Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services (ETL/ELT)-GovCloud

I work in the insurance industry.

For this build, the cloud offering provides scalability and agility for my current project, which is in the insurance domain for CNA insurance. We do end-to-end data management as well as follow a microservices architecture. Additionally, we are using AI and machine learning for tasks such as data discovery, data quality, and generative AI applications for development purposes.

Some of the most valuable features with Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services  include master data management, API management, data governance, data quality, and cloud application integration. We can utilize both ETL and ELT capabilities and have the ability to integrate data with different data lakes, even integrating with Snowflake .

The cloud-native platform provides scalability and agility for my current project. Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services  allows us to manage the entire data lifecycle in the insurance domain, supporting microservices architecture and leveraging AI and machine learning for data discovery, quality, and integration.

I still have to look into potential improvements, but what I have currently provided input on is what I'm using. I still need to work on it and check for any potential improvements.

One thing to consider is that while Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services already integrates with AI platforms, we need to use these tools rigorously and check all these aspects, including machine learning and analytics. I feel that more work needs to be done on this aspect.

I have almost three years of experience.

Product deployment generally takes place as we have an integrated version with various applications, and while we don't deploy daily, we follow a CI/CD pipeline closely for performance.

Different organizations may have different practices; some might have a release plan, but for my project, we manage deployments every one to two days without experiencing significant delays or issues, so I consider it user-friendly.

The solution is stable as of now.

It is scalable. The solution has good scalability and powerful capabilities.

The initial setup for Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services is straightforward for me because I'm not facing any issues with this.

I am part of the initial setup and deployment.

For the deployment team, we have a production development team that isn't just one person; it's a combination of almost eight or nine teams working together. Depending on the team's requirements, they handle deployments at different times, so around ten people are involved.

The reviewer needed more time to provide information about differences with other integration platforms.

I have experience with Informatica solutions, specifically with Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services. This is for my project basis, as IICS is the cloud-native solution they supply us for this purpose. I focus on ETL, ELT, reusable integration artifacts, and cloud data integration, including Snowflake . Everything is there, including scalability and performance, which are also good.

On a scale of 1-10, I rate Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services a 9 out of 10.

One of the projects I am currently working on, MVDW, involves a very huge volume, but without any major blockers, we are able to implement the code effectively. For the current MVDW project, we have around 100 plus integrations, and it is not a complex project; we can categorize it as medium complexity. However, the volume is significant since we are dealing with client data and PHI data, which is very large, but we have not faced any challenges concerning volume.

Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services can handle a really huge volume of data. Informatica is really a good tool to handle large volumes when it comes to CDI, the Cloud Data Integration tool.

Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services is very scalable. The scalability provided by Informatica is commendable, and I don't feel any challenges regarding this aspect. We are able to automate our features effectively.

Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services has good governance and security features. We are dealing with metadata and not playing directly with the data, which means the security measures are very good. From a developer's point of view, only the metadata is visible, which cannot be compromised. Developers do not need to control the actual data; they can build without even interacting with the data itself, so I don't foresee any security issues for developers in this context.

There is a lot of improvement required, as we still face some cache issues most of the time, which is a challenge that we expect to see resolved in the future. Additionally, there is some limitation when we are working with a tool, especially regarding In and Out parameters, and I feel that this aspect should be improved going ahead.

We face issues with the API side, as Cloud Application Integration cannot handle large volumes; according to the API page, there is a limitation of 500 records or 500 MB.

The AI integrated into the Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services solution is called Application Integration, where we still face challenges when dealing with huge volumes, as previously explained.

I have been working with Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services for the last 8 years.

I do not face any major issues regarding the stability or reliability of Informatica. We are good without any significant challenges; in my opinion, it is a very wonderful tool.

I find Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services to be very scalable. The scalability provided by Informatica is commendable, and I don't feel any challenges regarding this aspect.

Regarding tech support, I find it time-consuming. Whenever we create a support ticket, it typically takes 1 to 2 days to get resolved. It depends on how the Informatica support team responds. Most of the time, whatever we explore, they provide the same statements as feedback. We expect more responsive assistance because they have the expertise since Informatica is their tool, but I don't see enough expertise on the Informatica support side. Most of the time, they share the same information that we have already dug into and found ourselves.

Positive

I find the initial setup to be simple, actually. It is not even medium complex; it is straightforward. When comparing it to other tools, especially Informatica PowerCenter, which is an on-premise tool, the cloud version provides a significant advantage, allowing even those without core technical knowledge to follow guidance and complete the installation and setup.

The time frame for setup depends on the individual. If someone has expertise, they can set it up in about 2 to 3 hours maximum.

Regarding return on investment, I find that sometimes leadership prefers to utilize third-party tools, such as Snowflake, which has both storage and ELT features. Thus, there are projects where cost-cutting leads to a preference for Snowflake over Informatica because of its existing ELT facility.

Regarding pricing, compared to other tools I have worked with, Informatica offers competitive pricing, which I find not high in terms of starting strategy.

This is a very beautiful tool compared to other tools on the market. I recommend Informatica because anyone with a bit of knowledge, even a beginner or intern, can explore, learn, and accomplish development tasks without much difficulty. For those considering any integration tool, Informatica is one of the best available options in the market.

I still see that they are working aggressively to introduce new features. They are continuously adding improvements to our services. They keep on enhancing the tool based on the information they receive.

Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services can handle huge volumes of data effectively; it is highly scalable and manages security well by playing with metadata instead of directly dealing with data. This aspect allows us to build our code without exposing client information, which are significant pros. However, there are still areas requiring improvement, especially on the API side, as it can't handle large volumes. There is much more need to be built regarding images, merging, and other features related to application integration tools within Informatica.

Once everything is set up, the team can easily manage the system because there are not major challenges once the setup is done correctly. I don't believe we face any challenges, except for instances when the server is down, which is a different use case altogether.

On a scale of 1-10, I rate Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services a 9.5.

I use Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services  predominantly for data integration. I utilize it for building data pipelines, which is a critical aspect of my job.

The most valuable feature of Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services  for me is the availability of connectors. A connector is a piece of software that allows access to specific solutions such as D365, Snowflake , and various databases. The connectors serve as the main functionality, making data integration processes more efficient by saving time and effort that would otherwise be spent accessing data via other methods like APIs.

The tool is quite good overall, but sometimes the number of modules can be overwhelming. If the development interface could be optimized to have fewer modules, it would be greatly beneficial.

I have been using Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services for a year. Before that, I operated in a different environment, and I am now fully in the cloud.

I would rate the stability of Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services as seven or eight. At the moment, everything seems fine and I don't have any issues with its stability.

I rate the scalability of Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services as eight. There are many options available, and the licensing model is quite good, supporting our needs effectively. It's quite important to maintain its current licensing model.

The customer service and support for Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services is rated as eight. My impression of their support is positive, and everything is functioning well.

Positive

Previously, my solution was not cloud-based and was hosted in our data center. However, I've now transitioned to a cloud-based approach with Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services due to its suitable licensing model.

For me, the initial setup was very easy because Informatica primarily manages that. I am not responsible for setting up anything since it is provided as Software-as-a-Service.

The developers maintain their own pipelines, job schedules, and so on. I don't require dedicated people solely for maintenance.

I haven't observed a return on investment in hard figures yet, but Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services does save me a significant amount of time.

Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services is affordable for my specific use cases, with the pricing being rated three or four on a scale where one is very cheap. The affordability may vary based on how much data is manipulated.

I evaluated a couple of options before selecting Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services. The most suitable licensing model was the deciding factor in my choice.

The overall solution is rated as eight. I plan to continue using Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services for data integration whenever required.

On one of my projects, we used Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services  for ingestion purposes. Secondly, we used it as a regular ETL for performing heavy transformations.

In our current scenario, we are moving our on-premise artifacts, which are on PowerCenter , to the cloud. It was surprisingly quick to get everything working, which has been beneficial for our operations.

Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services  offers a wide variety of services, including Cloud Data Integration , which is akin to a replica of PowerCenter  on the cloud. I particularly like the mass ingestion service.

The cloud version of Informatica, although easier and more advanced than PowerCenter, still requires a deep dive to fix bugs. It could be improved by making the process as intuitive and easy to follow as PowerCenter.

I have delivered two projects using it, so from my experience, the tool is very good.

There are some bugs and glitches, which for a beginner, can take time to resolve. This may be because I have spent less time on the tool compared to others.

Scalability doesn't impact Informatica technically, but it does take a lot of money when we keep adding users.

Informatica technical support is excellent. I would rate it a nine. They are top-notch.

Positive

The initial setup is easy and not complex.

Pricing is a bit high, similar to a premium version or a high-end product, and requires a budget ready to manage it.

During POCs, we explored other ETLs like Firetran for ingestion purposes, but Informatica's capabilities are robust.

For a robust use case, especially for large enterprises, Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services is a good tool with good support. However, make sure to have a budget ready.

I would rate it an eight out of ten.

We utilize Intelligent Cloud Services for various transformations during mapping, applied logic, and data manipulation. We use it to complete tasks such as using joiner, filter, and expression transformation to load data into the target table. It can integrate with any cloud system.

There are two things regarding synchronization: one synchronizes the source to the target, which can be incremental, and the other is non-incremental. This functionality keeps the data updated with the latest information.

In terms of data volume processing, Intelligent Cloud Services does not match the efficiency of Power Center. The processing speed is slower for large volumes of data. I'm not sure if there have been improvements in the latest versions as my experience is from six or seven months ago. Additionally, not all transformations available in Power Center are present in Intelligent Cloud Services, like the XML parser and normalizer.

I have been working with Intelligent Cloud Services for around three years.

Stability is quite good. I've faced no significant difficulties or downtime issues. The services were always available for my projects.

I rate the scalability of Intelligent Cloud Services as quite high. On a scale from one to ten, I would rate it as nine.

Customer service and technical support are excellent. Whenever I raised tickets, I received solutions promptly. I would rate them ten out of ten.

Positive

The setup is very simple. The administration is not involved with Intelligent Cloud Services. Informatica handles the setup since it's hosted by them.

Pricing is moderate. I do not recall the exact numbers for the license cost at the moment.

I recommend Intelligent Cloud Services for companies of all sizes, including small and medium enterprises, as administration costs can be saved, and the service offers cloud connectivity and plugins.

I'd rate the solution ten out of ten.