Factiva vs. Precisely Spectrum Spatial Insights

A large part of our work depends on the ability to source quality media content from a breadth of dependable sources globally. This is Factiva's bread and butter: it has a very comprehensive list of 'quality' media sources such as nationals, dailies, business journals and magazines from around the world that are easily mined for the content they hold. If you're thinking about anything other than these 'traditional' media sources then Factiva probably isn't your thing. It doesn't do social media.

Incentivized

As previously mentioned, as long as the web platform works, the software is quite useful. However in places or areas where the platform operates with low standards (poor reception signal), the versatility and usefulness of the program decreases considerably. This type of problem in developed countries probably does not occur, or if it occurs it does very infrequently. But in non-developed countries, the frequency of occurrence can be a factor to take into consideration when choosing an program based exclusively on a web platform.

Incentivized

• Factiva offers excellent search builders so that I am able to narrow my search to specific companies or topics very easily.
• Factiva combines a large number of credible sources into one place and allows me to search all of these sources.
• Factiva's use of timestamps helps me understand when the news was known by the market which allows me to analyze how (if at all) that particular piece of news impacted the company's stock price.
• Provides an excellent starting place for learning about a company and/or industry.

Incentivized

• It allows us to visualize data with extreme ease, through maps and graphs, patterns and tendencies.
• This visualization allows, in turn, to make decisions more quickly and with a greater amount of information than what a good part of software of the same nature allows.

Incentivized

• The UX leaves room to be desired
• There are often repetitive entries
• The functionality can be confusing

Incentivized

• Being a web-based platform can, in some cases, be counterproductive, especially in areas where internet and satellite coverage are of low quality or are not available, such as jungle areas.
• The results obtained, in most cases, need to be interpolated, in order to completely characterize the study area.
• The interpolation functions are those that are typically used in commercial software used in this area of study, and have the same limitations. When using it I have not found any novelty regarding this.

Incentivized

At the time, Factiva was already being used by the company I worked for - they had developed procedures specifically for using Factiva, so there wasn't really an option. I've used Lexis, Westlaw and Bloomberg exclusively for legal research, so there wasn't really an overlap with Factiva.

Incentivized

In comparing GeoInsight to other products, I will not be of much help since this software is, as far as I know, almost exclusively used in activities related to the financial world, rather than geographical. That is why it is usually included in software of the AML (Anti-Money-Laundering) type. My interest in the program was to see its capacity for data storage and practical utility to facilitate decisions, compared to other software but more linked to geographic information (GIS software).

Incentivized

• The use of the software allowed the minimization of activities associated with logistical support to field staff. That reduced the time associated with these activities by about 15% of the initially estimated time.
• The aforementioned reduction translated into decreases in expenditures in the order of $ 2000 / day.

Incentivized