Alation Data Catalog vs. IBM InfoSphere Information Server

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Alation
Score 7.1 out of 10
N/A
Alation offers enterprise data intelligence solutions, including data search & discovery, data governance, data stewardship, analytics, and digital transformation. Alation operates in thethe data catalog market. With its Behavioral Analysis Engine, inbuilt collaboration capabilities, and open interfaces, Alation combines machine learning with human insight with the goal of tackle the most demanding challenges in data and metadata management.N/A
IBM InfoSphere Information Server
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
IBM InfoSphere Information Server is a data integration platform used to understand, cleanse, monitor and transform data. The offerings provide massively parallel processing (MPP) capabilities.N/A
Pricing
Alation Data CatalogIBM InfoSphere Information Server
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
AlationIBM InfoSphere Information Server
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Alation Data CatalogIBM InfoSphere Information Server
Features
Alation Data CatalogIBM InfoSphere Information Server
Data Source Connection
Comparison of Data Source Connection features of Product A and Product B
Alation Data Catalog
-
Ratings
IBM InfoSphere Information Server
8.7
4 Ratings
6% above category average
Connect to traditional data sources00 Ratings9.94 Ratings
Connecto to Big Data and NoSQL00 Ratings7.54 Ratings
Data Transformations
Comparison of Data Transformations features of Product A and Product B
Alation Data Catalog
-
Ratings
IBM InfoSphere Information Server
9.6
4 Ratings
18% above category average
Simple transformations00 Ratings10.04 Ratings
Complex transformations00 Ratings9.24 Ratings
Data Modeling
Comparison of Data Modeling features of Product A and Product B
Alation Data Catalog
-
Ratings
IBM InfoSphere Information Server
8.0
4 Ratings
2% above category average
Data model creation00 Ratings8.72 Ratings
Metadata management00 Ratings7.74 Ratings
Business rules and workflow00 Ratings8.44 Ratings
Collaboration00 Ratings8.04 Ratings
Testing and debugging00 Ratings7.14 Ratings
Data Governance
Comparison of Data Governance features of Product A and Product B
Alation Data Catalog
-
Ratings
IBM InfoSphere Information Server
9.7
4 Ratings
21% above category average
Integration with data quality tools00 Ratings10.04 Ratings
Integration with MDM tools00 Ratings9.53 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Alation Data CatalogIBM InfoSphere Information Server
Small Businesses

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Skyvia
Skyvia
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies

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dbt
dbt
Score 8.9 out of 10
Enterprises

No answers on this topic

InterSystems IRIS
InterSystems IRIS
Score 7.8 out of 10
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User Ratings
Alation Data CatalogIBM InfoSphere Information Server
Likelihood to Recommend
8.7
(17 ratings)
8.9
(5 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
7.3
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.1
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Alation Data CatalogIBM InfoSphere Information Server
Likelihood to Recommend
Alation
Alation is well suited to helping a user find a column or even a query using a business term search. In this regard Alation is excellent because it's easy to not only associate these items with each other, but there are also many ways to link the column and/or query to that business term/concept
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IBM
Information Server is extremely useful to replace manual developments that require a lot of coding effort. It significantly increases the productivity of the initial development and the future maintenance of the processes since it has a visual development environment with self-documentation.
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Pros
Alation
  • Ability to link objects using the @ symbol. It allows us to easily provide a way to get more information or context. So if the business concept is part of a hierarchy, we can link to the other terms in that hierarchy.
  • The customization is really helpful. Most object types have robust customization options. Others are less so, but it is improving. We've created multiple custom fields to support our data governance framework.
  • The search feature with filtering is helpful in narrowing down what you're looking for.
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IBM
  • IIS best for ETL ,not ELT , and many and diffrent source systems.
  • It also can process big data , unstuctured data
  • It is not only DWH , you can use infosphere for analys and see the bigger architecture of your OLTP systems
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Cons
Alation
  • The lineage UI is not ready for primetime. I would not recommend this feature for my users at this time because it's too complex to understand and is visually difficult to track down specific paths.
  • The underlying infrastructure of the on-premise version of the software is fragile and unnecessarily complicated, using too many modules and technologies.
  • The license model of the on-premise version contains too many add-ons. I would like to pay one price and get all of the features.
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IBM
  • I would be nice to have a new web development environment for DataStage.
  • Connectivity Packs such as Pack for SAP Application are a little pricey.
  • It is confusing for new developers the possibility of developing jobs using different execution engines such as Parallel or Server.
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Likelihood to Renew
Alation
No answers on this topic
IBM
  • Scale of implementation
  • IBM techsupport
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Usability
Alation
Mostly because the search feature is case sensitive. This causes issues when users are searching for an industry standard acronym. These acronyms exist as attributes in thousands of places across our data ecosystem. Alation allows stewards to endorse attributes so that these endorsed items rise to the top of search results. The problem is no one types acronyms in caps in a search field. Alation returns results matching the case (lower-case) and in several instances the endorsed attributes don't even appear on the first page of results
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IBM
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Alation
From the RightStart Program to the Customer Success team to technical support, Alation has it all covered. They respond quickly and expertly to answer my questions and fix my problems.
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IBM
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Alation
Alation provided the right balance of connection with systems in use, trusted reputation and affordability. The product integrates with current ways of working and does not require reorganisation within other lines of business.
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IBM
DataStage is more robust and stable than ODI The ability to perform complex transformations or implement business rules is much more developed in DS
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Return on Investment
Alation
  • Provides a place where people can go to find things
  • When we first implemented, someone was concerned that people would now see what a mess our data environment was. I consider that a feature. We can't clean up if we can't see what we have.
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IBM
  • Productivity of the development of integration processes.
  • Better documentation and governance.
  • Reduce training costs of various technologies.
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ScreenShots

Alation Screenshots

Screenshot of Alation Intelligent Search, which helps to democratize access to enterprise data and foster a robust data culture.Screenshot of a display of end-to-end lineage to understand data flows, relationships, health, and impact analysis.Screenshot of where users can access the privacy policies. This helps everyone in an organization to make data-driven decisions while also ensuring compliance and security.