Oracle Analytics Cloud vs. TIBCO Spotfire

Our hands are open to producing diverse reports and data analysis. When the initial setup was done and after a short time we got acquainted with this platform, we easily connected different sources and other databases to this platform and via Data Model Editor to model data, which we can use in pixel-perfect reports. It has a great user interface with a genius machine-learning system.

In the case of survey analysis, I used Spotfire for multi-dimensional analysis. My customer usually received just one-dimensional answers from the analyzer. But I analyzed/showed each question from a multi-dimensional point of view for each question. So customers could understand each question more deeply and quickly for customers' thinking.

Incentivized

• Available without of the box connectors for Salesforce and oracle Saas Cloud. This is a huge plus for our business since we don't need another middleware solution just for this sake.
• We are able to connect to our on-prem SQL Server database where we have our RMA database and other applications seamlessly without writing custom APIs.
• OAC writes directly into ADW which is another advantage for loading Excel files into ADW after dataflow transformations.
• OAC allows replication of the database from fusion ERP and lets us create subject areas using the data modeler.

Incentivized

• 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

Incentivized

• Performance of the tool: While Oracle Business Intelligence Cloud Service (OBICS) can handle large volumes of data as well, it becomes quite unstable and slow when number of concurrent users is high.
• Limited visualisation options for reporting.
• Difficult to integrate with other non-Oracle tools. This is especially needed since visualisation options are limited.

Incentivized

• They should introduce Python native visualizations
• Learning Materials for basic and Intermediate level should be made free. This helps to attract and onboard new users.
• Jupyter integration will be a great improvement.
• There should be approach available for parallel development. For Example, Two person should be able to edit and save same dashboard if they are working with different components.

Incentivized

-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.

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.

Incentivized

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.

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.

Oracle Analytics Support team is very proactive and I have never had a situation where I had to wait for more than a day or two to get my issues resolved. This is a very big help for us and we appreciate Oracle and its team for guaranteeing that experience.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

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).

Incentivized

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.)

Incentivized

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.

Better: Easy integration with different systems (internal, such as SAP; or external, such as data coming from tables from your vendors). Many companies use it and it's a good tool to learn. In my case, I learned at P&G and when I moved to Whirlpool I already learned how to use it! And I use it very often in my role. Worse: Well, if I need to do anything beyond a table, line or bar chart, I export the data and use a different tool.

Incentivized

TIBCO Spotfire is significantly ahead of both products from an ETL and data ingestion capability. TIBCO Spotfire also has substantially better visualizations than Power BI, and although the native visualizations aren't as flexible in Tableau, TIBCO 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 TIBCO Spotfire with respect to embedded analysis on a website.

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,

Incentivized

• Essbase delivers well on the business objectives with executive reporting.
• Essbase works well for financial close reporting purposes.
• Essbase is good for providing a single source of data for company actuals, forecast and budget data.

Incentivized

• We can only use it for the free trial period.
• I have to 'rebuild' the course sample files and accounts on Spotfire every semester.
• It is perfect as an excellent alternative to Tableau in the course.
• We have to use the less powerful Cloud version since the majority of the students have Macs. This means we can't use advanced AI features, for example.

Incentivized