Item: ThoughtSpot
Rating: 9
Author: Kevin Clarke

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use ThoughtSpot throughout our company. The ease of use and the accessibility make it a prime tool for quick research and verification. I work in our Compliance department and I use the tool every day for research. We also have several pinboards setup for quick metrics into several of our more important processes. Each time a new product is released we go to ThoughtSpot to create boards for review.

Pros and Cons

Ease of access to company data
Easy to create and manage pinboards
I can pull data at any moment for any questions from leaders
I can review and understand trends and build easy to read reports

It could be easier to create new worksheets using views
They removed the ability to have hyperlinks work inside of the search. I use to use hyperlinks in my pinboards but they are no longer clickable.

Return on Investment

ThoughtSpot has created an option for instant insights we no longer wait for data to be pulled from our BI team we can access and pull anything we need

ThoughtSpot Time to Value

This depends on the time they choose to dedicate to the tool. I was the Data BI Admin over the tool for over a year and when I had new people I would sit down with them and explain how it worked and those who were willing to go mess around with the tool and asked questions learned very quickly. For simple requests the tool can be learned in a few hours, but for the more advanced options like formulas and predictive analytics it will take more time and dedication to the tool.

ThoughtSpot Accuracy

As long as the data is correct coming from your data source ThoughtSpot has time and time again provided me with answers within a very short window. The trouble that many companies run into is data access, generally the data review does not take too long it is the access that is the issue. ThoughtSpot gives me the option to have the data and the review in the same platform allowing me to shorten my review time significantly.

Usability

The tool is easy to use if you know what you are doing and looking for. I know as they work towards improvements and simple language it will become even easier, but as of now they are doing a great job but there is room for improvement.

Cloud Data Support

We are not using cloud at this time.

Alternatives Considered

Tableau Desktop

I have used other BI tools, but I do not have enough experience with them to give a true rating.

Key Insights

Do you think ThoughtSpot delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with ThoughtSpot's feature set?

Yes

Did ThoughtSpot live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of ThoughtSpot go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy ThoughtSpot again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Excel

Likelihood to Recommend

I was charged with the task of creating a pinboard for a project our company was taking on. [Using ThoughtSpot,] I was able to put together the pinboard in a very short period of time and over the 9 months of the project I was able to use that same pinboard for all of our reporting. We did add additional insights throughout the project by having this simple tool to do the building we were able to rely on the data everyday.

ThoughtSpot the King of Adhoc

Overall Satisfaction with ThoughtSpot