Feature differences between Data Fabric experience and stand-alone offerings on IBM Software Hub

Data Fabric experience includes capabilities that are also available as individual service offerings on IBM Software Hub plus a set of extra features that exist only within the Data Fabric experience.

The Data Fabric experience consolidates all capabilities into a single, integrated experience that reduces complexity compared to managing separate deployments. Another benefit of using Data Fabric experience is the RU pricing model. Teams can adjust which capabilities they use by reallocating their Resource Units (RUs) as requirements change. As a result, they can shift capacity between different integration functions without modifying their license configuration.

Feature differences for watsonx.data integration

Watsonx.data integration on IBM Software Hub includes the tools that work together to enable multiple integration styles (batch, real-time, and streaming) within a single environment. It also includes the following advanced capabilities that are offered only as part of the bundle but not as stand-alone capabilities:

  • Data Observability to observe your DataStage jobs and create alerts to notify you when a data integration process encounters errors or behaves differently than you expect.
  • Unstructured Data Integration to ingest, transform, and enrich unstructured data from diverse sources.

The following tools are integrated as part of watsonx.data integration:

  • StreamSets
  • Data Replication
  • DataStage
  • Data Observability
  • Unstructured Data Integration
Note: Stand-alone services might offer a different feature set compared to when they are integrated as part of the bundle.

DataStage differences

The DataStage tool included in IBM watsonx.data integration and the DataStage product offering on IBM Software Hub provide common functionality. However, they differ in the following key ways:

Differences between the DataStage product offerings
Capabilities Watsonx.data integration capability DataStage Enterprise for Cloud Pak for Data DataStage Enterprise Plus for Cloud Pak for Data
Unified control plane
Data cleansing and enrichment
Data quality validation and monitoring
Data specification mapping

StreamSets differences

The StreamSets tool included in IBM watsonx.data integration and the IBM StreamSets Cartridge on IBM Software Hub provide common functionality. However, they differ in the following key ways:

Differences between the StreamSets product offerings
Capabilities Watsonx.data integration capability IBM StreamSets Cartridge
Unified control plane
Job failover
Job sequences

Data Replication differences

The Data Replication tool included in IBM watsonx.data integration and the IBM Data Replication Cartridge on IBM Software Hub provide common functionality. However, they differ in the following key ways:

Differences between the Data Replication product offerings
Capabilities Watsonx.data integration capability IBM Data Replication Cartridge (Cloud Pak for Data)
Unified control plane
Mainframe support
Metadata integration Integrated with watsonx metadata Integrated with Cloud Pak for Data metadata services
Security and governance integration Cloud Pak for Data governance and lakehouse policies Cloud Pak for Data security, IAM, governance
Microsoft SQL Server data source

Feature differences for watsonx.data intelligence

Watsonx.data intelligence on IBM Software Hub includes the capabilities that work together to enable seamless integration of data discovery, cataloging, quality, governance, lineage, and data product sharing for delivering high quality, trusted data to end users within a single environment.

The following capabilities are integrated as part of watsonx.data intelligence:

  • Data Governance and Catalog
  • Data Quality
  • Data Lineage
  • Data Product Hub

Data Governance and Catalog differences

The Data Governance and Catalog capabilities that are included in IBM watsonx.data intelligence, IBM Knowledge Catalog (included in Cloud Pak for Data Enterprise Edition), and the IBM Knowledge Catalog Premium Cartridge on IBM Software Hub provide common functionality. However, they differ in the following key ways:

Capabilities watsonx.data intelligence IBM Knowledge Catalog IBM Knowledge Catalog Premium Cartridge
AI search
Data Privacy (Masking flow)
Glossary generation with generative AI
Metadata enrichment with generative AI
Unstructured data governance

Data Quality differences

The Data Quality capabilities that are included in IBM watsonx.data intelligence, IBM Knowledge Catalog (included in Cloud Pak for Data Enterprise Edition), and the IBM Knowledge Catalog Premium Cartridge on IBM Software Hub provide common functionality. However, they differ in the following key ways:

Capabilities watsonx.data intelligence IBM Knowledge Catalog IBM Knowledge Catalog Premium Cartridge
Auto-generated data quality checks based on:
• Profiling
• Business terms
• Relationships
Generation of data quality rules from natural language input (gen AI capability)

Data Lineage differences

The Data Lineage capabilities that are included IBM watsonx.data intelligence and the IBM Manta Data Lineage stand-alone product offering on IBM Software Hub provide common functionality. However, they differ in the following key ways:

Capabilities watsonx.data intelligence IBM Manta Data Lineage (stand-alone)
Data quality information on the lineage graph
Show additional asset metadata:
• Alternative asset and column names
• Assigned business terms

Business data lineage is available only with MANTA Automated Data Lineage on IBM Software Hub.

Data Product Hub differences

The Data Product Hub capabilities that are included IBM watsonx.data intelligence and the IBM Data Product Hub stand-alone product offering on IBM Software Hub provide the same functionality.