Beyond Cloud-Only: Why Hybrid Flexibility Matters After PowerCenter EOSM

As Informatica winds down support for PowerCenter with its announced End of Software Maintenance (EOSM), data teams across industries are being forced into difficult decisions.

Most legacy ETL tools weren’t built for today’s hybrid environments—and the loudest voices in the data world are urging engineers to migrate everything to the cloud.

But cloud-only isn’t always better. In fact, for teams handling sensitive data, complex networks, or strict compliance requirements, SaaS-first platforms like Informatica’s IDMC and Fivetran often introduce new pipeline complications.

In our previous post, we explored what PowerCenter’s EOSM means and introduced CData Sync as a modern, flexible data replication tool. This time, we’re diving deeper into why Sync’s hybrid deployment model is a key differentiator—and how it’s already delivering value for enterprise teams that can’t afford to compromise on security, compliance, or control.

The problem with cloud-only data integration

Modern SaaS platforms like IDMC, Fivetran, and Matillion tout ease of use and scalability. But under the hood, they come with real trade-offs:

• Limited infrastructure control: You’re locked into someone else’s cloud stack.
• Compliance roadblocks: Data residency rules and internal security mandates make full SaaS adoption unworkable.
• Increased risk exposure: Sensitive data must pass through external cloud infrastructure.
• Unpredictable costs: Volume-based pricing models create budgeting headaches at scale.

This approach often works for newer startups with greenfield data stacks. But it’s a poor fit for teams trying to replace PowerCenter while maintaining enterprise-grade governance and architectural alignment. You want a single solution to unify your entire architecture.

Hybrid by design: CData Sync’s deployment flexibility

Unlike cloud-only tools, CData Sync is designed to meet teams wherever they are in their infrastructure journey. It can be:

• Deployed fully on-premises for maximum control
• Run in your private cloud or VPC for secure, compliant performance
• Used as a managed private-cloud SaaS offering—if and when you’re ready for it

That flexibility allows engineering teams to preserve security postures, keep sensitive data within their environments, and move to the cloud at their own pace.

Security and compliance, without compromise

For organizations in regulated industries, infrastructure flexibility is non-negotiable. With Sync, teams can:

• Run behind firewalls, in air-gapped environments, or on hardened VPCs
• Enforce internal authentication, access controls, and encryption standards
• Avoid unnecessary data egress or exposure risks common in SaaS platforms

“We’re highly regulated and can’t hand our infrastructure to a SaaS provider. Sync gives us the control we need to safely integrate data from Veeva and Salesforce into our internal environments.”

—Medical Engagement Systems Architect, GSK

Operational control and performance advantages

Sync gives engineers complete visibility into their data pipelines—something many cloud-native platforms abstract away:

• Flexible scheduling and job orchestration with complete data control
• Support for batch, incremental, and change data capture (CDC)
• In-app SQL transformations and dbt compatibility
• Transparent logging and observability

For teams migrating off PowerCenter, this level of control feels familiar—and critical to building pipelines that match enterprise needs.

Predictable pricing, with no penalties for scaling

IDMC, Fivetran, and similar platforms often charge by data volume, compute usage, or job frequency. That’s fine at a small scale, but it creates cost anxiety as needs grow.

CData Sync uses a simple, flat pricing model based on the number of connections, with no extra fees for data volume and no guessing what you’ll pay.

That predictability is especially valuable for organizations replacing large, high-throughput PowerCenter pipelines.

Real-world proof: Hybrid flexibility in action

CData Sync is already enabling secure, scalable data movement in hybrid and self-managed environments across industries:

GSK (pharmaceuticals) 

Needed to replicate sensitive Veeva Vault and Salesforce data into internal analytics systems. Sync delivered control and compliance in a secure, self-hosted footprint.

“We explored other vendors, but they couldn’t match Sync’s balance of ease and internal deployment control.” — Michael Hinkle, Medical Engagement Systems Architect, GSK

NJM Insurance (financial services)

Faced mounting demand to unify data across dozens of digital ad platforms. Self-hosting Sync slashed onboarding time from 4–6 weeks per vendor to just days, all within NJM’s secure network perimeter.

“We didn’t want to spend months hand-coding APIs or open up unnecessary security holes. Sync let us move quickly, securely, and stay behind the firewall.” — Felix Munoz, Data Engineering Administrator, NJM Insurance

Manhattan Associates (supply chain software)

Replicating data from on-prem ERP systems to Snowflake, Sync enabled a hybrid strategy that aligned with strict internal security and operational policies, without disrupting daily workloads.

“Sync takes data coming from the cloud into our Azure virtual machine that then runs through a DMVPN all the way down into our on-prem SQL Server. It's running through a few firewalls and does that extremely well.” — Anthony Neu, Senior Data Analytics Manager, Manhattan Associates

Recordati (manufacturing)

Operating in a heavily regulated pharmaceutical market, Recordati uses Sync to move data between legacy systems and cloud platforms, while ensuring full compliance with local data residency requirements.

Choose modernization without compromise

PowerCenter’s EOSM doesn’t have to mean surrendering control. CData Sync offers a path forward that gives you the flexibility to modernize on your terms, whether that means staying on-prem, transitioning to the cloud gradually, or balancing both in a true hybrid architecture.

Move beyond PowerCenter with CData Sync

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