SiSense Provides a Professional Solution but with a Catch
February 22, 2014
SiSense Provides a Professional Solution but with a Catch
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Software Version
Business
Overall Satisfaction
We used SiSense to deploy a solution for a customer. The customer needed a reporting solution and business information analysis to partner with their Wonderware HMI system. The product is being used by a specific department in one of their manufacturing facilities.
- The data cube feature of SiSense is extremely powerful. It allows you to integrate with many different data providing systems. For the application we used it for, we had to use an ODBC driver to interface with an Allen-Bradley data collection system. SiSense was able to handle that data exchange very well.
- The visual front end of the SiSense reports is very sharp looking. The reporting and monitoring screens look very clean and professional. You can pretty much match any GUI you are using on the customer's manufacturing floor. In the application we deployed SiSense for, we were able to seamlessly match the Wonderware HMI screens and then run SiSense on an external monitor so that it looked like the SiSense data monitoring screens were part of the HMI.
- SiSense is easy to learn. When we were trying to decide if we wanted to purchase the license, we were able to download a trial version of the product to get a feel for it. SiSense also setup a webinar for us and walked us through a typical setup. It was very helpful.
- One area that was not exactly perfect for us in terms of SiSense was the licensing system. It was very expensive, and the license was not a lifetime purchase. Their license has to be renewed yearly.
- SiSense does a great job making the reports look awesome. However, what if the customer wants plain/jane reports? I wish there was a "simple" mode or something similar for a functional but clean and simple report interface.
- SiSense's tech support was adequate, but I would only give it a 6.5 out of 10. They were not able to answer our data cube problem. We found the solution on our own and copied them on it.
- I don't have specific numbers back from the customer where we deployed the product. However, I know that they used it daily to track their product shipments and machine efficiencies. I would say it did the job we deployed it to do and did it effectively.