Why are we stuck with Datastage ?

hamzaqk · Post by **hamzaqk** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 3:53 am

well most of us just use this tool as it was already at the client side. and we did not have much of a choice.. tomorrow it will be another tool if the client is different with different requirements. I just wanted to know why Datastage... there are many articles which compare ETL tools. why are the people who are now the gurus in this tool still working with Datastage ?.. is it really the best in the market or we never thought of opting for another tool like abinito or informatica ? does it give you the best when it comes to ETL ??

so the question is Why Datastage ?

ArndW · Post by **ArndW** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 5:53 am

Considering the name of the site, there is a bit of a bias in here. Just as with most things, there is no absolute. Products such as Ab Initio and Informatica have their strengths, otherwise they would have gone the way of the dodo quite a while ago. Since there were very heavy ideological wars between Ardent and Informatica I think that myself and some of the other ex-s are not the ones to explain why we think DataStage is superior to the competition.

You could always ask the same question about Unix vs. Windoze vs. MacOS or whether DB2, Oracle, Teradata, SQL Server or Access is better.

ray.wurlod · Post by **ray.wurlod** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 2:39 pm

Your use of "stuck with" implies a negative attitude.

By all means code it yourself, if you're prepared to maintain your code indefinitely into the future, and can realize at least the flexibility and performance that is possible with DataStage.

DataStage has now been around for more than 10 years. I think that puts it into the "mature" category. IBM are committed to ongoing development and support, which is no bad thing given the engineering (and other) resources they can throw at it.

vmcburney · Post by **vmcburney** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 8:29 pm

A quick check of ETL jobs in Australia on Seek today (note some listings are duplicates):
DataStage - 119
Informatica - 102
SSIS - 80
OWB + Oracle Warehouse Buider - 37
DecisionStream (Cognos) - 14
Data Integrator (Business Objects) - 9
Ab Initio - 6 (most of them Cognos BI roles)
ETI - 1
Genio - 0
Talend or KETLE or SnapLogic or Pentaho - 0

No jobs for ETL tools that have failed (ETI, Genio), no jobs for open source ETL (Talend etc), almost no jobs for Ab Initio, very few jobs for BI ETL from Cognos or BusObj. Increasing number of jobs for Microsoft and Oracle ETL but I would expect these would pay less due to smaller project budgets. Lots of jobs for DataStage and Informatica at the top end of the ETL salary scale for experts. Stepping stone into higher paid architecture roles.

Why wouldn't you specialise with DataStage?

DSguru2B · Post by **DSguru2B** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 9:59 pm

I think Vincent made a very compelling point.

hamzaqk · Post by **hamzaqk** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 12:01 am

i like datastage too.. i work in a company where consultans work on all tools with different clinets.. and i am quite satisfied with it. apart from it has a habbit of crashing..

well when i said stuck i did not mean it in a bad way.. i think i got the answer to it .i.e the maturity of the tool....just wanted to hear what the gurus have to say about datastage experience :~)

i think demand of tool depends on the region too, don't you think ? if you go to uk and usa, you will have more demand for other ETL tools, specially in the financial sector

p.s it means i need to do some contracts in aussie land on the beach

Bryceson · Post by **Bryceson** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 8:49 am

Hamzaqk,

I think this is a question of choice!! Find your way out of DataStage to other ETL tools . . . . beside Arnd, Ray and Vincent gave you enough dose of Informations.

What is your choice??

Bryceson

ray.wurlod · Post by **ray.wurlod** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 2:51 pm

Informatica is a great tool also (I've never played with Ab Initio). As far as I'm concerned it is a Good Thing that there are two (or more) good tools out there - they tend to keep each other vigorous in the market place.

tcj · Post by **tcj** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 5:27 pm

Wow Vincent I didn't realise there was that much demand for Informatica people in Australia. I didn't think there were too many Informatica shops in Australia?

Alot of the SSIS roles seem to be with Government departments here in SE Qld.

vmcburney · Post by **vmcburney** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:09 pm

Informatica dug themselves into a hole in Australia and several years ago Ascential was beating them comfortably. They cancelled a master reseller agreement and opened an office in Sydney and have recovered. Similar stories from other parts of the world, Informatica international revenue increased dramatically this quarter. You can read my post IBM Information Server versus Informatica - 2007 Q2 results.