Overall Satisfaction with TIBCO Spotfire
- Spotfire provides advanced visualization that can be further customized with custom expressions, which is a very powerful and versatile functionality. Coupled with property controls that allow users make various selections and changes to variables, this functionality allows creating pretty robust 'what if' scenarios. Such has multiple applications ranging from price analysis and price development to budgeting to cash flow to engineering.
- Spotfire is very good at data transformations and enrichment. This allows aligning multiple otherwise disparate data sources and analyzing data from those data sources side by side and on the same view. That in turn provides deeper insight into data.
- Spotfire offers a wide range of formula types including statistical formulas that allow for high degree of customization and flexibility in building visualizations and/or logic. This in turn again allows getting more insight into/from data.
- Combination chart does not allow stacked bars along with a line. So, if the user does stacked bars i.e., based on one column but broken down with the column's individual values by color, then the line is not possible to do.
- The statistical table of the box plot visualization, though very useful and customizable, cannot be formatted and the default formats aren't based on the columns' formats either.
- Data transformations, though extremely useful and critical for data alignment for multiple data sources, cannot be changed once implemented for a data table. If changes are due, the entire data table must be re-done.
- There are multiple bugs that either unexpectedly shut down a Spotfire session or otherwise interfere. For example, if a data table has data transformations and columns inserted from external tables and if such a data table is embedded then it may become un-refreshable. Sometimes, that can be corrected by selecting "Linked to Source", saving the file and re-opening. But sometimes, it becomes un-refreshable for good, meaning that the data table must be re-done from scratch.
- If a column that is being used in any expression or as a matched column is deleted, the entire data table becomes embedded and will have to be re-done from scratch.
- There's limited functionality to personalize visualizations with colors, shapes, fonts, etc.
Tableau
QlikView
Business Objects
We picked Spotfire because it provided the most robust visualization development functionality with a lot of flexibility of custom expressions. It also allows enriching data with lookups in a much more flexible way than either Tableau or QlikView. Finally, it is a more scalable solution that works better with more data sources and databases.
QlikView
Business Objects
We picked Spotfire because it provided the most robust visualization development functionality with a lot of flexibility of custom expressions. It also allows enriching data with lookups in a much more flexible way than either Tableau or QlikView. Finally, it is a more scalable solution that works better with more data sources and databases.
- In the first year of the usage of analytics developed on the Spotfire platform, we're expecting over 500-600% ROI, which is pretty hefty. It's not necessarily all the benefits directly from Spotfire but the analytics and logic built into it.
- Online training
- In-person training
Spotfire Feature Ratings
Using TIBCO Spotfire
200 - Pricing and marketing; business intelligence; commercial organization; sales
10 - Functional owner (me), business analysts, and data engineers and developers.
- Analytics of Historical Prices: Price and strategy development.
- Analytics of Competitive Prices: Price and strategy development and competitive bids
- Customer Analysis: Orders and sales performance per technology, product line, region, etc., revenue per installed base.
- Competitive and win/loss analysis: Reasons for wins and losses, what competitors we're up against per technology, segment, product line, why we win and lose against individual competitors, etc., competitors' capabilities, geographic coverage, etc.
Evaluating TIBCO Spotfire and Competitors
Metreo and Excel.
TIBCO Spotfire Implementation
- Implemented in-house
TIBCO Spotfire Support
No - Working for a large copmany, we get good support without paying a premium.
Using TIBCO Spotfire
TIBCO Spotfire Reliability
Integrating TIBCO Spotfire
- MS Excel.
- MS Access.
To my knowledge, the integration capabilities of Spotfire 4.02 with either MS Excel or Access is pretty limited.
Relationship with TIBCO Software Inc.
Can't be disclosed.
Upgrading TIBCO Spotfire
Yes - I wasn't involved in the IT side of the upgrade. But when it was done by IT which took about a week the transition went quick and smooth. We upgraded to version 6.5 a year ago. Much better and faster than 5.5