HCL DataConnect vs. SQL Server Integration Services

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
HCL DataConnect
Score 6.8 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
HCL DataConnect (formerly Actian DataConnect) is a hybrid integration solution that enables users to integrate anything, anywhere, anytime. It can be deployed in on-premise, cloud, and/or hybrid environments and offers quick onboarding. With its emphasis data quality, data reuse, adaptability and self-service integration, DataConnect is designed to support rapid onboarding and deliver the fast time to value.N/A
SSIS
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft's SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) is a data integration solution.N/A
Pricing
HCL DataConnectSQL Server Integration Services
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
HCL DataConnectSSIS
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
HCL DataConnectSQL Server Integration Services
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
HCL DataConnectSQL Server Integration Services
Data Source Connection
Comparison of Data Source Connection features of Product A and Product B
HCL DataConnect
9.5
2 Ratings
14% above category average
SQL Server Integration Services
7.5
53 Ratings
9% below category average
Connect to traditional data sources9.92 Ratings8.853 Ratings
Connecto to Big Data and NoSQL9.01 Ratings6.240 Ratings
Data Transformations
Comparison of Data Transformations features of Product A and Product B
HCL DataConnect
9.9
2 Ratings
16% above category average
SQL Server Integration Services
8.1
53 Ratings
4% below category average
Simple transformations10.02 Ratings8.553 Ratings
Complex transformations9.92 Ratings7.752 Ratings
Data Modeling
Comparison of Data Modeling features of Product A and Product B
HCL DataConnect
9.9
2 Ratings
19% above category average
SQL Server Integration Services
7.4
51 Ratings
10% below category average
Data model creation10.01 Ratings8.627 Ratings
Metadata management10.01 Ratings7.133 Ratings
Business rules and workflow9.92 Ratings8.142 Ratings
Collaboration9.82 Ratings7.338 Ratings
Testing and debugging9.92 Ratings6.148 Ratings
Data Governance
Comparison of Data Governance features of Product A and Product B
HCL DataConnect
9.5
1 Ratings
15% above category average
SQL Server Integration Services
6.9
41 Ratings
17% below category average
Integration with data quality tools9.01 Ratings7.436 Ratings
Integration with MDM tools10.01 Ratings6.536 Ratings
Best Alternatives
HCL DataConnectSQL Server Integration Services
Small Businesses
Skyvia
Skyvia
Score 9.6 out of 10
Skyvia
Skyvia
Score 9.6 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
IBM InfoSphere Information Server
IBM InfoSphere Information Server
Score 8.2 out of 10
IBM InfoSphere Information Server
IBM InfoSphere Information Server
Score 8.2 out of 10
Enterprises
IBM InfoSphere Information Server
IBM InfoSphere Information Server
Score 8.2 out of 10
IBM InfoSphere Information Server
IBM InfoSphere Information Server
Score 8.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
HCL DataConnectSQL Server Integration Services
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(2 ratings)
8.0
(53 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.3
(8 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
8.8
(6 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(7 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
HCL DataConnectSQL Server Integration Services
Likelihood to Recommend
HCL Technologies
The choice to use Actian DataConnect really comes down to pricing and the type of integration project you are performing, specifically with the requirements, whether you want the integration to be on-premise or in the cloud, can you install agents on your servers etc. For integration tools it runs head to head with its competitors.
Read full review
Microsoft
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.
Read full review
Pros
HCL Technologies
  • Map multiple source and destination tables - what would be done in many steps in SSIS can be done in one or two "maps" in Data Integrator.
  • Platform independent, cloud based, no client software.
  • Conversion of data types, write flat files - this helps us with integrating systems.
  • Fairly straightforward to use if the user has ETL experience.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Ease of use - can be used with no prior experience in a relatively short amount of time.
  • Flexibility - provides multiple means of accomplishing tasks to be able to support virtually any scenario.
  • Performance - performs well with default configurations but allows the user to choose a multitude of options that can enhance performance.
  • Resilient - supports the configuration of error handling to prevent and identify breakages.
  • Complete suite of configurable tools.
Read full review
Cons
HCL Technologies
  • Integration Manager needs better scheduling improvements. Like dependencies, and not running a process again if the prior run is still running.
  • New connector development does not seem a priority.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • SSIS has been a bit neglected by Microsoft and new features are slow in coming.
  • When importing data from flat files and Excel workbooks, changes in the data structure will cause the extracts to fail. Workarounds do exist but are not easily implemented. If your source data structure does not change or rarely changes, this negative is relatively insignificant.
  • While add-on third-party SSIS tools exist, there are only a small number of vendors actively supporting SSIS and license fees for production server use can be significant especially in highly-scaled environments.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
HCL Technologies
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
Some features should be revised or improved, some tools (using it with Visual Studio) of the toolbox should be less schematic and somewhat more flexible. Using for example, the CSV data import is still very old-fashioned and if the data format changes it requires a bit of manual labor to accept the new data structure
Read full review
Usability
HCL Technologies
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
SQL Server Integration Services is a relatively nice tool but is simply not the ETL for a global, large-scale organization. With developing requirements such as NoSQL data, cloud-based tools, and extraordinarily large databases, SSIS is no longer our tool of choice.
Read full review
Performance
HCL Technologies
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
Raw performance is great. At times, depending on the machine you are using for development, the IDE can have issues. Deploying projects is very easy and the tool set they give you to monitor jobs out of the box is decent. If you do very much with it you will have to write into your projects performance tracking though.
Read full review
Support Rating
HCL Technologies
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
The support, when necessary, is excellent. But beyond that, it is very rarely necessary because the user community is so large, vibrant and knowledgable, a simple Google query or forum question can answer almost everything you want to know. You can also get prewritten script tasks with a variety of functionality that saves a lot of time.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
HCL Technologies
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
The implementation may be different in each case, it is important to properly analyze all the existing infrastructure to understand the kind of work needed, the type of software used and the compatibility between these, the features that you want to exploit, to understand what is possible and which ones require integration with third-party tools
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
HCL Technologies
Data Integrator was initially a part of a package deal for us with our new Student Information System. It was chosen prior to my arrival at the institution. Since I discovered we have SQL Server licenses, we have decided to use SSIS instead since I have a background in the MSBI stack and SSIS appears to be more straightforward (process flow philosophy vs "map" philosophy.)
Read full review
Microsoft
I had nothing to do with the choice or install. I assume it was made because it's easy to integrate with our SQL Server environment and free. I'm not sure of any other enterprise level solution that would solve this problem, but I would likely have approached it with traditional scripting. Comparably free, but my own familiarity with trad scripts would be my final deciding factor. Perhaps with some further training on SSIS I would have a different answer.
Read full review
Return on Investment
HCL Technologies
  • Our customer likes the consistent reliable integrations we have built so we [got] a definite return on investment.
  • Problems are fairly easy to handle and rework.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Data integrity across various products allows unify certain processes inside the organization and save funds by reducing human labour factor.
  • Automated data unification allows us plan our inputs better and reduce over-warehousing by overbuying
  • The employee number, responsible for data management was reduced from 4 to 1 person
Read full review
ScreenShots

HCL DataConnect Screenshots

Screenshot of DataConnect is a hybrid integration solution used to design, deploy, and manage integrations on premise, in the cloud or in hybrid environments with no limits on data types or volumes.Screenshot of Actian DataConnect is a versatile hybrid integration platform that supports a wide range of use cases in every industry.Screenshot of DataConnect helps service delivery teams (e.g. SaaS ProServ team, Systems Integrator) rapidly  onboard and maintain application integrations across their customer base.Screenshot of DataConnect helps organizations onboard master data from their customers as part of the customer onboarding and maintenance process.Screenshot of DataConnect helps an enterprise or service provider exchange EDI data with their supply chain, customer network, or partner network.Screenshot of Actian DataConnect