Visual smorgasbord - feel like you're a savvy tech startup without the Seattle prices.
October 27, 2017

Visual smorgasbord - feel like you're a savvy tech startup without the Seattle prices.

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

Software Version

Desktop

Overall Satisfaction with TIBCO Spotfire

It is used across the whole organization. Our department uses it primarily for productivity reports and for auditing purposes. Our transportation department uses it for real time reports that support transportation decisions and to track key areas. The accounting department uses it to track staff productivity and as an auditing tool. It gives clear visibility to the end users in our department on various issues.

Pros

  • On demand visualization with deep customization options.
  • User friendly report builder that allows for novice users to build dashboards.
  • Modern UI that produces usable reports relevant to the data.

Cons

  • Difficult to easily join 3+ tables without inputting SQL.
  • Strange limitations on pivot tables; Ex: Hard to rename columns on pivot table to customize for the end user.
  • Limitations on filtering for something not based on the data set. Ex: If I have 50k rows and want to filter a specific number range, it pulls that range from the data set rather than allowing manual input. This can cause performance issues with large data sets.
Spotfire is the clear choice above Oracle BI, which is less user friendly and non compatible with standardized features (such as easily inputting raw SQL). The reporting visualizations are easier to set up, have more in depth options, and are visually more appealing. For tech savvy users, there is an ability in Spotfire to input IronPython, and for statistical analysis using R.
  • In-person training
  • Self-taught

The instructor was very in depth and provided relevant training to business users on how to create visualizations. They showed us how to alter settings and filter views, and provided resources for future questions.

However, the instructor failed to cover data sources, connecting to data, etc. While it was helpful to see how users can use the data to create reports, they failed to properly instruct us on how to get the dataset in to begin with. We are still trying to figure out connections to certain databases (we have multiple different types).

It was fairly straight forward to learn basic data connection and report creating. Luckily there is a healthy online community of Spotfire users where you can trouble shoot issues as they arise. I would recommend the self taught angle to anyone who is savvy enough to find help when they encounter hurdles.

I would say that it is well suited for users who want standardized reports with strong on demand visualizations. If you department has any report the end user receives and reviews in a standard format, I think you would be hard pressed to find a better suited program. There is a host of extended features and settings that allow for savvy users to dig deep and analyze a consistently changing dataset. Even though extensive customization is available, the UI is intuitive and user friendly enough to allow for non IT members to create engaging reports.

I believe it would be less appropriate for reports that are consistently tweaked/changed/altered by the end user, or for 'ad hoc' reporting. There is a learning curve to creating reports that end users may not have (this is company/department specific). If your department consistently pulls in 100k + records and applies filters after (which is not really the appropriate use of BI - but it happens), then Spotfire would likely not meet your needs.

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