Have you ever wondered what software or big data analytics tool is the best? You’re not alone. There are heaps of software and analytics tools out there which means it can be challenging to choose. I’ve built my fair share of websites and tested a lot of analytics tools in the past. This has led me to creating my own list of go-to big data analytics software tools.
A lot of people like to search for “best software for big data analytics” or “big data tools software” in Google, but most of them don’t know which results they should click on. It can also occur that they end up clicking on the top result which isn’t even a software. So if you are one of these people and wondering how to find the best solution for your problem, read our article.
Skytree
Skytree is one of the best big data analytics tools that empowers data scientists to build more accurate models faster. It offers accurate predictive machine learning models that are easy to use.
Features:
- Highly Scalable Algorithms
- Artificial Intelligence for Data Scientists
- It allows data scientists to visualize and understand the logic behind ML decisions
- Skytree via the easy-to-adopt GUI or programmatically in Java
- Model Interpretability
- It is designed to solve robust predictive problems with data preparation capabilities
- Programmatic and GUI Access
CDH (Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop)
CDH aims at enterprise-class deployments of that technology. It is totally open source and has a free platform distribution that encompasses Apache Hadoop, Apache Spark, Apache Impala, and many more.
It allows you to collect, process, administer, manage, discover, model, and distribute unlimited data.
Pros:
- Comprehensive distribution
- Cloudera Manager administers the Hadoop cluster very well.
- Easy implementation.
- Less complex administration.
- High security and governance
Cons:
- Few complicating UI features like charts on the CM service.
- Multiple recommended approaches for installation sounds confusing.
However, the Licensing price on a per-node basis is pretty expensive.
Pricing: CDH is a free software version by Cloudera. However, if you are interested to know the cost of the Hadoop cluster then the per-node cost is around $1000 to $2000 per terabyte.
Microsoft HDInsight
Azure HDInsight is a Spark and Hadoop service in the cloud. It provides big data cloud offerings in two categories, Standard and Premium. It provides an enterprise-scale cluster for the organization to run their big data workloads.
Features:
- Reliable analytics with an industry-leading SLA
- It offers enterprise-grade security and monitoring
- Protect data assets and extend on-premises security and governance controls to the cloud
- High-productivity platform for developers and scientists
- Integration with leading productivity applications
- Deploy Hadoop in the cloud without purchasing new hardware or paying other up-front costs
Analytics
Analytics is a tool that provides visual analysis and dashboarding. It allows you to connect multiple data sources, including business applications, databases, cloud drives, and more.
Features:
- Offers visual analysis and dashboarding.
- It helps you to analyze data in depth.
- Provides collaborative review and analysis.
- You can embed reports to websites, applications, blogs, and more.
Apache Hadoop
Apache Hadoop is a software framework employed for clustered file system and handling of big data. It processes datasets of big data by means of the MapReduce programming model.
Hadoop is an open-source framework that is written in Java and it provides cross-platform support.
No doubt, this is the topmost big data tool. In fact, over half of the Fortune 50 companies use Hadoop. Some of the Big names include Amazon Web services, Hortonworks, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Facebook, etc.
Pros:
- The core strength of Hadoop is its HDFS (Hadoop Distributed File System) which has the ability to hold all type of data – video, images, JSON, XML, and plain text over the same file system.
- Highly useful for R&D purposes.
- Provides quick access to data.
- Highly scalable
- Highly-available service resting on a cluster of computers
Cons:
- Sometimes disk space issues can be faced due to its 3x data redundancy.
- I/O operations could have been optimized for better performance.
Pricing: This software is free to use under the Apache License.
Dataddo
Dataddo is a no-coding, cloud-based ETL platform that puts flexibility first – with a wide range of connectors and the ability to choose your own metrics and attributes, Dataddo makes creating stable data pipelines simple and fast.
Dataddo seamlessly plugs into your existing data stack, so you don’t need to add elements to your architecture that you weren’t already using, or change your basic workflows. Dataddo’s intuitive interface and quick set-up lets you focus on integrating your data, rather than wasting time learning how to use yet another platform.
Pros:
- Friendly for non-technical users with a simple user interface.
- Can deploy data pipelines within minutes of account creation.
- Flexibly plugs into users’ existing data stack.
- No-maintenance: API changes managed by the Dataddo team.
- New connectors can be added within 10 days from request.
- Security: GDPR, SOC2, and ISO 27001 compliant.
- Customizable attributes and metrics when creating sources.
- Central management system to track the status of all data pipelines simultaneously.
Adverity
Adverity is a flexible end-to-end marketing analytics platform that enables marketers to track marketing performance in a single view and effortlessly uncover new insights in real-time.
Thanks to automated data integration from over 600 sources, powerful data visualizations, and AI-powered predictive analytics, Adverity enables marketers to track marketing performance in a single view and effortlessly uncovers new insights in real-time.
This results in data-backed business decisions, higher growth, and measurable ROI.
Pros
- Fully automated data integration from over 600 data sources.
- Fast data handling and transformations at once.
- Personalized and out-of-the-box reporting.
- Customer-driven approach
- High scalability and flexibility
- Excellent customer support
- High security and governance
- Strong built-in predictive analytics
- Easily analyze cross-channel performance with ROI Advisor.
Pricing: The subscription-based pricing model is available upon request.
Atlas.ti
Atlas.ti is all-in-one research software. This big data analytic tool gives you all-in-one access to the entire range of platforms. You can use it for qualitative data analysis and mixed methods research in academic, market, and user experience research.
Features:
- You can export information on each source of data.
- It offers an integrated way of working with your data.
- Allows you to rename a Code in the Margin Area
- Helps you to handle projects that contain thousands of documents and coded data segments.
- Supported platforms: Mac, Windows, Web, Mobile App
Xplenty
Xplenty is a cloud-based ETL solution providing simple visualized data pipelines for automated data flows across a wide range of sources and destinations. Xplenty’s powerful on-platform transformation tools allow you to clean, normalize, and transform data while also adhering to compliance best practices.
Features:
- Powerful, code-free, on-platform data transformation offering
- Rest API connector – pull in data from any source that has a Rest API
- Destination flexibility – send data to databases, data warehouses, and Salesforce
- Security focused – field-level data encryption and masking to meet compliance requirements
- Rest API – achieve anything possible on the Xplenty UI via the Xplenty API
- Customer-centric company that leads with first-class support
Chartio
Platform: Chartio
Description: Chartio is a cloud-based data discovery platform that lets you create charts and interactive dashboards. The product features a proprietary, visual version of SQL that enables any user to explore, transform and visualize data via a flexible drag-and-drop interface. There is no need to build data models in advance. Chartio includes a set of pre-built connections to data sources like Amazon Redshift, Google BigQuery and Snowflake, while also enabling direct access to CSVs and Google Sheets.
Domo
Platform: Domo
Related products: Domo Everywhere, Domo integration Cloud
Description: Domo is a cloud-based, mobile-first BI platform that helps companies drive more value from their data by helping organizations better integrate, interpret and use data to drive timely decision-making and action across the business. The Domo platform enhances existing data warehouse and BI tools, and allows users to build custom apps, automate data pipelines, and make data science accessible for anyone across the organization through automated insights that can be easily shared with internal or external stakeholders.
Hitachi Vantara
Platform: Pentaho Platform
Related products: Lumada Data Services, Pentaho Data Integration
Description: Hitachi’s Pentaho analytics platform allows organizations to access and blend all types and sizes of data. The product offers a range of capabilities for big data integration and data preparation. The Pentaho platform is purpose-built for embedding into and integrating with applications, portals, and processes. Organizations can embed a range of analytics, including visualizations, reports, ad hoc analysis, and tailored dashboards. It also extends to third-party charts, graphs and visualizations via an open API for a wider selection of embeddable analytics.
BigID
Our score: 8.7User satisfaction: 97%
A modern data intelligence platform that enables enterprises to discover, manage, and protect data critical to their business. Powered by machine learning, the software allows for more efficient, consistent, and scalable data governance across any data in the cloud or data centers. It makes it possible for companies to know their data and take action for protection, privacy, and perspective.
ThoughtSpot
Key Insight: While not as well known as some other data analytics software vendors, ThoughtSpot offers a next-generation “search first” tool that earns it a berth as a leader in the market.
ThoughtSpot offers any number of compelling features, particularly an AI-based recommendation system that leverages crowdsourcing. Additionally, sources for its query options range from a legacy provider like Microsoft to a “new kid on the block” like Snowflake.
But most attractive of all, ThoughtSpot’s calling card in a crowded market is its search-based query interface. Users can input a complex analytics query – by typing or speaking – and the ThoughtSpot platform uses augmented analytics to offer insight. Impressively, it can handle large data queries, with many users sifting through more than a terabyte of information. All of this is accomplished – from comparative analysis to anomaly detection – with no software code required. So business staff can data mine without the help of experts.
Pros:
- The search interface allows easy queries of complex questions, analyzing billions of data rows with artificial intelligence.
- Founded in 2012 as a growing company, the company has ridden the wave of enterprise analytics to a solid niche in the analytics sector.
- Well regarded for its ability to scale and handle ever-larger query loads.
Cons:
- Without the large product portfolio of some vendors, users will need to bring their own related tools, like
Conclusion:
Throughout the last couple of years, there have been a lot of people that think big data and analytics can only be used by Google and Facebook. That’s simply not true. The truth is big data really is for everyone who needs it to make better decisions, which includes everyone. Banks, retail stores, insurance companies and healthcare providers all use big data tools to continue to run and grow their businesses more efficiently.