Category

Version---->
Architecture

Criteria

Informatica PowerCenter
5.0
Client and Server Architecture
Highly scalable and extensible technology. Scale up
as the data and load grows. Scales up w.r.t the
hardware and software

Ascential Data Stage XE

5.1
Client Server Architecture
Highly scalable Scales up w.r.t the hardware
and software

Client Platform
Server Platforms

Windows 2000/NT/98
Sun Solaris, AIX, HP-UNIX, Windows NT/2000

Windows 95/NT/2000
Windows 95/NT/2000
Windows NT ( Intel and Alpha Platforms ),
Sun Solaris, AIX, HP-UNIX, Windows
UNIX AIX, HP-UX, Sun Solaris, COMPAQ
NT/2000
Tru64. Data Stage XE 390 works on OS/390
platform.

Which DBMS are supported for

extraction and loading

For Extraction: DB/2, DB/2 /400,Flat Files, IMS,

Informix, MS SQL Server, MS Access, Oracle,
Sybase, UDB, VSAM, ODBC, Others
Targets: Informix DB/2 /400,MS SQL Server, MS
Access, Oracle, PeopleSoft Enterprise Performance
Management (EPM), SAP Business Information
Warehouse (BW), Sybase, UDB, Flat Files, Others

QSAM: Sequential flat files ISAM: VSAM:

KSDS, RSDS, ESDS - support GROUPS,
multi-level arrays, REDEFINES, and all
PICTURE clauses. DB2, Adabas, Oracle OCI (
For releases 7 and 8 ) , Sybase Open Client ,
Informix CLI , OLE/DB for Microsoft SQL
Server 7, ODBC.

Generic ODBC, HP NeoView, IBM

DB2/UDB, Informix IDS, Microsoft SQL
Server, mySQL, Netezza, Teradata,
Oracle, Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise
(ASE), Sybase IQ. Native bulk loading
supported for all major databases.

Support for ERP Sources

Provides PowerConnect modules for connecting to

PeopleSoft, Siebel and SAP R/3. Informatica is
coming out with an Open PowerConnect API for
rest of the ERP systems. So customers can write
interfaces using this module.

DataStage XE provides full integration with

leading enterprise applications including SAP,
Siebel, and PeopleSoft. The DataStage
Extract PACKs for SAP R/3, Siebel and
PeopleSoft, and the DataStage Load PACK
for SAP BW enable warehouse developers to
integrate this data with the organization's other
data sources.

JD Edwards OneWorld and World, Oracle

e-Business Suite (EBS), PeopleTools, SAP
BI and BW Server; SAP ERP and R/3 via
ABAP, BAPI,
and
IDOC,
Siebel,
SalesForce.com

Code Reusability capability within Supports development of Mapplets which acts as

the product
library between Mappings and also can make
transformations shareable across Mappings.

Permits the reuse of existing code through

APIs thereby eliminating redundancy and
retesting of established business rules

Supports Code reusablitiy, we can reuse

Workflows, Dataflows, Tables,

Parallelism

Supports parallelism, one can run multiple mapping

session on the same server.

Automatically distributes independent job

flows across multiple CPU processes. This
feature ensures the best use of available
resources and speeds up overall processing
time for the application.

Supports parallelsim, one can run multiple

dataflows/work flows parallelly and run
jobs parallelly

Code Generator

PowerCenter does not generate code, all the

Only DataStage XE/390 version
mappings developed will be inform of GUI interface. automatically generates and optimizes native
COBOL code and JCL scripts that run on the
OS/390 mainframe.

DI Automatically generates an appropriate

interface calls to access the data into the
source
systems.
For
most
ERP
applications DI generates optimized SQL
for the specific target database systems
(Oracle, DB2, SQL Server, and Informix)

Data Transformation Method

(Engine Based ?)

PowerCenter is based on Hub & Spoke architecture Transformation is engine based - column-toand has inbuilt Transformation engine.
column mappings

Tranformation is engine based.

Building & Managing Aggregates

Aggregation can be built using the built in

transformation provided.

Enhances performance and reduces I/O with Aggregation can be built using the Query
its built-in sorting and aggregation capabilities. tranformation with the help of builit-n
The Sort and Aggregation stages of
functions
DataStage work directly on rows as they pass
through the engine rather than depending on
SQL and intermediate tables.

Support for various data types

Supports most of the industry standard data types.

This also depends on the kind of source system
being used.

It supports most of the industry standard data

types. It supports XML also.

Architecture
Scalable and Extensible
Technology

BODI
11.5
Clinet Server Architecture
Highly scalable Scales
hardware and software

ODI/OWB

up

w.r.t

the

It supports most of the industry standard

data types. It supports XML also.

AbInitio

SSIS

Data Quality Check functionality

or feature

Does not have such feature. Needs to be handled

prorgramatically.

Through Quality Manager it is possible to

Supports Data quality check using different
audit, monitor, and certify data quality at key
sets of transformations
points throughout the data integration lifecycle.

Debugging and logging features

Does not a separate debugging Tool. The

workaround is by setting the "verbose" property on
each transformation. By this Informatica will create
log files in the server, which can be used for further
analysis.

Helps developers verify their code with a built- It does supports job execution in Debug
in debugger thereby increasing application
mode
reliability as well as reducing the amount of
time developers spend fixing errors and bugs.
Supports debugging on row-by-row basis
using break points. DataStage immediately
detects and corrects errors in logic or
unexpected legacy data values using this.
Highly useful for complex transformation, date
conversions etc.

Exception Handling

Throws out the error records or rejected records into Supports exception handling.
a log file
Through log files stored in the server
Developers can closely observe the running
jobs in the Monitor Window to provide run-time
feedback on user-selected intervals. The
powerful process viewer estimates rows-persecond and allows developers to pinpoint
possible bottle-necks and/or points of failure.
Using the Director, the developer can browse
detailed log records as each step of a job
completes. These date and time stamped log
records include notes reported by the
DataStage Server as well as messages
returned by the operating environment or
source and target database systems.
DataStage highlights log records with colored
icons (green for informational, yellow are
warnings, red for fatal) for easy identification.

Supports exception handling using Try,

Catch blocks
There are serveral exception categories
available in DI. DI maintains 3 different
logs (Trace, Error, Statistics) at the time of
execution and these log files are stored in
the server. Trace log displays information
start & endi time of the job, workflow,
dataflow. Statistics log window displays
row count, path name, state of the DI
object(job, wf,df, tranformations) and
elapsed & absolute time. Error log displays
the name of the object being executed,
description & type
of error occured.
Monitor window displays job status with
colored icons (green, red and yellow)

Restarting an aborted ETL

process

Support restarting of the mappings

Restart is possible. Can restart from the point

of failure.

A Data Integrator feature that allows you to

run unsuccessful jobs in recovery mode.
Can restart from the point of failure

Memory (Minimum/
Recommended) requirement at
client machine

Minimum 128 MB

64 MB

Min 256 MB

Memory (Minimum/
Recommended) requirement at
Server machine

Minimum is 256 MB and depends on the nature of

the mappings. Each session of the PowerCenter
takes around 8 MB of memory so according to the
load the memory is needed.

Minimum 256 MB

Pentium processor with a minimum of 256

MB but recommended 512 MB
RAM and 100 MB free disk space
(memory-intensive jobs require more
free disk space).

Supports distributed Repository - Remote sites

can subscribe to a set of meta data objects
within the warehouse application. These sites
are notified via email when meta data changes
occur within their subscription. DataStage XE
offers version control such as table definitions,
transformation rules, and source/target
column mappings within a 2-part numbering
scheme.

You can also export an entire repository to

a file. When you export or import a
repository, jobs and their objects (created
in Data Integrator) are automatically
exported or imported as well.

How Tool Provides information

about exception

Repository Backup and Recovery PowerCenter comes with good features for backup
and recovery of the repository. This can done
through Repository Manager.

Meta data
support

Metadata Capture

Meta data is captured and stored in the repository of Stores all the meta data in the Repository.
the PowerCenter
Captures the Meta Data Automatically using
component called 'Meta Stage'. It also offers
broad support for sharing meta data between
third-party data environments using
Metabrokers. It maintains a complete catalog
of the organizations metadata, including
physical, technical, business and process
meta data.

The Data Integrator repository is a

database that stores your application
components and the built-in Data
Integrator design components and their
properties. The open architecture of the
repository allows for metadata sharing with
other enterprise tools.
Within your repository, Data Integrator
populates a special set of reporting tables
with metadata describing the objects in
your repository. When you query these
tables, you can perform analyses on your
Data Integrator applications.

Business View meta data

Business Meta data needs to documented while

building the mappings. This data will be stored in the
meta data repository. Using the SQL commands it is
possible to query the meta data.

DataStage XE provides warehouse

developers with a central hub that manages
meta data at the tool-integration level. Remote
sites can subscribe to a set of meta data
objects within the warehouse application.
These sites are notified via email when meta
data changes occur within their subscription.

The
Web-based
Metadata
Reports
application provides several convenient
graphical
options
for
analyzing
dependencies, managing job execution
performance, assessing source data
quality, and producing documentation for
your Data Integrator projects.

Meta data security

Since meta data is stored in the repository of the

product it is very well protected.
Does not have any web integration

User level security provided by DataStage

Administrator
Yes , Supports Web integration using Plugin
API

User level security provided

Administrator
Supports Web Integration

Supports versioning with the help of the repository

and allows one to define the baseline.

DataStage XE offers version control, which

saves the history of all the ETL development.
It preserves application components such as
table definitions, transformation rules, and
source/target column mappings within a 2-part
numbering scheme. Developers can review
older rules and optionally restore entire
releases that can then be moved to distributed
locations.

DI supports versioning with the help of

Central repository in a multi user
environment. It stores all the DI objects
such as Jobs, WF's, DF's source/tager
table definitions and transformation rules.

Metadata repository's compliance Does not support any industry standard meta data
to one of the industry meta data
storage. But the meta data is Sharable through the
standards
Metadata Exchange (MX2) API

Has its version of the Common Meta Model.

The meta data can be shared using the
MetaBroker.

You can exchange metadata between

Data Integrator and third-party tools using
XML files and the Metadata Exchange
option. It supports CWM (the Common
Warehouse Metamodel), MIMB (the Meta
Integration
Model
Bridge),
BusinessObjects Universe Builder

Meta data views using query tools PowerCenter comes with the meta data reporting
tool which will help the users to access the meta
data stored in the repository. One can view meta
data using the query tools like SQL etc.

No tool currently available. The entire history

of the data can be derived and viewed using
Data Lineage.

Metadata Reports provide four modules

Impact
&
Lineage,
Operational
Dashboards, Data Quality analysis.

Easy installation procedure

The installation process depends the platform on

which being installed. Some times it can run into
rough weather due to various reasons. But most of
the cases it is very easy to install

An industry standard installation script

provided for each " DataStage "Packages"
helps in easier installation and automated
configuration.

Installation and Configuration procedure is

very easy. Sometimes it depends upon the
platform which is being installed.

Ability to generate Data mart

schema similar to source
database

It is possible to generate the target data mart

schema similar to source database.

Possible to create the data mart schema

similar to source

Possible to create the data mart schema

similar to source

Web Integration support

Versioning Support

Ease of setup

by

Support for designing data mart

Supports Start Schema data model for target data

mart design.

Does not support directly. But with data

integration capabilities of
DataStage/DataStage 390 with DB2
Warehouse Manager's data warehouse
generation and management capabilities it is
possible to design data mart/warehouse.

Supports Start Schema data model for

target data mart design.

Importing data models from

modeling tools

It is possible to import the data models from different The MetaBroker for a particular tool
modeling tools by using Plug in called MX.
represents the meta data just as it is
expressed in the tool s schema. It
accomplishes the exchange of meta data
between tools by automatically decomposing
the meta data concepts of one tool into their
atomic elements via the MetaHub and
recomposing those elements to represent the
meta data concepts from the perspective of
the receiving tool. In this way all meta data
and their relationships in the integrated suite
are captured and retained for use by any of
the tools. Summarizing, MetaBrokers
facilitates meta data exchange between
DataStage and popular data modeling and
business intelligence tools.
Supports Filter transformation
Supports Filter transformation

You can exchange metadata between

Data Integrator and third-party tools using
XML files and the Metadata Exchange
option. It supports CWM (the Common
Warehouse Metamodel), MIMB (the Meta
Integration
Model
Bridge),
BusinessObjects Universe Builder

Transformations Filter

Management

Format conversion

Support Format conversion and data type

conversion.

Lookup

Supports Lookup transformation very well.

Scope for user defined fields

Joins

One can define user define variables.

Supports most of the join types.

Support for external procedures

Supports external procedures, it is possible to call

stored procedures through mappings.

Scheduling feature

Defining calendar and using it for

ad-hoc scheduling
Performance monitoring of ETL
process

Supports
Filter
using
QUERY
Transformtion WHERE clause
Supports format conversion such as date &
Supports
format
conversions
by
time display, numeric representation, National to_decimal,to_char
currency rules, Collating sequences etc.
Support lookup procedures, hashed lookup
tables to increase performance.
One can define user define variables
Supports most of the join types using join
transformation
Built into DataStage are several features
exclusively designed to support the packaging
and deployment of completed data migration
applications.

Supports lookup functions and ease to use

Supports good scheduling feature and it is possible

to schedule the job/session using Server Manager.

Good graphical scheduling and Monitoring

feature provided by the datastage component
called Data Director. It can also generate
CRON scripts to schedule from Unix. With
DataStage Job Control API and Command
Language interface provided, any remote C
program or command shell can be used to
initiate jobs, query their results or program a
more complex job execution sequence.

When you schedule batch jobs using the

Administrator, it creates an entry in the
scheduling utility on the Job Server
computer. Windows uses the task
scheduler (AT.exe) and UNIX systems use
the CRON utility.

Through Server manager it is possible to schedule

the mappings.
No special performance monitor tool is available but
developers needs to observe the session using the
logs and tune the mappings accordingly.

Using the data stage Director it is possible to

schedule the jobs
No special performance monitor tool but
developers can closely observe the running
jobs in the Monitor Window to provide run-time
feedback on user-selected
intervals. The powerful process viewer
estimates rows-per-second and allows
developers to pinpoint possible bottlenecks
and/or points of failure.

We can shcedule jobs using webadmin

scheduler
Using Metdata Dashboards we can
analyse the job for the bottle neck and
monitor the performance.

One can define user define variables

Supports most of the join types.
Supports external procedures, functions,
packages

Adaptability

Performance Options

Provides various options like tuning the sql, ODBC

to increase the performance of the mappings.

Specifying the atomicity of the

updates
Security Encryption

It is possible to load a large set of records to the

target database.
Has got good security features and managed
through Repository Manager. No Encryption facility.

Security and Access Control

using LDAP

Not Available

Impact analysis capability

It is possible to find out the impact on change which Good impact analysis capabilities provided by
needs to be done.
the Metastage Hub across the integrated
environment. It gives the entire relationship
associated with an object.

The Impact and Lineage Analysis module

of Metadata Reports provides a simple,
graphical, and intuitive way to view and
navigate through various dependencies
between objects.

SCD

Requires programmatic design to update the SCD.

Requires programmatic design to update the

SCD.
Supports versioning and configuration management Provides version control through distributed
through repository
repository. (Repository can exists on either
source or target)

Requires programmatic design to update

the SCD.
Supports versioning and configuration
management through repository

Ability to handle various source

types from flat to files to major
RDBMS

Supports Flat file, oracle, sql server, DB2, and other Supports heterogeneous sources like Oracle,
ODBC compliant RDBMS.
Informix, SQL Server, DB2, flat files, XML,
ERP Sources like Oracle Apps, SAP R/3,
PeopleSoft etc.

It extracts the data from operational source

systems and external source systems
typically like RDBMS, Flat files, XML files,
XML Messages, SAP IDocs, PeopleSoft,
Siebel etc.

Incremental upload

This needs to be handled in mappings manually.

Supports Incremental load using CDC

mechanisms

Support for External loader

One can call external procedure in the mapping

using external transformation.

Intermediate file generation

during loading

Only generates a temp file when doing sorting or

loading.

Event based loading

Does not supports "true" work flow mechanism. This Supports Event based loading
can be done using external schedulers or workflow
tools like AppWorks or NT Scheduling or using
Mainframe OPC Scheduling tools.

Version/ configuration
management

Support for
growth

Can provide Very high performance. Can

enhance performance using In-memory hash
tables, reducing I/O operations with its built-in
sorting and aggregation capabilities.
DataStage allows to bypass ODBC and "talk"
natively to the source and target structures
using direct calls thereby increasing
performance.
Does not support atomicity updates.

Almost all transformations pushes down to

the database, there are some other
options available in DI to tune our jobs.
Degrees of Parallelsm, Increasing number
of laoders, Bulk Load options etc

It is possible to load a large set of records

to the target database.

Provides security features using Data

Administrator.
Not Available

Supports Incremental load. Changed Data

Capture captures changes to the
operational data and produces Delta Store
files. DataStage XE uses these files to update
the data warehouse. From a workflow
perspective, the warehouse developer defines
a Delta Data Store file as an input table within
one of the DataStage XE products on a
Windows 95/NT platform.
DataStage supports a wide variety of such
bulk load utilities either by directly calling a
vendor s bulk
load API or generating the control and
matching data file for batch input processing.
DataStage developers simply connect a Bulk
Load Stage icon to their jobs and then fill in
the performance settings that are appropriate
for their particular environment.
Do not require intermediate files or secondary
storage locations to perform aggregation or
intermediate sorting during loading process.

Not Available

Supports Bulk Load (Conventinal Path and

Direct Path), API method

Do not require intermediate files or

secondary storage locations to perform
aggregation or intermediate sorting during
loading process.

Support for wide range of

databases for storing (Target)
information

Supports Oracle, Informix, SQL Server, DB2 etc

Sybase Adaptive Server , Sybase Adaptive

server IQ, Microsoft SQL Server 7 via OLE/DB
, Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 via BCP , Informix
Redbrick, Teradata, UDB. Bulk Loaders Oracle , Informix ADO/XPO High Performance
. Ascential databases- Universe, Unidata. Also
XML, e-mail systems and Web Logs, ERP
data and MQSeries messages.

Support for multi-user

development environment

Supports multi user client server development

environment.

Supports multi user client server development Supports multi user client
environment
development environment.

Re-usability

Supports re-usability of the code by making

transformation reusable.

Code Reusability is supported. Ascential's

Quality Manager provides a framework for
developing a self-contained and reusable
Project which consists of business rules,
analysis results, measurements, history and
reports about a particular source or target
environment.

Supports re-usability of the code.

Support for built in functions

Support Built in transformations like aggregator ,

filter etc.

pre-built functions and routines are available

Pre-built functions
available

Handling duplicate records

Does not handle duplicate rows. To be handled

programmatically
Supports caching of lookup tables.

Does not handle duplicate rows. To be

handled programmatically
Supports caching of lookup tables.

Does not handle duplicate rows. To be

handled programmatically
Supports caching of lookup tables.

Consistency and Global Meta data

re-use

Using PowerCenter and PowerMart model it is

possible to handle global meta data.

MetaBrokers enable the sharing of meta data

among all of the tools in the warehouse
environment. With MetaBrokers, tools can
share meta data without having to change
their internal meta schema to conform to a
common model.

You can exchange metadata between

Data Integrator and third-party tools using
XML files and the Metadata Exchange
option. It supports CWM (the Common
Warehouse Metamodel), MIMB (the Meta
Integration
Model
Bridge),
BusinessObjects Universe Builder

Compatibility
with third party
tools

Compatibility of ETL Tools with

EAI tools

Currently PowerCenter Supports following EAI

vendors IBM MQ Series, TIBCO, Vitria and
webMethods as source/ target for the data.

Only IBM MQ Series is supported.

Licensing &
Pricing

Server Licensing

Licensing Includes following for Basic Version:

. No ability to add-on PowerMarts
No Global Repository
No centralized monitoring
1 Server Engine*
2 Relational Database Source Types
2 Target Instances
Unlimited Flat File Sourcing
Unlimited Developers
. Single CPU
Unix Version Costs : US$ 140 K
Windows NT/2000 Ver : US$ 95 K

Data Stage - $37,800

Support - $18,900
Professional Services - $31,500
Training - $15,600

Information Not available

Client Licensing

There is no separate licensing for the Client. It

Comes along with the server.

Information Not available

Information Not available

Advance Data
Transformation

Lookup cache

Generic ODBC, HP NeoView, IBM

DB2/UDB, Informix IDS, Microsoft
SQL
Server,
mySQL,
Netezza,
Teradata, Oracle, Sybase Adaptive
Server Enterprise (ASE), Sybase IQ.
Native bulk loading supported for all
major databases.

and

server

routines

are

Vendor
Information

ODBC Licensing

No transfers are allowed from the client owned

software to MindTree. Separate license has to be
procured. May be Lab license will do which will be
half the cost of the production license.

Information Not available

2 consecutive years of
profitability

Informatica was recently named the 11th fastestgrowing technology company in Silicon Valley by
Deloitte & Touche. The ranking resulted from the
companys 10,491 percent revenue growth between
1995-1999.

Ascential Software Corporation is the leading

provider of Information Asset Management
solutions to the Global 2000. The company
inception is in 2000 after the split from
Informix corporation. For the latest earning
figures can be checked in vendor website.

Significant third party partner

support

PowerCenter Works with most of the software,

database and hardware vendors. Built on most with
open system. The product like PowerConnect for
DB2 has been brought by Informatica and
supported.

SAP is a reseller of Ascentials DataStage and An open services-based architecture

DataStage Load PACK for SAP BW with the
permits third-party integration using
sole target being SAP BW.
standards like CWM, JMS, SNMP, and
Web services. Data access from flat files,
XML (DTD and schema definitions), Cobol,
Microsoft Excel, HTTP/HTTPS, IBM MQ
Series, JMS, and Web services (SOAP,
WSDL).

Global presence and support

Has Global presence and has support most of the

continents.
is around 1300 as of Oct 2001
All the information regarding the health of the
company has been reported in its website.

Has got presence USA, Europe, Asia and

Africa.
More than 1800 as of Aug' 01
Revenue for Ascential Software's DataStage,
Media360 and related product and service
offerings was $27.0 million in the third quarter,
an increase of 14% from $23.6 million in the
third quarter of 2000. Revenue for these
offerings for the nine months ended
September 30, 2001 was $93.9 million, an
increase of 47% over the $63.8 million in the
first nine months of 2000.

Informatica Came to BI market with the ETL product

and has established a major player in the market.
This product will be continue to be the flag ship
product despite change in its positioning in the BI
market

Adds significant meta data management

services to the entire data warehouse,
including ETL. Intend to offer the capability for
heterogeneous cross-tool analysis and query
capabilities. Exploitation of XML Integration to
enhance e-businesses communication.
Delivers Key MetaBroker development
capabilities for its customers and partners.

Number of Customers
Company financial info readily
available

Company focus on ETL segment

for the future

Note :
Some information is collected from secondary sources
The prices shown above are indicative only. The actual prices of may vary.
NA: Information Not Available

Information Not available

Has got presence USA, Europe, Asia and

Africa.
All the information regarding the health of
the company has been reported in its
website.