Top 20 Interview Questions & Answers for Informatica Expert Roles – 2025

Preparing for an interview for an informatica expert role? Here are 20 up-to-date questions and answers to help you showcase your technical skills, experience, and cultural fit for the job.

General Questions

• 1. Tell us about your experience with informatica.
  Answer: I have been working with informatica for the past 5 years in various roles, including as a developer and administrator. I am familiar with the informatica product suite and have experience working with both on-premise and cloud deployments.
• 2. How do you stay updated with the latest informatica developments and updates?
  Answer: I regularly attend training sessions and workshops conducted by informatica, and I also follow their official blogs and social media pages. Additionally, I am a part of informatica user forums where professionals share their experiences and best practices, keeping me updated with the latest developments.
• 3. Can you explain the difference between informatica power center and informatica cloud?
  Answer: Informatica power center is an on-premise data integration tool, while informatica cloud is a cloud-based data integration platform. Power center is more suitable for large enterprises with complex data integration needs, while informatica cloud is a more flexible, scalable, and cost-effective solution for smaller organizations.
• 4. How do you troubleshoot and resolve informatica workflow failures?
  Answer: I start by checking the underlying data sources and verifying if there were any issues with the data retrieval. If the data is valid, I check for any network or server connectivity issues. If everything seems fine, then I dig deeper into the informatica workflow logs to identify the error and find a solution.
• 5. How do you handle performance issues in informatica?
  Answer: There can be several reasons for performance issues in informatica, including the complexity of data processing, network issues, or insufficient resources. I first analyze the informatica workflow using performance tuning tools and identify the bottleneck. Based on the cause, I either optimize the data processing logic, allocate more resources, or configure network settings for better performance.

Behavioral Questions

• 6. Tell us about a time when you faced a difficult informatica integration challenge and how you solved it.
  Answer: As part of a project, we had to integrate data from various legacy systems into a new informatica cloud environment. The challenge was that the data sources used different formats and structures, making it difficult to match and reconcile the data. I overcame this challenge by creating a data mapping document and working closely with the source system owners to standardize the data formats. This ensured a smooth and accurate data integration process.
• 7. Can you tell us about a time when you had to explain technical concepts to a non-technical audience?
  Answer: In my previous role, I was responsible for training new team members on informatica. As part of this, I had to explain complex data integration concepts to individuals with no technical background. I used simplified analogies and visual aids to make the training more engaging and easy to understand.
• 8. How do you prioritize and manage your tasks when working on multiple informatica projects simultaneously?
  Answer: I start by clearly defining the objectives and timelines for each project and then dividing the tasks into smaller, more manageable chunks. I prioritize these tasks based on their importance and deadlines and use project management tools to track progress and ensure timely completion of each task.
• 9. Share an experience where you had to collaborate with other teams or departments to successfully complete an informatica project.
  Answer: In a recent project, I worked with the data analytics team to develop a data warehouse using informatica. This required close collaboration and coordination between both teams as we had to ensure the data sources were cleaned and transformed correctly before being loaded into the warehouse. By working together, we were able to deliver the project on time and with accurate data.
• 10. Tell us about a time when you made a mistake while working on an informatica project and how you rectified it.
  Answer: I once accidentally deleted an entire informatica workflow while trying to clean up old versions. I immediately informed my team and restored the workflow from a backup. I also put in place additional checks to ensure such mistakes do not happen in the future.

Situational Questions

• 11. How would you handle a situation where there was a sudden increase in the amount of data to be processed, and the informatica jobs were taking longer than usual?
  Answer: I would first analyze the data volume and the resources being used by the informatica workflows to identify the bottleneck. If it is a temporary spike in data volume, I would allocate more resources to handle the load. If the volume is consistently high, I would optimize the data processing logic and suggest ways to increase the efficiency of the informatica jobs.
• 12. If a critical informatica workflow fails in the middle of the night, how would you handle the situation?
  Answer: I would immediately check the logs to identify the cause of the failure and try to fix it. If it is a minor issue, I would resolve it myself. If it requires input from other teams, I would escalate the issue and coordinate with them until the workflow is successfully completed. Once the workflow is back up and running, I would analyze the failure and put in place measures to prevent it from happening again.
• 13. If an informatica job takes longer than expected to run, how would you troubleshoot the issue?
  Answer: I would first check if the data sources are performing as expected and then analyze the informatica workflow logs to identify the cause of the delay. I would then optimize the workflow logic and suggest ways to improve its performance. If the delay is caused by external factors like network issues, I would involve the IT team to resolve the issue.
• 14. How would you handle a situation where a critical informatica workflow is causing errors in downstream systems?
  Answer: I would immediately stop the workflow to avoid any further errors and analyze the logs to identify the cause. I would then work with the team responsible for the downstream systems to resolve the issue. Once the issue is fixed, I would run the workflow again and verify if there are any errors before deploying it to the production environment.
• 15. If a new source system is added to an existing informatica workflow, how would you ensure the workflow still runs smoothly?
  Answer: I would first analyze the new data source and its structure and make the necessary changes to the informatica workflow logic to accommodate it. I would also make sure the source system is properly connected and configured in the informatica environment. After testing the workflow, I would deploy it to the production environment to ensure a seamless data integration process.

Technical Questions

• 16. What are the different types of informatica transformations and their uses?
  Answer: The different types of informatica transformations are:
  - Source Qualifier transformation: used for reading data from a source system.
  - Expression transformation: used for performing calculations and data transformations.
  - Aggregate transformation: used for aggregating data based on a key.
  - Lookup transformation: used for looking up and retrieving data from a reference table.
  - Update Strategy transformation: used for determining the operations to be performed on target data.
  - Router transformation: used for conditionally routing data to different targets.
  - Joiner transformation: used for joining data from multiple sources.
  - Rank transformation: used for ranking data based on a set of criteria.
• 17. How do you handle data integrity issues in informatica?
  Answer: I first identify the root cause of the data integrity issue, whether it is caused by human error, incorrect data mapping, or disparate data formats. I then implement data validation techniques, such as using lookup tables, to ensure the data being processed is accurate. If there are any errors, I handle them using error handling techniques, such as rejecting the data or redirecting it for manual review.
• 18. How do you integrate informatica with third-party tools?
  Answer: Informatica provides features like REST API, web services, and connectors to integrate with third-party tools. Using these features, we can connect to different applications and platforms and exchange data with informatica.
• 19. Can you explain the process to migrate informatica workflows from one environment to another?
  Answer: To migrate informatica workflows from one environment to another, we need to export the workflow from the source environment using the informatica export utility. We then import the exported file into the target environment using the import utility. We then make any necessary changes to the workflow to ensure it runs smoothly in the new environment.
• 20. How do you handle version control in informatica?
  Answer: I use informatica version control tools, such as Subversion or GitHub, to track changes made to informatica workflows and maintain different versions. This helps in maintaining a history of changes and reverting to older versions if necessary. I also ensure proper documentation and labeling of each version for easy retrieval and identification.