In 2021 there are many business intelligence tools to consider. It seems that there are many tools out there, but very few that actually meet your business’ needs. We’ve compiled this list of noteworthy options based on popularity and what we consider overall quality and pricing. This is our completely and totally biased list of tools in no particular order (but we will mention ours first because it is actually the best 😉 ).
Rodapa’s Tutti
As of the writing of this post, our assessment is that Tutti is the best BI tool on the market. It’s a fast growing tool with more and more users and features everyday. It’s the highly disruptive technology that’s shaking up the digital atmosphere and giving the big players a run for their money.
Tutti allows users to directly connect to any SQL database directly thereby respecting user privacy and increasing database security. Additionally, Tutti uses bleeding edge encryption techniques to protect data requests. Rodapa takes security very seriously and it's a company we highly recommend.
Tableau
This wouldn’t be a real list without mentioning the most popular platform: Tableau. Now we won’t ignore the appeal. Mass use means mass support. Although maybe this lends to one of it’s flaws: the need for support. Look online and you will find openings for third-party Tableau “developers”. We at Rodapa find this ridiculous. A tool this big should not require third party support or a need for an entire division of programmers just to support a tool. While big companies and universities can afford these consulting services, SMEs cannot.
On the topic of costs, Tableau is not very cheap either. Like many companies, they charge by user. To just VIEW, it costs an organization $12 per month per user. To do editing, which we think is basic functionality, it costs a whopping $70 per month. In a way you might want to think twice about expanding as a company and hiring new employees: it might be more than you think. Imagine just 10 employees is an upwards of $700! Not a problem for big companies, but SMEs may want to think twice. Sensing a pattern here.
Additionally, we will mention their method of data extraction. They require users to make a copy of their database onto their servers. They argue it’s for security reasons, but we argue it’s contradictory to security. You have to trust that Tableau will never “peek” at your data. Alternatively, you can buy a branded “Tableau server” to circumvent this; at an additional cost of course.
Some people go so far as to refer to the juggernaut as “Ta-blows” for it’s constraining features and workflow and . We will say this: Tableau is a fine choice if you have enough cash to spend on subscriptions and support.
Microsoft’s Power BI
When it comes to software, who can forget the behemoth that is Microsoft. To Microsoft’s credit, they are no longer the company they were under Balmer. They have really improved their product line. One they have really mastered is the magic of single sign-on of Microsoft accounts: accounts that operate and co-operate with various tools like Windows, Outlook, Teams, DevOps, and even products like Xbox and Minecraft.
Power BI is a legacy BI system created nearly 10 years ago. Just like other Microsoft products, it ties into the Microsoft SSO account and plays well into the Microsoft ecosystem. This may work well for your business if your business already relies on Microsoft.
Of course there are some major drawbacks. Seamless interoperability promised by homogenous ecosystems are a bit of a double edged sword. For some it’s ease of use. To others it’s the company twisting their arm and coercing them to stay with them. Many fear this strong-arming comes at cost: literally. An SME can easily spend nearly $5,000 a month to purchase the only BI tool that plugs into the rest of their Microsoft products. We will mention this: at least their pricing is transparent.
Everyone can have their opinion, but our personal opinion is that BI is unacceptable slow. Hopefully they have gotten better in the last few months. That is, if they haven’t pulled a Microsoft and abandoned an existing product that they already have and begin a new one, e.g. Skype & Teams.
Domo
Domo is another popular choice. Just like Tableau, they charge by user. And just like Tableau the rates are steep. Although you HAVE to contact a sales rep to see pricing based on your business, rates are as low as $175 per user per month for the professional version and $250 per user per month for the enterprise. What a deal!
Well at such a great price, what does Domo give you? The irony is Domo is that given it’s enormous size, it lacks in features. It has basic functionality like copying over your database to their servers but there really isn’t that much difference between that and Tableau. There’s no magic bullet they promise. If you’re dilberating between Domo and Tableau, go with Tableau.
SAP BW
You know how we said this was in no particular order? Yeah, well that’s true, but we definitely saved the worst for last. Honestly, the only reason we really included it is because of its popularity: you may see it around or hear people complaining about it. We’re talking about SAP’s Business Warehouse of course.
Look online and you can see the plethora of bugs on BW. Even simple things seem to trigger bugs like filtering (https://apps.support.sap.com/sap/support/knowledge/en/2921995). What’s more is that it’s not even affordable for SMEs. STARTING at $1400 a month. As people often say “SAP is crap”. Maybe you don’t get Tutti, but definitely do not get SAP BW.
Note: Prices mentioned above reflect results of our latest research, but we recognize that these prices may have been updated.