Source: Qlik

Qlik recently announced Q2 feature enhancements across its SaaS data integration and analytics platform, headlined by a new iOS and Android application called Qlik Sense Mobile. The mobile platform touts fully interactive online and offline analysis and integrated alerting to drive action. Included Qlik Sense analytics are optimized for mobile consumption with new features like single object mode, an intuitive selections bar, and a mobile collection in the hub. There’s also full-featured data exploration with the Qlik Associative Engine running on-device.

Qlik offers a broad spectrum of BI and analytics tools, which is headlined by the company’s flagship offering, Qlik Sense. The solution enables organizations to combine all their data sources into a single view. The Qlik Analytics Platform allows users to develop, extend and embed visual analytics in existing applications and portals. Embedded functionality is done within a common governance and security framework.

Additional feature upgrades in the Q2 release include collaborative notes that help bring disparate team members together from initial data sourcing to dashboard design, hybrid data delivery that enable the creation and management of data sets that can be automatically updated in near real-time, and self-service reporting that lets you schedule email delivery of charts and sheets.

In a media statement on the news, Qlik Chief Product Officer James Fisher said “Analytic data pipelines built for the cloud are the only ones that can deliver the real-time insights and action at the heart of Active Intelligence. With Qlik Sense Mobile for SaaS and our additional planned features, Qlik continues to enhance the only modern end-to-end platform that gives enterprises the analytic data pipelines required for real-time data delivery to capture business moments and drive unique value.”

Watch Qlik Sense Mobile – Demonstration on YouTube to learn more.

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Data preparation involves organizing, cleaning and unifying data into one place so that it can be used for analysis. Data prep tools are often deployed to help organizations work with data that is inconsistent and unstructured. These solutions are often used alongside data integration and processing software when combining data from multiple sources. Data prep is particularly useful when reporting on data that was captured manually. It’s equally vital during mergers and acquisitions, and when siloed data systems are being brought together.

In that spirit, we’ve turned our gaze to the future of data preparation. Whether its inclusion in a recent analyst report, the release of an innovative new tool, or a bump in venture funding, these are the providers that have earned watch list status for the year ahead.

1. ClearStory Data

ClearStory Data’s flagship product offers ways for organizations to discover, prepare, and blend data from structured and unstructured sources. ClearStory’s Data Inference tool automates the data preparation process for any data source by inferring semantics in business data, reading values, and automating transformations. The platform’s Intelligent Data Harmonization capabilities automatically produce visually blended insights by identifying relationships across dimensions in data.

2. Datawatch

Datawatch offers a wide variety of data and analytic tools atop their flagship offering, Datawatch Monarch. The platform is broken down further for users in enterprise settings and for those that wish to work on a web-based platform. Monarch Swarm offers self-service functionality and creates a social network of curated and raw data sets with controls and limitations defined for each individual. Monarch Server scales to thousands of users and provides complete automation on repeatable processes.

3. Lavastorm

Lavastorm Server provides capabilities that run alongside data throughout the entire lifecycle. From data acquisition to data preparation and analytics, Lavastorm combines self-service with advanced features for both business users and IT. Lavastorm Server integrates data with operational ETL, and allows users to scale up their applications via extensible nodes. The tool also touts an immediate start-up with pre-configured components that hasten common data preparation work.

4. Paxata

Paxata’s Adaptive Information Platform offers data integration, quality, and governance capabilities for business analysts. It features flexible deployment options and self-service operation. The provider’s Self-Service Data Prep Application is built on a visual user interface that has familiar spreadsheet metaphors so users don’t have to learn an entirely new tool. The app also boasts Assisted Intelligence that provides algorithmic assistance to infer the meaning of data, and machine learning captures steps for future data work.

5. Trifacta

Trifacta offers a suite of what its dubbed ‘data wrangling’ tools in three different iterations: Trifacta Wrangler, Wrangler Edge, and Wrangler Enterprise. Trifacta allows users to do data prep without having to manually write code or use mapping-based systems. The Predictive Transformation function enables the exploration of data content so users can define a recipe for how the data should be transformed. Data Wrangler also includes data discovery, structuring, cleaning, enriching, and validation capabilities.

The post 5 Data Preparation Tools Vendors to Watch in 2018 appeared first on Best Business Intelligence and Data Analytics Tools, Software, Solutions & Vendors .

Source: Goldman Sachs

Information Builders has announced that they’ve received a growth equity investment led by the Private Capital Investment group at multinational finance company Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs engages in global investment banking, investment management, securities and other financial services. Financial details of the deal have not been made public, but it is expected that Information Builders will use the capital to extend upon the lofty spot the solution provider currently holds in the enterprise data and analytics marketplace.

The Private Capital Investing group is Goldman Sachs’ investment platform that offers capital injections to middle market companies in North America. The group is co-headed by Michael McGinn, managing director at Goldman Sachs, who will be joining the board as part of the investment. Also participating in the financing is Bregal Sagemount, a New York City-based private equity firm. Deloitte acted as lead financial adviser to Information Builders on this minority investment.

Stephen Kerns, Vice President in Goldman Sachs’ Private Capital Investing group spoke to the announcement: “Goldman Sachs is pleased to contribute to Information Builders’ continued growth and innovation in the business intelligence industry. Information Builders has a long history of market leadership and customer-focused solutions, as demonstrated by its very strong reputation and impressive customer base. We look forward to working with Information Builders to further position the company for long-term growth.”

Back in March, Information Builders released the Omni-Gen Data Quality Edition, an all-encompassing platform for profiling, enriching and cleansing data stores in databases and corporate information systems. The solution was built atop their Omni-Gen Data Integration tool. It adds to their growing portfolio of Big Data tools that has helped the provider make a name for themselves as one of the major players in enterprise data solutions.

Read the official press announcement.

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Source: Forrester

Enterprise technology analyst house Forrester Research has recently released the latest version of its Data Preparation Tools Wave Report for Q1 2017. In the 21-criteria evaluation of data prep solutions, Forrester researcher Cinny Little identifies the seven providers whom are most significant in the category – Alteryx, Datawatch, Oracle, Paxata, SAS, Trifacta, and Unifi Software – then researched, analyzed, and scored them. The Wave report details the findings and examines how each vendor meets (or falls short of) Forrester’s evaluation criteria and where vendors stand in relation to each other.

According to Forrester, data prep tools are now must haves, as their proprietary survey data has showed that analytics professionals seek low-friction access to data on-demand. They add: “Customer-obsessed firms align on key customer-centric metrics and take the actions that matter most on the insights they derive from data. Forrester projects that insights-driven businesses — companies that embed analytics and software deeply into their customer-centric operating model — will grow revenue at least eight times faster than global GDP.” That’s an impressive projection.

In order to help Big Data professionals select the right tools, The Forrester Wave Report outlines the current state of the market and separates the top providers into Leaders, Strong performers and Contenders. At Solutions Review, we’ve read the report, available for download here, and pulled a few of  the most important takeaways:

Business users require ease of use and scalable execution architectures

Data preparation is a pre-processing step that allows for the transformation of data before analysis to ensure quality and consistency, providing enterprises with maximum potential for Business Intelligence. Given the growing volumes and velocity of Big Data, integration acts as a significant barrier to the overall data preparation scheme. From a tactical perspective, generating data quality too remains a challenge.

Traditional Data Management techniques get in the way of analytical agility. As a result, business users are choosing tools that provide not only speed, but transparency and oversight that will provide scalability. Machine learning and cross-enterprise collaboration are also key features on many organizational wish lists.

Trifacta and Paxata are on a planet of their own

Forrester argues that these two providers offer the most comprehensive and scalable platforms of any of the providers covered in this report, citing self-service and speed as major advantages. These solution providers are staples in the Big Data software market, and have staked their respective claims on the throne of the rapidly growing data prep sector.

Trifacta leverages machine learning algorithms to automate data interactions that allow self-service data wrangling for analysts and business users alike. Not only is their platform top-of-class, but they offer an expansive list of customer programs and resources including a curriculum, certification program, and more. Paxata’s platform is based on a set of technologies that unite Data Integration, quality, governance, collaboration and enrichment. They combine a well-received user interface with machine learning, text and semantic analytics for quick speedy data connection. Customers enjoy Paxata’s usability and time-to-value.

Datawatch and Unifi each lead their respective niche

Datawatch has made semi-structured and unstructured data sources the priority, and as Forrester points out, they’ve been in this business long before the buzzword ‘Big Data’ was ever mainstream. Customers gave Monarch, their flagship offering, high scores for ease of use and automation capabilities. Unifi Software combines self-service data discovery and prep into a unified platform, and does it all in a patented six-step process that includes: connect, discover, cleanse/enrich, transform, and format. Machine learning capabilities enable the tool to learn from organizational actions and make recommendations to the user at each step. According to the report, Unifi’s natural language search is the strongest among all the vendors in this market.

Read Forrester’s Wave for Data Preparation Tools, Q1 2017.

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