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IBM SPSS Modeler pros and cons

Vendor: IBM
4.0 out of 5
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Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

IBM SPSS Modeler offers a wide selection of proprietary machine learning algorithms, which simplifies feature engineering and accelerates model development.
It ensures seamless handling of large data sets, outperforming tools like Excel and Access, and effectively scales to meet business needs.
Users experience improved productivity and reduced project timelines, with tasks such as segmentation now taking significantly less time than traditional methods.
The platform remains flexible and adaptable, integrating well with technologies like R and Python, and supports third-party apps for expanded functionality.
Automation and organization of data handling make IBM SPSS Modeler a preferred choice for analyzing data without writing extensive code.

CONS

IBM SPSS Modeler lacks well-known machine learning algorithms and more popular regression models should be included.
It does not support integration with Qlik, Tableau, and Power BI, limiting its compatibility with other analytics tools.
The platform needs improvements for supporting open-source features like embedding R or Python scripts.
Time Series and forecasting features should be easier and more automated, similar to logistic regression capabilities.
Performance issues persist, with data extraction sometimes causing server crashes due to memory leaks.
 

IBM SPSS Modeler Pros review quotes

it_user380952 - PeerSpot reviewer
Quantitative Researcher at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Sep 29, 2017
Extremely easy to use, it offers a generous selection of proprietary machine learning algorithms.
AA
Founding Partner at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Oct 10, 2017
Some basic form of feature engineering for classification models. This really quickens the model development process.
it_user766575 - PeerSpot reviewer
Research Assistant
Nov 2, 2017
I think it is the point and drag features that are the most valuable. You can simply click at the windows, and then pull up the functions.
Learn what your peers think about IBM SPSS Modeler. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
879,371 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user766605 - PeerSpot reviewer
Clinical Assistant Professor at a university
Nov 2, 2017
It is just a lot faster. So you do not have to write a bunch of code, you can throw that stuff on there pretty quickly and do prototyping quickly.
it_user766611 - PeerSpot reviewer
Graduate Assistant
Nov 2, 2017
It helped me in that I didn't need to write them by hand, and I could get a result in one or two minutes. That helped me a lot.
AltanAtabarut - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Consulting, Growth, Analytics at Akinon
Nov 3, 2018
Automated modelling, classification, or clustering are very useful.
it_user840840 - PeerSpot reviewer
Analyst at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees
Mar 20, 2018
It handles large data better than the previous system that we were using, which was basically Excel and Access. We serve upwards of 300,000 parts over a 150 regions and we need to crunch a lot of numbers.
it_user840852 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director of Engineering at a logistics company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Mar 20, 2018
It scales. I have not run into any challenges where it will not perform.​
UnitMana92c0 - PeerSpot reviewer
Unit Manager at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Mar 20, 2018
Our business units' capabilities with SPSS Modeler is high. They no longer waste time on modeling and algorithms, meaning they are not coding any more. For example, segmentation projects now take one to three months, rather than six months to a year, as before.
it_user840903 - PeerSpot reviewer
Enterprise analytics manager at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
Mar 20, 2018
It is very scalable for non-technical people.
 

IBM SPSS Modeler Cons review quotes

it_user380952 - PeerSpot reviewer
Quantitative Researcher at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Sep 29, 2017
It would be beneficial if the tool would include more well-known machine learning algorithms.
AA
Founding Partner at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Oct 10, 2017
Formula writing is not straightforward for an Excel user. Totally new set of functions, which takes time to learn and teach.
it_user766575 - PeerSpot reviewer
Research Assistant
Nov 2, 2017
If IBM could add some of the popular models into the SPSS for further analysis, like popular regression models, I think that would be a helpful improvement.
Learn what your peers think about IBM SPSS Modeler. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
879,371 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user766605 - PeerSpot reviewer
Clinical Assistant Professor at a university
Nov 2, 2017
When I used it in the office, back in the day, we did have some stability issues. Sometimes it just randomly crashed and we couldn't get good feedback. But when I use it for my own stuff now I don't have any problems.
it_user766611 - PeerSpot reviewer
Graduate Assistant
Nov 2, 2017
I would like see more programming languages added, like MATLAB. That would be better.
AltanAtabarut - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Consulting, Growth, Analytics at Akinon
Nov 3, 2018
Customer support is hard to contact.
it_user840840 - PeerSpot reviewer
Analyst at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees
Mar 20, 2018
It is very good, but slow. The slowness may be because we have not finalized all the background information in SPSS. It still needs some tweaking.
it_user840852 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director of Engineering at a logistics company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Mar 20, 2018
​I would like better integration into the Weather Company solution. I have raised a couple of concerns about this integration and having more time series capabilities.​
UnitMana92c0 - PeerSpot reviewer
Unit Manager at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Mar 20, 2018
It would be helpful if SPSS supported open-source features, for example, embedding R or Python scripts in SPSS Modeler.
it_user840903 - PeerSpot reviewer
Enterprise analytics manager at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
Mar 20, 2018
The challenge for the very technical data scientists: It is constraining for them.​