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It’s pretty hard to say “best etl tools” or “single best etl tools” to recommend. ETL-tools are very often closely related to the ERP or database product in use at an organization. As an IT professional, you just use what is provided at the company you are working for. This article will highlight the top 3 tools available on the market in 2017 .
The Best ETL Tool to learn in 2017 with one of the best job opportunities (says Gartner) is Informatica Powercenter. There are vendors that rate ETL / Data Integration Tools as per their features & capabilities. The most famous ones are Gartner & Forrester.
The 2017 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Data Integration Tools
Leading data integration vendors must manage small and big, unstructured and structured data, batch and real-time streaming, on-premises and cloud or hybrid deployments, and deliver trusted data in a self-service fashion to everyone from business analysts to citizen integrators. All built on a unified metadata management foundation.
The Best ETL tools for 2017
NR 1 – Informatica Powercenter (Best ETL Tool in 2017 – Leader)
Informatica Powercenter is the BEST in terms of features, capabilities, job opportunities, future as well as career growth. Informatica has a a lot of tools that allow you to Extract data from anywhere, Transform any kind of data in any manner required & Load data to any data point. It has a strong presence when working with Unstructured / Semi-structured as well as structured data, it has versions for windows, linux, unix, Big Data specific OS as well as cloud.
Check out this website with some nice videos about powercenter.
NR 2 – IBM InfoSphere
IBM InfoSphere offers tools to build integration hubs and services for large scale enterprises. Datastage and Quality step is a competitive ETL/MDM solution and is comparable to informatica. The performance and ease of creating multinode jobs to improve processing speed is impressive. Integrates well with Oracle and IBM DB2 rdms. Has SAP support via plugin, but it leaves much to be desired in this area. If you already have an enterprise license for IBM tools then this should be an obvious choice, especially if you plan on pairing it with tools like Optim for test data management. Works well if you also utilize Sterling Commerce B2B for file transfer management.
NR 3 -Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services
SSIS is the Data Migration ETL tool created and introduced by Microsoft. With SSIS you will be enabled to use a scalable enterprise data integration platform. It’s included when you have a SQL Server license so no hidden costs. I’m used to work with this one and I love it for over 10 years.
- Good Performance
- Easy to build error handeling flows
- Sophisticated breakpoint debug capabilitys
- Integrates with SSAS tabular and cubes as well as Data Mining algorithms
- Includes connectivity to large variety of sources/targets
- Multiple plug-ins for interfacing with applications such as Salesforce.com and Dynamics CRM
- High level of sophistication with source/target drivers
- Reporting provided in the included SSISDB (new in 2016 version)
- Integration with Change Control Software (i.e. TFS, Git)
- Fully integrated with Sql Server Agent
- Includes data profiling task and wizard
What tool should you use?
Which ETL tool you organisation is going to use from the list of best etl tools depends on certain factors. If you’re alsready using Microsoft SQL Server, I should give SSIS a try. It’s pretty easy to learn by watching some youtube videos and reading some tutorials. Below is a list of factors with an important role in choosing an ETL tool.
- Infrastructure
- Functionality
- Usability
- Platforms supported
- Debugging facilities
- Data Quality / profiling
- Performance
- Future prospects
- Reusability
- ScalabilityBatch vs Real-time√Native connectivity
Microsoft’s SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) is the most prevalent tool among small to medium sized companies. If that’s the kind of company you work for, SSIS is a must. Enterprise companies use Informatica and Data Stage often. For low cost and plenty of work, I’d learn SSIS and BIML. Especially the BIML side as it overcomes the key flaw is SSIS development: ease of reuse. IBM DataStage and Informatica are examples of Enterprise ETL solutions that have extensive background and experience in the ETL market with their ability to scale performance in handling very large data volumes in complex, heterogeneous environments. These products provide comprehensive features and functionality and so require extensive training to use effectively. Other solutions in this category are Oracle Warehouse Builder, SAS Integration Server and Business Objects Data Integrator. Considering the cost and the effort required in implementing these solutions, they are typically best suited for large, complex, enterprise-wide business intelligence scenarios in Fortune 1000 organizations.
Other ETL Tools not mentioned in this article:
- Oracle Warehouse Builder (OWB)
- SAP Data Services
- IBM Infosphere Information Server
- SAS Data Management
- PowerCenter Informatica
- Elixir Repertoire for Data ETL
- Data Migrator (IBI)
- SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)
- Talend Studio for Data Integration
- Sagent Data Flow
- Pervasive Data Integrator
- Open Text Integration Center
- Oracle Data Integrator (ODI)
- Cognos Data Manager
- CloverETL
- Centerprise Data Integrator
- IBM Infosphere Warehouse Edition
- Pentaho Data Integration
- Adeptia Integration Server
- Syncsort DMX
- QlikView Expressor