chaining tasks where you want a custom flow of executions depending on the outcome of each process or if you want advanced functionality like API connections, etc.

Vishal Shah

Data Engineer, Product Analytics in Product Management at Carvana (Automotive, 5001-10,000 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

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Trust Microsoft to vanish your data integration troubles

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

June 24, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Microsoft's SQL Server Integration helps in keeping a track of our data dump in a suitable & orderly manner. The service not only helps in making sure the data is readily available but it also helps in bifurcating the data according to our needs & requirements. The data is quickly available when needed & helps in our workings on a daily basis.

Pros

Data Mapping & Integration
Maintaining data sources as per needs
Keeping track of all activities pertaining to data sources

Cons

Speed at which data is retrieved from the data sources
Ease of connecting to various data sources
Integration with other cloud services

Likelihood to Recommend

The service is very well suited if you want to integrate various data sources spread across the cloud & compile all that data in one place effectively & quickly. The service can use a little work in connecting to multiple data sources over the cloud at one go & struggles if too many data connections are used together.

Verified User

Analyst in Sales (Logistics & Supply Chain company, 10,001+ employees)

Vetted Review

4 years of experience

SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) is a winner and helps solve many business problems effectively.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

June 23, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We used Integration Services to extract and transform data from a wide variety of sources such as XML data files, flat files, and relational data sources, and then load the data into one or more destinations. We also used the graphical Integration Services tools to create business solutions for the firm.

Pros

Create Packages in SQL Server Data Tools
Reuse Control Flow across Packages by Using Control Flow Package Parts
Build Integration Services User Interface

Cons

We can improve Integration Services error messages, including a list of most Integration Services errors and their description.
Improvement to create custom event handlers for these events to extend package functionality.
Better support for tools and wizards helping with Legacy Package Deployment.

Likelihood to Recommend

Integration Services is very helpful to solve complex business problems by copying or downloading files, loading data warehouses, cleaning and mining data, and managing SQL Server objects and data. It provides Graphical tools for building packages. Also, it helps with the SSIS Catalog database to store, run, and manage packages for business solutions.

Verified User

Director in Sales (Management Consulting company, 5001-10,000 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

Data processing with SSIS

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

June 23, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Being part of the Healthcare department, we need to automate the data transfer from and to the company and hospitals. SQL Server Integration Services, allowed us, to create a robust platform, to process millions of records from each hospital everyday, the whole year, just taking care of small incidents, such formats, not related to the SSIS, itself. So, we relied on this process for keeping the data and the collection, working efficiently and providing outstanding service.

Pros

Data transfer
Automation
Programability
Scheduling

Cons

Clarity on errors
Support

Likelihood to Recommend

Automation for data transfer, where you don't need to be moving or copying any data manually.
Processing data, for ETL, so you can just get the files, using something like FTPs automation and the data will be processed, and then you can just work on your reports or do all the BI needed for the company

John Ramírez

Database Developer in Information Technology at Experian (Information Technology & Services, 1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience

View profile

SSIS, free but not intuitive

Rating: 6 out of 10

Incentivized

June 23, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

SQL Server Integration Services is an extremely powerful tool that we're using exclusively for SQL Server inventory and other jobs. While it is very powerful, it's also not exactly intuitive in my opinion. I had not used this before my current job, and it was already setup when I joined. I've had to edit some of those jobs a handful of times and I just have not yet been able to make it 'click' in how it works. I seem to think oppositely of how this was designed (potentially just the jobs I've had to interact with), but almost everything is counter-intuitive.

Pros

Runs flawlessly after setup properly
Powerful, as mentioned
Free

Cons

Confusing operation, even with its gui
Requires special install and setup
Requires the Visual studio integration services install (separate interface from SSMS)
Could be more easily integrated into SSMS, but may also be used for other products that I'm not aware of

Likelihood to Recommend

I'd give it a 6 because it's very useful functionality that isn't available elsewhere. My preference would be to use python or some other scripting to do the same thing where it makes sense to me, instead of how it forces you to think in a specific way.

GUI is nice and it's very cool to see your project actually running in real time.

Sean Ford

Database Engineer in Information Technology at Shelter Insurance (Insurance, 1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

Great product to consolidate data for SQL Reporting purposes

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

May 3, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use SQL Server Integration Services to consolidate data from multiple vendor products. SSIS is the engine that gathers that data and stores it on our main SQL database instance for reporting purposes. It is being used by the enterprise in our organization. It created one pain of glass using SQL Reporting Services to show what systems are in what vendor products - such as agents installed yes/no? Last checking date/time, etc...

Pros

If the job fails, we are alerted
It has a easy to use GUI to build projects
Does well with gathering data from different types of data sets

Cons

Converting flat files of data requires a data transformation that is tedious

Likelihood to Recommend

Moving data from one location to another. Also transforming data from one source to another destination. It wouldn't be needed for operating system file management or copying of files.

Verified User

Professional in Information Technology (Hospital & Health Care company, 10,001+ employees)

Vetted Review

10 years of experience

SQL Server Integration Services proves to be a valuable tool.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

April 30, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

SQL Server Integration Services is used by our department to support the entire organization. Several developers design our packages and as well our DBA team who develops, reviews, and implements these in production.

SSIS is a critical component in making data available across disparate systems from custom databases to local vendor and online applications.

Pros

SQL Server Integration Services design of dataflows allow us collect and merge data from a large variety of sources.
The structure of packages in a solution allow us to separated distinct functions yet share a common collection of parameters to ensure consistency.
The availability of environments to provide differing parameters is also a powerful option to allow us to design reusable solutions.

Cons

The deployment process could use the improvement of deploying the Parameters into an environment of choice. Having to do this manually is time consuming and error prone.
Propagation of values from within a package to a parent package is lacking. This is helpful when using a parent package to execute and report on a collection of smaller related packages.

Likelihood to Recommend

There are certainly always other ways to provide integration as needed. I find SQL Server Integration Services very flexible and broad in the range of things needed to provide a robust integration solution. Vendor interfaces are possibly a key area in deciding what tools to use, and coworkers have used tools like PowerShell to help. We also use another Vendor add-on to help our SSIS implementation to ease use.

Verified User

Administrator in Information Technology (Education Management company, 1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

5 years of experience