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Five Apps

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1. Datameer

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Datameer is, on itsrnsurface, a basic analysis tool. It has a spreadsheet-like interface andrncontains many of the same charts and graphs. However, it surpasses Excel andrnother spreadsheet programs by allowing the user link to active data sources asrnwell as import flat files as well as joining two tabs together into a third, muchrnlike you join tables in a database.

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It also is much more column-focused than a spreadsheet – therntasks you perform, such as Group Bys, are all done with reference to a columnrnand occupy a column of their own on the destination sheet. Since it is so columnar,rnyou can also drag-and-drop columns into charts and graphs easily instead ofrnhaving to specify ranges like in Excel. Charts and graphs come with manyrnconfiguration options including manual colors, font sizes, layout, andrnpositioning.

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The final feature of Datameer is Smart Analytics whichrnincludes Clustering, Decision Trees, Recommendations (Heat Charts), and ColumnrnDependencies tools. Datameer starts at $299/year for a single user and hasrnWorkgroup and Enterprise licensing available.

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Datameer 2

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Jaspersoft 1

2. Jaspersoft

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Jaspersoft is arndrag-and-drop GUI that allows you to combine your data in various ways usingrnthe built-in charts, graphs, and crosstab views. You can see various types ofrndata side-by-side by dropping those as Columns and break it down by variousrncategories as Rows. One of the nicest features of Jaspersoft is the Data Levelrnfilter at the top right. It allows you to scale back your Rows or Columns to arnlower level of detail (such as viewing sales by Country instead of by Countryrnand then by Store Type) without having to remove those data points from therngraph altogether. Jaspersoft offers several different editions of theirrnsoftware from the free Community Edition to various on-site versions licensedrnby server processor to an AWS-based version licensed per-hour. Pricing info isrnavailable from the sales team.

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Jaspersoft 2

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3. Pentaho

rnrnInstead of being a dynamicrnreporting tool, Pentaho allows you torncreate fixed structure reports and dashboards which are then tied to a dynamicrndata source. This is great for companies whose users do not have the skill orrnare unwilling to take the time to create their own visualizations. Pentaho hasrnthe typical charts and graphs, such as pie, bar, line, etc., as well asrncrosstab views. It also has heat grid reports to compare performance amongrnvarious measures. Like the other systems on this list, Pentaho can link up withrnvarious source databases. Pricing is available from the sales team.

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Going Deep on Big Data

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Big data isrntransitioning from one of the most hyped and anticipated tech trends of recentrnyears into one of the biggest challenges that IT is now trying to wrestle andrnharness. Wernexamine the technologies and best practices for taking advantage of big datarnand provide a look at organizations that are putting it to good use.

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SAS Visual Analytics 1

4. SAS Visual Analytics

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Easily recognized as the biggest name on this list, SAS hasrnentered the big data fray with their Visual Analyticsrnsoftware. However, it is, for the most part, roughly equal to the otherrnproducts here. Data is brought into the system either by flat file or databasernlinks, and various charts, graphs, and visualizations are easily created.

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It stands out, however, in the way that it displays thatrninformation. Where the other products were somewhat vague as to what the datarnvalues were, SAS Visual Analytics always seems to provide a legend, especiallyrnin geographical visualizations, heat maps, and the like. One visualization Irndid not see present in their set was the pie chart, however they seem to havernreplaced it with a treemap, which can have the same effect, although may bernharder for some to understand.

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The other standout feature, to me was the quick glancernfeature when selecting data filters. You can easily see the relative size ofrnthe data in each data point so you know somewhat what you’re getting into. SASrnVisual Analytics pricing is available from the sales team.

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Splunk 1

5. Splunk

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While it connects to traditional data sources like the otherrnsystems on the list, Splunk is the onlyrnproduct that can connect to system event logs, system performance monitors,rndirectory trees, TCP/UDP connections, and Active Directory systems. Given thatrnvast array of non-traditional data sources, Splunk is a great solution forrnmonitoring big data that, on the surface, doesn’t seem like big data. However,rnevent log monitoring alone can generate as much raw data as enterprise EHR andrnCRM systems.

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While it provides the common charts and graphs, Splunk alsornhas its own query language that makes it difficult to jump right in to. Anythingrnbeyond basic charts requires knowledge of the query language. Pricing isrnsimple: you pay by the gigabyte indexed per day by the system whether that isrnon-site or cloud-based.

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Bottom line

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There are many more products available for analyzing yourrnown big data; these are just a handful offering necessary features. Has yourrnorganization delved into analyzing their big data? If so, have you used any ofrnthe tools above or different tools? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Going Deep on Big Data

rnrn

Big data isrntransitioning from one of the most hyped and anticipated tech trends of recentrnyears into one of the biggest challenges that IT is now trying to wrestle andrnharness. Wernexamine the technologies and best practices for taking advantage of big datarnand provide a look at organizations that are putting it to good use.

rnrn

Credit: Image by WallyrnBahny for TechRepublic