Ventana Research Releases Buyers Guide for Embedded Analytics

    BEND, OR, September 20, 2023 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Today Ventana Research released its 2023 Buyers Guide for Embedded Analytics, a quantified, research-based report evaluating technology providers and products. The Buyers Guide assesses 22 vendors' products using our Value Index methodology to evaluate software in seven key categories that are weighted to reflect buyers' needs based on our expertise and research. The Buyers Guide evaluates the sophistication of vendors and products in the area of embedded analytics.

The processes and technology of the analytics and data software industry play an instrumental role in enabling an organization's business units and IT to optimally utilize data in both tactical and strategic ways. To accomplish this, organizations must provide their workers with technology that can access the data, generate and apply insights from analytics, communicate the results, and support collaboration as needed.

When analytics are embedded in business processes and applications, analyses are easier to perform and more accessible to line-of-business personnel. The analyses are easier to perform in part because the application collects and assembles data; our research shows that data preparation can be the most time-consuming step in the analytical process. Embedded analytics can dramatically reduce or eliminate this step. This Buyers Guide assessment focuses on the challenge of delivering analytics and business intelligence in the context of business processes and applications.

"For all too long, analytics products have been designed to support analysts, not line of business workers. As a result, our research shows that the majority of the workforce does not have access to analytics," said David Menninger, SVP and Research Director at Ventana Research. "Fortunately, vendors have recognized this unmet need in the market and have been investing in application programming interfaces and customization and configuration capabilities to embed analytics into day-to-day business processes. This research assesses vendors' abilities to meet those needs."

The Buyers Guide for Embedded Analytics evaluates the following vendors that offer products that address key elements of embedded analytics as we define it: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Domo, GoodData, Google, IBM, Idera, Incorta, Infor, insightsoftware, Microsoft, MicroStrategy, Oracle, Pyramid Analytics, Qlik, SAP, SAS, Sigma Computing, Sisense, Tableau Software, ThoughtSpot, TIBCO, and Zoho.

The research finds IBM first on the list with SAP in second place and Qlik in third. Companies that place in the top three of a category earn the designation of Leader. IBM, Oracle, and SAP have done so in five of the seven categories; Qlik in three, Domo in two, and Sisense in one category.

The research places vendors into one of four overall categories: Exemplary, Innovative, Assurance, or Merit. This representation classifies vendors' weighted performance overall in Product Experience and Customer Experience. The vendors were awarded the following categories:

- Exemplary - Domo, IBM, insightsoftware, Oracle, Qlik, SAP, Tableau, and Zoho.
- Innovative - Idera, Microsoft, and MicroStrategy.
- Assurance - GoodData, Incorta, and Sisense.
- Merit - AWS, Cloud Software Group, Google, Infor, Pyramid Analytics, SAS, Sigma Computing, and ThoughtSpot.

The Buyers Guide for Embedded Analytics is the distillation of over a year of market and product research efforts. It is an assessment of how well vendors' offerings will address organizations' requirements for embedded analytics software. The index is structured to support a request for information (RFI) that could be used in the RFP process by incorporating all criteria needed to evaluate, select, utilize, and maintain relationships with technology vendors. An effective product and customer experience with a technology vendor can ensure the best long-term relationship and value achieved from a resource and financial investment.

The structure of the research reflects our understanding that the effective evaluation of vendors and products involves far more than just examining product features, potential revenue, or customers generated from a vendor's marketing and sales efforts. We believe it is important to take a comprehensive research-based approach since making the wrong choice of embedded analytics technology can raise the total cost of ownership, lower the return on investment, and hamper an organization's ability to reach its potential performance. In addition, this approach can reduce the project's development and deployment time and eliminate the risk of relying on a short list of vendors that do not represent the best fit for your organization.

"The necessity to have analytics everywhere someone works is critical to the essence of ensuring every worker can reach their full potential, but to achieve this requires that it is embedded in the processes to applications that are utilized," said Mark Smith, CEO and Chief Research Officer at Ventana Research. "The Ventana Research Buyers Guide for Embedded Analytics provides the foundation for any organization or provider to examine what vendors and products might be best fit for their requirements. Unlike other analyst research and reports, the use of the Value Index methodology examines the product and customer experience which is essential in the usage and relationship with a technology vendor."

The Buyers Guide for Embedded Analytics is neither sponsored nor influenced by technology vendors and is conducted solely in pursuit of Ventana Research's mission to provide value to business and IT (Information Technology) through the Consulting, Advisory, Research, and Education (CARE) portfolio of services. Ventana Research's goal is to help guide organizations to optimal efficiency in their use of technology investments for business and IT. To learn more and to read the Buyers Guide for Embedded Analytics, please click here.

About Ventana Research

Ventana Research is the most authoritative and respected market research and advisory services firm. We provide insight and expert guidance on mainstream and disruptive technologies through a unique set of research-based offerings including benchmark research and technology evaluation assessments, education workshops, and our research and advisory services, Ventana On-Demand. Our unparalleled understanding of the role of technology in optimizing business processes and performance and our best practices guidance are rooted in our rigorous research-based benchmarking of people, processes, information, and technology across business and IT functions in every industry. This benchmark research plus our market coverage and in-depth knowledge of hundreds of technology providers means we can deliver education and expertise to our clients to increase the value they derive from technology investments while reducing time, cost, and risk.

Ventana Research provides the most comprehensive analyst and research coverage in the industry; business and IT professionals worldwide are members of our community and benefit from Ventana Research's insights, as do highly regarded media and association partners around the globe. Our views and analyses are distributed daily through blogs and social media channels including Facebook, LinkedIn, and X (formerly Twitter). To learn how Ventana Research advances the maturity of organizations' use of information and technology through benchmark research, education, and advisory services, visit www.ventanaresearch.com.

# # #