MicroStrategy Analytics vs. Spotfire

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
MicroStrategy Analytics
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
MicroStrategy Analytics is an enterprise business analytics and mobility platform. Key features include automatic big data analysis and reporting, data discovery and visualization, digital security credentials, and support for mobile devices.N/A
Spotfire
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Spotfire® is a data visualization platform that utilizes predictive analytics. In addition to data viz, it includes data wrangling capabilities, predictive analytics, location analytics, and real-time streaming analytics. Spotfire® is a business unit of Cloud Software Group, formerly known as TIBCO Spotfire.
$0.99
Per Hour (Starting)
Pricing
MicroStrategy AnalyticsSpotfire
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Spotfire for Amazon Web Services
$0.99
Per Hour (Starting)
Spotfire Cloud - Consumer
$250/yr
per seat
Spotfire Cloud - Business Author
$650/yr
per seat
Spotfire Cloud - Analyst
$1250/yr
per seat
Spotfire Platform
Please contact Spotfire sales
Spotfire Cloud Enterprise
Please contact Spotfire sales
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
MicroStrategy AnalyticsSpotfire
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsMust contact sales team for pricing information.For Enterprise engagements, please contact TIBCO directly for a custom price quote.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
MicroStrategy AnalyticsSpotfire
Considered Both Products
MicroStrategy Analytics

No answer on this topic

Spotfire
Chose Spotfire
  • Evaluation was several years ago but we continually evaluate against cloud and on-prem solutions.
  • For data discovery, interactive visualizations, statistical charting, Lasso, heat maps, CPK control carts still all hold up as strong points.
  • Limitations in user self-scheduling are …
Chose Spotfire
Spotfire has a broad feature set which covers all the needs of today's analyst, in one single solution. It could be better at data preparation, but is it its core domain after all?
Chose Spotfire
We evaluated on Mobility, Dashboarding, Web Based User Interface and Analytical capability. At the forefront was the user experience which accounted for just over half of our evaluation criteria. No platform was a 10/10 in all four categories - SAS Visual Analytics excelled in …
Chose Spotfire
Simpler platform administration and execution. Due to cloud deliverable there was not a need for viewer for end users; superior predictive modeling.
Chose Spotfire
Spotfire is routinely selected for its data engine, its ability to merge data from various data sources, and then quickly visualize the data. Spotfire can be effectively used as an ad hoc analysis tool as well as an enterprise level reporting application.
Tableau, Qlik, and …
Chose Spotfire
The usual suspects:
  • Microsoft
  • Tableau
  • Qlickview
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
MicroStrategy AnalyticsSpotfire
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
MicroStrategy Analytics
10.0
26 Ratings
20% above category average
Spotfire
8.3
299 Ratings
1% above category average
Pixel Perfect reports10.023 Ratings8.030 Ratings
Customizable dashboards10.023 Ratings9.1294 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates10.024 Ratings7.9258 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
MicroStrategy Analytics
10.0
24 Ratings
21% above category average
Spotfire
8.2
311 Ratings
1% above category average
Drill-down analysis10.022 Ratings8.3289 Ratings
Formatting capabilities10.024 Ratings7.8302 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages10.016 Ratings8.3224 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration10.023 Ratings8.5274 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
MicroStrategy Analytics
10.0
23 Ratings
18% above category average
Spotfire
8.3
283 Ratings
1% below category average
Publish to Web10.022 Ratings8.2228 Ratings
Publish to PDF10.023 Ratings8.6267 Ratings
Report Versioning10.020 Ratings8.018 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling10.022 Ratings8.4178 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers10.05 Ratings00 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
MicroStrategy Analytics
10.0
22 Ratings
21% above category average
Spotfire
8.2
310 Ratings
2% above category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)10.020 Ratings8.6306 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization10.019 Ratings8.4271 Ratings
Predictive Analytics10.018 Ratings8.1234 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining10.01 Ratings7.68 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
MicroStrategy Analytics
10.0
21 Ratings
15% above category average
Spotfire
8.1
250 Ratings
6% below category average
Multi-User Support (named login)10.019 Ratings8.7241 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model10.020 Ratings8.5206 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)10.020 Ratings7.8228 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control10.01 Ratings7.48 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)10.09 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
MicroStrategy Analytics
9.7
19 Ratings
20% above category average
Spotfire
7.3
189 Ratings
9% below category average
Responsive Design for Web Access10.019 Ratings7.9177 Ratings
Mobile Application10.015 Ratings7.6126 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile10.019 Ratings7.5148 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
MicroStrategy Analytics
10.0
8 Ratings
23% above category average
Spotfire
8.3
89 Ratings
5% above category average
REST API10.06 Ratings8.371 Ratings
Javascript API10.07 Ratings8.370 Ratings
iFrames10.05 Ratings8.454 Ratings
Java API10.04 Ratings8.257 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)10.05 Ratings8.269 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)10.06 Ratings8.560 Ratings
Best Alternatives
MicroStrategy AnalyticsSpotfire
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Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
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Score 9.9 out of 10
Enterprises
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User Ratings
MicroStrategy AnalyticsSpotfire
Likelihood to Recommend
9.9
(47 ratings)
8.6
(335 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.9
(27 ratings)
8.3
(29 ratings)
Usability
3.2
(5 ratings)
8.0
(27 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(2 ratings)
9.0
(14 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(2 ratings)
7.1
(14 ratings)
Support Rating
2.2
(5 ratings)
8.7
(27 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(52 ratings)
Online Training
9.0
(5 ratings)
8.8
(55 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(4 ratings)
8.0
(17 ratings)
Configurability
9.0
(1 ratings)
7.1
(3 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(2 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.0
(2 ratings)
7.0
(4 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
10.0
(1 ratings)
5.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
10.0
(1 ratings)
5.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
MicroStrategy AnalyticsSpotfire
Likelihood to Recommend
MicroStrategy
MSTR is great for any organization that is looking for a way to deliver complicated data in an uncomplicated way. From business teams to marketing and finance, several departments benefit from using MSTR to keep track of KPIs enabling teams to make optimizations along the way. MSTR provides great visual representations of data enabling team members to distill thousands of data points into easily digestible charts and graphs
Read full review
Spotfire
A high level of data integration is available here it supports various data sources and so on. Collaborating features allow users to give access to the dashboard and merge data analytics with other team members. It can meet the demands of both small and large size business enterprises. A customized dashboard and reports are provided to meet the specific needs and get support of extensibility through APIs and customized scripts.
Read full review
Pros
MicroStrategy
  • They sell the product well, and make promises you will actually believe
  • "checks the box" for most features a company would need. Doesn't actually deliver them though
  • They answer the phone in a timely manner. Can't answer your questions or provide support, but the queue time isn't bad
  • They have online documentation. It's not up to date, and likely doesn't reflect the version of software you are using, but hey... they can point to it.
Read full review
Spotfire
  • It has the best coding integration (python, R) of any BI product
  • The ability to work with very large datasets (10 mil+) is better than competitors
  • Export options are more complete and have better functionality
  • The data canvas is the best tool to join and transform data vs. competitors
Read full review
Cons
MicroStrategy
  • The graph options are not as robust as an Excel user might want.
  • The metadata layer can sometimes be slower, and it takes a long time for reports to run.
  • Viewing the data feed entered can be cumbersome at times, in terms of validation with reports.
Read full review
Spotfire
  • The donut chart is I guess a powerful illustrations but I hope it should be done quite simple in Spotfire. But in Spotfire there are lots of steps involve just to build a simple donut chart.
  • Table calculation (like Row or Column Differences) should be made simple or there should be drag and drop function for Table Calculation. No need for scripting.
  • Information Link should be changed. If new columns are added to the table just refreshing the data should be able to capture the new column. No need extra step to add column
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
MicroStrategy
I would always choose to renew MicroStrategy as long as they lead the market in features, functionality and price. The support of MicroStrategy is timely and professional, I frequently get answers to my questions within 24 hours and normally have solutions within 48 hours. Training available for MicroStrategy completely covers everything required to be able to expertly use MicroStrategy and understand data warehousing.
Read full review
Spotfire
-Easy to distribute information throughout the enterprise using the webplayer. -Ad hoc analysis is possible throughout the enterprise using business author in the webplayer or the thick client. -Low level of support needed by IT team. Access interfaces with LDAP and numerous other authentication methods. -Possible to continually extend the platform with JavaScript, R scripts, HTML, and custom extensions. -Ability to standardize data logic through pre-built queries in the Information Designer. Everyone in the enterprise is using the same logic -Tagging and bookmarking data allows for quick sharing of insights. -Integration with numerous data sources... flat files, data bases, big data, images, etc. -Much improved mapping capability. Also includes the ability to apply data points over any image.
Read full review
Usability
MicroStrategy
The standard grid reporting could look more like the styling and object used for the Import and Visual Insight products. In addition, object properties almost seem to be hidden when first using the product. It's as if they are asking the engineers to only use the presets we make available...and, these presets are 10+ years old. On the positive side, Microstrategy seems to be the only product, not named Cognos, which can scale to Big Data. The product is "hackable" via the SDK or tricking the Intelligence Server to do uncommon things. The Microstrategy development team also seems to be very involved with their OEM partners; especially when it comes to features and enhancements. A large majority of the improvements we suggested have made it into the product or on the roadmap for future enhancements. Only suckas fall for the shiny objects from most other vendors; Microstrategy is really the only choice for Enterprise BI.
Read full review
Spotfire
Basic tasks like generating meaningful information from large sets of raw data are very easy. The next step of linking to multiple live data sources and linking those tables and performing on the fly analysis of the imported data is understandably more difficult.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
MicroStrategy
I've never had an issue with MicroStrategy not being available due to MicroStrategy application malfunction. It is very robust and only failures I've seen were due to user error or the platform the machine running the service failed some how.
Read full review
Spotfire
Even though, it's a rather stable and predictable tool that's also fast, it does have some bugs and inconsistencies that shut down the system. Depending on the details, it could happen as often as 2-3 times a week, especially during the development period.
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Performance
MicroStrategy
Being able to customize the performance based on the business need is extremely powerful. Proper configuration and understanding of the usage pattern is key, if the technical ability of the architect is not at top level, then the product will not be configured correctly which will lead to poor performance.
Read full review
Spotfire
Generally, the Spotfire client runs with very good performance. There are factors that could affect performance, but normally has to do with loading large analysis files from the library if the database is located some distance away and your global network is not optimal. Once you have your data table(s) loaded in the client application, usually the application is quite good performance-wise.
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Support Rating
MicroStrategy
Good user community. Support team is available if you are under AMC. You get decent support after raising the support ticket. If it is product bug they will inform you and let you know which patch will resolve the same.
Read full review
Spotfire
Support has been helpful with issues. Support seems to know their product and its capabilities. It would also seem that they have a good sense of the context of the problem; where we are going with this issue and what we want the end outcome to be.
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In-Person Training
MicroStrategy
No answers on this topic
Spotfire
The instructor was very in depth and provided relevant training to business users on how to create visualizations. They showed us how to alter settings and filter views, and provided resources for future questions. However, the instructor failed to cover data sources, connecting to data, etc. While it was helpful to see how users can use the data to create reports, they failed to properly instruct us on how to get the dataset in to begin with. We are still trying to figure out connections to certain databases (we have multiple different types).
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Online Training
MicroStrategy
I have attended many trainings offered by MicroStrategy; both distance and in-person training. I earned my CRD (Certified Report Developer) certification via the online training. I found the training to be well organized and concise. Overall I will definitely continue to increase my knowledge with MicroStrategy via the online training offering.
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Spotfire
The online training is good, provides a good base of knowledge. The video demonstrations were well-done and easy to follow along. Provided exercises are good as well, but I think there could be more challenging exercises. The training has also gone up in price significantly in the last 3 years (in USD, which hurts us even more in Canada), and I'm not sure it is worth the money it now costs (it is worth how much it cost 3 years ago, but not double that.)
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Implementation Rating
MicroStrategy
We measured following KPI for the success
  • Increase in Business Feeds Loads
  • Reduction in Controllers Manual Work.
  • Conversion of Manual Work into Systematic Workflows.
  • Increase in Customer Spend
  • Reduction in Service costs
  • Reduction in time-to-market for new campaigns
  • Increase in cross sell and Up sell
  • Error reduction in customer Identification
  • Existing client retained
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Spotfire
The original architecture I created for our implementation had only a particular set of internal business units in mind. Over the years, Spotfire gained in popularity in our company and was being utilized across many more business units. Soon, its usage went beyond what the original architectural implementation could provide. We've since learned about how the product is used by the different teams and are currently in the middle of rolling out a new architecture. I suggest:
  • Have clearly defined service level agreements with all the teams that will use Spotfire. Your business intelligence group might only need availability during normal working hours, but your production support group might need 24/7 availability. If these groups share one Spotfire server, maintenance of that server might be a problem.
  • Know the different types of data you will be working with. One group might be working with "public" data while another group might work with sensitive data. Design your Library accordingly and with the proper permissions.
  • Know the roles of the users of Spotfire. Will there only be a small set of report writers or does everyone have write access to the Library?
  • ALWAYS add a timestamp prompt to your reports. You don't want multiple users opening a report that will try and pull down millions of rows of data to their local workstations. Another option, of course, is to just hard code a time range in the backing database view (i.e. where activity_date >= sysdate - 90, etc.), but I'd rather educate/train the user base if possible.
  • This probably goes without saying, but if possible, point to a separate reporting database or a logical standby database. You don't want the company pounding on your primaries and take down your order system.
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Alternatives Considered
MicroStrategy
Tableau is probably MicroStrategy Analytic's biggest competitor I've noticed over time, and I'm not sure why. Tableau only covers visualizations independently for each business user, which then creates the issues of every employee creating their own version of the data, and then you have 20 versions of the truth. A enterprise data warehouse and MicroStrategy's Visual Insight is a better method.
Read full review
Spotfire
Spotfire is significantly ahead of both products from an ETL and data ingestion capability. Spotfire also has substantially better visualizations than Power BI, and although the native visualizations aren't as flexible in Tableau, Spotfire enables users to create completely custom javascript visaualizations, which neither Tableau or Power BI has. Tableau and Power BI are likely only superior to Spotfire with respect to embedded analysis on a website.
Read full review
Scalability
MicroStrategy
This software is extremely scaleable, one can add more core servers which performs as a load balancing. The configurations available to manage usage patterns and daily activity are as high a caliber as any other enterprise level software. This product can be installed on both a windows and unix platform allow for integration on a budget.
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Spotfire
In an enterprise architecture, if Spotfire Advanced Data services(Composite Studio),data marts can be managed optimally and scalability in a data perspective is great. As the web player/consumer is directly proportional to RAM, if the enterprise can handle RAM requirement accomodating fail over mechanisms appropraitely, it is definitely scalable,
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Return on Investment
MicroStrategy
  • MicroStrategy was helpful for reducing the amount of time we needed to spend number crunching large data sets, and in doing so, allowed me as the primary users to spend more time gleaning insights from the data that in turn informed our leadership team to make strategic decisions.
  • By creating numerous canned reports available to all members of the team through email distribution or basic access to the platform, we were able to reduce the time I spent showing people how to pull the data in Microsoft Excel by nearly 40% .
  • We ended up needing to make many changes to the way our DMP was feeding data into MicroStrategy due to incorrect reporting that caused complications in accounting and finance.
Read full review
Spotfire
  • It is costly, so not suitable for small scale implementations.
  • Dashboards are as good as the developer, so need experience to get most out of it
  • You need to be on Spotfire 11 at least to implement out of the box visualizations
  • Integration with Python and R is a game changer, it comes very handy to onboard data scientists without much hassle
  • performance is exceptionally well.
  • Secure
Read full review
ScreenShots

Spotfire Screenshots

Screenshot of Smart Visual AnalyticsScreenshot of Geospatial AnalyticsScreenshot of Intelligent Data WranglingScreenshot of Point-and-click Data ScienceScreenshot of Real-time Streaming Analytics