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Spotfire-Review
January 17, 2014

Spotfire-Review

Avinash Yerra BOCP, OCA | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

3.0/3.2.1/3.3.3/5.0.1

Modules Used

  • Spotfire Server/Spotfire Web Player/Spotfire Automation Services/Stastical Services

Overall Satisfaction with Spotfire

  • The Capital Markets and Credit Loss Management areas both use Spotfire and we have proven results. Essentially we access big data from other systems like Bloomberg databases and then end users analyze this data to make business decisions. We have two or three dashboards are active for capital markets decision making.
  • Spotfire can access databases and build dashboards very well. Performance is good, because the data is cached. There are also excellent statistical tools.
  • Visualizations are generally good.
  • Scheduling and Distribution: Tools like Business Objects or Cognos have excellent distribution mechanisms. Spotfire does not allow you to distribute a report directly. You have to first create an XML file and then distribute it. It's possible to see and open the reports, but it does not have scheduling flexibility like other tools.
  • Excel Export and Enterprise support: Most people use Excel to analyze data but it's not possible to export the data to an Escel format.
  • The data analysis we perform allows us to make better trading decisions. Capital Markets has made some very good trading decisions based on analysis of Bloomberg data which can result in huge gains in the millions of dollars.
I think the API needs to be updated in the tool.

Using Spotfire

1800
7 - Architect
Administrators
Library Administrators (Migrations)
  • Capital Markets area: To evaluate markets.
  • Credit Loss Management Area: To evaluate Loans (We can't provide details)
Helping to our business users for better data evaluation

Spotfire Implementation

Initially migrations had lot of issues (environment to environment). The big problem is that there are no specific automated client tools for dashboard migration as there are with some other tools. If I share information links with someone else and he then changes the file, this also impacts my data. Migrating dashboards from a development environment to a production environment is a very manual process and we work with Spotfire consulting for assistance. I have to keep two full-time resources on staff to help with this. Automated migration tools would be a huge advantage.
  • Vendor implemented
  • Implemented in-house
N/A

Spotfire Training

  • Online training
Pretty helpful, if we follow instructions about testing , we can learn tool very quickly.

Spotfire Support

Yes
I think Spotfire should improve customer service, because it sometimes takes a couple of escalations before issues are resolved.

Using Spotfire

We have several BI tools like Microstrategy, Crystal Reports etc. as well as Spotfire. It is my job to advise our users as to what would be the best tool to use depending on their requirements. For example, some features are not available in Microstrategy. I do not recommend Spotfire for ad-hoc report purposes because the report builder has to be a developer with technical skills. Users cannot build dashboards themselves; they can only filter the data and export the data, but they cannot build the dashboards. It's not that Spotfire has poor usability, it's just that it requires a developer to build the dashboards.

Spotfire Reliability

We have huge infrastructure in place and solid Monitoring on Spotfire
We have had a few hiccups with millions of rows of data evaluation in dashbaords

Integrating Spotfire

Relationship with Spotfire

Spotfire Bundles and Bulk Licensing deals work well