An Informatica Developer is a professional who specializes in using the Informatica suite of data integration tools to design, develop, and implement data integration solutions. They play a crucial role in facilitating data movement, transformation, and synchronization between various systems, databases, and applications. In this blog post, we will explore the primary responsibilities and the most in-demand hard and soft skills for Informatica Developers.

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Main Responsibilities of an Informatica Developer

The following list describes the typical responsibilities of an Informatica Developer:

Address

Address system defects and implement enhancements to existing functionality.

Administer

• Administer and monitor data migration environment and ETL platform.

• Administer critical analysis of test results and deliver solutions to problem areas.

Advise

Advise developers in database table design, champion development and design standards.

Analyze

Analyze and understand data integration requirements from stakeholders.

Apply

Apply subject matter expertise unique to the discipline.

Assist in

• Assist in defining data integration strategies and roadmaps.

• Assist team with resolving technical complexities involved in realizing story work.

• Assist with defect fixing and testing support for Cognos reports.

• Assist with tuning of ETL processes and database performance.

Automate

Automate manual release activities.

Collaborate with

• Collaborate with database administrators and data analysts to understand data structures and requirements.

• Collaborate with data modelers to ensure data architecture alignment.

Communicate

Communicate progress, results, and other relevant information to project stakeholders and management.

Complete

• Complete development activities within the allocated time within sprints.

• Complete understanding of all phases of the software development life cycle.

• Complete understanding of relational database design and architecture.

Comply

Comply with Company policy and practices relating to the System Development Life Cycle.

Conduct

Conduct performance tuning to optimize ETL job execution times.

Contribute to

Contribute to story refinement / defining requirements.

Coordinate

• Coordinate and guide offshore DEV team members.

• Coordinate work, collaborate with other technical team members, and manage workload effectively.

Create

• Create and maintain ETL Technical design documentation.

• Create and maintain user-oriented applications and design specifications.

• Create mappings, transformations, and workflows to move and transform data.

Define

Define / evolve transformation and load standards.

Design

• Design and develop any / all necessary ETL processes.

• Design and develop data validation and reconciliation processes.

• Design and develop ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) workflows using Informatica PowerCenter.

• Design and implement PowerCentre workflows as required by the project.

• Design and implement technical enhancements of Data Warehouse as required.

• Design an Operational reporting data mart if deemed necessary.

• Design / develops / maintains automated test suites (integration, regression, performance).

Develop

• Develop and maintain data dictionaries and metadata repositories.

• Develop and maintain data lineage and data flow diagrams.

• Develop effort estimates for assigned application software implementation activities.

• Develop ETL control framework reusable components.

• Develop ETL interfaces leveraging Informatica Business-to-Business (B2B) software.

• Develop Incremental and Initial load ETL packages to populate CPIN DW and Operational models.

• Develop Informatica mappings, SQL / stored procedures.

• Develop into Subject Matter Expert (SME).

• Develop new documentation, departmental technical procedures and user guides.

• Develop SQL queries to extract data.

• Develop, test, document and implement applications according to standards and methodologies.

• Develop / Test / Implement / Support ETL workflows for a Data Warehouse.

• Develop, tests and implement enterprise data movement (ETL and CDC) solutions.

Document

• Document data integration processes, mappings, and workflows.

• Document test results, create defects, report progress, etc..

Enable

Enable the use of data quality and accuracy as a strategic enabler.

Ensure

• Ensure data security and compliance with data governance policies.

• Ensure projects are completed according to product specifications and are properly documented.

• Ensure that software is developed to meet functional, non-functional, and compliance requirements.

Escalate

Escalate and mitigate risk & issues.

Generate

Generate estimates for Organizational Data Stores (ODS) & Warehouse ETL activities.

Handle

Handle source control and configuration management issues.

Identify

Identify, resolve, or escalate issues and risks in a timely manner as appropriate.

Implement

• Implement error handling and exception management in ETL processes.

• Implement industry best practices (e.g. Velocity methodology).

Integrate

• Integrate data from different sources to create a unified view of information.

• Integrate ETL workflows with other systems and applications.

Interact

Interact with onsite leadership / developer and strong technical background.

Investigate

Investigate and analyze issues, as well as research opportunities for improvement of processes.

Lead

• Lead in writing and reviewing software functional specifications and design reviews.

• Lead most complex multiple modeling, simulations, and analysis efforts.

• Lead projects, allocates and manage resources and manage the work of less experienced staff.

• Lead the tuning of databases.

• Lead the tuning of ETL processes.

Liaise with

Liaise with Project Managers, Quality Assurance Analysts and Business Intelligence Consultants.

Load

Load data into target systems, data warehouses, or databases.

Maintain

• Maintain all applicable documentation pertaining to specific SDLC phases.

• Maintain currency of professional, technical and business skills.

• Maintain productive working relationships with project sponsors and key systems users.

Mentor

Mentor other Software Engineers and coach team on CI-CD practices and automating tool stack.

Monitor

Monitor ETL job execution and identify performance bottlenecks.

Optimize

Optimize ETL processes for performance and efficiency.

Oversee

Oversee overall systems testing and the migration of platforms and applications to production.

Participate in

• Participate in data migration and data integration projects.

• Participate in data modeling and database design discussions.

• Participate in defect fixing, testing support and development activities for Informatica / ETL tool.

• Participate in meeting, reviews, and other discussions as required.

• Participate in writing and reviewing software functional specifications and design reviews.

Perform

• Perform analysis, design and development of ETL processes to support project requirements.

• Perform any broader testing and deployment activities to support the team in any release activities.

• Perform data profiling and data quality assessments.

• Perform spike / proof of concept as necessary to mitigate risk or implement new ideas.

• Perform thorough unit testing.

Prepare

Prepare and / or interpret business, functional, and non-functional requirements.

Process

Process and automate X12 / EDI transactions (835s, 837s, 277-CAs) load to Teradata database tables.

Provide

• Provide analysis and recommendations for ETL implementation.

• Provide coding direction to less experienced staff or develops highly complex original code.

• Provide deployment instructions, mapping, and support documentation for the implemented solutions.

• Provide development support for production defects.

• Provide documentation as required.

• Provide estimates for their own work and contribute to broader team's sprint estimates.

• Provide expert system and technical advice and guidance to other developers.

• Provide guidance to more junior staff.

• Provide input to continuously improve ETL process discipline and resulting output quality.

• Provide performance tuning insight to project team and create reusable objects and templates.

• Provide production support of Informatica processes.

• Provide support for deployment activities.

• Provide support for technical issues and ensuring system availability.

• Provide support for testing.

• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to junior developers.

• Provide technical support and troubleshooting assistance to end-users and stakeholders.

• Provide Tier 3 support and resolution of open IT issues escalated by IT Customer Support.

Recommend

Recommend, schedule, and perform software improvements and upgrades.

Remain

Remain current on Data Warehousing technologies, testing industry trends and best practices.

Report

Report and dashboard tool - - BusinessObjects.

Review

• Review and finalize CPIN DW model design and advise on suitability for operational reporting.

• Review ETL performance and conducts performance tuning as required on mappings / workflows or SQL.

Schedule

Schedule and automate ETL jobs for regular data updates.

Set-up

Set-up and develop a continuous integration / continuous delivery pipeline.

Stay up-to-date with

Stay up-to-date with Informatica product updates and best practices.

Support

Support production environment in the event of emergency.

Take

Take part in Design Brainstorm & design approval process.

Test

Test and validate ETL processes to ensure data accuracy.

Transform

Transform and cleanse data to ensure accuracy and consistency.

Troubleshoot

• Troubleshoot and perform tune existing Informatica solutions and interfaces.

• Troubleshoot and resolve issues related to data integration and ETL jobs.

• Troubleshoot production support issues post release deployment and come up with solutions.

Use

Use and analyze data using various reporting tools like Cognos, Microstrategy.

Utilize

• Utilize a thorough understanding of available technology, tools, and existing designs.

• Utilize SQL to perform tasks other than data transformation (DDL, complex queries).

Validate

Validate data transformation and migration from existing to new systems.

Verify

Verify program logic by overseeing the preparation of test data, testing and debugging of programs.

Work

• Work as part of a development team to meet development and implementation deadlines.

• Work closely with Designers, Business Analysts and other Developers.

• Work with business analysts to define data integration rules and transformations.

• Work with Data Modeling tools such as i.e. ERWIN, Sybase Power Designer.

• Work with data sourcing to source and validate data completeness from acquisition to report delivery.

• Work with other technical teams on integration testing and debugging.

• Work with the Client & Developer(s) assigned to refine / confirm Business Requirements.

Write

Write or contribute to instructions or manuals to guide end users.

Most In-demand Hard Skills

The following list describes the most required technical skills of an Informatica Developer:

1. Proficiency in Informatica PowerCenter and Informatica Cloud.

2. Expertise in ETL design and development using Informatica.

3. Knowledge of data warehousing concepts and data modeling.

4. Competence in SQL (Structured Query Language) for data manipulation.

5. Understanding of relational and dimensional databases.

6. Familiarity with data integration patterns and techniques.

7. Competence in working with various data file formats (CSV, XML, JSON, etc.).

8. Knowledge of data profiling and data quality tools.

9. Understanding of data integration challenges and best practices.

10. Competence in performance tuning and optimization of ETL processes.

11. Knowledge of data security and encryption techniques.

12. Familiarity with data governance and compliance standards.

13. Competence in database management systems (Oracle, SQL Server, etc.).

14. Knowledge of cloud-based data integration platforms.

15. Understanding of data migration strategies and techniques.

16. Competence in version control and code management tools.

17. Knowledge of scripting languages (Shell, Python, etc.).

18. Understanding of data transformation techniques and methodologies.

19. Competence in data validation and reconciliation techniques.

20. Knowledge of API integration and web services.

Most In-demand Soft Skills

The following list describes the most required soft skills of an Informatica Developer:

1. Excellent problem-solving and analytical abilities.

2. Strong attention to detail and data accuracy.

3. Effective communication and interpersonal skills.

4. Collaboration and teamwork with cross-functional teams.

5. Time management and organizational skills for meeting project deadlines.

6. Adaptability and flexibility in a dynamic IT environment.

7. Customer-centric approach and focus on user requirements.

8. Active listening and empathy towards end-users and stakeholders.

9. Continuous learning and a proactive attitude towards professional development.

10. Resilience and composure under pressure.

Conclusion

Informatica Developers play a crucial role in ensuring seamless data integration and movement across diverse systems and databases. With a combination of technical expertise and essential soft skills, these professionals contribute significantly to efficient data management and decision-making processes within organizations.