An incredibly comprehensive and powerful data analytics platform that is somehow free
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
The KNIME Analytics Platform provides a comprehensive set of tools for addressing the data manipulation and data science issues we encounter. Internally we use it for training new data scientists, building awareness of the data science workflow and data manipulation with non-technical staff. We also use it on our own data projects. The no-code environment allows us to focus on the methodology and intent of analyses with novice users without them encountering errors in syntax as they would if they were learning to code at the same time. However, the R and Python nodes allow experienced data scientists to work in their preferred language as well as allowing us to scaffold the learning of new data scientists in those languages when it becomes advantageous. We find non-technical clients will engage with the visual node structure much more than code, which helps us get to a solution more quickly. We can deliver stand-alone solutions to clients with confidence that we are not tying them into an expensive vendor relationship. Clients value that they can give access to all of their users at no licencing cost. Where collaboration and automation is required, KNIME Analytics Platform offer an extremely competitive server solution.
Pros
- Connectivity to an array of data sources and joining the data
- Rapid prototyping across data science use cases
- Making data science explainable to non-experts
- Democratising data - KNIME Analytics Platform allows everyone access to powerful analysis techniques
- Providing simple access to powerful external data science tools such as H2O and hyperscalers
Cons
- The previous UI of KNIME Analytics Platform provided easy access to a wide range of examples which is an extremely valuable resource for understanding how to break down a problem in KNIME Analytics Platform and provide accelerated delivery for similar use cases. Access to these resources doesn't seem possible at the moment in the new UI, but I believe it is being actively worked on. The examples are still available in the platform, but presently you need to switch back to the old UI.
Return on Investment
- KNIME Analytics Platform is free and our investment in training time has been paid back many times over when using the software for rapid prototyping and implementing our own analysis
- On one occasion we deployed KNIME Analytics Platform and Python with a client. Due to their secure environment, it was prohibitively expensive in time and capital to add Python packages to account for additional requirements as the project progressed and we switched entirely to KNIME Analytics Platform due it its comprehensive set of features. Without KNIME Analytics Platform the project would have been halted and resulted in a loss of >£40k in revenue.
Alternatives Considered
Alteryx, RapidMiner, Dataiku DSS, IBM SPSS Statistics and Anaconda
Other Software Used
Microsoft Power BI
























