Document and Entity Information - shares	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2015	Aug. 03, 2015
Document and Entity Information [Abstract]
Entity registrant name	Medidata Solutions, Inc.
Entity central index key	0001453814
Document type	10-Q
Amendment flag	false
Document period end date	Jun. 30, 2015
Document fiscal period focus	Q2
Document fiscal year focus	2015
Current fiscal year end date	--12-31
Entity filer category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity common stock, shares outstanding		55,296,278