SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) vs. Improvado vs. Stitch
ETL software comparison
Features table
Data sources and destinations
Support, documentation, and training
Most businesses have data stored in a variety of locations, from in-house databases to SaaS platforms. To get a full picture of their finances and operations, they pull data from all those sources into a data warehouse or data lake and run analytics against it. But they don't want to build and maintain their own data pipelines.
Fortunately, it's not necessary to code everything in-house. Here's an comparison of three such tools, head to head.
About SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)
SSIS is a Microsoft tool for data integration tied to SQL Server.
About Improvado
Improvado is a cloud-based ETL platform aimed primarily at marketing companies.
About Stitch
Stitch Data Loader is a cloud-based platform for ETL — extract, transform, and load. More than 3,000 companies use Stitch to move billions of records every day from SaaS applications and databases into data warehouses and data lakes, where it can be analyzed with BI tools. Stitch is a Talend company and is part of the Talend Data Fabric.
Focus Microsoft-centric ETL Data ingestion, marketing dashboard Data ingestion, ELT
Database replication Full table; incremental via change data capture or based on custom SELECT query No database data sources Full table; incremental via change data capture or SELECT/replication keys
SaaS sources None About 80 More than 100
Ability for customers to add new data sources Yes No Yes
Connects to data warehouses? Data lakes? Yes / Yes Yes / Yes Yes / Yes
Transparent pricing Yes No Yes
Support SLAs Available Unknown Available
Purchase process Options for self-service and talking with sales Requires a conversation with sales Options for self-service or talking with sales. Also available from the AWS store.
Compliance, governance, and security certifications None None HIPAA, GDPR, SOC 2
Data sharing Yes, with SQL Server No Yes, through Talend Data Fabric
Vendor lock-in Unknown Month to month or annual contracts. Open source integrations
Developer tools SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) REST API Import API, Stitch Connect API for integrating Stitch with other platforms, Singer open source project
Let's dive into some of the details of each platform.
SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) provides about 30 built-in preload transformations, which users specify in a graphical user interface. Transformations fall into several categories: split and join data, row data, rowsets, audit, and business intelligence. Developers can write their own custom transformations in Visual Basic.
Improvado
Improvado provides preload transformations on data moved through the Improvado UI. Improvado transforms data into a format that they believe to be better for users, but it doesn't support user-configured transformations. Improvado also lets customers move raw data to a destination by writing code that calls their API.
Stitch is an ELT product. Within the pipeline, Stitch does only transformations that are required for compatibility with the destination, such as translating data types or denesting data when relevant. Stitch is part of Talend, which also provides tools for transforming data either within the data warehouse or via external processing engines such as Spark and MapReduce. Transformations can be defined in SQL, Python, Java, or via graphical user interface.
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Connectors: Data sources and destinations
Each of these tools supports a variety of data sources and destinations.
SSIS supports 26 built-in integrations via Connection Managers. Many of the integrations are with other Microsoft tools and platforms, but there are also Connection Managers for files, Hadoop, and SAP Business Warehouse.
Improvado supports about 80 integrations to SaaS platforms. Several other data sources are "available by request only." Improvado supports Amazon Redshift and Google BigQuery data warehouses; Amazon S3 and Google Cloud Storage data lakes; and PostgreSQL, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, and Postgres Plus database destinations. Customers can request that the company build a new data source or destination, but no one outside of the company can build new ones or make improvements to existing ones.
Stitch supports more than 100 database and SaaS integrations as data sources, and eight data warehouse and data lake destinations. Customers can contract with Stitch to build new sources, and anyone can add a new source to Stitch by developing it according to the standards laid out in Singer, an open source toolkit for writing scripts that move data. Singer integrations can be run independently, regardless of whether the user is a Stitch customer. Running Singer integrations on Stitch's platform allows users to take advantage of Stitch's monitoring, scheduling, credential management, and autoscaling features.
Data integration tools can be complex, so vendors offer several ways to help their customers. Online documentation is the first resource users often turn to, and support teams can answer questions that aren't covered in the docs. Vendors of the more complicated tools may also offer training services.
Microsoft provides several levels of support for SQL Server, of which SSIS is a component. Documentation is comprehensive. Microsoft provides digital training resources. Many third parties provide both digital training and classroom training services.
Improvado provides support through Intercom online chat and via email. Documentation is provided in the form of how-to articles. The company doesn't provide training services.
Stitch provides in-app chat support to all customers, and phone support is available for Enterprise customers. Support SLAs are available. Documentation is comprehensive and is open source — anyone can contribute additions and improvements or repurpose the content. Stitch does not provide training services.
SSIS is part of SQL Server, which is available in several editions, ranging in price from free (Express and Developer editions) to $14,256 per core (Enterprise). On the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, pricing for SSIS integration runtime nodes starts at $0.84 per hour.
Improvado doesn't disclose pricing, and has no free trial period.
Stitch has pricing that scales to fit a wide range of budgets and company sizes. All new users get an unlimited 14-day trial. Standard plans range from $100 to $1,250 per month depending on scale, with discounts for paying annually. Enterprise plans for larger organizations and mission-critical use cases can include custom features, data volumes, and service levels, and are priced individually.
Which tool is best overall? That's something every organization has to decide based on its unique requirements, but we can help you get started. Sign up now for a free trial of Stitch.
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