Comparison

I got this question often: which is the best Data Visualization product? Lets compare some DV platforms such as Spotfire, Qlikview, Tableau Software and the Microsoft BI platform (PowerPivot, Excel 2010, SQL Server with its VertiPaq, SSAS, SSRS and SSIS). 2 key factors for tool selection are
which makes it easy to comprehend the data, price-performance

Because modern datasets are huge (or growing very fast!), they are usually best comprehended using Data Visualization (DV) with an ability to interact with data through visual drill-down capabilities and dashboards. There is NO a single best visualization product. Each has its place. For example, Spotfire has best web client and analytical functionality. On the other hand, Qliktech may be the best visualization product for interactive drilldown capabilities. The Microsoft BI platform provides better price-performance ratio and good as a backend for DV (especially with release of SQL Server 2012) or for people who wish to build own (that will be a mistake) DV. Tableau has the best ability to interact with OLAP cubes etc. We put into a summary table the comparison of 4 Platforms to help you to evaluate DV products, based on your needs.

Criteria Spotfire Qlikview Tableau MS BI Stack Comment Business Criteria======= ======= ======= ======= Speed, Scalability, Price Implementation Qlikview is fastest to Good High Good Average Speed implement Limited by Need the expert in scalable Scalability Unlimited Very Good Good RAM SaaS Above Pricing High High Average Microsoft is the price leader Average Licensing/support Smart Client is the best way High High High Average cost to save Enterprise Good for Good for Partners are the key to SMB Excellent Excellent Readiness SMB SMB market Long-term Microsoft are 35+ years in Good 1 product Average Excellent viability business Analytics Growing Growing 3rd attempt to Qlikview is a DV Mindshare Market fast fast win BI Leader, Successful IPO Technical ======= ======= ======= ======= Drilldown, Analytics, UI Criteria ZFC, Clients for End RIA, ZFC, Windows, Free Qlikview Personal Spotfire Excel, .NET Users Mobile ZFC Edition is a big plus Silver Interactive As good as Most users value Very Good Excellent Very Good Visualization Excel Visualization over Modeling Need for Data Integration Data Integration Good Good Excellent Good expert Visual DrillQlikview is fastest thanks to Very Good Excellent Good Average Down in-memory database Dashboard Very Good Excellent Good Below Spotfire and Qlikview are

Support Integration with Excellent GIS Modeling and Excellent Analytics UI & set of Very Good Visual Controls Development Rich API, Environment S+ 64-bit In-Memory Very Good Columnar DB Summary Best Visual for: Analytics

best for Dashboards Spotfire has the best GIS Good Good Average integration Excellent Good with Spotfire is the best, Excel is Weak OLAP SSAS the most popular Need for UI expert to Best Very Good Good integrate DV components Scripting, Tableau requires less Average Excellent Rich API consulting than competitors In-memory 64-bit RAM allows huge Excellent Very Good Data Engine datasets in memory DV, Visual Backend for Good Visualization Drilldown OLAP DV requires a customization!

Average

We also suggest for you to take a look on other comparisons: Altheon comparing Qlikview, Tableau and
Omniscope and others (please ping me if you will find good comparison of DV tools).

Notes.
TIBCO is a vendor of the balanced Spotfire Platform: Spotfire Professional, Server, Enterprise and Web Players, S-Plus, DecisionSite, Metrics, Data Automation and Miner technologies, combining in-memory database with interactive Data Visualization, advanced analytics (S+), data mining and multi-filtering functionality. Spotfire 3.2.1 provides best web client and supports iPad Qliktech is a vendor of Qlikview DV Platform: Qlikview Developer, Qlikview Server, Publisher and Access Point tools with a leading in-memory columnar database combined with advanced Visual DrillDown, Interactive Dashboards and comprehensive set of client software, running even on SmartPhones. Microsoft is a vendor of the most comprehensive set of BI and DV components, including SQL Server, Analytical, Reporting and Integration Services (SSAS, SSRS, SSIS), Sharepoint, Excel 2010 with PowerPivot add-in (Excel is the most popular BI tool, regardless) and VertiPaq engine. I did not include PerformancePoint Server: it was discontinued in April 2009 and PerformancePoint Services from SharePoint I cannot recommend, because I CAN NOT recommend SharePoint. DV expert can be a cost-effective customizer of all of the above with the ability to customize DV with development components from leading technological vendors like Dundas, DevExpress etc. I did not include Oracle, because it does not have own DV tool; however Oracle is an OEM partner with Tableau and resell it as a part of OBIEE toolset.

DV expert can help to select the appropriate DV approach for your specific application. Additional services include the following:

Professional gathering of business requirements, system analysis of workflow and dataflow, and functional specifications; The custom software development for Extract, Transform and Load (ETL) processing from large Client Databases into in-memory superfast columnar DB and interactive OLAP Cubes; Design of Custom Data Visualization and dashboards deployed over the Internet through smart client and RIA technologies.

Custom DV applications enable the user to perform visual drill-down, fast searches for outliers in large datasets, easy-to-use root-cause and business logic analysis, interactive data search, and

visual and predictive analytics. Some factors and/or features are very important and some I did not mention because they will be mentioned on other pages and posts of this blog (e,g, see inmemory page and DV Tools pages. I perceive that DV area has 4 super-leaders in this area: Qlikview 10, Spotfire 3.3, Tableau 6.1 and PowerPivot, but for completeness (because the real function is to be a Data Visualizers), I wish to add Visokios Omniscope. I do not include vendors who are 1-2 generation behind: SAP, SAS, IBM, Oracle, Microstrategy and I can add to this list a dozen more of mis-leaders. Many vendors working on some in-memory technology. Tableau 6.X has now in-memory data engine (64-bit). Additional factors to consider when comparing DV tools (table above overlaps with list below):

- memory optimization [Qlikview is the leader in in-memory columnar database technology]; - load time [I tested all products above and PowerPivot is the fastest]; - memory swapping [Spotfire is only who can use a disk as a virtual memory, while Qlikview limited by RAM only]; - incremental updates [Qlikview probably the best in this area]; - thin clients [Spotfire has the the best thin client, especially with their recent release of Spotfire 3.2 and Spotfire Silver]; - thick clients [Qlikview has the best THICK client, Tableau has free Desktop Reader, Visokio has Java-based Omniscope Desktop Viewer] , - access by 3rd party tools [PowerPivot's integration with Excel 2010, SQL Server 2008 R2 Analysis Services and SharePoint 2010 is a big attraction]; - interface with SSAS cubes [PowerPivot has it, Tableau has it, Omniscope will have it very soon, Qlikview and Spotfire do not have it], - GUI [3-way tie, it is heavily depends on personal preferences, but Qlikview is more easy to use than others]; - advanced analytics [Spotfire 3.2 is the leader here with its integration with S-PLUS and support for IronPython and other add-ons] - the productivity of developers involved with tools mentioned above. In my experience Qlikview is much more productive tool in this regard.

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