Difference between INFORMATICA 8.X AND BODS 4.0

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In Attached excel comparison between BODS and Informatica is given point by point.

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0- No support (Begineer)

1-Intermediate

2-Advanced

Features	Informatica Powercenter 8.x	BODS 4.0	Comments
Tool Features
Operational Dashboard	0	2	BODS provides dashboards of DI execution statistics to see at a glance the status and performance of the Job execution for one or more repositories over a given time period. Informatica is working on to embed this feature in upcoming version.
Impact and Lineage Analysis	2	2	BODS has feature to analyze end-to end impact and lineage for DI tables and columns, and BO objects such as universes, business views and reports. Informatica has Metadata manager which is a key feature for data lineage. User would require separate license to avail the feature
Auto Documentation	1	2	BODs provides functionality to View, analyze, and print graphical representations of all objects as depicted in the Data Services Designer including their relationships, properties, tables used and more. Also you can see the logic implemented on Column level.
			Informatica uses B2B Data Transformation Studio to create documentation.
Information Stewart	0	2	Information Stewart is extensively used for data mining, maintain data quality and provide Business Analyst to define rules. As IS is SAP tool, it is easily integrated with BODS but not with Informatica.
Data Quality	1	2	BODS has Data Quality Transforms to generate data Quality reports in Crystal Report format automatically. Informatica requires different client tool IDQ-Informatica Data Quality.
Built-in Scheduler	1	2	BODS Job scheduling provides more option to schedule Jobs than Informatica.
Preview Source Data In-Designer	2	2	Table's data can be seen in BODS and Infomatica Designer directly instead of going to database.
Slowly Changing dimension	2	1	Informatica generates SCD mappings (with different options and types) & through Wizards and workflows though Generate Workflow options. We would require just customizing them.
Productivity Features
GUI Interface	2	1	Informatica GUI is built with good features and it is divided in three client tools, so you can divide and work accordingly while in BODS we have a single platform for mapping (dataflow), workflow and monitoring. Also you can undo changes in Informatica but not in BODS.
Join Multiple Sources	2	2	Both able to join multiple sources
Split Data Streams	2	2	Data can be split and use according to requirement.
Complex Transformations	2	1	SP, Java or any other language code can be integrated with Informatica with the help of custom transformation
Clustering and Job Distribution	2	1	Informatica has grid and load distribution to handle load. If one node goes down, the other node becomes parent and take cares for environment.
Large Volume Performance	2	1	Informatica Load data efficiently and Session properties in Workflow manager provides to handle data accordingly. Data has to be moved from the database to BW system once in a week or once in a day then BODS is good option.
Recovery of data	2	1	Recovery of data can be done in Informatica. It create Bad files and OPB_SRVR_RECOVERY TABLE in repository.
Debugging	1	1	We can discard or load data while debugging in Informatica but not in BODS.
Cache Management	2	1	Cache size can be set manually and different cache option can be used in Informatica
Data Masking	1	0	Data masking can be done in Informatica
Data Partitioning	2	1	Partitioning option available in Informatica which process Job in multiple threads.
Really Codeless	2	1	Different options are integrated in properties of Session, mapping, just need to check the box instead of doing coding.
Realtime Processing Capability	2	1	Informatica needs Power Exchange (needs licenses) for real-time processing but in BODS runtime jobs can be created within Designer interface but Data latency for DS is larger ( minutes rather than seconds).
Portability/Deployment Features
JOB/Code Movement	2	1	Job and code can be move via copy paste from one Repo to another or you can target the different database to load the data via parameterized database through parameters in Informatica and can use dynamic deployment group and labels.
Supported Operating System (Windows,Unix)	1	1
Connectivity/adapter support	2	2	Both ETL provides a good connectivity to all databases adapters.

BODS benefits:

Inetegration with SAP (Information Stewart): SAP Business Objects provides tools for data mining and quality; profiling due to many acquisitions of other companies.

Operational Dashboard: View dashboards of DI execution statistics to see at a glance the status and performance of the Job execution for one or more repositories over a given time period.

Impact and Lineage Analysis: Analyze end-to end impact and lineage for DI tables and columns, and BO objects such as universes, business views and reports.

Data Validation: Evaluate the reliability of the target data based on the validation rules created in the Batch Jobs in order to quickly review, assess and identify potential inconsistencies or errors in source data.

Auto Documentation : View, analyze and print graphical representations of all objects as depicted in DI Designer, including their relationships, properties and ore.

Advantages:

· integration with SAP (Information – Stewart)

· SAP Business Objects created a firm company determined to stir the market;

· Good data modeling and data-management support;

· SAP Business Objects provides tools for data mining and quality; profiling due to many acquisitions of other companies.

· Quick learning curve and ease of use

Disadvantages:

· Uncertain future. Controversy over deciding which method of delivering data integration to use (SAP BW or BODS).

· BusinessObjects Data Integrator (Data Services) may not be seen as a stand-alone capable application to some organizations.

Informatica PowerCenter

Advantages:

· most substantial size and resources on the market of data integration tools vendors

· consistent track record, solid technology, straightforward learning curve, ability to address real-time data integration schemes

· Informatica is highly specialized in ETL and Data Integration and focuses on those topics, not on BI as a whole

· focus on B2B data exchange