Item: ThoughtSpot
Rating: 9
Author: Gareth Baxendale

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We looked at ThoughtSpot at a time where we wanted to explore the idea of natural language based analytics. This would be used to augment our current investment in other technologies such as QlikSense.

To this end, we carried out a proof of concept to understand how the product could meet our needs.

Pros and Cons

The company behind ThoughtSpot is very professional and keen to work with you.
The product is very good for traditional business-related scenarios such as spend, orders, and purchase related queries.
The interface is reasonably good and intuitive.

ThoughtSpot does not allow for true natural language. What it does is allow keywords to be used which it interprets and is similar to the way you might look for a product using Amazon.
The product is a challenge when it steps outside of traditional sales-based analysis. In our case, we wanted to analyse health data which is far more complicated and prone to variance.

Alternatives Considered

Qlik Sense

ThoughtSpot is a contender if you do not have any BI self-service analytical tools. It may complement existing solutions but likely you would choose a roadmap to retire the old service and move onto ThoughtSpot.

You have little access to the algorithms used but ThoughtSpot can and do tailor them for your needs.

Data Integration

ThoughtSpot is very good at curating your data and can import pretty much anything with a little guidance. As part of your PoC the team will assist you in importing key data sets and working to tailor your product in relation to the Data Dictionary. We had no issues with importing data but did have issues with translating what particular Health Data items meant and where there were multiple data items that had the same meaning.

Collaboration and Sharing

Overall the product is a self-service tool for business users. It worked well in the PoC in terms of sharing of data across teams and reporting.

Other Software Used

Google Compute Engine, Qlik Sense, Moodle, Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), WSO2 Identity Server, Kanbanchi

Likelihood to Recommend

Excellent for traditional BI environments in sales based organisations. The product is improving and thoughtSpot will no doubt work very well in other verticals.

Their model is to provide you with the product on a 'purchase if all goes well' method which may not be to everyone's liking.

Overall the company is great and is really supportive of solving your issues as you learn the system and I would recommend on that basis.

ThoughtSpot analysis for Health organisations

Overall Satisfaction with ThoughtSpot