A Spotfire (not Spitfire) Review
Updated December 10, 2016

A Spotfire (not Spitfire) Review

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

Overall Satisfaction with Spotfire

We use Spotfire for our internal analytics and are just about to roll out the access to our clients so they can see real time data. This tool is currently being used by 2 departments and within the next year will be rolled out across the firm to all divisions. We use it to make sure that our data is accurate and complete and to keep track of trends and staffing and financials. I personally did testing among several applications and Spotfire fits us the best. I highly recommend it and already have to friends that work for other companies who perform the same business function I do at companies where they work.
  • Drill Downs, the visualizations within Spotfire are fantastic. Our management and staff absolutely love the power it provides to really drill down into data to get more details on the information they are looking at.
  • We pull in data from several different tools on different platforms into one visualization. This was a must have for us.
  • User friendly - with simple training our users were able to be up and running to view and navigate any visualizations that were created for them. Creating the visualizations took more training. However the online training was really fantastic. Very well done and that is a huge plus with any new tool.
  • Pie chart labels, it would be great to get more options for sizing and placement.
  • It would be great to have some pre-defined themes. Right now you can have a white background or black for the visualizations which is really nice, but it would be great to have a few more options.
  • On the bar chart labels, it would be great to be able to maneuver or change those as well as the pie chart labels. I am duplicating this one as its not so easy to come up with Spotfire complaints, I really like this tool and am thrilled that we have it.
CFS is our Spotfire reseller and hands down they are the best support team you can ask for. I tested several applications personally and each of the support teams had something lacking. But when we were introduced to CFS they were nothing short of stellar with response and support. I could not have asked for better assistance.
I think that for anyone who really wants to delve into their data they need Spotfire. If anyone wants to make a really great presentation of data, Spotfire is the perfect tool. You can absolutely use this tool for something simple but it has so many capabilities I couldn't find any reason to not use this tool.

Spotfire Feature Ratings

Pixel Perfect reports
Not Rated
Customizable dashboards
10
Report Formatting Templates
Not Rated
Drill-down analysis
10
Formatting capabilities
10
Integration with R or other statistical packages
10
Report sharing and collaboration
10
Publish to Web
Not Rated
Publish to PDF
10
Report Versioning
Not Rated
Report Delivery Scheduling
10
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)
10
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization
10
Predictive Analytics
10
Multi-User Support (named login)
10
Role-Based Security Model
10
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)
10
Responsive Design for Web Access
Not Rated
Mobile Application
Not Rated
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile
Not Rated

TIBCO Cloud Capabilities

Our Salesman was/is outstanding. Not only did he get us through the entire demo to setup and support process. What I think it exceptional is that he continued to make sure time and time again that I had everything that I needed and that I was getting all of the support that I needed. No sales involved, he just genuinely wanted us to succeed with the use of the tool.
  • Our favorite surprise is a calendar that we were able to get help creating, it is really a heat map showing a month/several months/year (whatever we ask of it basically) when we have a day where there is a lot of work due. We can see by color quite easily how staffing needs may have to change on a specific week or day or time period.
  • The interactive features are fantastic. Being able to easily change the visualizations to a bar or pie or scatter plot to represent our data as needed is a breeze. Its a right click and an option. So simple.
  • We are loving the bubble help - what Spotfire calls ToolTip. We can actually program expressions within the tool tip which saves room on the screen and keeps the clutter away yet lets us provide even more drill down data. Fantastic.

Using Spotfire

20 - We have a variety of users who utilize Spotfire. We have the CEO, the COO, the CFO, directors of a couple of departments, managers, users and Information Technology. We are going to be adding more and more departments within our firm. Most staff will eventually use the tool in some way. Some departments that have seen the capabilities of the tool can not wait for us to implement within their roles.
2 - We have someone from IT to support the tool and the platform and the training and the administration. We also have our Analyst with special training from Spotfire directly to be able to handle more complex expressions that the general user probably would not be able to create. As with most software applications it takes a level of logic and common sense. But we are finding even staff with minimal skills are able to use Spotfire once shown what they have to do. Such a great program.
  • We use it internally to track assigned work and unassigned work to make sure that there is nothing missing
  • We use it to make sure that our databases are correct, we can easily see if there is an error when the charts and graphs show us an issue
  • We can provide our clients with up to date/live dashboards as requested or sent automatically via email for status on all work past and present
  • We are looking to use it for trending, we currently use if for mostly one department but we want to do it firm wide.
  • We want to use it for combining data from several separate tools so our CEO can see all of the lines of service which use different application on one single dashboard.
  • We are hoping that this can assist us with our own internal staffing and help generate more work with our clients.

Evaluating Spotfire and Competitors

  • Price
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
  • Product Reputation
  • Vendor Reputation
  • Positive Sales Experience with the Vendor
  • Third-party Reviews
SUPPORT! Hands down this is why I pushed to get Spotfire. We used the Gartner's report initially to choose which BI tools to get demos from. We demoed the best rated and when we chose the best one for the firm we were not happy when it came down to signing for the software because what we were initially told was included in the price was not and then the price doubled on us. We said no way and started over- we tried the second on the list only when we ran into an issue pulling data in to their tool they basically said let us know when you figure it out and we can continue. It was during that time we were introduced to Spotfire and the only thing they ever said was "how can we help" and they DID! There was no turning back with support like that.
I really do not think that I or we as a firm would change anything. We tested a few applications very well and knew what we wanted and didn't want so when it came time for looking at Spotfire we knew we had hit the jackpot for everything we would need very early on.

Spotfire Training

  • Online training
  • In-person training
  • Self-taught
I didn't get in person training but this section would not let me complete without choosing all three types of training.
I have never taken an online training better than the one Spotfire provides. It is engaging, and interesting and it takes you thorough, step by step and makes it so easy to understand why things are done a certain way and how to find what you are looking for. There are 2 people that provide the voices for instruction and they enunciate so well its a pleasure to listen to them. They are not monotone. I love that they add a touch of humor to the videos. They provide interactive examples so you can follow along on your own machine and even the tests during the training are terrific reinforcement.
I didn't really do self taught training but this section would not let me complete without choosing all three types of training. If they mean playing with the tool a bit to learn it or following the initial online training that is not added cost, then that I did. When we demo'd the tool I tested and when we received links to the basic training I took that and it was great. I learn best by "doing" so being able to get the demo version and really test it before we purchase it, was ideal.

Spotfire Support

ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Good followup
Knowledgeable team
Problems get solved
Kept well informed
No escalation required
Immediate help available
Support understands my problem
Support cares about my success
Quick Initial Response
None
Yes
For any advanced troubleshooting and customizations, basically anything, we use a company called CLS and they are phenomenal. I have never dealt with a company that has better support and service before. Every single person is fantastic to work with, they might not have every answer right off the bat but they ALWAYS follow through and get me what I need. Stellar service.
When we were first looking for BI tools, we had almost settled on one. A sales rep from Spotfire convinced my boss that we should at least just let them do a demo. And boy are we glad we did. From 15 minutes into the demo we knew we had something special and it would fit us for exactly what we were looking for. I have zero regrets and have and would highly recommend Spotfire to others. Any time I call and anytime I needed anything, my emails are answered incredibly quickly and they have a "can do" and "how can I help attitude" where other vendors did not have the same assistance.

Using Spotfire

ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Easy to use
Technical support not required
Well integrated
Consistent
Quick to learn
Convenient
Feel confident using
Familiar
None
  • Creating a visualization is very easy
  • Pulling data together and into the tool is very easy
  • Manipulating the data even before you bring it in, is very easy
  • As expected, learning the advanced expressions and how to make them work for us was not an out of the box thing you can use. It required training but the training Spotfire provides is outstanding. From basic training that comes with the license to the training we purchased in addition. The videos are great, the instructor is clear, there is a little humor to them to keep you engaged and overall they are incredibly well done.
  • I honestly can't think of anything else that I or we found difficult.
  • I am in IT and I work with all kinds of applications and I find Spotfire is organized incredibly well. Even with my experience with software, Spotfire is not overwhelming to any staff with minimal computer experience or expertise. I have personally trained our staff so I would be able to provide these responses if I had real complaints or difficulties.
I have no complaints about this tool and I am completely thrilled that we have it. It does everything that we needed it to and it does it well. Everyone that has seen the tool is impressed from our internal staff, management and our clients. I highly recommend giving this tool a try if you are looking for a BI tool. You won't be disappointed.