Spotfire vs SAP Analytics Cloud

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Our analysts compared Spotfire vs SAP Analytics Cloud based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Business Analytics Tools, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

SAP Analytics Cloud Software Tool

Product Basics

Spotfire is a software solution for business reporting and analytics. Ranked third on our product directory, it shines for data science and streaming analytics. Dashboards are customizable and interactive. Automation services help create and deliver reports on schedule. You can download it on Windows and access it through other operating systems via workarounds.

Organizations across the board find Spotfire helpful, be it pharma companies or oil and gas suppliers. Manufacturing and supply chain businesses also opt for it on account of its functions and formulas. Techniques like regression and what-if analysis support predictions. Reporting on inventory levels can help you anticipate and plan when to place the next order.

With a data tool, you expect to have data management built in, and Spotfire does an excellent job. It enables cleaning data from the user interface — inline data cleansing — and flags anomalies.

Geomapping is sometimes an afterthought in BI tools. Spotfire scores with excellent location analytics and companies with field machinery find it helpful. Plan maintenance by keeping tabs on machine performance and aging trends using Spotfire dashboards.

Spotfire has data management with anomaly detection and inline data cleansing. Geomapping is sometimes an afterthought in BI tools. Spotfire scores with excellent location analytics, which is why many companies with field machinery find it helpful.

Spotfire's robust calculations are due to TIBCO's runtime engine. Report templates are available, and you can create your own. Its Automation Services help manage routine reporting.

Users praise Spotfire for its connections with an active community that contributes additional connectors. They appreciate its visualizations and the freedom to customize data displays. The vendor provides exceptional support for mobile insights.

The latest edition, Spotfire X, has NLQ-powered searches, AI recommendations and model-based processing. A 30-day trial with 250 GB of storage is available. At $1,250 per year, a Spotfire Analyst license costs more than Tableau and Power BI, and users agree that pricing is steep.

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SAP Analytics Cloud is an augmented analytics solution that uses machine learning technology to generate data visualizations and simulate predictive scenarios. It provides every member of an organization with access to automatic, interactive insights via natural language processing. Powered by artificial intelligence, it helps businesses make decisions with confidence by exploring what-if possibilities based on historical data.

There are multiple plans available with different functionality levels, so businesses can choose the subscription that provides the best fit for their needs.
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Product Assistance

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Product Insights

  • Make Informed Decisions: Ensure you don't miss any data when performing analysis. Spotfire connects to over 50 sources out of the box and provides many more, thanks to its active community. When a connector isn't available, you can rely on TIBCO’s data virtualization capabilities. Users appreciate its expertise in capturing streaming data, which many data tools have yet to catch up with. Our analysts awarded it top honors for source connectivity.
  • Gain Accurate Insight: Make decisions with confidence, knowing you have quality data in your corner. Organize data using metadata management and build workflows in a dedicated wizard. Or use freeform SQL query building with autocomplete. Spotfire scores a perfect 100 in our analyst rankings for seamless data preparation and management. It’s mainly due to inline data correction, which not many platforms support.
  • Visualize Insight: Achieve your weekly, monthly and yearly goals. Put your data to work with interactive dashboards and visualizations that come alive thanks to animations. Get suggestions on how datasets relate and visualizations that fit your analysis. And don't worry about it going stale — you can set it up to refresh on cue. Our analysts give Spotfire the top award for dashboarding and visualization.
  • Stay Mobile: Spotfire wins our analyst recommendation for responsive mobile insights on iOS and Android. You can favorite views and search for them later and swipe left and right between pages on your phone. Share your findings via email, SMS or other communication channels. Map visualizations are available on mobile — Spotfire will show you relevant data based on your location. QR code scanning is available. Spotfire gets a 100 score in our assessment.
  • Add Location Data: If your data includes location coordinates, Spotfire can directly plot these points on a map. If it contains city, state, or country names, Spotfire can convert them into locations on the map. Geographic searches, functions and calculations are available. Our analysts give Spotfire a 100 for its mapping features.
  • Automate Reports: Its automation services earn Spotfire another perfect 100 for reporting. Report scheduling and alerts are no longer optional; every organization that wants its teams to own their tasks wants automation. And Spotfire wins hands down with another perfect 100 in our analysis. Readymade reports templates are available, and you can build your own. Apply filters, drill down or perform calculations with ease. Report exports are possible in standard file formats, such as PDF, Excel and CSV.
  • Stay Competitive: Spotfire supports cohort analysis and decision trees. ML algorithms can extract features from text data for model training. Built for data science, it has capabilities for neural networks and deep learning. Spotfire gets 99 in our machine learning rankings.
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  • Increase Efficiency: Automatically generates relevant explanations and insights, saving time for those who would otherwise spend it slicing and dicing data to find that information.
  • Smarter Analytics: Digs deeper and thinks smarter with data thanks to machine learning technology that powers its Smart Predict, Smart Insights and Smart Discovery modules.
  • No IT Training Needed: Discover insights through natural-language processing which eliminates the need for cryptic queries. Easily access augmented analytics, irrespective of skill levels in data science or visualization.
  • Anticipate Problems: Detect risks and avoid issues before they happen through predictive forecasting and alerts.
  • More Informed Decisions: Determine the best course of action through AI-powered capabilities that take the uncertainty and guesswork out of decision-making.
  • Visualize Impact: Software algorithms identify key influencers and make it easier to see what drives business and what impacts the bottom line the most.
  • Work Better Together: Collaborate through the cloud, keeping in constant communication to get the job done together.
  • Free Trial: Download a 30-day free trial version from the vendor's website.
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  • Spotfire Actions: Decide what to do with and act instantly — no need to switch to your procurement application to pause new orders. This powerful feature allows you to run scripts within analytics workflows. You can also trigger actions in your external system through visualization. Spotfire can set up over 200 commercial connections and has 1800 community connectors.
  • Mods: Build reusable workflows and visualization components, much like apps in Power BI and Qlik Sense. They allow your users to tailor their analytical processes so they don’t have to start from scratch every time. Based on code, they run in a sandbox with limited access to system resources for security. Users can share them through the Spotfire library. Mods improve efficiency and collaboration.
  • Batch Edits: Make similar changes to multiple files in one go. Write custom scripts to call the Spotfire API that’ll make changes to the files. Update the IronPython version to the latest one or embed the Spotfire JQueryUI library instead of its references.
  • Recurring Jobs: Simplify event scheduling to better manage your time and tasks. Improve efficiency and deliver reports at the same time on the same day of the week or month. The latest Spotfire version allows you to set recurring automation jobs to occur every X hours, days, weeks or months.
  • Web Player REST API: Share insight with clients and partners without them needing to sign up for a paid Spotfire account. Engage them via data visualizations on the web browser, thanks to Spotfire Web Player. Update analyses on the web with real-time data in the latest Spotfire version.
  • Roles: Invest wisely — opt for licenses that align with user roles. Choose Spotfire Analyst for data analysts, scientists and power users who need deep-dive analysis. Get the Business Author license for enterprise users, analysts and power users to create and consume insights without deep expertise. Choose consumer licenses for users who’ll interact with and consume data. They include the C-suite and non-technical users within the organization.
  • Information Designer: Prepare fully governed data sources for business users in a dedicated wizard. Set up their preferred data sources and define in advance how Spotfire will query and import data into storage. Specify which columns to load and which filters, joins and aggregations to apply.
  • Audio and Image Processing: Add user feedback from customer calls and videos. Interpret public sentiment about your product by analyzing social media pictures and videos. Spotfire enables writing code to extract text from audio and image files. You can then import the data into the platform for analysis.
  • IoT Analytics: Gain insight at lightning speed; build microservices and deploy them at the edge. With Spotfire, you can add IoT data to your regular data for the complete picture.
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  • Data Preparation: Alerts as to possible errors and automatically cleans data through machine learning technology to enhance data for deeper insights. Offers context-based suggestions for better data preparation and data visualizations through Smart Transformations.
  • Chat With Data: Type questions into the Search to Insight bar in natural language to instantly create visualizations — no syntax mastery necessary. Analyze data easily, similar to using a search engine.
  • Instant Data Visualization: See the full picture in seconds; the solution generates interactive charts and graphs automatically upon query.
  • Predictive Forecasting: Generates prediction models that learn from historical data to automatically detect risks and predict what is likely to happen in the future.
  • What-If Analysis: Create what-if simulations through the power of self-service machine learning. Plan for the next steps by fine-tuning prediction scenarios based on confidence levels.
  • Highlight KPIs: Answer the “why” and “what” questions through augmented analytics. Identify the top contributors to business performance — the people, products and processes that contribute to the overall story.
  • Analyze Anomalies: Take corrective action aided by Smart Discovery, which automatically points out outlying data.
  • Hybrid Analytics: Protect technology investments by continuing to manage on-premise systems and existing data infrastructure, while simultaneously moving towards the future by leveraging the cloud. Supports a wide range of data connections, ensuring import and access to data from any source to maintain a 360-degree view of the business.
  • Partners: Over 100 partners offer upwards of 430 analytical extensions in the SAP App Center that provide additional value and industry specific applications to the platform.
  • Built-In Collaboration: Create discussions, assign tasks and deadlines and comment on data points. Share information and interact with each other continuously on screen.
  • Mobile App: Stay connected to the Cloud via a responsive, interactive iOS app.
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Product Ranking

#7

among all
Business Analytics Tools

#34

among all
Business Analytics Tools

Find out who the leaders are

Analyst Rating Summary

85
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97
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Availability & Scalability
Data Sources Connectivity
Deployment Options
Extensibility
Internet of Things (IoT) Analytics
Availability & Scalability
Data Management
Deployment Options
OS Support
Professional Services and Maintenance

Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

Spotfire
SAP Analytics Cloud
+ Add Product + Add Product
Advanced Analytics Augmented Analytics Dashboarding And Data Visualization Data Management Data Querying Embedded Analytics Geospatial Visualizations And Analysis Internet Of Things (IoT) Analytics Mobile BI Platform Functions Reporting 88 39 82 99 79 56 94 100 100 100 84 88 50 97 100 88 0 65 60 87 91 93 0 25 50 75 100
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Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

Spotfire
SAP Analytics Cloud
+ Add Product + Add Product
Availability & Scalability Data Sources Connectivity Deployment Options Extensibility OS Support Security 100 100 100 100 100 80 100 68 100 50 100 88 0 25 50 75 100
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User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 1749 reviews
Great User Sentiment 834 reviews
86%
of users recommend this product

Spotfire has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 86% when considering 1749 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

85%
of users recommend this product

SAP Analytics Cloud has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 85% when considering 834 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

4.3 (14)
n/a
4.2 (315)
4.2 (274)
4.4 (60)
4.3 (72)
4.4 (539)
4.1 (148)
4.3 (821)
4.3 (340)

Awards

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Spotfire and concluded it earns best-in-class honors for Internet of Things (IoT) Analytics, Mobile BI and Data Sources Connectivity.

Internet of Things (IoT) Analytics Award
Mobile BI Award
Data Sources Connectivity Award

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Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Data Visualization: About 86% of reviewers were satisfied with the available options when designing dashboards.
Support: Around 74% of users praised vendor support for their timely response and helpful attitude.
Integration: Almost 72% of users were satisfied that it integrates with their preferred systems.
Friendly Interface: Around 68% of reviewers said the platform was easy to use.
Functionality: About 64% of users said it had a rich feature set.
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Data Visualization: Approximately 91% of users who reviewed visualization said that they can customize dashboards effortlessly with the solution’s wide range of templates and graphics libraries.
Ease of Use: Citing the platform’s modern and intuitive interface, around 89% of users said that the platform makes it easy to develop stories without technical knowledge thanks to Smart Discovery.
Data Analysis: Mentioning its forecasting and predictive analysis capabilities, approximately 87% of users said that the solution enables collaborative enterprise planning via statistical and predictive analysis.
Web and Mobile Accessibility: Discussing its easy accessibility on multiple browsers, around 72% users said that the platform works well on a wide range of devices.
Data Connectivity: Approximately 70% of the users who mentioned integration said that the tool, with strong live data connections, integrates well with other applications and data sources.
Functionality: Around 55% of the users who discussed features said that the tool is scalable and quite versatile, with frequent updates.
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Cost: Around 96% of the user reviews said it the price was high and licensing complex.
Adoption: 90% of reviewers said there was a significant learning curve and users would need specialized knowledge of data science and statistics.
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Performance: Approximately 85% of users who reviewed performance said that some features do not work well at the enterprise level.
Reporting: Around 58% of users who mentioned reporting said that report creation with the tool is complicated and needs IT support.
Data Management: Approximately 52% of users who discussed data preparation said that the platform needs more ubiquitous data modeling capabilities.
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In online reviews, Spotfire emerges as a user-friendly big data platform. Most users found data exploration easy with a drag-and-drop interface. Some users said the UI was dated, though, and said it could use a revamp. Most users praised its interactive visualizations and dashboards, saying they helped them interpret data better. But, a few said they would love to have more visuals to choose from.A user mentioned they did the calculations in Excel and imported them into Spotfire for visualization. It's a common scenario when a steep learning curve slows down adoption, and teams fall back on Excel. Most users said Spotfire takes time to learn. You might have to opt for a balance of multiple platforms to balance your departmental and enterprise needs.Spotfire surpasses Excel in data management, especially data prep. Customizable visualizations and custom Mods give you enough freedom to work within the platform.Though 72% of reviewers were happy with the integrations, Spotfire lacks some standard connectors, such as for Apache Kafka, forcing users to rely on workarounds.A majority of users found its pricing structure complex, especially as users increased. In such cases, organizations often tend to opt for a cheaper alternative for less advanced use cases while using the pricier platform for the critical ones. We advise doing a deep dive into the vendor's pricing plans to avoid making your tech stack top-heavy.Ultimately, Spotfire's appeal lies in its balance. It's visually captivating and user-friendly for casual users while offering enough depth for seasoned analysts. However, its pricing and learning curve might deter organizations on a tight budget.

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SAP Analytics Cloud is a powerful data visualization tool that helps users explore data in an easy-to-understand format and discover metrics that help them make informed decisions. Many users who reviewed visualization said that the platform has rich graphics libraries and a range of templates for story presentation of business metrics. Citing its aesthetic design, a majority of users said that the solution’s interface is intuitive for programmers and non-technical users alike. Mentioning its strong predictive and augmented analysis capabilities, a lot of users said that the platform is a strong planning tool and helps them gain business insights easily. Many users said that the tool works well on a plethora of devices, including mobile, and is accessible on multiple browsers, though some users said that its offline mode capabilities are limited. Most of the users who reviewed data integrations said that the tool handles large amounts of data seamlessly, though quite a few users said its compatibility with live connection data sources is limited to other SAP products. Reviewing functionality, a majority of users said that the tool is versatile and scalable to ensure a great end-to-end user experience, though some said that it needs more features, such as improved live data analytics. The solution does have its limitations, though. Around 85% of users who reviewed its performance said that it struggles at the enterprise level, though quite a few users said that it performs exceedingly well within the SAP ecosystem. A majority of the users who mentioned reporting said that the solution lacks automatic report distribution and broadcasting capabilities, though some said that it has excellent analytical and data-oriented report creation. Many users who discussed data management complained that the process for updating an existing data model needs a lot of rework, and that the solution needs more versatile modeling features. Overall, SAP Analytics Cloud is a planning tool with strong BI capabilities that brings the power of cloud computing to self-service data analysis for gaining actionable insights into business metrics.

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