sales-informatica

What this skill does

# Informatica IDMC Platform Help

## Step 1 — Gather context

If `references/learnings.md` exists, read it first for accumulated platform knowledge.

Ask the user:

1. **What do you need help with?**
   - A) Cloud Data Integration (CDI) — ETL/ELT mappings, tasks, pipelines
   - B) Cloud Application Integration (CAI) — real-time processes, API workflows
   - C) API Center — API design, gateway, developer portal
   - D) Data Catalog — metadata, lineage, search
   - E) Data Quality / Observability — rules, scorecards, profiling
   - F) MDM / 360 Applications — golden records, match rules
   - G) B2B Gateway — trading partners, EDI
   - H) AI Agent Engineering — custom agents, CLAIRE
   - I) Secure Agent — install, runtime, connectivity, upgrades
   - J) Pricing / IPU consumption — costs, Flex IPU, optimization
   - K) Migration from PowerCenter to IDMC
   - L) Something else — describe it

2. **What's your deployment model?**
   - A) Informatica-hosted (fully cloud, Secure Agent on their cloud)
   - B) Hybrid (customer-managed Secure Agent on VM/container, IDMC control plane in cloud)
   - C) Serverless runtime (advanced clusters)
   - D) Not sure / evaluating

3. **What's your role?**
   - A) Data engineer / developer (builds mappings and tasks)
   - B) Integration architect (designs integration strategy)
   - C) Admin (manages orgs, users, runtime, licenses)
   - D) Data steward (Data Quality, MDM, Governance)
   - E) Evaluating Informatica

**Skip-ahead rule**: if the user's prompt already provides enough context, skip to Step 2. Lead with your best-effort answer using reasonable assumptions (stated explicitly), then ask 1-2 critical clarifying questions.

## Step 2 — Route or answer directly

| Problem domain | Route to |
|---|---|
| Connecting Informatica to Salesforce/HubSpot/CRM | `/sales-integration {question}` |
| CRM comparison — Salesforce vs HubSpot vs others | `/sales-crm-selection {question}` |
| Salesforce-specific config (Flows, Apex, SOQL) | `/sales-salesforce {question}` |
| Simple no-code Zapier/Make automations | `/sales-integration {question}` |
| Boomi-specific questions | `/sales-boomi {question}` |
| MuleSoft-specific questions | `/sales-mulesoft {question}` |
| SnapLogic-specific questions | `/sales-snaplogic {question}` |
| CRM data quality / deduplication | `/sales-data-hygiene {question}` |
| CDI mapping / task development | Answer directly — read platform guide |
| CAI real-time processes | Answer directly — read platform guide |
| API Center / developer portal | Answer directly — read platform guide |
| MDM golden records / match rules | Answer directly — read platform guide |
| Secure Agent setup / troubleshooting | Answer directly — read platform guide |
| IPU pricing / optimization | Answer directly — read platform guide |

When routing, provide the exact command.

## Step 3 — Informatica platform reference

**Read `references/platform-guide.md`** for the full platform reference — modules, pricing, connectors, Secure Agent, MDM, API Center, AI agents.

Answer the user's question using only the relevant section. Don't dump the full reference.

If the question involves the IDMC REST APIs, also **read `references/informatica-api-reference.md`** for authentication, endpoints, and resources.

## Step 4 — Actionable guidance

You no longer need the platform guide — focus on the user's specific situation.

**Connector selection shortcut**: Check the Informatica Cloud Marketplace first. If no native connector exists, use the REST V2 connector (supports Swagger 2.0 and OpenAPI 3.0.x specs — import the spec and IDMC generates the operations). For proprietary systems, the Informatica Connector Toolkit (Java) builds custom connectors.

**Deployment decision shortcut**: Informatica-hosted Secure Agent for fastest start. Customer-managed Secure Agent when sources are on-prem or behind firewall. Serverless runtime (advanced clusters) for elastic Spark-based processing of large CDI workloads. Always place the Secure Agent close to the heaviest source/target to minimize data egress.

**Cost optimization shortcut**: IPU consumption is driven by service type × runtime × data volume. CDI Elastic / advanced clusters consume more IPUs per hour than standard CDI. Right-size schedules (don't run hourly if daily works), consolidate mappings, and review the Metering API weekly. Flex IPU model lets you shift IPUs across services within the contract year — useful when usage patterns change.

If you discover a gotcha, workaround, or tip not covered in `references/learnings.md`, append it there.

## Gotchas

> *Best-effort from research — review these, especially pricing details and feature availability which change frequently.*

- **IPU consumption can spiral without monitoring.** IPU is metered per service and per runtime type — a single poorly-designed CDI Elastic job can burn through tens of thousands of IPUs. Set up consumption alerts in the admin UI and pull metering data via the v3 `/metering` API weekly.
- **No public price list — every deal is custom.** Informatica pricing requires a quote. Budget $50K–$100K/year minimum for entry usage, scaling to $300K–$800K+/year for high-volume processing. Enterprise deployments typically need $80K–$150K in software plus $150K–$300K in implementation.
- **Unused IPUs expire annually.** Classic IPU contracts lose unused IPUs at the contract anniversary. Flex IPU lets you carry some across services but still within the contract term. Right-size the contract or negotiate a Flex model.
- **Pod-specific base URLs — you can't hardcode.** IDMC runs on multiple regional pods (dm-us, dm-em, dm-ap, etc.). The v3 login response returns the correct `baseApiUrl` for your org — always use that value for subsequent calls, never a hardcoded URL.
- **REST API v1 is deprecated.** Only v2 and v3 receive updates. v3 uses JSON + `INFA-SESSION-ID` header; v2 uses XML/JSON + `icSessionId` header. Prefer v3 unless the resource you need only exists in v2.
- **PowerCenter migration is non-trivial.** IDMC is the strategic successor to PowerCenter, but mapping compatibility is not 1:1. Use Informatica's PowerCenter-to-CDI mapping conversion utility and expect rework for mapplets, custom transformations, and push-down optimization logic.
- **Premium and enterprise connectors cost extra.** SAP, Workday, Oracle, and some industry connectors carry additional licensing fees beyond IPU consumption. Verify connector licensing before planning integrations.
- **Documentation is descriptive, not instructive.** Like most enterprise iPaaS docs, Informatica documentation explains *what* features do but rarely shows *how* to solve end-to-end integration problems. Informatica Network community, Success Accelerators, and University training fill the gap.

## Related skills

- `/sales-boomi` — Boomi platform help — cloud-native iPaaS, 1000+ connectors, Data Hub MDM, AgentStudio (direct competitor)
- `/sales-mulesoft` — MuleSoft platform help — Anypoint Platform, API-led connectivity, 450+ connectors (direct competitor)
- `/sales-workato` — Workato platform help — enterprise iPaaS, 1200+ connectors, recipe automation, MCP Gateway (direct competitor)
- `/sales-celigo` — Celigo platform help — mid-market iPaaS, 1000+ connectors, AI error management, NetSuite depth (direct competitor)
- `/sales-snaplogic` — SnapLogic platform help — enterprise iPaaS, 1000+ Snaps, AgentCreator AI agents, API Management 3.0 (direct competitor)
- `/sales-jitterbit` — Jitterbit platform help — Harmony iPaaS, 400+ connectors, API Manager, App Builder (direct competitor)
- `/sales-tray` — Tray.ai platform help — enterprise iPaaS, 700+ connectors, Merlin Agent Builder, Tray Embedded (direct competitor)
- `/sales-integration` — Connecting sales tools — webhooks, Zapier/Make, native integrations, CRM sync
- `/sales-salesforce` — Salesforce platform help — common Informatica integration target
- `/sales-hubspot` — HubSpot platform help — common Informatica integration target