Alteryx vs. Astera Centerprise

Well Suited Scenarios

• Data Preparation and Integration: Alteryx excels in data preparation tasks, such as data cleansing, transformation, and integration.
• Predictive Analytics and Modeling : It enables users to perform complex statistical analysis and models and algorithms, making it more valuable for cases like customer segmentation, demand forecasting, fraud detection.
• Automation WorkFlows: Amazing for repetitive data processing task, or automated rescheduling.

Less Appropriate Scenarios:

• Real Time data processing, large scale big data processing, Heavy statistical computations.

Incentivized

I have only been using Astera Centerprise for about 6 months and I am still learning the ins and out of it. A scenario where it seems to do well is in generating reports from SQL queries that we already had and no longer have to run the reports manually. The SQL Query Source object has been the most useful tool for me thus far. I have yet to fully stress test the server side of Astera Centerprise, but currently there have been some version updates that required me to re-set up all the scheduled jobs that we have. We only have 8 jobs thus far but have plans to expand this into the hundreds and those same updates would require exponential amounts of work.

Incentivized

• Pulling data from multiple disparate data sources.
• Allows users to see the data at every step of the workflow to be able to cleanse, analyze, and optimize the data.
• Provides an analytics platform that is easy for users of all levels to thrive in whether they are just starting out in their analytics journey or they have a master's degree in Data Science.

• API integrations vis REST Web Service transformation
• Stored Procedure integration via SQL statement Lookup transformation
• Bulk imports and exports to and from tables
• Data dumps from SQL tables to excel, csv, text files etc...
• EDI Integrations like 810, 856, 940, 945 etc.. via Astera Centerprise Data Integrator plus EDI Connect

• A larger library of data sources being leveraged/licensed through Alteryx directly similar to the Experian and Dun & Bradstreet data that is available now would be ideal for additional data enrichment.
• The ability to take R and Python-based data insights/model outputs/forecasts/etc. and pull directly into downstream tools and reporting is a bit lacking and could use improvement.

• When purchasing Astera Centerprise you are given options on how you would like to be trained and each option comes with a different price tag. We chose to be trained using online meetings over several days. The training went too fast and it was not always easy to understand until I started using the product.
• I am a person that wants to learn how and why something works so that I can use the knowledge in the future. When contacting the support team they take the problem, create a solution for you and send it back. The solutions always work, but when I get the solution I have to review every field and function to understand how it works so that I can re-create it for another solution I need. I would much rather have the support team explain what I had done incorrectly and what they changed or I would like to find a solution with them instead of having it handed to me.
• Astera uses license keys to allow their customers rights to only the functionality that was purchased. Each user and server has its own key and each key is only good for one year. There have been 2 different times that we received keys that had less functionality that we purchased. It wasn't until it created problems that we noticed and had to request new keys. This year our sales representative made sure she was available when we updated our keys so that if there was a problem she could fix it right away; however, there were not issues this year. I believe this is something they pay closer attention to now.

We've developed a working partnership with Alteryx. As an enablement suite, we're continuing to innovate and deliver great products with use of Alteryx in our solutions. Alteryx use expands to our global product development teams and is in use in multiple parts of our organization. Alteryx also delivers Experian demographic content to other clients in their product offering. We're highly likely to renew, but that decision is way above my pay grade.

We've been using Astera Centerprise application for the last 6 years and we've already added EDI connect to it. Both applications are working really well for our enterprise needs so far with no issues, so we'll continue renewing the licenses.

I've found that while some things might take a little longer to create, the flexibility of Alteryx allows you to perform any function needed. I haven't found a use that was not available in Alteryx yet. APIs and XMLs can be created to perform certain functions. In addition, CMD line commands can be sent using Alteryx to perform certain functions as well.

Incentivized

Centerprise is highly usable; however the version we are currently using could be a little more intuitive in some areas though by no means unworkable. I think some of the issues we have have been addressed and solved in the latest version.

I use many programs and compared to others, Alteryx virtually never goes down, freezes up or gives an application error. Over a 4 year time period that I have used this program, any of these may have happened 3 times. It is an incredibly stable program that I feel completely confident in.

In most cases Astera is stable. However, our client experiences the error from time to time. Mostly they are related to cdc file and ServerAdminConfig.xml file.

Incentivized

I have not complaints with the system. there are after events that can be added to flows that send emails with a stack trace for visibility into any errors. Stack traces include Tool IDs at the failure point to help debug. Overall the flows run quickly and once I work my own bugs out they are reliable

Incentivized

I think the performance for Astera is great when compare with other similar software

Incentivized

Stellar, bar-none. Some of the best support folks of any vendor. The Alteryx Community is the most responsive and supportive. On the rare occasion of a release issue or bug, we've been able to get quick help to solve the core problem. Alteryx does not play the blame game. They genuinely help the users solve their issues or respond to questions

Incentivized

Support is great! No matter if you need technical assistance or you have general questions about the tool - the support is very responsive and provides solutions quickly. They are available via various channels, which makes it very convenient to get in touch with them (Support portal, direct email contact, LinkedIn).

Incentivized

There is really not much to it (the installation, that is). Once you get it installed, along with any of the add-ons (demographics, R, etc.), you are up and running almost immediately. There is really no additional setup. You can immediately begin blending data, running demographics, performing spatial queries, running predictive analysis, etc. And for many of these functions, the learning curve is quite easy.

Astera support provided us implementation/installation tutorial and we were able to perform all the activities. Also one of the support was there to shadow us to make sure the process was smooth with no issues

Knime is open source and free. It also positions itself a little on machine learning. But the user experience and the features available are far less powerful than Alteryx. I was a former user of Lavastorm (ancestor of Infogix Data360) and got acquainted with the low-code graphical approach thanks to this tool. RapidMiner is the Alteryx for machine learning, but is not at all as tooled as Alteryx for data prep. I also like to use Orange BioLab which is really for machine learning and offers an excellent low-code/graphical user experience... on top of being free.

We looked at continuing to use SSIS as an alternative. Although we own SSIS as part of our SQL licensing, we found that it takes a much higher skill level to create solutions. It also does not have the ability to parse unstructured data the way that Centerprise Data Integrator can. We also looked at Datawatch Monarch as a possibility but found it over-all to be cost-prohibitive. We also looked at a cheaper alternative called SimX but did not have a strong confidence in the product as we evaluated it. We landed on Centerprise Data Integrator as it met all of our business requirements and we know we could leverage it for many uses across our enterprise.

Individual analysts can quickly generate results using their own copy of Alteryx Designer. But using the Server and developing macros for more complex needs can be time consuming.

I think Astera can do multiple things. However, we are not sure it can do. We only know the basic features. If they can give us some kind of training, then we maybe able to benefit for it.

Incentivized

• Error handling - allows controls to be built into workflows easily and allows them to be isolated and spat into control reports that can be easily reviewed and audited, thanks to the ability to create multiple outputs in one go.
• Time-saving - saved huge amounts of time, especially when moving Excel processes into Alteryx.
• Product development - allowed my firm to create products that we have been able to market and sell to clients.

Incentivized

• It is tough to say on how Centerprise would have helped us with ROI. Unfortunately our project (after 3 years) was scrapped (put on hold) due to the impromptu purchase of another Crop Insurance company. But with that, Centerprise was huge in getting our warehouse loaded for our BI Team to make important decisions about our policies.