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Birst is a good cloud-based platform for analytics
Updated May 24, 2016

Birst is a good cloud-based platform for analytics

Eric Lagace | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

5.18

Overall Satisfaction with Birst

Birst is used two different ways: embedded into the cloud-based software we provide our customers, and internally to monitor utilization of the software and to track marketing campaigns.
  • The integration of all the elements of a BI platform into a single tool is a big advantage. All the components are tightly coupled (ETL, business layer, report creation, dashboards), and that makes it easier to manage.
  • The fact that it is based on a cloud platform makes deployment amazingly simple. The appliance version can be run on AWS, which gives access to all the capabilities of the Amazon platform.
  • The move towards HTML5 is very effective, the reports and dashboards look good and are based on responsive design.
  • Coming from a traditional data warehousing background, the data modeling in Birst is difficult to understand. The use of hierarchies, measures, "targeting" of fields needs some time to get used to.
  • The transition from the Flash-based tools to the HTML5 tools has not been smooth, and some features still only exist into the Flash tools.
  • Maps are not working well at all. It is possible to use the Geo Maps and Bing Maps in the Flash-based tools, but only Bing Maps in HTML5 tools. This is very limiting, and the features available for formatting, adding bubbles and labels, positioning etc. are weak.
  • GoodData,Pentaho,Qlik Sense,QlikView,birt
Selection was made before my involvement, but I agree with the selection. The ease of use of the web-based platform is a major plus, and compensates for some of the limitations.
It is easy to deploy, making changes is easy, and as a result maintenance is inexpensive. The upcoming features (maps, additional HTML) will improve the capabilities and make it even better.
Complexity of data modeling from the various sources is a big consideration. Global implementations may be an issue, as there is no tool or feature built in Birst to enable synchronization between data centers located in different geographies. For most simple to medium implementations, Birst is a no-brainer. For more complex implementations, a POC should be considered.

Infor Birst Feature Ratings

BI Platform ()
Not Rated
Supported Data Sources ()
Not Rated
5.7
Pixel Perfect reports
6
Customizable dashboards
8
Report Formatting Templates
3
7.5
Drill-down analysis
8
Formatting capabilities
7
Integration with R or other statistical packages
Not Rated
Report sharing and collaboration
Not Rated
8.0
Publish to Web
10
Publish to PDF
Not Rated
Report Versioning
6
Report Delivery Scheduling
8
4.5
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)
8
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization
1
Predictive Analytics
Not Rated
9.0
Multi-User Support (named login)
9
Role-Based Security Model
9
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)
9
9.0
Responsive Design for Web Access
9
Mobile Application
Not Rated
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile
9
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding ()
Not Rated

Birst Implementation

Birst Support

There has been a lot of work put into adding features to Birst in the last year, and much of the new stuff is great: new maps, faster charting engine, support for HTML and JavaScript (including D3.js) in dashboards, etc. Unfortunately, documentation is not keeping up and remains very basic, Customer Support is very, very slow, and the Birst forum (the "Community") remains the only place where real-world questions can be answered.

It seems there isn't a sufficient number of Birst users yet to create independent forums and user groups. I look forward to seeing Birst adopted in more organizations, and a large enough user community that grows outside of Birst.

Birst Reliability