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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Pentaho

    Score6 out of 10
    N/APentaho is a suite of open source business intelligence and analytics products, now offered and supported by Hitachi Data Systems since the June 2015 acquisition.N/A

    Sisense

    Score6.9 out of 10
    N/ASisense is a BI software and analytics platform. With what the vendor calls their In-Chip™ and Single Stack™ technologies, users have access to a comprehensive tool to analyze and visualize large, disparate data sets without IT resources.N/A
    Pricing
    PentahoSisense
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    PentahoSisense
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsMust contact sales team for pricing.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    PentahoSisense
    Considered Both Products
    Hitachi Vantara
    No answer on this topic
    Sisense Ltd
    Chose Sisense
    Sisense - in POC alongside Birst and Qlik, Sisense ran circles around Birst and Qlik and made them look stupid by comparison

    Birst - ETL was super slow and complex AND requires you to learn a proprietary scripting language
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    5 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    5 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    5 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    80%
    Implementation went as expected
    4 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    PentahoSisense
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Pentaho and Sisense
    Feature
    Pentaho
    9.0
    20 Ratings
    10% above category average
    Sisense
    9.7
    47 Ratings
    17% above category average
    Pixel Perfect reports8.618 Ratings10.037 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards9.918 Ratings10.047 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates8.718 Ratings9.033 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Pentaho and Sisense
    Feature
    Pentaho
    8.7
    19 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Sisense
    8.8
    47 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Drill-down analysis7.618 Ratings10.047 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities8.319 Ratings9.047 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages9.312 Ratings9.027 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration9.717 Ratings7.33 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Pentaho and Sisense
    Feature
    Pentaho
    9.7
    20 Ratings
    17% above category average
    Sisense
    10.0
    46 Ratings
    20% above category average
    Publish to Web9.618 Ratings10.036 Ratings
    Publish to PDF9.819 Ratings10.046 Ratings
    Report Versioning9.713 Ratings10.024 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling9.917 Ratings10.039 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers9.310 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Pentaho and Sisense
    Feature
    Pentaho
    8.1
    17 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Sisense
    9.5
    45 Ratings
    17% above category average
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)7.916 Ratings10.045 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.216 Ratings9.042 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics8.314 Ratings9.029 Ratings
    Pattern Recognition and Data Mining00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Pentaho and Sisense
    Feature
    Pentaho
    9.1
    20 Ratings
    7% above category average
    Sisense
    10.0
    45 Ratings
    16% above category average
    Multi-User Support (named login)9.320 Ratings10.045 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model9.619 Ratings10.044 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)9.918 Ratings10.045 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)7.610 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Pentaho and Sisense
    Feature
    Pentaho
    8.3
    11 Ratings
    7% above category average
    Sisense
    9.7
    40 Ratings
    23% above category average
    Responsive Design for Web Access9.710 Ratings10.040 Ratings
    Mobile Application6.97 Ratings10.025 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile8.711 Ratings10.034 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Pentaho and Sisense
    Feature
    Pentaho
    8.6
    10 Ratings
    10% above category average
    Sisense
    -
    Ratings
    REST API8.310 Ratings00 Ratings
    Javascript API9.09 Ratings00 Ratings
    iFrames7.39 Ratings00 Ratings
    Java API8.79 Ratings00 Ratings
    Themeable User Interface (UI)8.910 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)9.610 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    PentahoSisense
    Small Businesses
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score7 out of 10
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    PentahoSisense
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.1
    (31 ratings)
    10.0
    (58 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.8
    (11 ratings)
    8.9
    (14 ratings)
    Usability
    9.3
    (6 ratings)
    10.0
    (6 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.3
    (7 ratings)
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    9.5
    (2 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.1
    (3 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    8.4
    (16 ratings)
    9.1
    (47 ratings)
    Data Sources
    8.6
    (16 ratings)
    9.2
    (47 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    PentahoSisense
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Hitachi Vantara
    Pentaho is very well suited to perform data extraction & data mining from various cloud storage & transform that data using various available data models. However, the software struggles when it comes to visualizing the extracted data in an appealing manner & can be difficult for end-users to get an understanding of data tables created using those models.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sisense Ltd
    I believe Sisense is perfectly suited for any organization of any size that have access to the proper resources, as the tool is very expensive. The data connectors come in all shapes and sizes out of the box, which allows a great deal of data control within the ElastiCubes. Additionally, while the platform only runs on Windows platforms, the web application can be accessed on any client: mobile, Apple, Windows, etc. This allows a much more flexible user experience, resulting in data and dashboards reaching further than any other tool.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Hitachi Vantara
    • Integrate and synchronize with big data easily
    • Import data from any sources and different databases
    • Managing data in on-premise, hybrid and cloud environments.
    • Compatibility and flexibility of the platform with any type of scenario and any business or industry
    • Various tools in the software suite to transformation of data
    • Simple interface appearance and creative UI graphics
    Read full review
    Sisense Ltd
    • Customization - lots of supported and community plugins available. Users can also adjust the look and feel through JavaScript.
    • Innovation - Sisense is continuing to push the envelope by developing new features through Sisense Labs.
    • Customer support - the commitment to excellent customer service and ensuring organizations get the most out of their investment.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Hitachi Vantara
    • I think the relative obscurity of the tool is a downside, not as many developers, consultants or peers you can tap into.
    • Lack of a solid user community held us back, looking at Power BI and Qlik, they have huge user communities that help each other out. Would have liked that here.
    • Smaller company means smaller sales force, and the lack of a local presence made it hard to only interact online with the account rep. Other companies have someone local who often stops by with pre-sales developers to just pitch in free of charge when they have time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sisense Ltd
    • The usability of the application on mobile devices needs some improvement, especially navigation and filtering.
    • Dashboards that are created by multiple users can be a bit of a hassle to share by Admins.
    • If you need to embed dashboards into your website, you are require to buy a license separate from the user and platform license. This is a norm on most BI visualization tools, but Sisense can seem a bit on the high side, cost-wide.
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Hitachi Vantara
    I will use Pentaho until I find a better tool with a better, easier to use report designer client. For now, Pentaho has been the most powerful reporting tool for our clients because of its ability to connect to Odoo, integrate in Odoo (reports are accessible in Odoo) and the flexibility in report design and parameter integration
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sisense Ltd
    I think the business and myself as a user has come to rely on SiSense as a dashboarding and quick ad-hoc reporting tool. I am hoping to integrate SiSense dashboards into more parts of the business in the future. We have reduced our report turn-around time for the most part from hours/days to minutes and in some cases almost the speed of thought. Reports are also easier on the eye and more easily distributed. I would also like to say that the support and professionalism from the SiSense team has been excellent.
    Read full review
    Usability
    Hitachi Vantara
    The Pentaho tools are designed so you can start playing around on your own. Of course, you will need guidance at some point, but the training teams are good at guiding new users, and the online documentation is usually pretty up-to-date.
    Some of the tools, such as the Pentaho Data Integration tool and the Pentaho Server, are pretty self-explanatory. The other tools maybe are not so quickly and obvious to use, but again, with some documentation and some customer support, you can find your way around them.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sisense Ltd
    New V5 is ground floor of an exciting collection of possibilities. Weekly Sisense developers come up with new functionality that they share with us in their forums. The move to HTML5 has been pleasing in that widgets auto size themselves into appropriate forms in the board but everyone of them can be popped out to full page size to be looked at in more detail
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Hitachi Vantara
    No answers on this topic
    Sisense Ltd
    There are very few situations when there is unexpected downtime. Mostly during development, new dashboard implementation and during upgrades. other then that there were very few crashes.
    Read full review
    Performance
    Hitachi Vantara
    No answers on this topic
    Sisense Ltd
    SiSense is usually performing better then other solutions even if going for complex reports/dashboards(of course within reasonable frames). I haven't noticed any bad influence on other systems, usually if something happens it stays within SiSense.
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Hitachi Vantara
    They were responsive to our questions when we raised issues. They gave us workarounds when required. They were quite knowledgeable when it came to issue analysis and providing fixes. They were forthright in informing us if a bug was not due for release soon.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sisense Ltd
    SiSense's support ninjas are very knowledgeable and are exceptionally responsive. So far, all of the issues we ran into were resolved within minimum time. My sense of dealing with the support staff at SiSense is that they are very focused on not just answering your immediate question, but also to delve into the cause of the matter.
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Hitachi Vantara
    No answers on this topic
    Sisense Ltd
    Easy and free training that allowed us quickly understand basics in SiSense and start using them. More advanced features requires some browsing through SiSense forums, but there is always support to help, and SiSense support is one of the best whith which I worked so far.
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Hitachi Vantara
    Course Taken: DI1000 Pentaho Data Integration Fundamentals Setup A week before your class started, the instructor will start sending out class material and lab setup instructions. This is helpful so that you understand how the environment is laid out and can start reviewing the content. Ultimately it saved about a 1/2 day trying to setup with 10 other people online which was great! The Course The 3-day course was laid out like many other technical classes with 15-30 minutes instruction and 15-60 minutes of lab exercises. The instructor was very knowledgeable with the functionality from version to version and answered questions as we went along. I was amazed at some of the functionality that was available that I was not using at the time and quickly implemented changes to many existing transformations and jobs. The novice users seemed to catch on quickly and more experienced users explained how some of the functionality was used in their home environments. Towards the end there was enough time so that we were able to ask very directed questions about our own environments. Overall, I really found the class to be informative and deliver enough information to be dangerous. My skills improved and I was able to design better and efficient transformations for the HIE. Course Description: https://training.pentaho.com/instructor-led-training/pentaho-data-integration-fundamentals-di1000
    Read full review
    Sisense Ltd
    Many examples, videos and scenarios which you try on your own right away. This combined with in-person training gives you enough to utilize most of SiSense's power.
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Hitachi Vantara
    Get the right people in before starting implementation. Start small and build as you go approach is time consuming and involves lot of rework. Evangalize within the organization the capabilities and limitations equally so that correct delivery expectations are set. Set expectations with the Customer that the tool cannot replace proprietary software in terms of stability/usability and that timelines could change given the new ness of the product.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sisense Ltd
    Remember to migrate the plugins. The documentation however is pretty straight forward.
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Hitachi Vantara
    Since the Pentaho platform offers a range of broad functionality across data preparation and advanced analytics, it also can be easily integrated to support many data sources and machine-learning frameworks. Based on that fact, we selected Pentaho to be used in our internal department. It also supports many of our BI use cases as required by company management or the business user. Last but not least, the Pentaho license is cheaper than their competitor.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sisense Ltd
    1) Easy to use, really, there is nothing too much to say. The set up is easy and not confusing. You can use it internally or externally.
    2) Customer Service, having spoken to various product reps from similar industry. Sisense rep provides you with the best support to get started, and it is really appreciated.
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Hitachi Vantara
    No answers on this topic
    Sisense Ltd
    Product is quite easily scalable. The whole installation can be easily moved to stronger machine if needed.
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Hitachi Vantara
    • Pentaho has improved our overall business process.
    • Pentaho has helped the Managers and Directors to analyze the numbers going up and down from time to time.
    • We have a started a big project using Pentaho that is going to include all the business processes in the organization.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sisense Ltd
    • Report development time is reduced from 2~3 days to 2~3 hours.
    • Report querying time is improved from 0.5~10 mins to 2~30 seconds.
    • A 2-staff team delivers 10 times the BI output that we did on the old system.
    • We were able to deliver BI and data analysis for all business functions instead of a very limited group of users
    Read full review
    ScreenShots