Transitioning from Informatica PowerCenter to Open-Source Data Pipelines

Abstract

Traditional enterprise data integration systems depend on proprietary ETL tools including Informatica PowerCenter which provide strong data transformation features yet present challenges regarding cost and scalability and flexibility. Organizations now choose open-source data engineering frameworks because their data environments shift toward cloud-native real-time and modular architectures. This paper examines both strategic reasons and practical migration procedures for moving from Informatica PowerCenter to open-source tools including Apache Airflow and Apache NiFi and Apache Spark. Organizations make this transition because they want to decrease licensing expenses while preventing vendor dependence and taking advantage of open ecosystems' innovative capabilities. The paper delivers a complete analysis between proprietary and opensource tools while presenting a step-by step migration approach and discussing typical implementation obstacles including skill development and data governance and operational complexity. The paper demonstrates the practical advantages of opensource adoption through financial services and e commerce industry case studies which show better performance and scalability and enhanced agility in data pipeline development. The paper offers best practices together with recommendations for organizations to modernize their data integration platforms at reduced costs and future-proof capabilities.