IBM SPSS Modeler

By integrating predictive analytics with decision management, scoring and

optimization in organization's processes and operational systems, SPSS
Modeler helps users and systems make the right decision every time.
Important features of SPSS Modeler:
Analytical decision management
Automate and optimize transactional decisions by combining predictive
analytics, rules and scoring to deliver recommended actions in real time.
Decision management capabilities enable the integration of predictive
analytics and business rules into an organizations processes to optimize
and automate high-volume decisions at the point of impact.

Automated modelling
Use a variety of modelling approaches in a single run and then compare
the results of the different modelling methods. Select which models to use
in deployment, without having to run them all individually and then
compare performance. Choose from three automated modelling methods:
Auto Classifier, Auto Numeric and Auto Cluster.

Text analytics
Go beyond the analysis of structured numerical data and include
information from unstructured text data, such as web activity, blog

content, customer feedback, emails and social media comments. Capture

key concepts, themes, sentiments and trends and ultimately improve the
accuracy of your predictive models.

Social network analysis

Social network analysis examines the relationships between social entities
and the implications of these relationships on an individuals behaviour. It
is particularly useful for those in telecommunications and other industries
concerned about attrition (or churn). By identifying groups, group leaders
and whether others will be affected based on influence, predictive models
can be built on an individual and enhanced with their group and social
behaviour data.

The modelling algorithms included in SPSS Modeler are:

Anomaly Detection. Detect unusual records with a cluster-based
algorithm.
Apriori. Identify the frequent individual items in your transactional
databases and extend them to larger item sets.
Bayesian Networks. Estimate conditional dependencies with graphical
probabilistic models that combine the principles of graph theory,
probability theory, computer science and statistics.
C&RT, C5.0, CHAID and QUEST. Generate decision trees, including
interactive trees.

CARMA. Mine for association rules with support for multiple consequents
and continuous feedback for deterministic and accurate results.
Cox regression. Calculate likely time to an event.
Decision List. Build interactive rules.
Factor/PCA, Feature Selection. Reduce data.
Generalized Spatial Association Rule: Find patterns/association rules where
location matters.
K-Means, Kohonen, Two Step, Discriminant, Support Vector Machine (SVM).
Cluster and segment data.
KNN. Model and score nearest neighbour.
Logistic Regression. Generate binary outcomes.
Neural Networks. Take advantage of multilayer perceptrons with backpropagation learning and radial basis function networks.
Regression, Linear, GenLin (GLM), Generalized Linear Mixed Models
(GLMM). Model linear equations.
Self-learning response model (SLRM). Take advantage of a Bayesian model
with incremental learning.
Sequence. Conduct order-sensitive analysis with sequential association
algorithm.
Spatial-Temporal Prediction (STP). Predict how a place will change over
time.
Support Vector Machine. Apply non-linear functions based on
computational learning theory for efficient learning on wide datasets.
Time-series. Generate and automatically select time-series forecasting
models using techniques such as temporal causal modelling, which
discovers causal relationships among large numbers of series.
Two-step clustering: Identify data points by similarity and group them into
clusters.

TABLEAU
In todays competitive world organizations are expecting a solution that
can satisfy their information needs in just one click; solve business queries
in seconds; with option to customize as per organizational needs. What
Information Technology offers is a range of Business Intelligence Tools that
assist organizations in taking business decisions more effectively and
efficiently.

Out of 100s of Business Intelligence Tools available in the market, I

experienced tableau and believe me its just awesome. This BI Tool comes
with many rich features. You simply have to drag and drop things and you
will get what you actually want, that too in just fraction of seconds.
Tableau offers four business intelligence products viz.

Tableau Desktop

Tableau Server

Tableau Digital

Tableau Public

Key differentiators

Key Features of Tableau

Tool for everyone
Most often, it has come to notice that, there exists a gap between the
report developer and business decision maker, i.e. the one who consumes
the report. Tableau bridges this gap to a great extent by offering report
building capability which a lay man can use to develop a Business
Intelligence Solution. This helps in minimizing the dependency on IT
resources. The primary and one of the best features of Tableau is you
need not be a technical expert. Business users like decision makers,
department heads, sales and marketing heads, sales representatives,
senior management can easily and effectively use Tableau to develop and
generate reports to satisfy their information need while taking business
decisions.
Fast
Tableau is one of the fastest Business Intelligence Tool available in the
market. Tableau can create reports in minutes which might take hours in
Microsoft Excel. One can connect to data source and in few minutes time
one can have attractive graphical visualizations to choose from.
Maps

Tableaus in-built geocoding feature makes Map a core part of Tableau.

Whenever users have data related to common areas like countries, states
or post codes, they need not enter latitude or longitude data to locate that
area on the map. Along with strong data visualization, tableau gives us
flexibility to tell stories with maps and to use maps to drill down into
related information.

Interactive Data Visualization

Tableau is one of the interactive Business Intelligence Reporting Tools

available in the market. Tableau understands the type of data connected
and suggests suitable visualization. Features like Show Me recommends
the suitable data visualization based on the selected data.
Once it is connected to a database, Tableau automatically segments data
into dimensions and measures.
Tableau offers vast number of data visualizations by reading the data
which helps in discovering significant business findings. Tableau also
offers drilling through the data, hence making it possible to reach to the
lowest and most detailed information possible.
Flexibility
Tableau provides flexibility to choose how you work with data. One can
directly connect to database or can use in memory technology. In memory
can be used when database is slow or one needs to work offline or when
live database connection is not possible.
Tableau has an ability to connect directly with almost all types of
databases available in the industry. This significantly helps in reducing
time and efforts for aggregating the data and importing into local data
warehouse. Having direct connectivity with various data sources, more
time can be spent in analysis. Tableau also understands and extends all
the native functions available in the connected database.
Economical
Tableau is one of the most economical Business Intelligence Tools
available in the market. Organizations can also save money as there is
less dependency on additional IT resources.

Sharing of information
Tableau Server offers offline and online publishing of the data visualization
which makes the information exchange fast, simple and effective. Tableau
Server helps to share information along with underlying summary data via
emails along with various data exports formats.
Maintains Security
Tableau respects security protocols. Every user has a unique id and
password that restricts the access to business information.
Gartners Report

Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence Platforms

As per Gartners Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence Platforms report
2012, tableau is placed under Challenger based on Gartners
assessment of Tableaus ability to execute and completeness of vision.
According to Gartners report, Tableau has gained overwhelmingly positive
customer survey feedback across the board in all measures in the survey,
including ease of use, functionality, product quality, product performance,
support, customer relationship, success, achievement of business benefits
and view of the vendor's future

IBM COGNOS ANALYTICS REVIEW

Product Overview

IBM Cognos Analytics software is an online-based business intelligence

platform that offers a complete array of BI software to address company
goals. Considered one of the leaders in the field of business intelligence,
Cognos Analytics is comprised of over thirty different products. Cognos
abilities include dashboarding, reporting, analytics, scorecarding, and,
notably, data integration.
Among its greatest strengths is its attention to customer feedback in the
design of its products, consistently earning it high scores as a
manufacturer that understands the needs of its clientele very well. Its
advanced analytical decision making software has especially been noted,
allowing for organizations to automate and strengthen sound business
decisions.
Cognos Analytics also contains unique products that completely separate
it from the broader field of business intelligence by being able to
simultaneously cater to both the largest corporate giants on the one hand,
and smaller to midsize companies on the other, with the same system.
Cognos Express is designed specifically for departments within larger
companies, and smaller and midsized companies, that are unable to afford
exorbitant implementation fees. Express is limited to 100 users and has all
the same reporting, querying, dashboarding, and scorecarding capabilities
of the full-scale software. This allows businesses that before now have
been largely unable to afford the technology to use the same analytical
processes as its much larger competitors.
In October 2015, Cognos has been redesigned to utilize the same selfservice functionality as its new Watson Analytics.This greatly benefits
businesses as they wont need to rely on their IT staff to compile BI
reports. They can access dashboards and run reports from any device.
Other new features include:

Intent-driven modeling: Non-technical users are able to pull their

data together without having to understand the technical stuff that
goes with it. Cognos Analytics can interpret the intent of the
attributes thats typed, search the data sources that best match the
attributes and suggest some data modeling scenarios.

Smarter search functionality: The smarter search functionality

helps users find the right information quickly. For example, smart
search can guide the user to add data to charts or provide
visualization tools relevant to that search.

Single platform for all types of business reporting: All of

Cognos Analytics reports and dashboards are in one environment
and accessible from any device. Employees that work outside of the
office are able to access the same data and tools as those in the
office, which makes for easier collaboration.

Features

Cognos Analytics is usable with multidimensional and relational data

sources from various companies, such as Oracle, SAP, Microsoft, and
more.
Featured programs include: Cognos TM1, Cognos Insight, Cognos Express,
Cognos Enterprise, Cognos Disclosure, Management.
The Cognos Express debuted its latest version in June 2015 with these
new features/enhancements (those that own this program will now have
access to the latest versions/releases of Cognos TM1 and Cognos BI):

Simpler user interface and deployment

Ability to install Cognos TM1 and Cognos BI on separate machines

Ability to work with Microsoft Excel

SSL Support

Linux support for Cognos TM1

Analysis Features

Ad Hoc Analysis

Online Analytical Processing (OLAP)

Predictive Analysis

User Friendly Interface

Reporting Features

Ad Hoc Reporting

Automatic Scheduled Reporting

Customizable Dashboard

Customizable Features

Graphic Benchmark Tools

Target Market
IBM services over 23,000 companies from a broad cross-section of
industries including aerospace, defense, banking, education, healthcare
and many more. Below are some of their clients:

Nike

GKN Land System

Spain's Ministry of Defense

British Airways

Chemring

Quinte Health Care

Troy Corporation

Michigan State University

Lufthansa Cargo

Jabil

Shortcomings
Critics of the product cite its difficulty to use, especially for those new to
advanced software. Of particular note are the error messages that
continually pop up, and have been noted to be very difficult to cipher and
even more difficult to resolve. Data reports also take almost twice as long
to compile with Cognos Analytics as compared to most competitors. A few
users have mentioned that theres too many components that needed to
be installed.

RapidMiner
Product Information:
RapidMiner is one of the most widely used analytics platforms in the
world, with over 250,000 users. Organizations of all sizes use RapidMiner,
and its range of application is very broad. The fact that many predictive
models can be built without resorting to program code is one reason for its
popularity, the other being very reasonable pricing. This is a sophisticated
offering with over 1500 drag-and-drop operators. Novice users can quickly
get up to speed with RapidMiners Wisdom of Crowds online repository of
best practices, and this is quite unique among analytics platforms. Big
data is well accommodated through its Radoop platform insulating users
from the complexities and volatility of big data technologies. The
importance of this facility cannot be over-emphasized, as organizations
struggle to keep up with rapid developments in big data technologies.
Organizations of all sizes looking for a cost effective, powerful analytics
platform, will find that RapidMiner is a speedy, scalable environment in
which to develop and deploy predictive models.

Business Application
RapidMiner is used in every conceivable industry, from cement
manufacturing through to electronic payment companies. This range of
applications demonstrates very well the versatility of the platform, and

both medium and large businesses benefit from its low cost of entry and
sophisticated capabilities.
One of the most high profile users of RapidMiner is PayPal. It needed to
get an inside track on customer churn. The text analytics capabilities of
RapidMiner were used to classify customers as top promoters and top
detractors by analyzing feedback. This in turn enabled product managers
to take action when negative sentiment was detected. A good example of
the result of this analytics was the identification of problems associated
with passwords. Changes were made and a corresponding drop in
negative comment was the outcome.
Body Biolytics provides activity recognition software to the sport, fitness
and health industries. Wearable devices generate huge amounts of data,
and Body Biolytics uses this to monitor sports and fitness activities. This
results in the creation of performance baselines, the tracking of
performance improvements, and when a user is over-exerting.
The highly bespoke nature of these applications illustrates quite well the
diverse uses of RapidMiner, and its flexibility.
Technology
RapidMiner is a graphical, drag-and-drop analytics platform that is used
for creating predictive models. RapidMiner Studio sits on the desktop and
allows a data scientist or analyst to build predictive models in a local
environment these can be deployed into production via a number of
mechanisms including PMML. RapidMiner Server supports project based
work and supports high levels of collaboration. Regardless of variant
RapidMiner supports a full development cycle from data wrangling,
exploration, model development and testing, and deployment with no
recourse to program code. New and seasoned users of RapidMiner are
aided by the online Wisdom of Crowds best practice repository.
RapidMiner Radoop allows users to employ big data (or any other data)
without having to dive into the complex, changing technologies associated
with the Hadoop ecosystem. This means models can be developed in
RapidMiner and deployed in the big data environment, utilizing big data
technologies (Mahout and MLib for example).
RapidMiner Streams utilizes the Apache Storm stream processing
capability. Models are developed in RapidMiner and deployed into Storm
using pre-built connectors and the application of any of the 1500+
RapidMiner operators. Applications include streaming data from
production machines, wearable and IoT devices and financial data
streams.
RapidMiner Cloud supports the distribution of compute intensive tasks to
cloud based facilities. Operators are available to connect with a variety of

social and application data sources, including Twitter, Salesforce, Dropbox

and over 300 other cloud data sources.

Productivity is a major push for RapidMiner, and to this end it supplies

Accelerators and Wisdom of Crowd. The Accelerators are effectively
solution templates (customer churn for example) that give sixty to eighty
per cent fit. Wisdom of Crowd is a large repository of analytic best
practices from the 250K users. RapidMiner uses a machine learning
repository to recommend how to build an analytic process. By guiding the
analytic development, both novices and experts gain knowledge on how
to make their models perform better.

Teradata Aster Discovery

Teradata Aster Discovery products provide tools and technologies that
enable users to efficiently perform data discovery tasks using advanced
big data analytics on all types of data for the entire data discovery
process. These tools and technologies include SQL, MapReduce, graph and
data stores for all data types that include structured, semi-structured and
unstructured data. Combining several technologies into one platform
provides for layers of analytics, thus enabling the discovery of insights in
data that would be more difficult to find using individual or disparate tools.

Aster's massively parallel processing (MPP) data warehouse architecture

supports embedding applications within the database engine, enabling
users to perform fast analysis of massive data sets.

Components of the Teradata Aster Discovery products

Aster Discovery Platform provides the framework upon which Aster tools
and processing engines are integrated to help users perform advanced
data analytic exploration, resulting in improved data insights.
Aster Database is the primary data store of the Aster product. It's a highperformance, scalable MPP database that embeds MapReduce analytic
processing with data stores for big data analytics on multistructured data
sources and types.
Aster Discovery Portfolio provides prebuilt analytic functions that can be
used for various big data applications, such as graph analysis, path and
pattern analysis, predictive statistical analysis, text analysis and SQL

analysis in the Aster Discovery Platform. More than 80 analytics functions

are provided that address use cases in a broad range of industries,
including fraud and risk analysis, churn, manufacturing optimization,
golden path analysis, marketing attribution, sentiment extraction,
influencer analysis and personalized recommendations. Aster's Discovery
Portfolio is part of Teradata Aster Discovery Platform, which also includes
Teradata's Aster Database.
Aster SQL-GR is a graph processing engine for performing graph analytics
on big data sets in the Aster Database. Graph discovery enables users to
analyze complex graph network structures.
Connection Analytics is powered by the Aster SQL-GR engine and an
expanding set of built-in graph analytics functions. This tool helps discover
relationships and connections within a network of products, people or
processes. Connection analytics can be applied to business areas such as
security, marketing and human resources, and can be used to find top
influencer nodes in a graph.
Aster SNAP Framework, which was introduced in Release 6.1, enables the
different analytical engines and storage engines to easily integrate with
the Aster Discovery Platform. SNAP also includes a query optimizer for
processing across multiple types of workloads, including Graph, R,
MapReduce and SQL.
The Aster SQL-MapReduce framework enables users to perform highperformance analytics of MapReduce using standard SQL or R against the
Aster Database.
Aster R combines the power of Aster's SNAP Framework with the
capabilities of the open source R engine. This approach allows R
programmers to take advantage of the prebuilt functions provided by
Aster's Portfolio product in addition to the capabilities of R libraries.
Programmers using R in Aster's framework can achieve massive scalability
by leveraging Aster's Database and MPP architecture.
Aster Database runs on Red Hat Enterprise Linux or a Terada distribution
of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. It has been certified to run on several
commodity platforms that include specific hardware from Dell and HP.
Hardware and software configuration requirements can be found in the
Aster Database Server Platform Matrix.
Teradata also offers Aster Database Cloud, which provides users with the
flexibility and agility of cloud computing for big data analytics while
leveraging Aster's massively parallel analytics engine.
A version of Teradata offers Aster Express, a virtual appliance that runs in
VMware Player on a PC. Aster Express is a fully functional cluster that can
be used for evaluation, testing or development purposes.

Teradata Aster 6.1 also includes improvements in connectors as well as

enhanced integration with other Teradata products such as Teradata
Viewpoint and support for new Teradata Studio features.