HCL DataConnect vs. SAP Integration Suite

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.

Incentivized

Good at: 1. Integrations with in SAP applications, especially with event based triggers 2. Can be integrated very well with other BTP services to attain Batch processing and store credentials 3. Supports many authentication models Improvements: 1. No version history available compared to as it is available in S4HANA 2. Need a lot of improvement in git hub connections

Incentivized

• 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.

Incentivized

• The extensive catalog of pre package integrations that have in the discovery center. That allows developers to find solutions that can fit the needs.
• Monitor of the integrations and api deployed.
• API management has been for us a very usefull tool inside integration suite, to be able to have the API Hub with the documentation of our apis.

Incentivized

• 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.

Incentivized

• Provide more pre-built integrations to use within SuccessFactors or other modules instead of everything having to be custom built
• Support is unable to provide advice on custom builds so you often have to engage a 3rd party partner
• Works best when you have the functional and technical teams working together. Otherwise, the system is too technical for a functional user to create integration and a technical user not always understand the functional perspective

Incentivized

It is in place, our system integrators are familiar with it, and it fits into the ecosystem. A better user interface, flow build and debugging experience would see it grow, many technical staff do not enjoy using it for this reason, however it is quite capable and powerful behind this one shortcoming.

Incentivized

The user interface is messy and not intuitive. It has a steep learning curve, and flows developed around are easy to make a mess with layout and can be difficult to follow. The debugging is also quite difficult, it takes some time to figure out how to follow the flow and examine data. Error handling is also difficult and not intuitive, it is better to let some errors leak and monitor through ALM.

Incentivized

The support for SAP Integration Suite is satisfactory. We leverage SAP support through our manage services partner. So far, we have not had many major issues. One concern, to make our rating a ten, would be turnaround time on high priority incidents. SAP Integration Suite drives our key business functions forward. Without a reasonable service level agreement on turnaround, we sometimes find us running into issues running pay, etc.

Incentivized

Work with an SAP implementation partner, if possible.

Incentivized

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.)

Incentivized

Before deploying SAP Integration Suite, we assessed Oracle Financial Services Analytics and IBM Risk Analytics. While Oracle had proved its mettle in the exceptional database support and IBM in presenting risk model tools, SAP Integration Suite overwhelmed others by being effortlessly integrated with our existing banking framework.

• 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.

Incentivized

• Positive impact would be availability of pre-defined integration content via templates.
• One can re-use a template as a starting point to modify and adopt to client-specific integration flow.
• Availability of adaptors and connectors, making it easier to piece together the integration flow.

Incentivized