Top 5 Business Intelligence(BI) tools to
consider in 2024

ThoughtSpot

The most creative companies in the world utilize ThoughtSpot to give every member of their team, from front-line staff to C-suite executives, the capacity to swiftly find data-driven insights. Business workers may use ThoughtSpot to rapidly evaluate billions of rows of data by typing a simple Google-like search. They can also use artificial intelligence to obtain trustworthy, pertinent insights pushed to them as answers to thousands of queries they may not have thought to ask. ThoughtSpot is powerful enough to handle even the largest, most complicated enterprise data without compromising speed, security, or governance, but it is also easy enough for any business person to use.

For this reason, businesses like Daimler, Walmart, 7-11, BT, Celebrity Cruises, and others have started using ThoughtSpot to change the way they make decisions. ThoughtSpot is redefining the role of data in building a more fact-driven world by integrating insights into every discussion and decision.

How does ThoughtSpot compare next to Tableau, Qlik, Microsoft & more?

• A powerful scale-out system as a data platform.
• Marriage of UX design, machine learning, and indexing system.
• Large scale natural language processing.
• Enterprise-class security with search.
• A system that truly understands relational algebra and complex schemas.
• Six years of iterative improvements

Is ThoughtSpot the right choice for you?

Pro

• You can use the search bar to get all answers to data-related questions.
• No complicated report designer tools to mess with, just implementation.
• The ease of collaboration takes the headache away from reconciling reports and communicating your data insights.
• AI analysis is built into each visualization with simple feedback to improve results.

Cons

• Requires more time and technology investment to reach a butter-smooth workflow.
• No answers to business questions on systems not implemented. You have to figure that out yourself.
• ThoughtSpot is a newer tool, talent can be hard to find.

Looker

By providing insights to user workflows, the Looker platform for data enables enterprises to derive value from their data. Looker powers the data-driven cultures of over 1,600 cutting-edge and market-leading businesses, including Sony, Amazon, The Economist, IBM, Spotify, Etsy, Lyft, and Kickstarter. The company has offices in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Boulder, London, Dublin, and Tokyo, Japan, in addition to its headquarters in Santa Cruz, California. Goldman Sachs, Redpoint Ventures, First Round Capital, CapitalG, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Meritech Capital Partners, and Sapphire Ventures are among the investors. Looker wants to be a place of employment that not only discourages prejudice but also encourages inclusion and a sense of belonging. It is a firm believer that a diverse workforce benefits from a range of experiences, viewpoints, and backgrounds.

What features make Looker outstanding?

The data analytics platform from Looker & Google Cloud gives you more choices to employ powerful, novel insights to help you deliver more.

Looker gives users additional alternatives without sacrificing security, privacy, or transparency by supporting a variety of data sources and distribution techniques.

• Modern BI & analytics
• Integrated insights
• Data-driven workflows
• Custom applications
• Choose your database
• Choose your cloud
• Choose your workflow

Is Looker the right choice for you?

Pro

• One platform. Quick time to value. Smarter operating.
• Looker runs on the cloud, you can access your reports and make changes wherever you are (internet sold separately).
• Very easy and convenient for analysts who already know SQL.
• If you are heavily invested in all cloud infrastructure, this makes a lot of sense.

Cons

• The data visualizations are not that great and you need to make a lot of clicks/filters happen.
• Requires writing SQL and extensive code.
• Not a lot of features included that you would expect from a BI tool.
• Google recently bought this tool, hence, what’s to come is yet unknown.

Power BI

A group of software services, applications, and connectors called Power BI come together to transform your disparate data sources into cohesive, interactive, and visually stunning insights. Whether your data is in the form of an Excel spreadsheet or a set of hybrid data warehouses hosted on-premises and in the cloud, Power BI enables you to quickly connect to your data sources, view and identify what's essential, and share that information with anyone you choose.

Outstanding factors that make Power BI a good choice:

A Windows desktop application called Power BI Desktop.

An online SaaS (Software as a Service) service called the Power BI service.

Power BI mobile apps for Windows, iOS, and Android devices.

Companies may feed Power BI massive amounts of data that would be difficult for many other systems to handle.

Built-in machine learning features can analyze data and help users spot valuable trends and make educated predictions.

Information can be visualized using powerful templates to allow businesses to better make sense of their data.

Power BI is cloud-based, so users get cutting edge intelligence capabilities and powerful algorithms that are updated regularly.

Power BI ensures data is safe, offering granular controls on accessibility both internally and externally.

Power BI Report Builder, for creating paginated reports to share in the Power BI service.

Power BI Report Server, an on-premises report server where you can publish your Power BI reports, after creating them in Power BI Desktop.

Powerful personalization capabilities allow users to create dashboards so they can access the data they need quickly.

Outstanding factors that make Power BI a good choice:

Pro

• Power BI can do everything. You don’t need to buy and learn different tools to get the self-service BI job done.
• Data modeling is the core language both IT and business teams need to come to terms with. Power BI can be the bridge.
• You don’t need a data engineer that knows SQL to mash up and clean data from your different systems, click-through actions on a ribbon to make the magic happen.
• Power BI’s AI visualizations and capabilities are robust, empowering business analysts and data scientists to work collaboratively across the organization.

Cons

• It can do everything! Thus, it is complicated with many layers.
• To make the most of Power BI’s advanced features you must learn their calculation language called DAX.
• Your organization needs to have good data modeling expertise to make the most of this tool.
• The more investment you have in Microsoft infrastructure, the easier it is to deploy.

Google Data Studio

For sophisticated users who wish to go beyond Google Analytics' data and dashboards, Google offers Data Studio as a reporting tool. The customization possibilities, live data, interactive features (such table pagination and column sorting), and diversity of Data Studio's data widgets make them stand out. Data sources include file uploads, database connectors, Google products (Analytics, AdWords, Search Console, Sheets, YouTube, etc.), and "community" connectors to well-known marketing services.

Originally, Google Data Studio was a component of the business Google Analytics 360 package. A free version of Data Studio was made available by Google in May 2016 for individuals and smaller organizations. The amount of reports that could be made per account was one of the variations at the time between the paid version and the free version. In February 2017, Google revealed that Data Studio reports would be free and limitless. Since then, Google Data Studio's free edition has kept adding robust capabilities and improving its usability.

When shall you use Google Data Studio?

• You are primarily dependent on the Google app ecosystem and your architecture is based on Google services.
• Your requirement does not need complex dashboards or deeper interactivity with reports.
• You do not have a dedicated team of analysts enough to take advantage of additional functions provided by tools.
• Your compliance requirements are not broken when data is taken outside your internal network.

Outstanding factors that make Google Data Studio a good choice:

• You are primarily dependent on the Google app ecosystem and your architecture is based on Google services.
• Your requirement does not need complex dashboards or deeper interactivity with reports.
• You do not have a dedicated team of analysts enough to take advantage of additional functions provided by tools.
• Your compliance requirements are not broken when data is taken outside your internal network.

Tableau

Tableau makes data easier to view and comprehend. Tableau is a business intelligence tool that offers a completely new way to connect, display, and communicate data from PC to iPad in a fluid and fast manner. Without knowing programming, create, publish, and share dashboards with partners, customers, and coworkers. One of the data visualization tools that the business intelligence (BI) sector is now using that is expanding the fastest is Tableau. It is the most effective method for converting an unprocessed amount of data into a format that is simple to comprehend without requiring any coding or technical expertise.

Why Tableau?

• Tableau is greatly used because data can be analyzed very quickly with it. Also, visualizations are generated as dashboards and worksheets.
• Tableau allows one to create dashboards that provide actionable insights and drives the business forward.
• Tableau products always operate in virtualized environments when they are configured with the proper underlying operating system and hardware.
• Tableau is used to explore data with limitless visual analytics.

Is Tableau the right choice for you?

Pro

• Excellent data visualizations. A sure asset to your creative team
• Because Tableau relies on flat models, it is less complicated to pick up and use for someone new to BI.
• The AI-driven insights and statistical engine you get out-of-the-box are powerful.

Cons

• Without a strong IT team of SQL developers and a fast database to run off, Tableau can be disappointing.
• Relies on using separate tools and services to get the job done.
• Very expensive. Requires a big budget.