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Pentaho Business Analytics vs SSIS 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
5.9
Pentaho Business Analytics enhanced efficiency and output but faced ROI calculation challenges compared to alternatives like QlikView and Tableau.
Sentiment score
7.3
SSIS offers cost-effective data management with no extra fees, but some users prefer alternatives with a larger budget.
Using SSIS has proven cost-effective as there are no additional fees outside the SQL Server license, and it significantly enhances data management efficiency.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.8
Pentaho receives mixed feedback on support, with strong community engagement but varying customer service and documentation quality.
Sentiment score
6.0
Users find SSIS support mixed; many prefer online solutions and community forums over Microsoft’s challenging and costly support.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
Pentaho scales well and fits organizational needs but may require admin expertise for complex environments and large data.
Sentiment score
6.8
SSIS is scalable for various enterprises, requiring proper configuration for optimal performance, but may lack compared to alternatives.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
6.6
Pentaho Business Analytics is generally stable but has occasional Java caching, RAM, and subprocess issues with large databases.
Sentiment score
7.5
SSIS is stable and reliable, though occasional performance issues are noted; proper infrastructure enhances its effectiveness.
It can handle large datasets.
It processes large volumes of data quickly.
 

Room For Improvement

Pentaho needs user interface, reporting, and visualization enhancements, along with better debugging, metadata management, and cost-effective licensing.
SSIS needs user interface, performance, compatibility, integration, error logging, scalability improvements, and better real-time, security, and API support.
Pentaho Business Analytics is hard to learn and not suited for initial users as it requires knowledge of operating systems, Java, and other technical skills.
Within the South African context, if you are getting your enterprise agreement from First Technology, they don't provide support.
SSIS has a difficult learning curve when dealing with complex transformations.
 

Setup Cost

Pentaho's Community Edition is cost-free, while the Enterprise Edition, offering enhanced features, can cost up to $250,000 annually.
SSIS is economical for SQL Server users, offering value without extra setup costs compared to pricier ETL tools.
Pentaho Business Analytics is priced similarly to other competitors such as QlikView and Tableau.
Utilizing SSIS involves no extra charges beyond the SQL Server license.
 

Valuable Features

Pentaho Business Analytics offers powerful ETL, user-friendly interface, customizable dashboards, and cost-saving, open-source analytics and reporting features.
SSIS is popular for its ease of use, scalability, integration, cost-effectiveness, and powerful ETL capabilities with Microsoft products.
It is a stable product, and it can handle large datasets.
One of the best aspects of SSIS is that it is built into Microsoft SQL Server, so there are no additional costs involved.
SSAS is included in the base installation of SQL Server.
 

Categories and Ranking

Pentaho Business Analytics
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
44
Ranking in other categories
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools (20th), Cloud Operations Analytics (5th), Reporting (13th)
SSIS
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
74
Ranking in other categories
Data Integration (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

Pentaho Business Analytics and SSIS aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Pentaho Business Analytics is designed for BI (Business Intelligence) Tools and holds a mindshare of 0.5%, down 0.6% compared to last year.
SSIS, on the other hand, focuses on Data Integration, holds 7.7% mindshare, down 7.9% since last year.
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
Data Integration
 

Q&A Highlights

PS
Apr 10, 2020
 

Featured Reviews

Mir Gulzar Ahmed - PeerSpot reviewer
Excels in handling unstructured data, helping organizations navigate through different storage systems
Pentaho can help organizations by providing them an insight of their unstructured data using one platform(Pentaho Business Analytics). The features are almost identical to other BIS platforms but to me, customers can benefit as it has a community version with most of its Enterprise features. It also has a free limited-period trial version. The other feature that I would like to share here is, that users have access to a complete spectrum of data from different sources with the system’s adaptive big data layer, which takes the source of the data into account. The software is built on an open architecture and can be integrated with multiple systems. However, Pentaho Data Integration and Analytics has been acquired by HDS which offers an Enterprise edition for organizations that also need to meet product compliance.
Sean Achim - PeerSpot reviewer
Building impactful organizational KPIs with ease and precision
Stability is rated at 10. One other important aspect I appreciate is that SSAS is included in the base installation of SQL Server. Obviously, it requires installation, but it is readily available, which is a major strength. It's all about setting it up, configuring it, and then using it. If there are additional costs associated with it or separating it as a second product, that would be a disadvantage. The area of improvement is really in education. Microsoft is trying to push everything as a Power BI solution or trying to get people to solve the problems which are solved with SSAS in another space in Power BI, or in Power Pivot, is not enough. There's not enough marketing, conversation, and support around that space. As a result, we end up with people not understanding that you need to build your models correctly, and then they try to model everything inside of Power BI, or another visualization tool, without first building the data model. That leads people to consider alternate solutions because SAP and others argue that their whole thing is in memory, and they disseminate misleading information. Additionally, what would be very helpful is local user group developments, so getting people around the table and teaching them how to use it. That is the biggest problem; it's not the technology itself. The challenge lies in Microsoft withdrawing a lot of the qualifications and watering down its emphasis, leading to a perception that this is supposed to be an elite product.
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Comparison Review

it_user6978 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jun 10, 2013
Jaspersoft vs. Pentaho – Which one to use & is there any need to purchase the commercial edition
Any company (be it technology, manfucaturing, human resource, ecommerce, SME etc) always has the need for Business Intelligence to some or the other extent. If cost is one of the consideration factor, then the 2 BI tools which are at the forefront are Pentaho and Jaspersoft. But, often the same…
 

Answers from the Community

PS
Apr 10, 2020
Apr 10, 2020
Product recommendation depends on the business requirement and use case. Both are good products and well established in the market. Parameters to look for at the time of product selection : 1) License cost 2) Type of data to be handled and integration with source database 3) Are we looking for cloud implementation or on-premises 4) Volume of data that we are looking at with possible transfo...
See 2 answers
Rahul Sahay - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 18, 2020
Product recommendation depends on the business requirement and use case. Both are good products and well established in the market. Parameters to look for at the time of product selection : 1) License cost 2) Type of data to be handled and integration with source database 3) Are we looking for cloud implementation or on-premises 4) Volume of data that we are looking at with possible transformations 5) Data Quality framework 6) Scalability 7) Customer experience ie support. I am from MS background and have worked both on cloud version and on-premises version. I was able to achieve my solution using MS.
RS
Apr 10, 2020
MS SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) is a part of the commercial MS SQL Server product. It is not a freeware. Probably Pentaho offers an open source/ freeware edition. Below may be useful: https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/sqlserver/en-US/13199248-e246-47aa-bab3-b2b73112d991/ssis-as-a-etl-tool-related-query?forum=sqlintegrationservices https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/sqlserver/en-US/47aeed76-8466-4e9f-bb48-b912c07145df/ssis-tool-evaluation?forum=sqlintegrationservices Nowadays SSDT (SQL server data tools) is also getting popularity: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/ssdt/sql-server-data-tools?view=sql-server-ver15 https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/ssdt/release-notes-ssdt?view=sql-server-ver15 https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/ssdt/sql-server-data-tools?view=sql-server-ver15
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
20%
Computer Software Company
14%
Educational Organization
8%
Real Estate/Law Firm
7%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Seeking lightweight open source BI software
There are many...It would rather depend what System BI architecture or Enterprise legacy you have at your end...I would recommend as follows: 1) If you have legacies of SAP, Oracle - look for SAP...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pentaho Business Analytics?
Pentaho Business Analytics is priced similarly to other competitors such as QlikView ( /products/qlikview-reviews ) and Tableau ( /products/tableau-reviews ). I usually use the community edition.
What needs improvement with Pentaho Business Analytics?
Pentaho Business Analytics ( /categories/bi-business-intelligence-tools ) is hard to learn and not suited for initial users as it requires knowledge of operating systems, Java, and other technical ...
Which is better - SSIS or Informatica PowerCenter?
SSIS PowerPack is a group of drag and drop connectors for Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services, commonly called SSIS. The collection helps organizations boost productivity with code-free compo...
What do you like most about SSIS?
The product's deployment phase is easy.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SSIS?
Utilizing SSIS involves no extra charges beyond the SQL Server license. It's an economical choice for my clients.
 

Also Known As

Pentaho, Kettle, Hitachi Pentaho Business Analytics
SQL Server Integration Services
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Cargo 2000 Lufthansa, Marketo, ModCloth, Cardiac Science, Telefonica, ExactTarget, Active Broadband Networks, and Brussels Airport.
1. Amazon.com 2. Bank of America 3. Capital One 4. Coca-Cola 5. Dell 6. E*TRADE 7. FedEx 8. Ford Motor Company 9. Google 10. Home Depot 11. IBM 12. Intel 13. JPMorgan Chase 14. Kraft Foods 15. Lockheed Martin 16. McDonald's 17. Microsoft 18. Morgan Stanley 19. Nike 20. Oracle 21. PepsiCo 22. Procter & Gamble 23. Prudential Financial 24. RBC Capital Markets 25. SAP 26. Siemens 27. Sony 28. Toyota 29. UnitedHealth Group 30. Visa 31. Walmart 32. Wells Fargo
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