ISG Identifies Top Data Management Software Providers Driving AI Success Through Integrated, Trusted Data Solutions

Enterprises are increasingly investing in advanced data management software to support successful AI deployments, according to new research from Information Services Group (ISG), a global technology research and advisory firm. The study highlights that organizations recognize AI at scale depends on instant access to trusted, integrated, and well-governed data—prompting a strategic shift toward improving data infrastructure. ISG’s 2025 Buyers Guides™ for Data Management evaluate 42 software providers across six key categories: Data Integration, Data Governance, Data Quality, Master Data Management (MDM), and Data Intelligence. The research underscores that while data management has long been a core IT function, its importance has intensified with the rise of AI, particularly generative AI, which relies heavily on high-quality, accurate, and ethically governed data. Data integration remains critical for combining data from multiple sources to drive business value, such as personalized marketing or customer insights. ISG predicts that by 2027, three-quarters of enterprises will adopt data fabric technologies to manage data across hybrid cloud and on-premise environments, enabling seamless data flow across platforms. Data governance plays a dual role—ensuring data is secure, compliant, and trustworthy while also being enhanced by AI. AI systems can automate governance tasks like metadata tagging and policy enforcement, improving efficiency. At the same time, strong governance prevents AI from generating harmful content or misusing sensitive information. Achieving a single source of truth across organizations remains a persistent challenge. MDM helps by standardizing core reference data, resolving duplicates, and validating records. ISG forecasts that three-quarters of enterprises will use MDM and data quality tools by 2027 to boost confidence in data used for AI and business intelligence. Data intelligence tools are also gaining traction, combining data discovery, metadata management, and governance to help users find and trust the data they need. These tools empower both business users and data teams to work more effectively. In the 2025 rankings, Informatica emerged as the Overall Leader across the entire data management category, followed by IBM and Oracle. Informatica led in five evaluation areas, while Oracle topped six categories. All three were rated Exemplary, along with Actian, AWS, Databricks, Google Cloud, Microsoft, Pentaho, and SAP. Alibaba Cloud and Qlik were recognized as Innovative. In Data Integration, Oracle led, followed by Informatica and Boomi. In Data Governance, Informatica ranked first, with IBM and Databricks close behind. For Data Quality, Informatica again led, followed by Pentaho and Actian. Oracle was the top Overall Leader in Master Data Management, with Informatica and IBM in second and third. In Data Intelligence, Informatica led, followed by Microsoft and IBM. ISG’s research was conducted independently, without influence from software vendors, and aims to guide enterprises in selecting the right tools to build robust, AI-ready data architectures. The full reports, including detailed provider assessments across usability, reliability, capability, manageability, adaptability, validation, and total cost of ownership, are available through ISG Software Research. Mark Smith, partner and chief software analyst at ISG, noted that the complexity of modern data environments demands unified, secure, and intelligent solutions—making the right software choices more critical than ever for AI success.