KNIME vs BusinessObjects

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Our analysts compared KNIME vs BusinessObjects based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Business Intelligence Tools, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

KNIME Software Tool
BusinessObjects Software Tool

Product Basics

KNIME is an open-source end-to-end data analytics solution. It utilizes visual workflows with drag-and-drop functionality and thousands of nodes to lessen the data analytics learning curve data, with more than 1,800 prebuilt default workflows for streamlined setup.

It allows for data ingestion, preparing, cleansing, analyzing and visualizing. It can be scaled for deeper analytics through integrations with sophisticated data modeling capabilities. It can be hosted on-premise or in the cloud through Microsoft Azure.
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BusinessObjects is a suite of business intelligence (BI) tools that helps organizations collect, analyze, and visualize data to make better decisions. It's most suited for large enterprises with complex data needs, as it offers a wide range of features and capabilities. Key benefits include improved data visibility, enhanced decision-making, and increased productivity. Popular features include data modeling, reporting, ad hoc querying, and dashboards. User experiences highlight its ease of use, robust functionality, and scalability, though some note its potential for complexity and higher learning curve. Compared to similar products, BusinessObjects often stands out for its comprehensiveness and integration capabilities. Pricing is typically based on a per-user or per-named-user basis, with annual subscription fees.

Pros
  • Easy to use
  • Robust features
  • Scalable
  • Comprehensive
  • Integrates well
Cons
  • Can be complex
  • Steeper learning curve
  • Costly
  • May require training
  • Can be resource-intensive
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Small
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Large
Windows
Mac
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Android
Chromebook
Windows
Mac
Linux
Android
Chromebook
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile

Product Assistance

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In Person
Live Online
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Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
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Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
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FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support

Product Insights

  • Open-Source: Join a network of thousands of users, enabling collaboration and support. The source code is free to download and access.  
  • Free To Use: Save money by getting access to all of the platform’s features for free. Licensed productivity and collaboration extensions are available at a cost. 
  • Increased Business Intelligence: Get digestible, actionable data to make informed business decisions. Aggregating large datasets into predictive and prescriptive models via comprehensive visualizations and summary statistics gives users projections for the best course of action.  
  • Scalable: Obtain access to big data by scaling up the project in-platform. Integrations to distributed and multi-threaded data processing allow projects to grow. 
  • End-To-End Analytics:  It is capable of handling some tasks from start to finish without integrations. Additional integrations may be required for increasing scale and completing more sophisticated analytics. 
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  • Real-Time Analysis: Connects to a range of data sources, including other SAP applications, to deliver real-time data and up-to-the-minute updates, so users are never behind the times. 
  • High-Volume Delivery: Distributes content over a large organization to ensure all users have real-time access to data, visualizations and collaboration. 
  • Extensive SAP Ecosystem: Integrates and connects seamlessly with other SAP tools through built-in APIs. This extends usability and draws data directly from a range of SAP systems. 
  • Self Service: Users of all technical levels can manipulate data, explore trends, create visualizations and share them with others without waiting for a data scientist to deliver insights. 
  • Enterprise-Grade: As one of the largest software providers in the world, it offers a robust solution that can handle the largest, most complex data sets for any size enterprise. 
  • Intuitive Visualizations: Create a variety of intuitive visualizations from data, making patterns and trends more apparent and transferring information more efficiently than numbers or text reports. 
  • Better Business Decisions: Historical patterns and data tracking helps identify trends and make accurate predictions for the future. Make data-driven business decisions and implement proven best practices. 
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  • Sharing and Collaboration: KNIME Hub is an online repository for existing workflows, nodes and extensions that can be easily installed into a user’s workflow. Upload workflows and search for the components needed for projects. 
  • In-database or Distributed Processing: Process data in-database or through a distributed cluster like Apache Spark for increasing scale. It has prebuilt workflows for in-database processing, like SQL Servers. 
  • Model Predictions and Validation: Using machine learning and AI, produce predictive and prescriptive models. Use performance metrics such as AUC and R2 to verify models.  
  • Visual Workflows: Using a drag-and-drop interface, compose a workflow with little to no coding. Prebuilt generic workflows and components can be downloaded from KNIME Hub. 
  • Data Management: Handles all steps of the extract, transform and load processes. It can ingest, blend, prepare, cleanse and store structured and unstructured data. It can combine data types, including PDF, JSON, CSV and unstructured types like documents and images. 
  • Data Visualizations: Compile analyses into reports with heat graphs, bar charts, scatter plots and more. Visualizations can be exported as PDFs, PowerPoints or other formats.  
  • Tool Blending: Tools with unique domains can be combined within a workflow via native nodes. These include Python or R scripting, processing connectors, machine learning and AI. 
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  • Native Mobile Apps: Take visualization features like charts, reports and more on the go with native iOS and Android apps. 
  • Pre-Built Data Connectors: Draw data from over 25 pre-set sources such as SAP HANA, Apache, Hadoop, Hive, Cloudera, Impala, Amazon, IBM and many more. 
  • Integrations: Provides powerful integration capabilities with other applications such as CRM, ERP, web applications and more. Includes SAP tools and others like the Microsoft Suite. 
  • Data Discovery: Collects, cleans and analyzes data from a variety of sources to help users identify trends and patterns. 
  • Data Transformation: Converts data between formats and structures — organizes and structures unstructured data into usable information. 
  • Visualizations: Generates graphical data visualizations such as bar charts, pie graphs, scattergrams, line plots, maps and more. 
  • Secure Collaboration: Users can securely share visualizations with team members, clients and others through email, web embedding and other platforms. 
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Product Ranking

#89

among all
Business Intelligence Tools

#14

among all
Business Intelligence Tools

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User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 236 reviews
Great User Sentiment 1869 reviews
89%
of users recommend this product

KNIME has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 89% when considering 236 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

81%
of users recommend this product

BusinessObjects has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 81% when considering 1869 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

4.3 (41)
3.8 (237)
4.6 (18)
4.2 (158)
4.6 (139)
4.2 (722)
3.9 (38)
3.9 (752)

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Functionality: It provides a comprehensive set of nodes and functions to process large quantities of data, as noted by 69% of users who referred to functionality.
User Friendly: It is intuitive and easy to use, as noted by 79% of reviewers who refer to ease of use.
Connectivity: Around 77% of users who talked about connectivity mentioned its ability to seamlessly connect and integrate with multiple sources.
Cost: All users were happy that the solution is available free of charge, with no data limits.
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Ease of Use: It is a straightforward and easy to use platform, as noted by over 65% of reviewers who mention ease of use.
Flexible Reporting: Around 84% of the reviewers who specify reporting state that it offers a flexible reporting feature to fit individual needs.
Integration: It enables integration with SAP products and third-party software, as observed by 89% of the users referring to integration.
Customization: It provides highly customizable tools and options, as noted by 88% of reviewers who specify customization.
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Performance: Nearly 95% of reviewers who mentioned performance said that the solution runs slowly and uses too much CPU and memory.
Visualization: Approximately 67% of users who specified visualization talked about its lack of proper visualization options.
Support: About 67% of users who reviewed support mentioned how hard it is to get proper documentation or support.
Learning Curve: KNIME has a steep learning curve, according to about 64% of users who mentioned the learning curve.
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Learning Curve: It involves a steep learning curve for beginners, as stated by 80% of the users mentioning the learning curve.
Implementation: Over 80% of reviewers who discussed implementation report that the process is cumbersome.
Pop-ups: Error messages and pop-ups are technical and hard to decipher, as observed by 100% of reviewers who refer to pop-ups.
Performance: Around 86% of the users who specify performance report that it becomes slow and crashes at times when multiple prompts are opening.
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KNIME is a robust open-source solution with cross-platform interoperability. It integrates with a range of software, such as JS, R, Python and Spark. With a variety of nodes and functions, it can process large datasets with a decent level of control in each step. Workflows are displayed as connected nodes, making it easy to isolate and fix specific steps. It also contains built-in tools to create and test supervised and unsupervised machine learning models. Users found the UI very intuitive and flexible. On the flip side, they found the tool visually lacking and primitive. The system also has performance and stability issues. Processing big data is very time consuming since the platform isn’t cloud-based. Users reported excessive memory usage as well. It also lacks reporting or monitoring features. Decent technical knowledge is required to fully leverage its capabilities.

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User reviews for BusinessObjects paint a picture of a powerful BI tool with both strengths and weaknesses. On the positive side, users praise its comprehensive features, enabling them to tackle complex data challenges. "It's like a Swiss Army knife for data analysis," one user says, "from basic reports to advanced modeling, it's got it all." This feature depth is often contrasted with simpler competitors, with users appreciating the ability to handle diverse needs without needing multiple tools. However, the learning curve can be steep, especially for non-technical users. "It's not exactly drag-and-drop for beginners," another user admits. This complexity can lead to frustration and require investment in training, which some users find less intuitive compared to competitors. Despite the learning hurdle, many users highlight BusinessObjects' scalability and integration capabilities as its main differentiators. "It seamlessly connects with our existing systems," one user notes, "saving us time and effort." This smooth integration is often lacking in competitors, making BusinessObjects a preferred choice for organizations with complex data ecosystems. Overall, user reviews suggest BusinessObjects is a powerful and versatile BI tool best suited for organizations with complex data needs and the resources to support its learning curve. Its comprehensive features and integration capabilities set it apart, making it a strong contender for those seeking a robust BI solution despite the initial investment required.

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