BI tools evaluation

The following BI tools have been evaluated in this blog:

• Tableau
• Qlik
• Microstrategy
• Oracle
• SAS

Tableau:

Tableau is a streamlined, user-friendly business intelligence solution that provides a simple, quick way for non-experts to access data and create their own dashboards in just a few clicks. Tableau is tailored to meet the needs of anyone looking to analyze and explore business data. It provides business intelligence that is actionable and insightful. One can learn the tool very quickly just by looking at the video tutorials and exploring the tool.

Pros:

• Has a very intuitive UI, drag and drop tools that allow non-technical people use it with ease
• Easy to learn
• It can be integrated with R
• It has ready-made drivers for many databases
• Helps create instant, real-time dashboards
• Can connect to cube-based data sources
• Has an active online community

Cons:

• The in-memory engine is not the fastest
• The manual mapping of datatypes that are not recognized is cumbersome
• Has trouble when working with large datasets
• There is no option to create custom groups for different dimensions

Qlik:

Qlik is a self-service access BI tool built for non-technical professionals that utilizes both engaging graphics and data consolidation from multiple sources into a single place to greatly simplify data analysis.

Pros:

• Good in-memory processor which speeds up the application
• Combines with data sources with ease
• Can be easily deployed and configured
• Has a large number of partners

Cons:

• The menus have too many tabs that lack logical structure
• The visuals are not intuitive drag/ drop as Tableau
• The online community is not very active
• Support is not that good
• Qlik Applications are constrained by how much RAM can be addressed in a single hardware box

Microstrategy:

Microstrategy is an enterprise BI application software vendor. It allows interactive dashboards, easy and intuitive control on data layout, alerts, automated reports, and supports web, desktop as well as mobile interfaces.

Pros:

• Scalable and can be used across all platforms like mobile, desktop, cloud etc.
• Capable of handling complex enterprise requirements
• The SDK allows customization of applications
• Supports offline access to data

Cons:

• The online community is dormant
• The development speed is slow
• The graphics that are obtained are unusable and formatting them to be presentable takes a long time

Oracle:

Oracle provides an all-in-one BI solution featuring eight components so that users don't have to worry about multiple software or higher cost.

Pros:

• Supports big data capability
• Very good training is provided
• Can analyze large sets of data in a short time
• Has a user-friendly interface

Cons:

• Customizing the software requires significant investment of time
• Has issues with respect to integration
• 
  

SAS:

The SAS Visual Analytics is an in-memory data visualization tool that works well with both big and small data, providing robust query and reporting features, alerts, and predictive analytics.

Pros:

• Integration is powerful
• Has a huge market share
• Extremely fast and efficient
• Deals easily with large amounts of data
• Support for R programming language

Cons:

• Does not have a user friendly interface
• Cost is on the higher side
• The visualizations that are provided are not very aesthetic

Criteria:

Ease of Use: 

The users should be able to use the application easily with minimal support/ training

• Integration: 

The application should integrate seamlessly with multiple data sources

• Cost: 

The application should be cost effective

• Customer support/ Online Community: 

The customer support should be responsive and the problems should be resolved in minimal number of calls. The online support community should be vast and solutions to issues that are faced should be found easily.

• Performance: 

The application should give high performance and not crash while dealing with large datasets.

Criteria	Weight	Tableau	Qlik	Microstrategy	Oracle	SAS
Ease of use	40%	10	9	7	7	7
Integration	10%	9	9	8	7	9
Cost	20%	10	8	7.5	7	6.5
Customer Support/ Online Community	15%	10	8	6	7	7
Performance	15%	8	8	7	8	9
Points		9.6	8.5	7.05	7.15	7.4
Rank		1	2	5	4	3

                     

Based on the criteria mentioned by me, Tableau claims the number one spot among the BI tools that have been evaluated.