Advangate/Disadvantage of DataStage compare to Informmatica

[Subu]

Hi
What are all the advantage of using Datastage compare to Informatica.
Thanks
Subu

[ArndW]

Hello Subu,

this sounds very much like an interview question. I think that the main advantage is that DataStage has 9 letters while Informatica has 11, which makes it sleeker, sexier and faster.

[Subu]

Hello Subu,

this sounds very much like an interview question. I think that the main advantage is that DataStage has 9 letter while Informatica has 11, which makes it sleeker, sexier and faster.

Only reason i asking this is because the client insists that i tell him the advantage and disadvantage of using the tool. but i don't have working version of datastage right now. depending upon my recomendation the company may review the license.

[ArndW]

Subu,

I wish you had put that in your initial post - I certainly wouldn't have put a flippant answer in that case.

Just as with any competing products in a relatively small market, all of the established players in our sector of the ETL space have certain things we do a bit better and and a lot better than the competition; while the corollary applies as well.

You will get a responses that are somewhat slanted from this group, as we know and use DataStage and are more likely to see the DS side of any question. Back in the distants mists of prehistoric times I worked on numerous POC (proof-of-concepts) of DataStage when the whole Data Warehouse and ETL market was still an unwelcome child in the computer industry. Most of the POCs boiled down to a showdown between only 2 vendors and in many, if not most, of the cases this was against Informatica. The number of POC we won reflected the 2 product's market share pretty evenly --- this means that many customers found those attributes that I thought DataStage did much better on than Infa either not important enough to override the things we did worse.

I found that the most differentiating factor ended up being the company itself instead of the product alone. The company's structure, it's approach to customers and it's commitment to post-sales and support played the deciding factor.

Back to your initial question - what is the client's biggest issue? If it's speed then either Px or cleverly crafted code in Server would be DataStage's strength. Is it Metadata management? Scaleability? Training & consulting?

I think if you identify the important issues that the potential client has, then look up the information on that subject from both Infa and Ascl and make your own recommendation (unless you are biased as we are).

The scope of the product is so large that there is no single answer. You would need to post a very specific question along the lines of "I am reading an OS390 source into an Informix data warehouse on UNIX and have 10Gb per day with complicated transformations; what are the differences in this case" to get representative answers.

My 3-Euros worth...

Conclusion -

[vmcburney]

In my experience if a company has either Informatica or DataStage and is thinking of switching to the other then they are experiencing current pain with the production jobs. The problem is usually not with the tool but with the way it was implemented. Since the grass is always greener they hope that dumping the current ETL tool and starting with a fresh tool will make their problems go away. A better solution is to bring in experts in the tool, upgrade it to the latest version and re-engineer the environment following best practices. If done properly this will give you a robust and low admin set of processes.

Spending a million bucks on licensing to switch tools is just another roll of the dice. Both Informatica and DataStage are in use in thousands of data warehouses and data migration projects so they are both good options.

[kcbland]

The best tool implemented in the worst way possible will look like a failure.

The worst tool implemented in the best way possible will look like a success.

1. The ETL tool will not overcome a poor data model.

2. The ETL tool will not overcome a poor database strategy.

3. The ETL tool will not overcome a poor hardware platform.

4. The ETL tool will not "magically" gather all necessary requirements.

5. The ETL tool will not infinitely scale because it cannot handle #1-3 above.

6. The ETL tool will not solve your data integration problems, if you don't know what your problems are.

The ETL tool is like a hammer. It won't draw up the plans for your house, it won't guide you in the order of constructing your house, it won't do wiring, it won't coordinate paint schemes and esthetics, it won't tell you which boards to nail together where and when. But when it comes time to put that nail straight into the board in one blow, it will do a great job of it.

The key factor is the implementation. If you know what you are doing, then the tool either aids or hinders you. Some things DataStage does better than Informatica and vice versa. If you're choosing the two, get the product whose company gives you the best golf-shirts and pens, because you're fooling yourself that your opinion counts. It will come down to pricing and maintenance contracts and consulting "fast start" costs. There have been sales that go the other way due to pricing, not best fit.

To be successful, find someone who understands what you want built and contract him/her to come in and guide you to success. Otherwise, you'll be in the trap of thinking that your ETL tool solves #1-6 above. Good luck.

[Subu]

kcbland & vmcburney & Arnd thanks for your help.

Thanks
Subu
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