Cloudera Data Science Workbench vs. IBM Db2 Big SQL

Organizations which already implemented on-premise Hadoop based Cloudera Data Platform (CDH) for their Big Data warehouse architecture will definitely get more value from seamless integration of Cloudera Data Science Workbench (CDSW) with their existing CDH Platform. However, for organizations with hybrid (cloud and on-premise) data platform without prior implementation of CDH, implementing CDSW can be a challenge technically and financially.

Incentivized

My recommendation obviously would depend on the application. But I think given the right requirements, IBM DB2 Big SQL is definitely a contender for a database platform. Especially when disparate data and multiple data stores are involved. I like the fact I can use the product to federate my data and make it look like it's all in one place. The engine is high performance and if you desire to use Hadoop, this could be your platform.

Incentivized

• One single IDE (browser based application) that makes Scala, R, Python integrated under one tool
• For larger organizations/teams, it lets you be self reliant
• As it sits on your cluster, it has very easy access of all the data on the HDFS
• Linking with Github is a very good way to keep the code versions intact

Incentivized

• data storage
• data manipulation
• data definitions
• data reliability

Incentivized

• Installation is difficult.
• Upgrades are difficult.
• Licensing options are not flexible.

Incentivized

• Cloud readiness.
• Ease of implementation.

Incentivized

IBM DB2 is a solid service but hasn't seen much innovation over the past decade. It gets the job done and supports our IT operations across digital so it is fair.

Incentivized

Cloudera Data Science Workbench has excellence online resources support such as documentation and examples. On top of that the enterprise license also comes with SLA on opening a ticket to Cloudera Services and support for complaint handling and troubleshooting by email or through a phone call. On top of that it also offers additional paid training services.

Incentivized

IBM did a good job of supporting us during our evaluation and proof of concept. They were able to provide all necessary guidance, answer questions, help us architect it, etc. We were pleased with the support provided by the vendor. I will caveat and say this support was all before the sale, however, we have a ton of IBM products and they provide the same high level of support for all of them. I didn't see this being any different. I give IBM support two thumbs up!

Incentivized

Both the tools have similar features and have made it pretty easy to install/deploy/use. Depending on your existing platform (Cloudera vs. Azure) you need to pick the Workbench. Another observation is that Cloudera has better support where you can get feedback on your questions pretty fast (unlike MS). As its a new product, I expect MS to be more efficient in handling customers questions.

Incentivized

MS SQL Server was ruled out given we didn't feel we could collapse environments. We thought of MS-SQL as more of a one for one replacement for Sybase ASE, i.e., server for server. SAP HANA was evaluated and given a big thumbs up but was rejected because the SQL would have to be rewritten at the time (now they have an accelerator so you don't have to). Also, there was a very low adoption rate within the enterprise. IBM DB2 Big SQL was not selected even though technically it achieved high scores, because we could not find readily available talent and low adoption rate within the enterprise (basically no adoption at the time). We ended up selecting Exadata because of the high adoption rate within the enterprise even though technically HANA and Big SQL were superior in our evaluations.

Incentivized

• Paid off for demonstration purposes.

Incentivized

• better data visibility
• solid reliability for mission critical data

Incentivized