Assessment Week 1.1
Researching different data analytic software, either open source and paid options in the market.
WEKA / Open Source Software / URL
WEKA DESCRIPTION
The Weka workbench contains
a collection of visualization tools and algorithms for data analysis and predictive
modeling, together with
graphical user interfaces for easy access to this functionality.
It has
·
- Free availability under the GNU General Public License
- Portability, since it is fully implemented in the Java programming language and thus runs on almost any modern computing platform
- A comprehensive collection of data pre-processing and modeling techniques
- Ease of use due to its graphical user interfaces
WEKA PRO’s AND/OR CHARACTERISTICS
- The Preprocess panel has facilities for importing data from a database, a CSV file, etc., and for preprocessing this data using a so-called filtering algorithm. These filters can be used to transform the data (e.g., turning numeric attributes into discrete ones) and make it possible to delete instances and attributes according to specific criteria.
- The Classify panel enables the user to apply classification and regression algorithms (indiscriminately called classifiers in Weka) to the resulting dataset, to estimate the accuracy of the resulting predictive model, and to visualize erroneous predictions, ROC curves, etc., or the model itself (if the model is amenable to visualization like, e.g., a decision tree).
- The Associate panel provides access to association rule learners that attempt to identify all important interrelationships between attributes in the data.
- The Cluster panel gives access to the clustering techniques in Weka, e.g., the simple k-means algorithm. There is also an implementation of the expectation maximization algorithm for learning a mixture of normal distributions.
- The Select attributes panel provides algorithms for identifying the most predictive attributes in a dataset.
- The Visualize panel shows a scatter plot matrix, where individual scatter plots can be selected and enlarged, and analyzed further using various selection operators.
WEKA CONS AND/OR CONCERNS
- It is not capable of multi-relational data mining.
- The software is free, but the manual to learn how to use it, tools and techniques is not free, there are a few examples and a link to purchase it at Amazon, at the end you must spend money in order to use it.
- There are no a forum section, on the other hand they do have a mailing list (this was used a few years ago by online companies) however, now days there are social media, blogs with comments, forums to evacuate doubts among software providers and users; in my opinion a mailing list does not work since this is not interactive.
- It has a troubleshooting blog; however, all you find is written information with several links but those instructions has no screenshots or diagrams to lead the users with tech issues.
WEKA Screenshot
KNIME / OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE / URL
KNIME DESCRIPTION
KNIME, the Konstanz
Information Miner, is an open source data analytics, reporting and integration
platform. KNIME integrates various components for machine learning and data
mining through its modular data pipelining concept. A graphical user interface
allows assembly of nodes for data preprocessing (ETL: Extraction,
Transformation, Loading), for modeling and data analysis and visualization.
KNIME PRO’s AND/OR CHARACTERISTICS
- Allows users to/or visually create data flows (or pipelines).
- Selectively execute some or all analysis steps.
- Inspect the results, models, and interactive views.
- The core version already includes hundreds of modules for data integration (file I/O, database nodes supporting all common database management systems), data transformation (filter, converter, and combiner) as well as the commonly used methods for data analysis and visualization.
- It can be used as data sets to create report templates that can be exported to document formats like doc, ppt, xls, pdf and others.
KNIME CONS AND/OR CONCERNS
I do not have any
complain about this platform, actually I think is one of the most complete and
developed projects online by now without payments.
The support section is
more than good; it has examples, forum, social media, labs, glossary, community
among some others.
KNIME Screenshot
ORANGE / OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE / URL
ORANGE DESCRIPTION
Orange is a
component-based data mining and machine learning software suite, featuring a
visual programming front-end for explorative data analysis and visualization,
and Python bindings and libraries for scripting. It includes a set of
components for data pre-processing, feature scoring and filtering, modeling,
model evaluation, and exploration techniques.
ORANGE PRO’s AND/OR CHARACTERISTICS
- Forums, Social media channels, Blog, GitHub.
- It has an entire section of screenshots the users may use as examples.
- Documentation section with a large amount of tutorials for all the widgets, functions, also developer documentation, tables and indices, and scripting.
ORANGE CONS AND/OR CONCERNS
I am new at this
analytic software, so honestly, I think all the functions and support to users
this option offers satisfies my needs, graphic help is one of the most values because
it will help you through the whole installing and customizing process.
ORANGE Screenshot
SAP / PAID SOFTWARE / URL
SAP DESCRIPTION
Predictive analytics
differs from traditional BI (business intelligence) software. Instead of
running static reports on sales data or inventory levels, the point is to
explore and model business data, searching for correlations and trends that
provide insight into future events, customer behaviors and other areas.
SAP PRO’s AND/OR CHARACTERISTICS
- Applied Analytic, collective insight with industry and role analytics.
- Business Intelligence › harness collective insight with BI software from SAP.
- Data warehousing › In Memory data fabric, simpler data warehousing.
- Enterprise Performance Management › it has also EPM software with real time analysis.
- Governance, Risk, Compliance › Embed risk and compliance activities into strategy, planning and execution.
- Academy section with videos where you can browse and learn how to use the software, these videos are free. It offers a training section apart from the videos; here you may find tutorials, virtual classes, certifications, SAP Learning Hub among some others.
- Social media channels, free trial versions to test their product.
- Live chat and strong customer support department working 24/7
SAP CONS AND/OR CONCERNS
- AP pricing is unnecessarily complex and lacks transparency which facilitates sales gamesmanship. Further, new SAP software maintenance models have been very controversial with the customer base.
- Recurring upgrades; ERP upgrade costs can rise exponentially based on software customization, and to a lesser extent business process designs and system integration.
- SAP ERP software has earned a reputation of being very rigid. While configuration is pervasive throughout the application, configuration options are limited and seldom extend beyond the original design intent and software architecture constructs.
- No viable Cloud strategy; Despite massive investments, SAP has been unsuccessful in keeping up with the industry in delivering disruptive technologies such as cloud ERP solutions, and minimally successful in responding to increased demands for technology that supports business strategies such as social CRM and Customer Experience (CX).
SAP Screenshot
SAS / PAID SOFTWARE
SAS DESCRIPTION
Developed by SAS Institute
for advanced analytic; among its functions and/or features are business
intelligence, data management, and predictive analytics. It is the largest
market-share holder for advanced analytics. SAS is a software suite that can
mine, alter, manage and retrieve data from a variety of sources and perform
statistical analysis on it.
SAS provides a graphical point-and-click user
interface for non-technical users and more advanced options through the SAS
programming language. SAS programs have
a DATA step, which retrieves and manipulates data, usually creating a SAS data
set, and a PROC step, which analyzes the data.
SAS PRO’s AND/OR CHARACTERISTICS
The SAS software suite has more than 200
components, some of them are:
- Base SAS - Basic procedures and data management
- SAS/STAT - Statistical analysis
- SAS/GRAPH - Graphics and presentation
- SAS/OR - Operations research
- SAS/ETS - Econometrics and Time Series Analysis
- SAS/IML - Interactive matrix language
- SAS/AF - Applications facility
- SAS/QC - Quality control
- SAS/INSIGHT - Data mining
- SAS/PH - Clinical trial analysis
- Enterprise Miner - data mining
- It has a training center, code and sample notes, documentation and SAS Books available to their customers.
- Social media channels.
SAS CONS AND/OR CONCERNS
Expanded point and click options under the
data tab.
Better resource information to help with
circumstantial issues (i.e. graphing).
The learning curve is much steeper compared
to the other analytics software.
SAS Screenshot
ATLAS / PAID SOFTWARE
ATLAS DESCRIPTION
ATLAS 7 is a powerful
analytical tool. Its individual analysis options are centrally organized and
designed for maximum efficiency, accuracy, and performance. Cloud views provide
very quick, accurate, and yet intuitive analytical access to your data material.
The query tool, co-occurrence explorer and the codes-PD-table allow in-depth
analysis.
ATLAS PRO’s AND/OR CHARACTERISTICS
- It has apps to handle and/or check information directly in your mobile device (either Android or IOS)
- Knowledge base to check and clear all the questions you may have about it.
- Support Center with a bug system report, and some other categories.
- Training divided in either free training or premium training.
ATLAS CONS AND/OR CONCERNS
There are that much
information about this software online, this is one con CONS I can mention,
without users reviews, you won’t get to check what real users have to say about
this product.
ATLAS Screenshot
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