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DataRobot vs IBM Instana Observability comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
9.0
DataRobot enhanced prediction accuracy, reduced analysis time, simplified processes, and improved efficiency, leading to better decisions and cost savings.
Sentiment score
6.0
IBM Instana Observability boosts efficiency with quick issue identification, reduces costs, and improves response times and application performance.
On average, we're saving about 10 to 15 hours per project.
Senior Data Reporting Analyst at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees
It provides a single pane of glass from which I can see what is happening with all the servers in my infrastructure, which saves time.
UNIX/LINUX, ENTERPRISE SERVER AND STORAGE ADMINISTRATOR at Fidelity Bank Plc
It made a notable difference from when we were almost blind to being able to respond to calls immediately.
Software engineer at EJADA
If we have a monitoring tool, we can save our transactions and see the performance of the application using MTTR and MTTD.
Technical Manager, Consulting at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.5
DataRobot excels in customer service and scalability, but could improve response speed and documentation for large datasets.
Sentiment score
6.4
IBM Instana support is mixed, with varied responsiveness, reliance on local teams, and average ratings between five and six.
They answer all my questions and share guidance on using DataRobot scripts if certain functionalities are not available in the UI.
Staff Specialist Data Scientist at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Being cloud-hosted enables automatic resource scaling, which supports collaboration across teams.
Senior Data Reporting Analyst at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees
They are very slow to respond and integrate new features.
DevOps engineer at Yara International
IBM support for Instana is responsive and helpful.
UNIX/LINUX, ENTERPRISE SERVER AND STORAGE ADMINISTRATOR at Fidelity Bank Plc
We did have experiences where a significant issue arose during implementation, often involving compatibility problems with JavaScript libraries used by IBM Instana Observability.
Technical Manager at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
4.6
DataRobot is scalable, integrates easily, automates processes, supports multiple models, and handles large data volumes efficiently.
Sentiment score
7.5
IBM Instana Observability excels in scalability for enterprises, supporting microservices, with positive user reviews and efficient growth handling.
More innovations are coming in every day, so it is scalable and more applications are becoming container-based.
UNIX/LINUX, ENTERPRISE SERVER AND STORAGE ADMINISTRATOR at Fidelity Bank Plc
IBM Instana Observability demonstrates scalability, especially in dynamic, distributed environments such as microservices and Kubernetes.
Technical Manager, Consulting at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
DataRobot is praised for stability and reliability, with enhancements improving user satisfaction across diverse analytics scenarios.
Sentiment score
8.4
IBM Instana Observability is rated high in stability, with users consistently praising its reliable and steady performance.
 

Room For Improvement

DataRobot faces customization, integration, and performance challenges; improved AI support, transparency, and community engagement are needed.
IBM Instana Observability needs enhancements in log management, AI models, user interface speed, support, and cost monitoring.
DataRobot is a UI-based tool, which means it cannot provide all the features I might manually implement through notebooks or Python.
Staff Specialist Data Scientist at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
There is a lack of transparency in the models; sometimes it feels like a black box.
Senior Data Reporting Analyst at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees
I had many false positives with IBM Instana Observability. Then I fixed the filters and it became more accurate on the errors reported.
Software engineer at EJADA
One main issue I found with IBM Instana Observability was the customer support, which was very poor when we needed some features to be enabled or integrated into IBM Instana Observability sensors.
DevOps engineer at Yara International
It is not open-source, and I have to be a partner to get more access to the products.
UNIX/LINUX, ENTERPRISE SERVER AND STORAGE ADMINISTRATOR at Fidelity Bank Plc
 

Setup Cost

<p>DataRobot provides scalable, cost-effective AI solutions with flexible pricing tailored to enterprise needs and usage volume.</p>
IBM Instana offers competitive pricing in India, with a straightforward model and simple implementation despite varying cost perceptions.
The setup cost was minimal because it's cloud-hosted, eliminating the need for heavy on-premises infrastructure, allowing us to start using it immediately after purchase.
Senior Data Reporting Analyst at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees
I find the cost of IBM Instana Observability to be very affordable compared to competitors because the pricing mechanism is based on the host that we monitor, unlike other competitors such as DataDog and Dynatrace, whose pricing is based on other factors.
Technical Manager, Consulting at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
It is not that costly, especially since we only use two instances.
Software engineer at EJADA
I think the pricing is good and I do not think it is high.
DevOps at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

DataRobot automates feature engineering and model testing, enhancing productivity and decision-making with user-friendly, scalable integration.
IBM Instana Observability enhances performance with real-time insights, APM trace capabilities, and integration features to improve operational efficiency.
By automating highly technical aspects like model comparison, DataRobot enhances productivity and reduces project timelines from three months to less than one month.
Staff Specialist Data Scientist at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
DataRobot has positively impacted our organization in many ways. First, it has improved efficiency; tasks such as model testing, feature engineering, and predictions that used to take us days or weeks can now be accomplished in hours.
Senior Data Reporting Analyst at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees
IBM Instana Observability has positively impacted my organization by making it easy to observe the entire infrastructure under one platform, which was the biggest advantage of onboarding onto IBM Instana Observability.
DevOps engineer at Yara International
IBM Instana Observability has impacted my organization positively in that it has helped me find out what the issue is in real-time because of its one-second granularity and its ability to identify issues as quickly as possible.
UNIX/LINUX, ENTERPRISE SERVER AND STORAGE ADMINISTRATOR at Fidelity Bank Plc
With multiple servers and multiple applications, IBM Instana Observability allows us to resolve issues very quickly because we immediately know that a disk is full, the storage is full, or the database is down.
Technical Lead at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

DataRobot
Ranking in AI Observability
66th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Predictive Analytics (5th), AI Development Platforms (15th), AIOps (15th), AI Finance & Accounting (4th)
IBM Instana Observability
Ranking in AI Observability
7th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (25th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the AI Observability category, the mindshare of DataRobot is 0.6%, down from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Instana Observability is 1.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
AI Observability Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM Instana Observability1.3%
DataRobot0.6%
Other98.1%
AI Observability
 

Featured Reviews

Naqash Ahmed - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Data Reporting Analyst at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees
Automation has improved efficiency and decision-making while big data handling and transparency still need work
Aside from the many advantages of DataRobot, I believe there are areas that could be improved based on my experience. There is a lack of transparency in the models; sometimes it feels like a black box. For example, when I uploaded a large data set of about two gigabytes for processing, the time taken was slower than expected. Additionally, the handling of bigger data sets could be better, as it performs extremely well with smaller datasets but can lag with larger ones. The integration with some other tools used in our organization can also be challenging, and more flexibility for custom pre-processing and advanced model tuning would be beneficial. In terms of support and documentation, I believe improvements are needed. For instance, the response time from DataRobot could be quicker, which would be appreciated when we need assistance. The documentation is generally sufficient, but it can be lengthy and could use more real-world examples and step-by-step tutorials for better clarity. Lastly, creating a client community where users can share experiences and solutions might enhance the overall value and learning curve.
FranciscoGálvez - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Manager at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
Observability has improved collaboration and predicts failures across distributed services
From my perspective, IBM Instana Observability is quite technical. Compared to some competitors, it offers an abundance of information about system performance but lacks planning or capacity planning information. You do not receive reports with recommendations; instead, it provides only the technical layer. Other companies, like Compuware, give more functional information about your environment, while IBM Instana Observability provides only limited functional insights. This means you often must interpret the data independently. Unlike other tools that can offer recommendations to save resources or costs, IBM Instana Observability does not provide that functionality. On the bright side, it is much more affordable than some other options, but it isn't complete. If you want full functionality with IBM Instana Observability, you also need to acquire other products for additional insights in monitoring areas, such as networking monitoring tools or similar products. For instance, we often recommend Turbonomic, which provides complementary insights. One potential feature that could improve IBM Instana Observability is the ability to translate KPIs into monetary terms. It would be interesting to have a product that integrates IBM Instana Observability with Turbonomic, as Turbonomic can utilize data from IBM Instana Observability to inform you about unnecessary spending and suggest whether you can consolidate servers or optimize containers for quicker response times. Implementing some level of simulation or capacity planning would greatly enhance the current capabilities of IBM Instana Observability.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Retailer
8%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Large Enterprise5
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for DataRobot?
While pricing falls more under my IT colleagues, from my perspective, the overall experience feels justified. The premium pricing is reasonable for the value provided, and I'd say it's worth the in...
What needs improvement with DataRobot?
Aside from the many advantages of DataRobot, I believe there are areas that could be improved based on my experience. There is a lack of transparency in the models; sometimes it feels like a black ...
What is your primary use case for DataRobot?
My main use case for DataRobot is to perform predictive analysis and automation of machine learning workflows. I use it to quickly build, test, and deploy models without extensive coding. One of th...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Instana Observability?
I would evaluate the implementation process of IBM Instana Observability as not complex at all because you pay the license, and IBM takes care of everything. The only problem we occasionally face, ...
What needs improvement with IBM Instana Observability?
From my perspective, IBM Instana Observability is quite technical. Compared to some competitors, it offers an abundance of information about system performance but lacks planning or capacity planni...
What is your primary use case for IBM Instana Observability?
I usually recommend IBM Instana Observability for companies in the academic environment, as I have been working in a consultancy company for the last three years, where one of our customers built t...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Harmoney, Zidisha, ONE Marketing, DonorBureau, Trupanion, Avant
Information Not Available
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881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.