The competition for leadership in public cloud computing is a fierce three-way race: Amazon Web Services (AWS) versus Microsoft Azure versus Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Clearly these three top cloud companies hold a commanding lead in the infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) markets.

AWS is particularly dominant in the market. AWS’s cloud software holds a market share of 33%, Microsoft Azure has a market share of 21%, and Google Cloud has a market share of 11%, according to Statista.

Table of Contents:

• AWS vs. Azure vs. Google Cloud at a Glance
• Best for Pricing: Google Cloud
• Best for Cloud Services Portfolio: Google Cloud
• Best for Compute: AWS
• Best for Storage: Microsoft Azure
• Best for Networking: Microsoft Azure
• Best for Reliability: AWS
• Best for Availability: AWS
• Bottom Line: AWS vs. Azure vs. Google Cloud

AWS vs. Azure vs. Google Cloud at a Glance

Amazon Web Services

AWS has a huge and growing array of available services as well as the most comprehensive network of worldwide data centers. With a vast tool set that continues to grow exponentially, Amazon’s capabilities are unmatched. AWS has a focus on public cloud.

You can’t go wrong with AWS, due to its rich collection of tools and services and massive scale. At its size, it’s hard for Amazon to have a close relationship with every customer, but there are managed services providers that can offer that type of attentive focus.

Microsoft Azure

Microsoft Azure is a close competitor to AWS with an exceptionally capable cloud infrastructure. Azure knows you still run a data center, and the Azure platform works hard to interoperate with data centers; hybrid cloud is a true strength. Azure’s deep focus on the hybrid cloud will help you bridge the legacy data center environment with the rapidly scalable and feature-rich Microsoft cloud.

A big reason for Azure’s success: so many enterprises deploy Windows and other Microsoft software. Because Azure is tightly integrated with these other applications, enterprises that use a lot of Microsoft software often find that it makes sense for them to use Azure.

See more: Microsoft: Azure Batch Review

Google Cloud

Google’s technical expertise is profound, and its industry-leading tools in deep learning and artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics are significant advantages. Google Cloud is fully committed and has plowed billions into its cloud efforts. Google has built its cloud on its strength, which is scale and machine learning.

Google developed the Kubernetes standard that AWS and Azure now offer. Google Cloud Platform specializes in high compute offerings like big data, analytics, and machine learning. It also offers considerable scale and load balancing—Google knows data centers and fast response times.

See more: Google Cloud: Vertex AI Review

Best for Pricing: Google Cloud

Understanding pricing among these three cloud leaders is challenging, and pricing changes; it can change based on the specific arrangement that a customer wrangles from their service rep. Look below for typical pricing engagements with each provider.

AWS Pricing

Amazon’s pricing is particularly inscrutable. While it does offer a cost calculator, the many variables involved make it difficult to get accurate estimates. Gartner advised, “[Amazon’s] granular pricing structure is complex; use of third-party cost management tools is highly recommended.”

Azure Pricing

Microsoft Azure doesn’t make things any simpler. Because of Microsoft’s complicated software licensing options and use of situation-based discounts, its pricing structure can be difficult to understand without outside help and/or considerable experience.

Google Pricing

By contrast, Google uses its pricing as a point of differentiation. It aims to offer “customer-friendly” prices that beat the list prices of the other providers. Gartner noted, “Google uses deep discounts and exceptionally flexible contracts to try to win projects from customers that are currently spending significant sums of money with cloud competitors.”

Best for Cloud Services Portfolio: Google Cloud

When looking into any cloud company, it is important to note what your company needs and wants to get the most out of their cloud technology. While some companies have limited options, AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud offer tools to help with any needs.

AWS Cloud Service Portfolio

Out of the three options, AWS has the least tools in its portfolio. However, AWS’s cloud service portfolio covers many different industries and needs for its customers. With AWS being one of the strongest cloud services, its tools are a great option for businesses. AWS notes unique products from its customers.

Elastic Compute Cloud

Amazon’s flagship compute service is Elastic Compute Cloud, or EC2. Amazon describes EC2 as “a web service that provides secure, resizable compute capacity in the cloud.”

EC2 offers a wide variety of options, including a huge assortment of instances, support for both Windows and Linux, bare metal instances, graphics processing unit (GPU) instances, high-performance computing, auto-scaling, and more. AWS also offers a free tier for EC2 that includes 750 hours per month for up to twelve months.

Container Services

Within the compute category, Amazon’s various container services are increasing in popularity, and it has options that support Docker, Kubernetes, and its own Fargate service that automates server and cluster management when using containers. It also offers a virtual private cloud option known as Lightsail, Batch for batch computing jobs, Elastic Beanstalk for running and scaling web applications as well as a few other services.

See more: Yahoo Selects AWS Public Cloud for Ad Division

Microsoft Azure Cloud Service Portfolio

Microsoft Azure has 18 separate categories for cloud tools to help a business. Between developer and mobile tools, Microsoft Azure’s cloud portfolio offers many options based on a company’s wants and needs.

Virtual Machines

Microsoft Azure’s primary cloud-based compute service is known as Virtual Machines. It boasts support for Linux, Windows Server, SQL Server, Oracle, IBM, and SAP as well as enhanced security, hybrid cloud capabilities, and integrated support for Microsoft software.

Like AWS, Virtual Machines has a large catalog of available instances, including GPU and high-performance computing options, as well as instances optimized for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. It also has a free tier with 750 hours per month of Windows or Linux B1S virtual machines for a year.

Additional Services

Azure’s version of auto-scaling is known as Virtual Machine Scale Sets. Azure has two container services: Azure Container Service is based on Kubernetes, and Container Services uses Docker Hub and Azure Container Registry for management.

It has a Batch service, and Cloud Services for scalable web applications is similar to AWS Elastic Beanstalk. It also has a unique offering called Service Fabric that is specifically designed for applications with microservices architecture.

Google Cloud Service Portfolio

From computing to media, Google Cloud has an extensive amount of tools in its portfolio. With 19 separate categories of cloud software, Google Cloud is likely to be the best portfolio of the three.

Compute Engine

By comparison, Google’s catalog of compute services is somewhat smaller than its competitors. Its primary service is called Compute Engine, which boasts both custom and predefined machine types, per-second billing, Linux and Windows support, automatic discounts, and carbon-neutral infrastructure that uses half the energy of typical data centers. It offers a free tier that includes one f1-micro instance per month for up to 12 months.

Focus on Kubernetes

Like all of the leading cloud vendors, it’s well-set up to offer containers and microservices. Google offers the Kubernetes Engine for organizations interested in deploying containers. And it’s worth noting that Google has been heavily involved in the Kubernetes project, giving it deep expertise in this area.

Best for Compute: AWS

AWS Compute

Elastic Compute Cloud

Amazon’s flagship compute service is Elastic Compute Cloud, or EC2. Amazon describes EC2 as “a web service that provides secure, resizable compute capacity in the cloud.” EC2 offers a wide variety of options, including a huge assortment of instances, support for both Windows and Linux, bare metal instances, GPU instances, high-performance computing, auto-scaling, and more.

Container Services

Within the compute category, Amazon’s various container services are increasing in popularity, and it has options that support Docker, Kubernetes, and its own Fargate service that automates server and cluster management when using containers. It offers a virtual private cloud option known as Lightsail, Batch for batch computing jobs, Elastic Beanstalk for running and scaling web applications.

Microsoft Compute

Virtual Machines

Microsoft Azure’s primary cloud-based compute service is known as Virtual Machines. It boasts support for Linux, Windows Server, SQL Server, Oracle, IBM, and SAP as well as enhanced security, hybrid cloud capabilities, and integrated support for Microsoft software.

Like AWS, it has an extremely large catalog of available instances, including GPU and high-performance computing options, as well as instances optimized for artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Additional Services

Azure’s version of auto-scaling is known as Virtual Machine Scale Sets. Azure has two container services: Azure Container Service is based on Kubernetes, and Container Services uses Docker Hub and Azure Container Registry for management.

It has a Batch service, and Cloud Services for scalable web applications is similar to AWS Elastic Beanstalk. It has a unique offering called Service Fabric that is specifically designed for applications with microservices architecture.

Google Compute

Compute Engine

By comparison, Google’s catalog of compute services is somewhat smaller than its competitors. Its primary service is called Compute Engine, which boasts both custom and predefined machine types, per-second billing, Linux and Windows support, automatic discounts, and carbon-neutral infrastructure that uses half the energy of typical data centers.

Focus on Kubernetes

Like all of the leading cloud vendors, it’s well-set up to offer containers and microservices. Google offers the Kubernetes Engine for organizations interested in deploying containers. And it’s worth noting that Google has been heavily involved in the Kubernetes project, giving it deep expertise in this area.

Best for Storage: Microsoft Azure

AWS Storage

SSS to EFS

AWS’s storage services include its Simple Storage Service (S3) for object storage, Elastic Block Storage (EBS) for persistent block storage (for use with EC2), and Elastic File System (EFS) for file storage.

Some of its more innovative storage products include the Storage Gateway, which enables a hybrid storage environment, and Snowball, which is a physical hardware device that organizations can use to transfer petabytes of data in situations where internet transfer isn’t practical.

Database and Archiving

Amazon has a SQL-compatible database called Aurora, Relational Database Service (RDS), DynamoDB NoSQL database, ElastiCache in-memory data store, Redshift data warehouse, Neptune graph database, and a Database Migration Service.

Amazon offers Glacier, which is designed for long-term archival storage at low rates. In addition, its Storage Gateway can be used to easily set up backup and archive processes.

Azure Storage

Storage Services

Microsoft Azure’s basic storage services include Blob Storage for REST-based object storage of unstructured data, Queue Storage for large-volume workloads, File Storage, and Disk Storage. It also has a Data Lake Store, which is useful for big data applications.

Extensive Database

Azure’s database options are particularly extensive. It has three SQL-based options: SQL Database, Database for MySQL, and Database for PostgreSQL. It also has a Data Warehouse service as well as Cosmos DB and Table Storage for NoSQL.

Redis Cache is its in-memory service, and the Server Stretch Database is its hybrid storage service, designed specifically for organizations that use Microsoft SQL Server in their own data centers.

Unlike AWS, Microsoft does offer an actual Backup service as well as Site Recovery service and Archive Storage.

Google Storage

Unified Storage and More

GCP has a growing menu of storage services available. Cloud Storage is its unified object storage service, and it has a Persistent Disk option. In addition, it offers a Transfer Appliance, similar to AWS Snowball, and has online transfer services.

SQL and NoSQL

When it comes to databases, GCP has the SQL-based Cloud SQL and a relational database called Cloud Spanner that is designed for mission-critical workloads. It has two NoSQL options: Cloud Bigtable and Cloud Datastore. It does not have backup and archive services.

Best for Networking: Microsoft Azure

Cloud networking is an IT infrastructure where most or all of a company’s network abilities and data are in a public or private cloud platform, managed by the provider or company employees that are available on demand.

AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud offer different network capabilities for their customers. While Microsoft Azure is the top provider in networking, AWS and Google Cloud offer valuable tools.

AWS Networking

AWS networking has a broad and deep set of networking and content delivery services in the world with AWS. A company can run applications with reliability, security, and performance in the cloud.

AWS offers a simple networking process to improve a company’s infrastructure with application networking. They offer increased security for their edge networking platform and offer customizable options for the network.

Microsoft Azure Networking

Microsoft Azure networking offers the ability to connect and deliver hybrid and cloud-native applications. From connecting to virtual machines and VPN connections, Azuree is the top cloud provider within networking.

Azure is customizable from security to traffic ensuring the network from inbound to outbound connections, native firewalls, network firewalls, and delivery of 5G networks give the company exactly what they need. Connecting to customers, traffic, and other sites are all connected within a unified portal, something the other cloud tools do not provide.

Google Cloud Networking

Google Cloud offers a broad portfolio of networking services that leverages automation, AI, and programs for companies to enable businesses to connect, scale, secure, modernize, and optimize their infrastructure.

There are many products in Google’s portfolio for networking that offer more uptime, fewer disruptions, and virtual private cloud (VPC) networks. Using Google Cloud allows businesses to access Google APIs and services to keep track of a company’s network.

Best for Reliability: AWS

When it comes to cloud computing and storage, a company needs a reliable business to keep their business running. While AWS is ranked as the most reliable, there are other traits from Azure or Google cloud that fits their business model.

AWS Reliability

• Automatically Recover From Downtime: AWS key performance indicators (KPIs) should be a measure of business value, allowing for automatic notification and tracking of vulnerabilities and for automated recovery processes that work around or repair the failure.
• Test Recovery Procedures: In the cloud, a company can test how their workload fails, and a company can validate recovery procedures. Using AWS automation can simulate different vulnerabilities or to recreate problems that have caused failures before.
• Scale to Increase Aggregate Workload Availability: A company can replace one large resource with multiple small resources to reduce the impact of a vulnerability on the overall workload.
• Manage Change in Automation: AWS cloud changes to a company’s infrastructure are made using automation. The changes cause changes to the automation, which then can be tracked and reviewed.

Microsoft Azure Reliability

• Network Reliability Through Azure Software: Microsoft network connects more than 60 Azure regions, 200 Azure data centers, and over 175,000 miles of terrestrial and subsea fiber worldwide connecting to the internet at global edge points of presence.
• Safe Deployment With AIOps: AI and machine learning are used to help engineers monitor the deployment process at scale, detect issues early, and make rollout or rollback decisions based on impact scope and severity.
• Resiliency Threat Modeling for Large Distributed Systems: Azure engineering teams use multiple tools to understand what went wrong, how it went wrong, and the customer impact of outages.
• Low- and No-Impact Maintenance: The low- and no-impact update technologies include hot patching, memory-preserving maintenance, and live migration to maintain its infrastructure with little or no customer impact or downtime.

Google Cloud Reliability

• Google Cloud Outages: Google Cloud is transparent about service availability and providing a near real-time report on current service status across the continents.
• Robust Security: Their security stance is part of its GCP offering to ensure companies are kept safe from vulnerabilities and that networks remain secure and encrypted.
• Automation to Avoid User Error: The cloud provides high levels of automation and capabilities for ML elements that can save an organization time and reduce the need for human input.
• Uses Hybrid and Multicloud Setups: Google Cloud embraces the need for collaboration, allowing users to run apps and access data across any cloud environment.

Best for Availability: AWS

Depending on where your international operations are located and what localized regulations you need to follow, one of these top clouds may be optimal for your business model:

• AWS Availability Zones: North America (24), South America (three), Europe (24), Middle East (six), Africa (three), Asia Pacific (32), and Australia (six).
• Azure Availability Zones: Brazil (three), Canada (three), Chile, Mexico, United States (18), Azure Government (three), Asia Pacific (six), and Australia (three).
• Google Availability Zones: Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America.

Availability zones are growing as cloud services have grown. From North America to Australia, these companies are growing everyday.

Bottom Line: AWS vs. Azure vs. Google Cloud

Certain types of companies will be more attracted to certain cloud vendors. So if your firm runs Windows and a lot of Microsoft software, you’ll probably want to investigate Azure. If you are a small, web-based startup looking to scale quickly, you might want to take a good look at Google Cloud Platform. And if you are looking for the provider with the broadest catalog of services and worldwide reach, AWS will probably be right for you.

See more: 100 Top Artificial Intelligence (AI) Companies

What is the Difference Between Data Governance and Data Management?

The difference between the two is that a data governance tool takes a holistic, overarching view of the data lifecycle from a business perspective, while data management is more concerned with the tools, services, and repositories used to handle that data.

Simply put, data governance software deals with your data strategy, while management solutions deal with tactics.

What Types of Data Governance Software Exist?

Data governance solutions come in two different flavors: standalone data governance software and integrated data platforms. Many vendors integrate data governance into their data quality, data catalog, or even analytics software. A data governance framework is typically needed when organizations need to ensure compliance with laws related to protecting sensitive client, patient, or customer data.

Both types of tools usually offer key features like the ability to create a glossary of business terms, data lineage, and rules-based workflows. Many also incorporate automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and/or machine learning (ML). Some also include data discovery, master data management (MDM), data cleansing, data integration, and other data capabilities.

How to Select Data Governance Software

If you are in the market for data governance software, keep these tips in mind:

• Identify your key users. Some data governance tools are designed for general business users, some for IT, and some for data science professionals as high up as your Chief Data Officer (CDO). Make sure you understand which group will be using the tool most at your organization.
• Clarify your needs. When people say they are looking for a data governance solution, they are sometimes really looking for a data quality, MDM, or data integration solution. Make sure you understand exactly what capabilities you need in a data governance tool.
• Match your needs to products. Very few vendors offer software that does only data governance. Most of them incorporate other related capabilities, but those related capabilities vary widely. You will need to shop carefully to make sure you get exactly what you need without overpaying for features that won’t be useful. You should also check if your solution integrates with other top solutions that you’ll need for data access management, unstructured data management, and identity governance.
• Take a test drive. Many of the vendors advertise free trials. Take advantage of these offerings before you buy.

Learn about the Top Data Management Challenges and Opportunities Facing IT Leaders.

With those tips in mind, here are ten data governance vendors you might want to consider, as well as some data governance best practices:

Jump to:

• • ASG Technologies
  • Ataccama
  • Collibra
  • Erwin/Quest Software
  • IBM
  • Informatica
  • Precisely
  • SAP
  • SAS
  • Talend
  • Data Governance Comparison Table

ASG Technologies

Founded in 1986 in Naples, Florida, ASG Technologies sells a variety of enterprise software, primarily related to information management and IT systems management. Its Enterprise Data Intelligence solution includes data governance strategy and capabilities for the enterprise user. ASG has more than 3,500 customers, including Clemson University, Primerica, Postbank, and Liberty Mutual Insurance.

Enterprise Data Intelligence incorporates a wide range of features like federated business glossary, automated data lineage, automated data asset inventory, enterprise metadata repository, reference data management, data privacy and compliance, workflows, and impact analysis. Its metadata management capabilities are particularly noteworthy.

A demo and pricing are available on request.

Pros

• • • Organizations that need a wide range of features will appreciate the ASG product’s breadth.
    • Enterprise Data Intelligence makes extensive use of AI and automation to streamline operations.
    • Its data lineage and metadata capabilities are particularly good.

Cons

• • • The product is designed more for the IT staff who use ASG’s other products than for business professionals.
    • The interface is not as easy to use as some of the other options.
    • Deployment can be difficult in complex environments.

Ataccama

Founded in 2008, Ataccama is based in Toronto, Canada, with offices in New York City, London, Prague, Munich, Paris, Sydney, Sofia, and Moscow. It offers Ataccama ONE, a self-driving data management and governance platform that includes modules for MDM, data catalog, data integration, and data profiling. It boasts more than 55,000 users and customers that include American Airlines, Avast, BlueCross BlueShield, CBRE, TIAA, SAG AFTRA, T Mobile, TD Bank, and others.

Incorporating AI capabilities, Ataccama ONE has advanced automation features like automatic anomaly detection, automated assignment of business rules, rapid MDM model development, automated data discovery, automatic policy enforcement, and more. It runs natively on most big data platforms, including Spark, AWS, Databricks, Hadoop, Hortonworks, Cloudera, MapR, Google, and Azure. Designed for enterprises, it promises high availability, disaster recovery, full-audit history, and role-based data security.

Pricing is available on request. The company offers demos and a free 30-day trial.

Pros

• • • Ataccama ONE integrates multiple data quality and governance capabilities into a single platform, including data discovery.
    • It offers multiple deployment options, including platform as a service (PaaS).
    • The platform’s heavy reliance on automation and AI improves efficiency.

Cons

• • • Some customers say they wish it had better data visualization capabilities, but the firm recently purchased the Tellstory data visualization platform, which could help it improve in this area.
    • Updates are sometimes buggy and difficult to deploy.
    • It can be difficult to get the software up and running unless you hire one of the company’s consultants.

Collibra

A pure-play startup based in Brussels, Belgium, Collibra describes itself as a “data intelligence company.” Its platform includes data catalog, lineage, privacy, and quality capabilities, as well as data governance. Its customers include Adobe, AXA XL, DNB, Equifax, Honeywell, NetApp, AstraZeneca, Credit Suisse, T-Mobile, Southwest Airlines, Dell Technologies, Verizon, and others.

Collibra’s Data Governance product includes business glossary, data dictionary, policy manager, and reference management capabilities. It incorporates automation and collaboration tools that help improve productivity. It is part of the Data Intelligence Cloud and integrates with other Collibra products.

Pricing is available on request. The company offers a free demo.

Pros

• • • As part of a larger data intelligence platform, Collibra is a good option for organizations that need data catalog and data governance.
    • The platform is very flexible.
    • Customers give Collibra’s sales and support teams high marks.

Cons

• • • Some customers complain that the interface is clunky.
    • Although the tool is available as software as a service (SaaS), deployment can be difficult.
    • The search capabilities aren’t as robust as they could be.

Erwin/Quest Software

Now owned by Quest Software, Erwin began as data modeling software created by Logicworks in the early 1990s. After multiple mergers and acquisitions, the Erwin company emerged in 2016 and also began offering Enterprise Data Governance Experience, or EDGE, products. Its customers include Adecco, Balfour Beatty Construction, CenturyLink, Fidelity International, Royal Bank of Scotland, and others.

Erwin’s flagship data governance offering is its Data Intelligence Suite, which includes data catalog, data literacy, and automation capabilities. It allows users to discover and harvest data, structure and deploy data sources, analyze metadata, map data flows, create and manage effective data governance models, and enable self-service.

A free trial is available. Prices are available on request or through resellers.

Pros

• • • Because it is a complete data suite, the tool offers a wide range of features.
    • It is highly customizable.
    • Customers say the price is very affordable.

Cons

• • • Some customers would like to see more robust ETL capabilities.
    • The user interface is not as easy to use as some other data governance tools.
    • Search capabilities are inadequate.

IBM

A long-time provider of data software for management and quality, IBM Data Governance capabilities are offered through the cloud-based IBM Watson Knowledge Catalog. Organizations that use the service include Danske Bank and Standard Bank Group. The solution has done well in the enterprise technology analyst report space. Both Gartner and Forrester named IBM a Leader in this market, and the tool also won the Gartner Peer Insights Customer Choice Award for 2020.

IBM Watson Knowledge Catalog can be deployed on the IBM Cloud or on a private cloud through IBM Cloud Pak for Data. In addition to data governance capabilities, it includes other big data solutions for intelligent discovery recommendations, an end-to-end catalog, data lineage, quality scores, and self-service insights. It promises flexibility while allowing organizations to improve their big data analytics, data privacy, and security.

If you want to deploy IBM Watson Knowledge Catalog on IBM Cloud Pak for Data, you will need to contact the company for pricing. If you purchase it as a service on IBM Cloud, you have the option of three different pricing tiers: Lite (free), Standard ($300 per instance, $0.50 per capacity unit-hour, and $50 for each additional user), and Professional ($7,000 per instance, $0.40 per capacity unit-hour and $300 per additional user).

Pros

• • • IBM’s years of experience in this market have resulted in the development of a robust, high-quality product.
    • IBM has strong support for DataOps workflows.
    • Customers say the solution provides good value for the cost.

Cons

• • • IBM could improve the data quality capabilities of the product.
    • Customers say it took them a while to learn to use the tool.
    • Some customers would like it to be easier to integrate the product with other enterprise software.

Informatica

Best known for its Intelligent Data Platform, Informatica offers a variety of data-related products and services, including its Data Quality and Governance software. Customers that use its data governance tools include Adventist Health System, the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism, UNC Health, McGraw-Hill Education, AIA, eBay, Franciscan Alliance, PayPal, and others.

Informatica builds data governance features into many of its products, and it also offers a standalone product called Axon Data Governance. Built to meet the needs of large enterprises, it is highly scalable, customizable, designed for use by teams, and cloud-based. Key features include AI and machine learning, a collaborative business glossary, data lineage, and privacy and regulatory compliance best practices and support. It integrates well with other Informatica products.

Pricing is available on request. Informatica offers free trials for some products, including Data Quality, but not for Axon Data Governance.

Pros

• • • Axon Data Governance integrates with other Informatica data products, making it attractive to current Informatica customers.
    • Informatica has deep AI experience, which is reflected in its data governance products.
    • The data marketplace makes it easy to empower business users for self-service and data democratization.

Cons

• • • The solution is not easy to deploy or integrate with other tools.
    • Customers that only use one Informatica product might find that they don’t get sufficient value for the price.
    • Informatica does not offer an easy way to try or demo the software.

Precisely

Recently acquired by venture capital firms Clearlake and TA Associates, Precisely was formed from a merger between Syncsort and Pitney Bowes Software & Data. It offers multiple products related to data quality and data integration. It boasts more than 12,000 customers, including Crowley Maritime, DNB, Ironstream, Babcock Marine and Technology Division, PermataBank, and others.

Precisely offers a robust data governance program through its Data Integrity Suite. It encompasses data integration, data enrichment, and location intelligence features, but it has a modular design, so customers can purchase only the portions of the suite that they need. It integrates with many popular enterprise applications and systems — including mainframes — and it includes data cleansing features, making it a strong solution for most any data source.

Pricing is available on request, and a demo is available.

Pros

• • • Precisely is one of the few tools on this list that includes data enrichment and location intelligence.
    • The modular architecture makes it easy to get only the capabilities you need.
    • Precisely is one of the few tools specifically designed to handle data that resides in mainframes.

Cons

• • • Precisely’s data governance features are not as robust as its other capabilities.
    • Only limited documentation about the solution is available.
    • The platform is not particularly easy to deploy.

SAP

Well known for its ERP and other enterprise software, SAP also offers a highly rated data governance product. Customers that use it include Neste, CJ Logistics, Tetra Pak, and Dohler.

SAP’s tool is called Enterprise Master Data Governance, and it combines MDM with data governance capabilities. SAP Master Data Governance can be installed on-premises or in a private cloud, and it includes pre-built data models, business rules, workflow, and user interfaces. It allows organizations to create a single source of truth while also establishing policies and procedures for data quality and governance.

Customers have two pricing options for purchasing SAP MDG: by domain or with a comprehensive enterprise license to cover multiple domains. Details are available upon request. A demo and a free trial are also available.

Pros

• • • Organizations that use other SAP tools will likely find it easy to integrate Master Data Governance into their environment.
    • The free trial makes the software easy to try.
    • Customers say they appreciate the rules-based workflows.

Cons

• • • The interface is not intuitive.
    • Organizations will likely need training in order to deploy and use it.
    • Customers say its handling of bulk data needs to be improved.

SAS

SAS, long known as a leader in big data analytics and management, has a large customer base for its Data Governance software. SAS data management customers include BMC Software, Credit Guarantee Corporation, Delaware State Police, Florida Department of Corrections, and many others.

SAS sells several different software packages that incorporate data governance capabilities for a variety of data owner types, but the most notable is its Information Governance software. Its key features include data cataloging, data preparation, automatic discovery, classification of private data, flexible search, and integration with Viya analytics software.

A free trial is available on the SAS website, and pricing and a demo are available on request.

Pros

• • • Organizations that already use SAS analytics or data integration software will benefit from adding data governance from the same vendor.
    • The SAS product is one of the most full-featured on the market.
    • SAS technical support gets glowing reviews from customers.

Cons

• • • SAS’s data governance products are not as highly rated as many of its other data-related products.
    • Some customers say they wish the tool were more flexible.
    • SAS pricing is very difficult to understand.

Talend

Talend’s flagship product is its Unified Data Fabric, which includes data integrity and governance, data integration and application, and API integration capabilities. Its long list of customers has names like GlaxoSmithKline, SiriusXM, the Singapore Tourism Board, Vodafone, AutoZone, Air France, Bayer Pharmaceuticals, and many others.

Designed for large enterprises, Unified Data Fabric makes extensive use of automation and emphasizes collaboration and self-service capabilities. Key data governance features include a data catalog, data inventory, data preparation, and data stewardship for experienced data stewards.

Talend has a free, open-source version of its product, and it lists pricing for many of its cloud-based services on its website. However, to get pricing for the full product that includes all the data governance features, you will need to request a quote.

Pros

• • • If you want a single solution to do data integration and governance, the Talend product is very full-featured.
    • Talend stands out for its ease of use.
    • Talend is also easy to deploy and integrate with other enterprise applications.

Cons

• • • The company’s technical support gets some negative reviews.
    • The on-premises version is much more difficult to run than the cloud version.
    • Some customers would like to see improvements in monitoring capabilities.

Learn more: Top Data Management Platforms & Software 2022

Data Governance Comparison Table

While all DMPs offer these core features, there is a lot of variation in how they function.

Some data management platforms act like data warehouse tools for marketing data. They collect data from multiple sources and integrate it into many different applications. These data management platforms are essentially the “pipes” connecting a diverse set of data tools.

Other DMPs are integrated with demand-side platforms, or DSPs. DSPs automate media buying across digital platforms, helping organizations find the most cost-effective way to reach their target audience and find appropriate second party data, third party data, and even first party data. These DMPs function as add-ons, providing more value to the core DSP.

Several other DMPs fall outside these two broad categories. They might integrate with CRM systems or act as a part of a media outlet’s tools, which they use to court advertisers. Moving forward, data management platforms will increasingly incorporate machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Because data management platforms come in so many different varieties, shopping for the best vendor can be complex. Read on for tips on how to select the right tool for your business data needs.

How to select a data management platform

The following tips can help you find the best DMP for your organization:

• Consider your needs before researching products. Do you want a full-featured media-buying platform or just basic data management capabilities? If you don’t understand your needs in advance, you can easily end up investigating products that don’t have the features you need or that offer unnecessary features that increase costs.

• Make sure you are comparing similar products and their values. The disparity of product features makes it difficult to compare pricing. Compounding the problem, few of the vendors featured in this list offer up-front pricing. Be prepared to sit through a lot of demos and do additional research if you want to find the best value.

• Examine the data and application integrations carefully. A good DMP will integrate data from a variety of different business sources. It should also integrate with or replace the other digital advertising tools your marketers use.

• Evaluate the analytics features carefully. Many DMPs claim to include data insight capture capabilities, but those capabilities are not all equally advanced. Make sure you have seen a platform in action and are satisfied with its performance before purchasing. Also consider if AI or ML automation is important to your data insights process.

• Don’t forget about customer service. Data management, whether it’s master data management or metadata management, is complicated. You are likely to need support when setting up and deploying your tool, as well as for ongoing maintenance and management. Take a look at reviews to see how other customers feel about the customer service they received from the vendors you are considering, and also take a look at the support page that many vendors provide.

With these tips in mind, here are ten data management platform vendors you might want to consider:

Jump to:

• Adobe Audience Manager
• Amobee
• Google Marketing Platform
• Lotame
• Mapp Cloud
• MediaMath
• Nielsen DMP
• Oracle CX Marketing
• Salesforce CDP
• The Trade Desk

Best Data Management Platforms

Adobe Audience Manager

Although best known for its design software and other tools for creative professionals, Adobe also offers a range of tools for marketing and commerce, as well as other business solutions. Founded in San Jose, California in 1986, Adobe has grown to an $11.7 billion company with more than 22,000 employees worldwide. Its stock is traded on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol ADBE.

This Adobe solution allows organizations to collect data from a wide variety of sources, build new audience segment models, and uncover new insights. Well-known users include Hyatt, Virgin Holidays, National Bank of Canada, Sky, and others. Forrester named it a leader in its Forrester Wave report for Data Management Platforms.

Pros

• The platform integrates closely with other Adobe products, especially other Experience Cloud software.
• The virtual model makes the software easy to access.
• It ingests both structured and unstructured data from a wide variety of sources.

Cons

• Many customers complain that it takes a long time to load data into the tool.
• The software can be difficult to learn.
• Some customers say that the product’s pricing is too high.

Amobee

Geared as an independent advertising platform, Amobee offers end-to-end campaign and portfolio management that includes DMP capabilities. Founded in 2005 in Foster City, California, the company was acquired by Singapore-based Singtel for $321 million in 2012, but it continues to do business under the Amobee name. It has won numerous awards as a great place to work, and it has offices throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region.

The Discover tool within the Amobee platform includes many data management capabilities, such as audience intelligence, segment creation, sentiment and trends, data onboarding, and more. It also integrates with the rest of the Amobee platform for media planning, execution, optimization, and analysis. Its users include Pringles, Kia, the NBA, Evian, Spotify, Airbnb, Fiat, and many others.

Pros

• As part of a complete media platform, Amobee offers many features that other DMPs do not.
• It integrates all of an organization’s media activities and simplifies advertising management.
• The company’s sales and support representatives get top marks from customers.

Cons

• Amobee fees can be high, especially compared with DMP tools that have fewer features.
• The interface is not as user-friendly as some other options.
• Amobee offers a lot of features that may not be necessary for organizations looking only for a data management platform.

Google Marketing Platform

Similar to Amobee, Google offers a unified marketing platform that combines data management with advertising on Google Cloud. Google, of course, is one of the most popular places to purchase advertising, bringing in $37.1 billion in revenue in the third quarter of 2020. Headquartered in Mountain View, California, it is a subsidiary of Alphabet.

Google divides the Google Marketing Platform into two different formats: small business and enterprise. In the enterprise category, it offers integration with Google Analytics, which incorporates DMP capabilities. Its features include reporting, segmentation, visualization, and predictive analytics.

Pros

• The Google Marketing Platform is an excellent option for organizations that do a lot of advertising on Google.
• It incorporates web data along with advertising audience data and analytics.
• The platform offers advanced predictive analytics that can help organizations plan their marketing strategy.

Cons

• The Google tools can ingest data from some third-party sources, but they aren’t as good as some other tools at integrating with an external data source.
• Users in developing countries sometimes complain about limited support for their local markets.
• It also lacks some channel management capabilities found on other platforms.

Pro tip: Need more advanced data management solutions that will integrate with your current toolkit? Consider working with SAS Data Management and the SAS Integration Studio.

Lotame

Founded in 2006, Lotame is focused on offering a leading unstacked data solution. Its clients include CBC, IBM, Omnicom Media Group, McClatchy, and many other marketers, publishers, media firms, and agencies. Headquartered in New York City and Columbia, Maryland, it also has offices in Argentina, London, Mumbai, Singapore, and Sydney. Privately held, it has raised an estimated $61.7 million in venture capital.

The Lotame DMP consists of four integrated products: Lotame Lab for building, audience segments, and scaling audiences; Lotame Connect for ingesting customer data; and Lotame Data Exchange for purchasing audience data. The company takes pride in the fact that its platform is unbundled, so customers don’t have to purchase any technology or services they don’t need. It’s also media-agnostic so that users can ingest data from virtually any source.

Pros

• Lotame’s unbundled model lets customers buy only the services and technology they need.
• The company’s award-winning customer service receives rave reviews.
• The platform is very flexible, giving users the ability to import and export data to and from a wide variety of sources.

Cons

• Lotame lacks some automation features that customers would like to see.
• Some customers complain that the pricing is too high and that the company has too many incidental charges.
• The platform offers a lot of features, and the possibilities can be overwhelming until users learn how it all functions.

Mapp Cloud

Formerly known as Mapp Digital, Mapp was founded in 1998 as a digital marketing technology company. Its customers include CBS Interactive, Lamborghini, Lloyds Banking Group, Pepsico, Unilever, and others. Privately held, the company has offices in San Diego, California, and in several European countries.

The company’s platform, Mapp Cloud, includes four distinct pieces: Mapp Acquire for customer acquisition, Mapp Engage for customer engagement, Mapp Intelligence for analytics, and Mapp Connect for APIs to connect with other tools and partners. Its DMP capabilities include centralized data collection, unified customer profiling, segmentation, and more. It also offers email marketing capabilities.

Pros

• The platform offers solutions tailored for retail, financial services, media, and agencies.
• It allows organizations to create a 360-degree view of their customers to improve marketing and boost sales.
• It incorporates email marketing and integrates with other tools to execute other types of marketing campaigns.

Cons

• Some customers complain that the tool’s interface isn’t as user-friendly as it could be.
• In addition, some people wish its social media capabilities were better.
• Some users have experienced slow response times from support.

Cons

• Some customers complain that Mapp Cloud’s interface isn’t as user-friendly as it could be.
• In addition, some people wish its social media capabilities were better.

MediaMath

Founded in 2007, MediaMath offers a demand-side platform (DSP) with data management capabilities. It boasts more than 3,500 active advertisers, including Coca-Cola, IBM, eBay, SAS, and others. It is headquartered in New York City and has more than 500 employees.

Media Math’s platform offers a range of media buying and audience management capabilities, including campaign management, media management, creative management, targeting, identity management, and consumer segments development. Its segmentation tool can incorporate third-party data, and it coordinates campaigns across display, mobile, connected TV, video, audio, digital out of home, and native channels.

Pros

• With MediaMath, you can integrate your data management with your media-buying activities.
• Customers give it high marks for its easy-to-use interface.
• It also receives high praise for its customer service.

Cons

• MediaMath does not offer an option to purchase data management without the full platform that includes media buying and other capabilities.
• Some customers complain about the high price, although others say it is cheaper than using an agency.
• Some also say that they wish the reporting allowed more flexibility.

Nielsen DMP

Long known as the company behind television ratings, Nielsen has branched out to offer other media-related products and services. Headquartered in New York City, it has been in business since 1923 and has operations in more than 100 countries. In 2019, it reported $6.5 billion in revenue. It is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NLSN, and it is a component of the S&P 500.

Part of Nielsen Marketing Cloud, this platform connects to Nielsen audience data and also includes AI capabilities. Its features include media planning, profiling, segmentation, orchestration, in-flight analytics, message sequencing, reach and frequency, frequency capping, and more. It also integrates with many third-party applications.

Pros

• The ability to use Nielsen data directly sets this data management platform apart from many others.
• Nielsen’s platform also incorporates advanced artificial intelligence features that give it exceptional analytics capabilities.
• It has received several awards for being among the best DMPs available.

Cons

• Some customers complain about feeling locked into Nielsen’s contracts.
• For less experienced users, the platform can be difficult to use at first.
• A few customers expressed that the company didn’t always do a good job communicating about changes to the product.

Oracle CX Marketing

Although best known for its database software, Oracle offers a wide range of technology products and services. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, it has been in business since 1977. It is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ORCL, and it is a component of the S&P 500 and the S&P 100. In its fiscal 2020 filing, it reported $39.07 billion in revenue.

Oracle’s Customer Experience (CX) solution includes the Oracle BlueKai data management platform and integrates with Oracle’s database software, allowing organizations to tie their customer experience data with their financial data. It can handle both B2C and B2B, and it includes campaign management, segmentation, personalization, customer acquisition, customer intelligence, data activation, smart content, and other capabilities.

Pros

• Integration with Oracle’s database software makes this option a good choice for organizations that use other Oracle products.
• The CX solutions combine customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities with a DMP.
• The tool is very powerful but also offers an easy-to-use interface.

Cons

• This advanced solution can be complex to deploy, especially in comparison with similar data management platforms.
• The software is very full-featured but may offer too much for organizations that don’t use other Oracle software or don’t want to tie their DMP to other parts of the business.
• As an enterprise data management leader, it can be very expensive.

Salesforce CDP

Salesforce is the world’s leading provider of customer relationship management (CRM) software and was one of the first companies to fully embrace cloud computing as its business model. It has also won numerous awards for being an admired company and a great place to work. Its headquarters is in San Francisco, California, and it is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CRM. In the fiscal year 2020, it reported $17.1 billion in annual revenue.

As you might expect, Salesforce CDP (customer data platform) integrates closely with the Salesforce CRM platform. It is part of a portfolio that includes data capture, data quality management, identity resolution, and segmentation. It also leverages Salesforce’s Einstein AI technology. Customers who previously used Salesforce Audience Studio, a Salesforce DMP, are being funneled into Salesforce CDP as Audience Studio is being discontinued.

Pros

• Organizations that use the Salesforce CRM will appreciate Salesforce CDP’s ability to integrate with Salesforce’s other solutions.
• The platform is highly customizable, especially when it comes to data governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) measures.
• Salesforce CDP has a lot of built-in compliance capabilities that can be especially helpful for organizations that do business internationally, or those in highly regulated industries.

Cons

• Users have reported some platform bugs, and sometimes response times are slow, especially when loading data.
• While it integrates well with the Salesforce CRM, it doesn’t always integrate well with other applications for marketers.
• Customers like audience insights but feel they could have better data on ad insights for paid ads.

Pro tip: Looking for other CDP vendors? Microsoft Azure might be an option.

The Trade Desk

Founded in 2009, The Trade Desk says that it aims to transform media for the benefit of humankind. It is primarily a demand-side platform but also offers a DMP and other media-related tools and services. The company is headquartered in Ventura, California. It is an all rights reserved, traded company on the NASDAQ under the symbol TTD, and in 2019, it reported revenue of $661 million.

The Trade Desk’s DMP technology solutions include audience segmentation, lookalike modeling, third-party customer data integration, and a data marketplace. It is part of the overall platform and not available as a separate product. Users include Anheuser-Busch, Safelite AutoGlass, Home Chef, Meineke, and others.

Pros

• Companies interested in using The Trade Desk’s media-buying capabilities will appreciate that it has a built-in DMP.
• Research firms have named The Trade Desk as a leader in its market.
• The platform gets rave reviews from customers, especially for the availability of third-party data.

Cons

• You cannot buy its DMP as a standalone product.
• It is difficult to share data sets across accounts within the data management platform.
• Some users say that they wish the reporting were more customizable.

Read next: Top Data Analysis Software

Data Management Platform Comparison Table

Read next: Database Market

Common capabilities of PSA software include the following:

• Accounting and financial management
• Project management
• Time tracking
• Expense tracing
• Resource management
• Collaboration
• Reporting

Some PSA software also includes sales management, document management, human resources (HR) management or other features. They often also integrate easily with customer relationship management (CRM), project management, ERP and other types of business software.

Today, most PSA applications are cloud-based and sold on a subscription basis. However, some in-house options with traditional deployment are available.

The goal of professional services automation tools is to streamline operations, improve business decision making and increase profitability for companies that use it.

How to Select Professional Services Automation Software

If you are in the market for PSA software, keep these tips in mind:

• Determine your needs. While all PSA software has core features like financial management and resource management, not all have sales management or human resources capabilities. Because it is difficult to switch from one PSA service to another, you will need to make sure the one you select has all the capabilities you will need for the next several years.
• Decide which of your current tools you will integrate and which you will replace. Your organization probably already has some tools it uses for financial management, time tracking, collaboration or billing. If you are keeping some of those tools, you will need to make sure that your PSA solution integrates with the software you will continue using.
• Evaluate the available services. You might need some help with setup or customization of your solution, and you will almost definitely need training and technical support. PSA software can be difficult to learn, so the quality of services makes a difference to the overall return on investment.
• Take it for a test drive. PSA software is extremely complex. Make sure you try it before you buy, preferably for several days or weeks. Most of the vendors offer free trials and/or demos.

With those tips in mind, here are 10 PSA applications you might want to consider:

Jump to:

• Accelo
• BigTime
• FinancialForce PSA
• Kimble
• MavenLink
• NetSuite OpenAir
• Replicon Polaris
• Scoro
• Vogsy
• Workday PSA

See more: Top 10 Text Analysis Solutions

Best PSA Software

Accelo

Founded in 2011, Accelo is headquartered in San Francisco, California. Its PSA software is designed for creative, IT project management, business consulting, marketing, engineering, accounting, managed services, architecture and public relations firms. Its customers include Thrive Digital, Invona, High 5 Media Partners, Vector, 3 Media Web and many other small services companies.

Accelo claims to be the “most complete service operations automation solution on the market,” and it says that clients have seen 46 percent increases in annual revenue, 59 percent savings in fees and 41 percent increases in billable hours. It’s a ServOps platform with tools to track sales, projects, service, retainers and reports. It integrates with a long list of applications, including G Suite, Quickbooks, Salesforce, Jira, Stripe, Mailchimp, Eventbrite, PayPal and many others.

Customers can purchase individual Accelo tools for $39 per user per month or the whole platform for $79 per user per month. Reports require an additional fee. A demo and a free 14-day trial are available.

Pros

• • • The platform is highly customizable, allowing organizations to meet their unique needs
    • Accelo integrates with a lot of applications popular with small services businesses
    • The simple, upfront pricing makes it easy to estimate costs

Cons

• • • Because the software is so full-featured, it can take a while to learn
    • The mobile version for smartphones and tablets does not work as well as the desktop version
    • Some customers say that certain parts of the user interface could use an overhaul

BigTime

Headquartered in Chicago, BigTime Software is a private SaaS firm focused on PSA. Its more than 2,000 customers include firms with 5 to 500 employees, including TruePartners Consulting, C2 Company, Energy GPS, the iFish Group and TAI Engineering. It has won numerous accolades from G2, EXPERTcomparison, Quickbooks, Inc. 5000 and others.

Designed “by consultants for consultants,” BigTime includes tools for time tracking, billing and invoicing, resource allocation, project management and reporting and analytics. It can process payments, automate reviews and display dashboards that allow you to see your current situation at a glance. It integrates with Google, Quickbooks, Sage Intacct, Lacerte, Jira, Slack, Salesforce, Hubspot, Zapier and more.

Pricing starts at just $10 per user per month for the Express tier, with the Pro and Premier tiers jumping up to $30 and $40 per user per month. A demo is available.

Pros

• • • BigTime is one of the highest-rated PSA tools available; customers consistently rave about it
    • BigTime is also one of the more affordable PSA options
    • The support team is particularly good

Cons

• • • Like some of the other tools, BigTime can do so many things that it takes some time to learn it
    • Some parts of the interface are not very intuitive and can be confusing
    • Some customers have requested additional customization capabilities

FinancialForce PSA

As you might have guessed from the name, FinancialForce offers professional services automation and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software for the Salesforce platform. It was founded in 2006 as one of the first third-party vendors on Salesforce’s platform. It has both large and small companies as customers, including some well-known names like Splunk, Red Hat, Seagate, Elastic, the Muscular Dystrophy Association and HPE.

FinancialForce claims that its PSA customers see an average 143-percent increase in revenue and a 39-percent increase in their win ratio. Key features include resource management, sales engagement, services community, project management, project financials, time and expenses, services revenue management and service analytics. It was designed for organizations in the business services, health and life sciences, media and digital communications, professional services, consulting, technology and telecommunications industries.

A demo is available on the site. Pricing is available on request.

Pros

• • • Organizations that already use Salesforce may find FinancialForce to be a good fit
    • Thanks to its relatively long history, this is a mature, full-featured product
    • You can customize the solution in many ways, but that does take some time to set up

Cons

• • • If you use a CRM solution other than Salesforce, FinancialForce might not be right for your needs
    • Pricing is not available on the website
    • Some customers have complained about inadequate support

Kimble

Recently acquired by Accel-KKR, Kimble is a London-based PSA software firm founded in 2010. It focuses on the management consulting, IT services, software and architecture, engineering and construction industries, and its customers include Canon, Smart Communications, Sage People, GFT, Alcatel-Lucent, Intersys and others.

Like Financial Force, Kimble is based on the Salesforce Platform, and it integrates easily with Salesforce services. Key features of Kimble include selling and scoping, resource management, project management, billing, time and expense tracking and reporting and dashboards. It aims to help firms improve their alignment, guidance and adaptability with tools for resource managers, project managers, executive, sales and finance. It integrates with a long list of applications, including Sage Intacct, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite, workday, Jira, Avalara, QuickBooks and many more.

A demo is available. Pricing is available on request.

Pros

• • • Kimble is another good choice for firms that are using Salesforce applications
    • It integrates with a very long list of applications
    • Customers give its documentation and support excellent reviews

Cons

• • • Pricing is not easily available
    • Setting up and configuring the application can take some time
    • Customers say that some sections of the interface are a little clunky

MavenLink

Located in Irvine, California, MavenLink has been in business since 2008. Its customers include Butterfly, Health Catalyst, Herjavec Group, Salesforce, Genpact, Cornerstone, RSM and others. It has won numerous accolades from G2, Sourceforge, Comparably, Digital.com and more.

MavenLink offers dynamic resource optimization through its tools for resource management, project management, team collaboration, project accounting and business intelligence. It includes an integration platform called M-Bridge that connects it to other tools like Netsuite, QuickBooks, Salesforce, G Suite, Jira, Slack, Hubspot and many more. The company offers advisory, implementation and other support services that can help ensure the success of deployments.

MavenLink hides its pricing information behind a gate that requires you to give the firm details about your company. A free trial is available.

Pros

• • • This PSA software gets excellent reviews and has won a number of impressive awards
    • The services can make it easier to deploy and use the software
    • The reporting and drill-down capabilities are excellent

Cons

• • • Learning and using the tool to its fullest potential can take a lot of time
    • Some people complain that the user experience can be confusing
    • Some customers say that its project management capabilities are not sufficiently robust

NetSuite OpenAir

Purchased by Oracle in 2016, NetSuite was founded in 1998 and was one of the world’s first cloud computing companies. It claims to be the “leader in cloud professional services automation.” It specializes in business software for small-to-mid-sized enterprises, including its OpenAir PSA software. It boasts more than 24,000 customers, including MongoDB, Siemens, Sofware AG and many others.

OpenAir includes time tracking, project management, reporting, resource management, expense tracking and invoicing capabilities. Through OpenAir Connect, it integrates with many other applications, including NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Oracle, Sage MAS, Peachtree, Epicor, QuickBooks and more.

Pricing is available on request.

Pros

• • • OpenAir integrates easily with other NetSuite and Oracle products, making it a good option for existing NetSuite and Oracle customers
    • It has a long list of customers and serves a very broad range of different industries
    • It has a very large feature set

Cons

• • • The user interface hasn’t been updated in a long time, and it’s somewhat clunky
    • It’s not easy to customize
    • Pricing is not readily available

Replicon Polaris

Founded in 1996, Replicon offers cloud-based time tracking and project management software, including its Polaris PSA software. It was founded in Calgary, Canada, but now has offices in Redwood City, California, India, the UK and Australia. It has more than 7,800 customers, including the USDA, McNeal Professional Services, Fujitsu, Blackbaud, Logic Healthcare, QualIT and others.

Replicon delivers up to a 10-percent increase in solved revenue leakages, up to a 90-percent decrease in administrative overhead and a 5 to 10 percent increase in resource utilization, according to its website. It includes tools for analytics, governance, financial modeling, clients, practices, projects, resources, time and expense and financials. It was designed for organizations in the IT services, consulting, media and marketing, engineering services, architectural services and embedded services industries.

Polaris costs $29 per user per month, whether you choose the Basic, Standard or Complete version of the software.

Pros

• • • Polaris offers straightforward, affordable pricing
    • The real-time dashboards can be extremely helpful
    • It’s very customizable

Cons

• • • The system can be difficult to navigate
    • Some customers complain about the quality of its technical support
    • Some customers complain about inadequate mobile support

Scoro

Founded in London in 2013, Scoro offers “work management software for agencies and professional services.” Its customers include TBWA, Newton, Mediacom, GranThornton, Net Natives, Zavod, Tele2, Kojo and others. And it has won a number of awards from G2, Software Advice and others.

This PSA software incorporates time management, project management, sales and CRM, finances and reporting and dashboards. The website includes a tool to help companies estimate the possible time savings with Scoro every month. It integrates with more than 1,000 other applications, including Slack, Jira, Asana, Evernote, Trello, GitHub, Basecamp, Gmail, Quickbooks, HubSpot, Stripe, PayPal, Dropbox and others.

Scoro’s Essential package starts at $26 per user per month. Work Hub and Sales Hub cost $37 per user per month. Pricing for the Ultimate version is available on request.

Pros

• • • Scoro gets very high ratings and excellent reviews from customers
    • Customers rave about the support staff
    • Its sales features can be particularly useful and set it apart from other PSA solutions

Cons

• • • Some of its reporting features are not as robust as those in other PSA software
    • It requires quite a bit of training in the beginning
    • The price can be high if you need the Ultimate version

Vogsy

Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Vogsy was founded in 2014 as a professional services automation solution based on the Google platform. It focuses on creative agencies, consulting firms and technology companies. Its customers include GROWCorp, Astig Planning, RaceRocks and others. It has received awards from dpm, G2, GetApp, Software Advice and Capterra.

Vogsy’s capabilities include quoting, CRM, project management, task management, resource management, automated invoicing and performance monitoring. In addition to its Google integration, it also integrates with HubSpot, Salesforce and Quickbooks.

Vogsy offers a full pricing calculator on its site. Fees for Lite users start at $9 per month, while Full users start at $19 per month and Super start at $29 per month.

Pros

• • • Because it integrates so tightly with Google, Vogsy is a good option for organizations that use Google Workspace apps
    • It gets very good reviews and ratings from customers
    • Its automation features can save a lot of time

Cons

• • • Vogsy doesn’t make as much sense that organizations that do not use Google Workspace
    • It doesn’t integrate with as many other business applications as some of the other PSA tools on this list
    • Some customers complain about minor issues with its reporting and billing capabilities

Workday PSA

While most of the PSA software on this list was designed for small-to-mid-sized organizations, Workday is also aimed at larger enterprises. Its customers include FedEx, Levi Strauss, Airbus, AstraZeneca, Comcast, Panera Bread, Target and others. Based in Pleasanton, California, it was founded in 2005 by former PeopleSoft executives.

Workday has more human resources capabilities than most of the other PSA solutions. It also includes financial management, spending management, analytics, payroll and other capabilities. In addition, it can track student records for educational institutions.

Pricing is available on request.

Pros

• • • Workday is one of the only PSA solutions with tools for larger enterprises and educational organizations
    • Its HR capabilities set it apart from the competition
    • Its interface is very easy to use

Cons

• • • Workday would be overkill for organizations that do not need its HR capabilities
    • The tool is more expensive than others in this list
    • It requires training to learn to use it

See more: Best Heatmap Tools & Software For 2021

Professional Services Automation Software Comparison Table

See more: Top Data Extraction Tools & Software For 2021

Text analytics tools, or, text analysis tools, often known as text mining solutions, have been around for many years. But recent advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics have led to a dramatic improvement in the ability of computer systems to extract meaning from structured and unstructured data in documents. And this has led to an increase in demand for text analysis software.

Is text analytics part of NLP?

Today, most text analysis tools make use of AI-powered natural language processing (NLP) to interpret human language. Many also include ML capabilities, using models to improve their abilities over time. Common features of these platforms include the following:

• Topic extraction — Tagging text based on its subjects and themes.

• Entity extraction — Identifying the important nouns (including addresses, phone numbers and email addresses) in a piece of text.

• Keyword extraction — Highlighting the words used most often.

• Sentiment analysis — Classifying text as positive, negative or neutral.

• Emotion analysis — Identifying how the writer was likely feeling.

• Language detection — Identifying language the writer was using.

Some text analysis tools also have additional features beyond these core capabilities. To find the right tool for your enterprise’s needs, take a look at the list of leading text mining solutions below.

How to Select Text Analysis Software

The following tips can help you find the best text analysis software for your organization:

• Clearly define your goals. Will you be analyzing customer feedback? Keeping tabs on social media mentions? Researching the competition? Looking for clues to guide product development? Working to improve your employee experience? Reading invoices and financial statements? Finding trends in medical notes? Some vendors specialize in meeting certain types of needs, so make sure you know what you’re looking for before making a list of possible products to purchase.

• Plan for workflows and integration needs. Text analysis never exists in a vacuum. You will need to import data from a variety of different sources and possibly also export it to other applications. If you are integrating your text analytics into another application, you will likely need a tool with an API. Make sure you identify all these integration needs ahead of time so that you can find a product that can fit into your processes without a lot of extra work.

• Consider your deployment preferences. Some text analytics platforms run only in the cloud, while others can be deployed in the cloud or on-premises. Make sure that you pick a tool with a deployment option that meets your security and compliance needs. Also, if a lot of your data already resides in a particular public cloud storage service, it might make sense to use the same vendor for text analysis.

• Conduct a thorough pricing analysis. Many text analytics vendors publish their pricing, but that pricing can be extremely complicated, particularly when you are using one of the large public cloud vendors. You’re going to need to put together some spreadsheets and do some ROI calculations to make sure you are comparing apples to apples.

With those tips in mind, here are ten text analysis software solutions you might want to consider:

Jump to:

• Amazon Comprehend
• Google Cloud Natural Language
• IBM Watson Natural Language Understanding
• Kapiche
• Lexalytics
• MeaningCloud
• Microsoft Azure Text Analytics
• MonkeyLearn
• Relative Insight
• SAS Visual Text Analytics

Best Text Analysis Software

Amazon Comprehend

Amazon Comprehend is the company’s flagship NLP service. Its key features include keyphrase extraction, sentiment analysis, syntax analysis, language detection, topic modeling, and more. It also offers a special service for the analysis of medical text that includes medical ontology linking. Both the regular Comprehend service and the Medical service integrate with other AWS services. Well-known customers that use the service include LexisNexis, FINRA, PubNub, Deloitte and others.

AWS prices Comprehend in 100 character units, with a separate charge for each service (such as keyphrase extraction, sentiment analysis, etc.). The first 50,000 units (5 million characters) per month are free for each service. After that, most services start at $0.0001 per unit for the first 10 million units. Complete pricing details are available on the website.

Pros

• Customers that use other AWS services, like S3 storage, Redshift analytics, Elasticsearch Service, Glue, and others, will find it very easy to integrate Amazon Comprehend into their operations.
• Users do not need any data science expertise; AWS says that you can get started with the service in just 10 minutes.
• Its specialized tools for the medical industry help speed time-to-value.

Cons

• While Comprehend advertises its built-in modeling capabilities, some users say that you need to create custom models to get the real benefit from the tool.
• Some customers complain that its topic modeling feature is not very easy to use.
• While it’s easy to see how much the service will cost, the pricing based on real use can be complicated, and that can result in unexpectedly high bills, especially when used in conjunction with other AWS services.

Google Cloud Natural Language

Built on Google’s AutoML machine learning technology, Google Cloud Natural Language comes in three different flavors: AutoML Natural Language for those who want to build their own models and training data; the Natural Language API for those who want to add natural language capabilities to their applications; and the Healthcare Natural Language API for real-time analysis of medical text. Key capabilities include sentiment analysis, multimedia support, multi-language support, entity extraction, receipt and invoice understanding, relationship graphs and more.

Google lists pricing for its Natural Language service on its website, but it is complicated. Pricing for the API is broken into 1,000-character units. The first 5,000 units are free, and after that, between 5,000 and 1 million units range in price from $0.50 per unit for syntax analysis to $2.00 per unit for entity sentiment analysis. AutoML charges different prices for data upload, training, prediction and deployment.

Pros

• Organizations that use other Google Cloud services will find it easy to integrate with Google Cloud Natural Language.
• Google is one of the industry leaders in machine learning, and with this service, users get to take advantage of that expertise.
• The API is a very good option for organizations that want to integrate NLP into their own applications.

Cons

• Google Cloud Natural Language is somewhat more difficult for beginners to use than some of the other options.
• Some users complain that the pricing gets too high.
• It takes some time to get this service up and running.

IBM Watson Natural Language Understanding

One of the early forerunners in artificial intelligence, IBM’s Watson technology is available through IBM Cloud. IBM has less than 2 percent of the public cloud market, but the company reported that its cloud revenue rose more than 60 percent in its most recent quarter. IBM Cloud offers more than 170 services, and it is particularly focused on hybrid cloud deployments. Its customers include The Weather Company, Deutsche Bank, the US Open, Kone Corp. and KraftHeinz.

Watson Natural Language Understanding offers powerful insight extraction with built-in models for high accuracy, and it can be deployed in the IBM Cloud or behind your own firewall. Key features include support for 13 languages, sentiment analysis, emotion analysis, keywords, categories, concepts, entity extraction and more. It is useful for analyzing customer feedback, optimizing advertising and streamlining audience segmentation.

IBM’s Natural Language Understanding is priced in units of 10,000 characters. The first 30,000 items per month are free, then the price changes to $0.003 per unit for the next 250,000 items and decreases from there. To help you determine your costs, IBM offers a pricing calculator.

Pros

• The ability to deploy IBM Watson Natural Language Understanding behind your own firewall will be appealing to organizations with strict security or compliance requirements.
• It is easy to integrate this service with other IBM Cloud and Watson services.
• As a leader in AI and ML, IBM offers very high quality services.

Cons

• Some customers reported difficulties using the tool with languages other than English.
• As with other cloud-based text analytics services, it may be difficult to predict pricing.
• It may be difficult to integrate the IBM service with data storage hosted on other cloud computing platforms.

Kapiche

Founded in 2016 by two entrepreneurs who met in the eighth grade, Kapiche is a pure-play startup focused on analyzing customer feedback. Headquartered in Brisbane, Australia, it has raised an estimated $2 million in funding. Its customers include American Express, Schindler, Kmart, Target, HCF, Nissan and others.

Kapiche’s key features include the ability to integrate data from many different sources, customizable dashboards, sentiment analysis, quadrant charts, issue tracking and more. You can get it up and running within hours, and it doesn’t require any coding expertise.

Pricing is available on request.

Pros

• Kapiche integrates with a lot of different sources, making it a good option for organizations with customer data stored in many different applications and systems.
• Its graphical interface and built-in dashboards are very intuitive.
• It allows you to immediately know when you have an emerging customer service issue.

Cons

• Kapiche only analyzes customer feedback — it doesn’t handle other kinds of text analysis.
• Kapiche doesn’t reveal pricing on its website, so it is difficult to estimate costs.
• You will need to clean your data before uploading to Kapiche, so it is important to understand that there will be an extra step involved.

Lexalytics

Founded in 2003, Lexalytics is a privately held company headquartered in Boston. Its text analysis platform is its only product, although the platform does come in several different flavors. Its customers include Altair, Hootsuite, Oracle, Microsoft, Biogen and others.

Designed for organizations that analyze very high volumes of text, Lexalytics is available in on-premise, cloud API or Web-Based NLP Platform versions. A very full-featured platform, it has tools suitable for use by data scientists as well as tools for use by analysts and other business users. Its capabilities include sentiment analysis, theme analysis, categorization, intention detection, entity extraction, summarization and more. It supports more than 20 different languages. Pricing is available on request.

Pros

• Lexaltyics has a wide range of capabilities that will meet the needs of many different kinds of users.
• It has pre-built industry packs for many different types of organizations that can speed deployment.
• You can run it on many different types of environments — cloud, on-prem or hybrid.

Cons

• Because it has so many different features, some customers may find the platform overwhelming.
• Pricing is not available on the website.
• Because of the limited customer base, it’s tough to find reviews of the product that might be useful when evaluating alternatives.

MeaningCloud

Although the MeaningCloud name has only been around since 2017, this text analysis vendor actually has a much longer history. It began life as a data mining and language technology company called Daedalus S.A. in 1998. In 2015, Daedalus became Sngular, before becoming MeaningCloud two years later. Today it is headquartered in New York City with a customer list that includes Pfizer, World Bank Group, Telefonica, Carrefour, Le Parisien, ING and others.

MeaningCloud’s technology is available as an Excel add-in for data analysts or as a cloud API to plug into other applications. It boasts powerful sentiment analysis, a customizable interface, easy integration, commitment-free pricing and support for multiple languages. Although most customers choose to use the cloud-based APIs on-premises deployment of the APIs is also available. In addition, integrations are available for Excel, Google Sheets, RapidMiner and Zapier.

The company offers free demos and a free tier for both its products. The free tier supports up to 20,000 requests per month and up to 2 requests per second. After that, MeaningCloud offers Start-Up ($99 per month), Professional ($399 per month), Business ($999 per month) and Enterprise (prices vary) plans. Additional features and languages require additional fees.

Pros

• The free services and contract-free pricing make it easy to try to service without commitment.
• It integrates with many other analysis tools.
• Several different language packs are available.

Cons

• The services isn’t available as a standalone tool — only as an add-in or API.
• While the base service is inexpensive, the price can add up quickly if you need a lot of additional features and/or language packs.
• Because of its small customer base, few online reviews for MeaningCloud are available.

Microsoft Azure Text Analytics

Microsoft Azure Text Analytics uses NLP to identify key phrases, entities, sentiment, trends and more. It supports numerous languages, and pre-trained medical models are available. In addition to the standard cloud deployment, it is also available for use on-premises or in edge computing environments. Customers include KPMG, Wilson Allen, IHC, LaLiga, TIBCO, Kotak and others.

Pricing for Microsoft Azure Text Analytics varies depending on which region you are using, the type of cloud instance you have, and the number of transactions and text records per month. Complete details are available on the website. Note that Microsoft does offer a free tier for sentiment analysis, key phrase extraction, language detection, and named entity recognition that includes up to 5,000 transactions per month.

Pros

• Microsoft promises comprehensive privacy and security designed to meet enterprise compliance requirements.
• This is an easy option for organizations that use other Azure services and Microsoft products.
• Some customers will appreciate the many different deployment options.

Cons

• Azure’s complicated pricing can result in unexpectedly high bills, and the pricing tends to be higher than similar services.
• Sometimes the Azure service has difficulty correctly interpreting sentiment.
• Some users also complain that the service doesn’t integrate well with computer vision services.

MonkeyLearn

Used by companies like Clearbit, Segment, Dell and PubNub, MonkeyLearn is a machine learning-based text analysis platform. Founded in 2014, the MonkeyLearn company is headquartered in San Francisco, California. It is privately held and has raised an estimated $3.2 million in funding.

MonkeyLearn’s platform comes in three different flavors: The Studio version is an all-in-one standalone text analysis tool. The API version plugs into your apps, and the Word Cloud version does nothing but generate word clouds. It integrates with many different data sources, extracts keywords, classifies sentiment and topics, tags data and integrates with visualization tools so that you can make sense of the findings.

The Studio version costs $500 per month for the Team tier and $1,000 per month for the Business tier. The API costs $239 per month for the Team tier and $799 per month for the Business tier. The Word Cloud Generator is free.

Pros

• The Studio version of the tool is an excellent option for organizations looking for an all-in-one analytics solution.
• It offers features and models designed specifically for customer support organizations and product teams.
• This is one of the easiest text analysis tools to set up and use.

Cons

• MonkeyLearn does not integrate with as many data sources as some of the other text analysis software.
• Because the models require training, initial performance isn’t always great, but it gets better with time.
• Some customers complain that the pricing is too high.

RelativeInsight

Founded in 2012, Relative Insight is a London-based company focused on text analysis to help improve brand positioning. Its customers include Twitter, Sky, R/GA, McCann London, Y&R, Hall & Partners, Kaiser Permanente and others. It is privately held and has raised an estimated $5 million in funding. The company has won a number of awards related to advertising and branding.

This platform is quite a bit different than the others on the list because it specifically focuses on language comparisons as a way to gain insights into customers. The technology originated as a way to catch criminals pretending to be children online. It is available as software as a service (users create their own projects) or as insights as a service (Relative Insights staff help create and run the project). Pricing is available on request.

Pros

• Relative Insights’ comparative text analysis capabilities are completely different than other offerings on the market.
• Its customer service receives high praise.
• The company has a number of impressive and though-provoking case studies on its website.

Cons

• Relative Insights is not useful for more general-purpose text analysis not related to branding.
• Some customers complain that it takes too long to complete projects.
• It’s difficult to know how much the service will cost because pricing isn’t available on the website.

SAS Visual Analytics

One of the world’s leading analytics vendors, SAS boasts more than 83,000 customers, including 92 of the top 100 companies on the 2018 Fortune Global 1000. Headquartered in Cary, NC, it has nearly 14,000 employees worldwide.

SAS Visual Text Analytics is an end-to-end solution that includes data preparation, visualization, parsing, trend analysis, information extraction, hybrid modeling and sentiment analysis. It offers flexible deployment options and includes native support for 33 languages. And it’s an open platform with REST APIs that make it easy to integrate with other applications. Pricing is available on request.

Pros

• The SAS solution is one of the most complete text analysis platforms on the market.
• The tool leverages SAS’s analytics expertise to provide high-quality analysis.
• The interface is user-friendly.

Cons

• Users say that it can take some time to learn to use the platform.
• Because the company does not disclose pricing on its website, it can be difficult to compare it to other options.
• Some customers complain about difficulty integrating the tool with external data sources and other applications.

Text Analysis Solution Comparison Table

When you compare edge computing vs. cloud computing, you’ll see that the two are quite different. Cloud computing involves transmitting data over a network to a centralized server for processing, while edge computing is the practice of doing that processing out at the edge of the network — on or near the sensors or devices generating the data. More often, though, cloud computing and edge computing operate hand-in-hand.

The reason for this intertwined relationship stems from the vast number of sensors and devices that are now connected to the Internet and the volume of data that those sensors and devices generate. According to Cisco, the size of the Internet of Things is doubling every year, and by 2030, 500 billion objects will be connected to the Internet.

Enterprises want to harvest the data from all those devices to derive valuable insights, but transmitting all that data to the cloud across current data networks simply isn’t feasible for both financial and technological reasons. The solution is to do more data processing at the edge and transmit a much smaller pool of information to the cloud. Additionally, companies leverage artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics to harvest more insight from data.

Analysts predict that as much as 40 percent of IoT data will need to be processed at the edge. Many vendors see that as an opportunity to sell new edge computing products and services to enterprises. Here are fifteen companies ranging from the largest technology vendors to smaller edge-focused startups that are all major players in the growing edge computing market.

The edge computing market is forecast to see a remarkable 38% compound annual growth rate over a multi-year period.

Top Edge Computing Companies

Note that these companies are not ranked in order of importance or size.

ClearBlade

Key value proposition: Deeply focused on IoT and edge, serving companies in a wide array of verticals.

One of the smaller edge computing companies on this list, ClearBlade is a pure-play IoT and edge computing vendor. Its primary products include its ClearBlade Enterprise IoT Platform, ClearBlade Edge IoT Software, and ClearBlade Secure IoT Cloud. It also offers edge computing solutions for connected products, smart rail, smart monitoring, real-time location and asset tracking. It serves companies in the rail, mining, facilities, oil and gas, logistics, healthcare and energy industries, as well as organizations in the public sector. Founded in 2007, ClearBlade makes its home in Austin, Texas. It is a private company.

EdgeConneX

Key value proposition: This forward-looking company helps enterprises position data facilities where they are most needed.

Building what it calls the Edge Data Center, EdgeConneX focuses on enabling efficient – that is, closer – placement of data crunching facilities for better network and IT connectivity. The core idea: edge is amorphous and non-specific in location, with IoT sensors anywhere and everywhere, so this far-flung data network needs an equally geographically diverse physical infrastructure to power it. EdgeConneX offers EdgeOS, which is a self-service management application geared for high observability, with a single universal dashboard to manage it.

Dell EMC

Key value proposition: A mega-cap tech company that has invested deeply in edge computing.

Dell EMC divides its edge computing hardware into three different categories: 1) The Mobile Edge portfolio includes cloud-enabled hardware for mobile or remote locations like the PowerEdge XR2 Rugged Server, the PowerEdge R740/R740XD, and Micro Modular Data Centers; 2) The Enterprise Edge portfolio includes the VEP460 Open uCPE platform; 3) the IoT Edge portfolio offers Edge Gateways for manufacturers, retailers and digital cities. The company also offers edge computing management and orchestration capabilities through OpenManage Mobile. A subsidiary of Dell Technologies, Dell EMC was formed through the merger of Dell and EMC in 2016.

Cisco

Key value proposition: No company knows networking like Cisco – hence its deep strength in edge.

Cisco leads the networking market, which makes it no surprise that it also plays a key role in networking IoT devices. It offers IoT networking hardware, the Cisco Kinetic IoT platform for managing edge data, IoT Threat Defense security and IoT management and automation solutions, as well as advisory and technical services to help other organizations get their IoT initiatives up and running. Its IoT customers include utilities, manufacturers, transportation companies, cities and government agencies, retailers and education institutions. Founded in 1984, its headquarters is located in San Jose, California. It is highly ranked on the Fortune 500 list of the largest corporations in the United States.

Edge Intelligence

Key value proposition: Plays a key role in getting edge data processed at the edge, instead of waiting for a data center.

It’s one of the most pressing questions about edge computing: where will the torrent of data from all those endpoints be processed? Will it be sent back to a centralized facility or will it be processed there at the edge? Edge Intelligence has an answer: the company offers a platform that crunches massive amounts of data – in real time – from a broad array of sources, at the edge. The goal is to shift the data processing away from legacy data centers and to enable local devices to pump out data without needing the delay of transfer to an in-house facility. This shift embraces a core trend in edge computing.

ADLINK Technology

Key value proposition: A deep, specialized focus on edge computing.

While many of the companies on this list offer a wide range of technology products in addition to edge computing solutions, ADLINK Technology focuses on the edge. It offers IoT hardware and software, artificial intelligence (AI) software and robotics solutions. It serves customers in healthcare, manufacturing, networking, communications, military, aeronautics and the public sector. Headquartered in Taipei, ADLINK is a public company listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. It was founded in 1995.

EdgeWorx

Key value proposition: Provides major value in getting many types of software to run at any point in an edge network.

Edgeworx’s lofty goal: “we believe you should be able to run any software at the edge, and shouldn’t need a PhD to get started.” Arguably one of the most forward looking companies on this list, Edgeworx’s innovative ioFog Engine enables companies to deploy a wide array of applications at any point in their edge network. The ioFog solution leverages Kubernetes to achieve this advanced goal. Adding a still more contemporary approach, ioFog’s use of Kubernetes allows companies to use microservices to make their edge network more nimble and more efficiently upgraded.

HPE

Key value proposition: A deep legacy in enterprise IT means that HPE is well positioned to serve larger companies, particularly with cloud deployments.

Through its Aruba networks subsidiary, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) offers wired and wireless networking products, including network security solutions, that enable edge computing. HPE also offers Edgeline Converged Edge Systems, rugged converged appliances targeted at the operational technology (OT) market, which includes control systems, telecommunications, industrial networks, and IoT data acquisition. In addition, the company provides services related to IoT and edge computing. Spun off from Hewlett Packard in 2015, HPE is headquartered in San Jose, California. It is highly ranked on the Fortune 500.

Equinix

Key value proposition: This leading data center vendor is geared to help enterprise customers build their edge deployments.

Equinix is a dominant vendor in the world of data centers, and is leveraging this market strength to gain market share in the edge sector. The goal is to help large enterprises quickly shift and setup supporting IT infrastructure as needed, in response to the ever-changing landscape of edge computing. As part of its edge strategy, Equinix snapped up Packet, a bare metal automation pure-play vendor. Particularly notable: Equinix offers a variety of virtual network services to boost edge performance with limited latency.

Google Cloud Platform

Key value proposition: With its global network, few companies have the technical infrastructure to support edge computing like Google.

Like Amazon, Google offers a line of connected home products for edge computing, and it also offers cloud computing services for managing edge data, most notably with its Cloud IoT Core service. In addition, it offers hardware in the form of its Edge TPU for running AI and analytics at the edge of the network. Analytics at the edge is a particular focus for Google, and it touts its other AI cloud services as a good complement to its edge computing products. It serves a wide variety of different industries. A subsidiary of Alphabet, Google has its headquarters in Mountain View, California.

Microsoft

Key value proposition: Edge computing is a mix of many elements, and few companies have as extensive portfolio as Microsoft.

Much like the other leading cloud computing providers, Microsoft’s Azure division has rolled out a number of products and services to support edge computing. Those include its Internet of Things services like Azure IoT Central (IoT app platform), Azure IoT Edge (AI services deployed on edge devices), Azure IoT Hub (communication service that connects edge devices to the Azure cloud), Azure Sphere (IoT security) and Azure Stack Edge (on-premises processing for AI workloads that will be transferred to Azure), among others. The company also offers the Windows IoT platform, which includes developer tools and a lightweight version of Windows designed to run on edge devices. Microsoft’s IoT customers include Ecolab, Texa and Avacon.

Hitachi Vantara

Key value proposition: Edge computing requires a highly complex set of data, hardware and IoT solutions – all of which are included in the Hitachi Vantara portfolio.

Hitachi Vantara offers storage, converged infrastructure, IT operations management, data protection, analytics and video intelligence products, as well as its range of IoT products. That positions it well for offering complete solutions for gathering data at the edge and processing it. Its primary IoT product is its Lumada platform, which includes Lumada Edge Intelligence, Lumada Maintenance Insights Lumada Manufacturing Insights, and Lumada Video Insights. It sells solutions for companies in the energy, manufacturing, and transportation industries, as well as solutions for maintenance and repair. Part of Japan’s Hitachi conglomerate, Hitachi Vantara was formed out when the company brought together three of its subsidiaries: Pentaho, Hitachi Data Systems and Hitachi Insight Group. Hitachi is headquartered in Hitachi, Japan, and was founded in 1910.

Amazon Web Services

Key value proposition: As the leader in cloud computing, it’s edge credentials set the pace for the entire industry.

Although better known for its cloud computing services, Amazon Web Services (AWS) also offers a range of services for the industrial, commercial, and connected home IoT markets. Those services include the Amazon FreeRTOS microcontroller operating system, AWS IoT Greengrass that brings AWS services like Lambda functions to edge devices, AWS IoT Core, AWS IoT Device Defender, AWS IoT Device Management, AWS IoT Analytics and many others. It also provides solutions like its Connected Vehicle solution, IoT Device Simulator, AWS IoT Camera Connector and others. And of course, it also sells edge devices, including its popular Echo and Alexa smart home devices. Founded in 1994, it is the world’s largest cloud computing company.

IBM

Key value proposition: The company combines a deep strength in cloud computing with a long legacy relationship with large enterprise.

IBM sells an Edge Computing platform based on OpenShift technology from its Red Hat subsidiary. It also offers Edge Computing for Servers, which helps organizations manage the infrastructure at the edge of their networks, as well as the Watson Internet of Things platform, which applies its AI technology to IoT. It has specific IoT solutions for enterprise asset management, facilities management and systems engineering. Founded in 1911 by Charles Ranlett Flint and Thomas J. Watson, Sr., IBM has its headquarters in Armonk, New York. It ranks near the very top of the Fortune 500 list.

Huawei

Key value proposition: Edge computing for the industrial sector runs on specialized networking gear – which is exactly Huawei’s strength.

Like Cisco and HPE, Huawei sells a range of networking products that help enable edge computing and the Internet of Things. In addition, the company sells an Edge Computing Internet of Things (EC-IoT) solution for analytics at the edge. The company’s focus is on the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and it has specially-targeted products for predictive maintenance and energy companies. Headquartered in Shenzen, China, Huawei was founded in 1987.

Intel

Key value proposition: The leading chipmaker the deep pockets and portfolio of IoT gear to be a player in edge computing.

Although better known as a chipmaker, Intel offers a family of edge computing products as part of its Intel IoT Platform. Those products include IoT gateways, the Intel Secure Device Onboard (SDO) service, Wind River Helix Device Cloud, Wind River Titanium Edge and edge computing components featuring Intel processors and storage. The company also has reference architecture, developer kits, tools and SDKs for IoT deployments. It primarily sells products that other companies can use to create their own IoT products and services.

SAP

Key value proposition: With a long reputation in enterprise IT for larger companies, SAP has the expertise to compete in edge computing.

SAP groups its edge computing products together under the brand name SAP Leonardo IoT Edge. This end-to-end solution includes SAP Edge Services that can run on an IoT gateway and its Edge Platform, which extends the company’s cloud computing capabilities to the edge. The company serves enterprises in a wide variety of industries. Headquartered in Walldorf, Germany, SAP is one of the world’s largest providers of enterprise software. It was founded in 1972.

Oracle

Key value proposition: Known for its flagship database, Oracle has moved aggressively into the cloud sector – positioning it to be successful in edge computing.

Oracle offers hardware for the edge in the form of its Oracle Tactical Edge Cloud Infrastructure, ruggedized compute and storage based on the company’s cloud services architecture. It also has a set of IoT applications available on a SaaS basis, as well as industry-specific solutions for industrial manufacturing, construction and engineering, utilities, retail, healthcare and insurance. Its IoT customers include Hitachi Consulting, Accenture, AskStory and LT Infotech. Based in Redwood Shores, California, Oracle was founded by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed Oates. It is best known for its flagship database, but it also offers enterprise software, hardware and cloud services.

Saguna

Key value proposition: Strength comes from focus, and Saguna is focused fully on edge computing.

One of the smaller companies on this list, Saguna is a pure-play edge computing company focused on “transforming communication networks into edge cloud computing platforms.” Its flagship product is a multi-access edge computing (MED) solution that includes edge virtualization and open management and automation capabilities. The startup offers solutions for mobile operators, enterprises and application developers, but it is primarily focused on the telecommunications industry and network service providers. Its customers include HPE, Dell, BY, Akamai, 5Tonic, Wind, Vodafone, Vimmi, and KDDI. Based in Israel, Saguna was founded in 2008 by Danny Frydman and Lior Fite. It is a private company.

In practice, however, heatmap software almost exclusively provides data visualizations of how visitors interact with websites and mobile apps. It records and compiles visit data and overlays colors on top of your site or app. Areas with a lot of mouse clicks or mouse-overs turn red, while areas with less mouse activity turn orange, yellow, green or no color at all.

In most cases, vendors package heatmap software with other tools designed to help organizations analyze their traffic. Those tools might include recordings, A/B testing capabilities, funnel analysis, form analysis and many other kinds of analytics.

The ultimate goal of heatmap software is to help you convert more visitors into customers. It aims to increase sales by helping you identify problems with your website or app and make it more compelling to prospects.

How to Select Heatmap Software

If you are in the market for heatmap software, keep these tips in mind:

• Decide which questions you want to answer. Do you want to know why prospects are abandoning shopping carts? Do you want to know which of two page designs results in more sales? Do you want to know how different segments of customers interact with your site differently? All of the above? Before you can decide whether or not a tool meets your needs, you need to fully understand your your plans.
• Determine which features will help you answer those questions. Once you know which questions you are trying to answer, you will have a better idea of what features you need to accompany heatmap capabilities. For some use cases, recordings might be really useful, while others might be served best by polls and feedback mechanisms.
• Consider your integration needs. Heatmap software doesn’t exist in a vacuum. You will need to see if the tool you choose integrates with the web platform, analytics, business intelligence, customer relationship management (CRM), marketing analytics or other applications that you use regularly.
• Calculate your total cost of ownership. Vendors price their heatmap software in a lot of different ways. Some price by the seat. Some by the pageview. Some by the website. Some by the features that you use. You may be in very different pricing tiers for different products, so make sure you do your due diligence.

With those tips in mind, here are ten heatmap applications you might want to consider:

Jump to:

• Clicktale/Contentsquare
• Crazy Egg
• FigPii
• FullStory
• Hotjar
• Inspectlet
• Lucky Orange
• Matomo
• Mouseflow
• SmartLook

Best Heatmap Software

Clicktale/Contentsquare

Recently acquired by Contentsquare, Clicktale is an Israel-based Web and mobile analytics vendor founded in 2006. Customers of the combined company include T-Mobile, Walmart, Clarks, The North Face, Rakuten, Go Pro, Dell and others. It has received a number of industry accolades and has very high ratings from customers.

Features of the Clicktale/Contentsquare platform include zone-based heatmaps, customer journey analysis, lookback analysis, form analysis, impact quantification, merchandising analysis, struggle analysis, and more. Its heatmap tool overlaps metrics on key areas of the website, as well as color-coding them, making it easy to understand which parts of your site are of interest to users. It also includes A/B testing capabilities to compare different versions of your site.

A demo and pricing are available on request.

Pros

• • • Contentsquare gets high marks for its heatmap visualizations, which are particularly easy to understand.
    • The ability to replay a customer’s interactions with the site adds more dimension to the heatmap functionality.
    • The interface is very easy to use.

Cons

• • • Poor integration with other analytics tools.
    • Contentsquare doesn’t provide as much in-depth data as some other tools.
    • It is more expensive than some of the other options available.

Crazy Egg

Used by more than 300,000 websites, Crazy Egg focuses on heatmaps and A/B testing. It has been around since 2006, and its customers include WallMonkeys, Intuit, and Radio Free Europe.

Crazy Egg makes it really easy to sign up for the service—in fact, most of the links on the website take you to the page that allows you to sign up for the free trial. Key features include heatmaps, scrollmaps, click reports, A/B testing and website recordings. It also integrates with ecommerce and content management tools like WordPress, Wix, Shopify and AWeber.

Crazy Egg offers a free 30-day trial, and a demo is available on its website. It has four pricing tiers: Basic ($24/month), Standard ($49/month), Plus ($99/month), and Pro ($249/month). In addition, it has Enterprise plans with pricing upon request.

Pros

• • • Crazy Egg makes it very, very easy to get started with the service.
    • The online demo shows you exactly how the tool works.
    • The upfront pricing is transparent and affordable.

Cons

• • • Crazy Egg doesn’t have as many different kinds of analytics as some of the other tools.
    • Some users complain that the A/B testing interface is a bit clunky.
    • Some users say that using the snapshot feature can be difficult.

FigPii

Describing itself as a “conversion optimization platform,” FigPii aims to help websites turn more visitors to buyers. It was created by conversion optimization consultants and released to the public in 2020. Its customers include eBay, 3M, The Special Olympics and other companies in 52 different countries.

The FigPii platform encompasses four different types of services: heatmapps, A/B testing, video recording and polls. It complies with GDPR and CCPA, and it receives very high reviews from users. Its capabilities are more advanced and in-depth than many of the other tools on this list.

FigPii offers four pricing tiers: Starter ($49.99/month), Small ($99.99/month), Medium ($199.99/month) and Large ($339.99/month). All plans have a free 14-day trial and a 30-day money back guarantee.

Pros

• • • FigPii has very advanced targeting and A/B testing capabilities.
    • The upfront pricing makes it easy to estimate costs.
    • This tool incorporates polling capabilities, which is not common among heatmap software.

Cons

• • • FigPii is more expensive than some of the other tools on this list.
    • Customers have to buy a separate plan for each of their websites.

FullStory

Founded in 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia, FullStory offers “intuitive digital experience analytics.” Its customers include Hudsons Bay Company, Younique, Forbes, KeyBank, Travelers, jetBlue, Hyatt, Icelandair and others.

This startup’s claim to fame is its analytics engine, which tracks sales and other business metrics as well as engagement metrics. Its features include engagement heatmaps, session replay, machine learning, frustration heuristics, automatic alerts and more. It has advanced privacy features and is GDPR-compliant. It also integrates with many other applications and can help you optimize mobile apps as well as websites.

FullStory offers a free 14-day trial, a free tier, and Business and Enterprise plans. Pricing and a demo are available on request.

Pros

• • • FulllStory’s advanced analytics set it apart from less comprehensive heatmap tools.
    • It can analyze mobile apps, as well as websites.
    • Thanks to open APIs, it easily integrates with many other tools and business intelligence (BI) software.

Cons

• • • FullStory is more expensive than some other heatmap software.
    • Performance can get slow, particularly when searching large datasets.
    • Because the product has so many features, it can overwhelm users, although the search-driven interface can help.

Hotjar

One of the most popular heatmap tools available, HotJar boasts more than 900,000 customers, including Air Canada, Adobe, HubSpot, TomTom, and many others. It was founded in 2014 and currently does business in more than 180 countries.

The HotJar platform is more focused than some other tools and does not offer advanced analytics. Its capabilities include heatmaps, recordings, surveys and customer feedback. It is easy to install, easy to use and easy to understand.

HotJar has a lot of different pricing tiers for individuals and businesses: Basic (free), Plus ($39/month), Business ($99/month) and Scale ($398/month). All include unlimited users. It also makes it easy for agencies to use the service for clients. It also offers a 15-day free trial.

Pros

• • • The HotJar interface is one of the most user-friendly available.
    • Pricing is very affordable.
    • The user feedback can be very helpful, and is somewhat unusual among heatmap tools.

Cons

• • • HotJar is not good at tracking dynamic content.
    • It is not a robust analytics tool.
    • Some users have complained about bugs with the session recording capabilities.

Inspectlet

Designed to work alongside Google Analytics, Inspectlet aims to help companies figure out why website visitors are doing the things they are doing. It has more than 90,000 customers including The New York Times, Salesforce, Cisco, ABC, eBay and others.

In addition to heatmaps, this software offers session recording, A/B testing, form analytics and error logging. Key features including powerful filters, conversion funnels, javascript tagging, easy setup and easy integration with other tools.

Inspectlet’s pricing tiers are as follows: Free, Micro ($39/month), Startup ($79/month), Growth ($149/month), Accelerate ($299/month) and Enterprise ($499/month). Annual subscriptions come with a 15% discount. A demo is available.

Pros

• • • Inspectlet gets rave reviews for being easy to use.
    • This tool’s form analytics are very helpful in showing where users hesitate when completing forms.
    • It can also track errors that users are encountering on your site.

Cons

• • • You need to use Google Analytics alongside Inspectlet to get a full picture of your website engagement.
    • Some customers complain that the higher-price tiers are too expensive for the value provided.
    • Customization can be time-consuming.

Lucky Orange

Used by more than 100,000 websites, Lucky Orange is a conversion optimization suite that includes heatmap capabilities. Founded in 2010, the company behind the software is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas. Its customers include KB works, You & Co, SmartBug Media, GLM Display and others.

The Lucky Orange suite includes a dashboard, recordings, dynamic heatmaps, chat, conversion funnels, form analytics and polls. Its visualizations are easy to understand, and it allows organizations to quickly determine where and why they are losing potential sales.

Pricing for Lucky Orange starts at just $10 per month for the Starter package. Other pricing tiers include Small Business ($20/month), Medium ($50/month), Large ($100/month) and Enterprise (pricing on request). It offers a free seven-day trial, and demos on request.

Pros

• • • Lucky Orange offers very good value with many different capabilities for a low price.
    • Customers say that Lucky Orange provides more detailed, accurate information than some other heatmap software.
    • It supports dynamic content and subscription-based websites.

Cons

• • • Some users complain that the lowest-priced plans should allow more users and websites.
    • Some users say the interface is a bit clunky.
    • It does not integrate well with many other tools.

Matomo

Formerly known as Piwik, Matomo brands itself as an alternative to Google Analytics with better privacy protection. Founded in 2007, it the company behind this analytics and heatmap software has its headquarters in New Zealand. It is used by more than 1 million websites, including the United Nations, Red Bull, Amnesty International, Huawei, NASA and the European Commission.

This tool really emphasizes data ownership, GDPR compliance and privacy as its claims to fame. It can track visitors, behavior, goals, funnels, tags and more, and it includes heatmaps, session recordings, form analytics, A/B testing, ad performance and more. It is one of the most full-featured tools available, and it comes at a low price.

The open source, on-premise version of Matomo is available for free with additional fees for features like the Activity Log, Funnels and heatmap and session recording. The cloud version, which stores data in Europe, starts at $29 per month with prices increasing based on the number of pageviews.

Pros

• • • Matomo offers the best privacy and data protection of any heatmap software on this list.
    • The base software is available for free with an open source license.
    • The cloud version is very affordable.

Cons

• • • It takes some technical expertise to deploy the free, open source version.
    • It isn’t as easy to use as some of the other heatmap software, and some features require use of the command line.
    • It does not integrate with Google tools, but the company views that as a feature, not a bug.

Mouseflow

Founded in 2010 and based in Denmark, Mouseflow aims to answer questions about why visitors don’t convert into customers. Its customer list includes more than 165,000 websites, including Dormando, Dyson, Vodafone, Eon and others.

Mouseflow’s tools include session replay, heatmaps, funnels, form analytics, and feedback capabilities. It includes filtering and segmentation, and it complies with GDPR and CCPA.

Mouseflow pricing is based on the number of recordings per month and is free for up to 500 recordings. Other pricing tiers including Starter (5,000 recordings for $24/month), Growth (15,000 recordings for $79/month), Business (50,000 recordings for $159 per month), Pro (150,000 recordings for $299 per month) and Enterprise (price on request). A free trial and agency pricing are available. The site features a live demo.

Pros

• • • Mouseflow includes a long list of capabilities, including forma analytics and funnels.
    • This heatmap software is very affordable.
    • It is easy to set up and use.

Cons

• • • Its features are not as comprehensive as some of the other heatmap software.
    • Some users say the interface is dated, though usable.
    • Some users would like to see more detailed tracking available.

SmartLook

Smartlook offers website and mobile analytics and has received very high reviews from customers. Its customers include 4finance, Elitedate, Devono Cresa, ReobertNemec.com and others. The company was founded in 2016 in the Czech Republic.

SmartLook incorporates recordings, heatmaps, events, funnels, analytics, reporting and retention tables. Key features include advanced filtering, always-on recording, visitor journeys, segmented heatmaps, event statistics, customizable dashboards, one-click tables and more. It is GDPR-compliant, and it integrates with numerous tools, including Google Analytics, WordPress, Shopify, Zendesk, Magento, PrestaShop and others.

For websites, Smartlook costs $32/month for the Startup package and $79/month for the business version.. For mobile apps, the Startup version costs $53/month, and the Business version costs $108/month. Pricing for the Ultimate version for websites or apps is available on request. It is free for 10 days, and a demo is available.

Pros

• • • Smartlook records the activity of every single visitor to your website or app.
    • Pricing is very affordable.
    • It integrates with a lot of other popular tools for tracking websites and mobile traffic.

Cons

• • • Some users say its dashboards could be improved.
    • Some users say its pricing tiers are not very clear.
    • Some users wish its privacy controls were better.

Heatmap Software Comparison Table

Organizations using advanced data analytics need a way to get data out of where it resides so that they can move it to a data warehouse or data lake. That’s where data extraction software comes in.

What Does Data Extraction Software Do?

It is nearly impossible to purchase a tool that does only data extraction. The most basic of these tools also transforms the data and load it into another system. In the early days of data mining, many data extraction vendors marketed their products as ETL (short for extract, transform, load), or data migration tools. Over the years, most vendors have added more capabilities to their tools and now call them data integration and/or data pipeline tools, although the core capabilities remain the same.

It’s worth noting that many data fabric and data management platforms also incorporate data extraction and data integration features. However, some organizations find it useful to have separate data extraction software. These standalone tools sometimes offer better performance and can be more affordable if organizations don’t need the full capabilities of a more advanced data platform.

The list below focuses on tools whose primary purpose is data extraction, rather than more broad capabilities.

How to Select Data Extraction Tools

If you are in the market for data extraction software, keep these tips in mind:

• Determine your needs. Make sure you understand exactly why you are looking for data extraction software and what features you need it to have. Map out where it will fit in your big data and analytics workflows, so that you understand what other tools it needs to integrate with.
• Consider your staff’s level of expertise. Some data extraction tools are designed to be used by business analysts with no coding abilities, while others require more advanced knowledge. Make sure you get the right type of tool to suit your team’s abilities.
• Check the connections. When it comes to data extraction tools, nothing is more important than making sure it will connect to your data sources, as well as the software or cloud services you use for your data warehouse or data lake. Remember, the total number of connections isn’t as important as connecting to the actual applications and services that you use. And if a tool you are considering doesn’t connect to all your data sources, make sure you understand the difficulty involved in creating custom connections.
• Don’t confuse ELT and ETL. Some data extraction tools can do both ELT (the loading happens before data transformation) and ETL (the transformation happens before the loading), but some can do only one or the other. Make sure you are getting the right type of product for your needs.

With those tips in mind, here are ten data extraction software applications you might want to consider:

Jump to:

• Altair Monarch
• Domo Data Integration
• Etleap
• Fivetran
• Keboola
• Matillion
• Panoply
• Rivery
• Talend/Stitch
• Xplenty

Best Data Extraction Tools

Altair Monarch

Founded in 1985, Altair sells a variety of software, hardware and services, primarily related to data analytics, product design, high-performance computing and the Internet of Things. Its customers include NASA, RUAG Space, PING Golf, Specialized, Ford, Stanley Black & Decker, Kyoto University and others. Over the years, Altair has acquired a number of other technology companies, including Datawatch, the previous vendor of the Monarch software.

Part of the company’s data analytics lineup, Monarch is Altair’s “market-leading self-service data preparation solution.” It incorporates both data extraction, data cleansing, and transformation capabilities, and it offers more than 80 pre-built data preparation functions. It can extract data from PDFs and text files, as well as structured sources, and it requires no coding abilities. It is available in a variety of different versions and can be deployed in the cloud as software as a service or on premises.

An annual subscription to the Monarch Complete cloud service starts at $1,995. A free trial and demos are available. Prices for the server version are available on request.

Pros

• With its 30-year history, Monarch is one of the most mature data extraction tools available.
• The tool is easy to use.
• Monarch integrates with Altair’s other data analytics tools.

Cons

• Some customers complain that the cost is too high or wish that a “lite” version with fewer features were available at a lower price.
• Sometimes the tool experiences performance issues with very large datasets.
• Some customers say that they were not able to get the full benefit from the software until they also purchased training.

Domo Data Integration

Domo is a business intelligence startup founded in 2010. It claims more than 1,800 customers, including DHL, ESPN, L’Oreal, Traeger, Zillow, Ebay, Comcast, Autodesk and others. It has won several awards, including Ventana Research Digital Leadership Award – Analytics and Best Business Intelligence Software Company from Digital.com.

Data extraction capabilities are included in Domo’s Data Integration product. Its key features include more than 1,000 pre-built connectors for cloud systems, fast query response times, automated data pipeline workflows, data federation and massively parallel processing. It also includes some data governance capabilities and offers strong security.

Pricing and a free trial are available on request. Prices depend on which Domo platform features you use, data volume, storage needs, refresh rates, query volumes and the number of users.

Pros

• The data extraction capabilities are part of a comprehensive data platform that integrates with Domo’s BI tools.
• Domo has built-in connectors for a lot of cloud and on-premise enterprise applications.
• The tool gets high marks from customers for its flexibility.

Cons

• The full Domo platform might be more than some organizations need, if they are just looking for ETL.
• The price can be high.
• Some customers say that new releases tend to be buggy.

Etleap

Founded in 2013, Etleap is one of the few vendors on this list that still describes itself as an ETL vendor, although it also sometimes describes its product as data pipeline software. Its customers include Mode, Blink Health, LendingHome, Airtable, Pagerduty and others.

Domo makes it easy to create an ETL pipeline to build a cloud data warehouse on AWS Redshift or Snowflake. Key features include flexibility, scalability, coded or code-less transformation creation options, compliance, SSO integration and more. It integrates with more than 50 data sources, including MySQL, AWS, PostgreSQL, Oracle, Salesforce, Marketo, Jira, Hubspot and Hadoop.

Pricing and a free demo are available on request.

Pros

• Etleap’s tight integration with AWS makes it a good option for organizations with a data warehouse built in Redshift or Snowflake.
• It doesn’t have a lot of extraneous features, so it’s a good option if you really only want ETL.
• Training and support are available.

Cons

• The tool doesn’t have as many features as some of the other options on this list.
• Etleap doesn’t have a large customer basis, and few reviews are available online.
• It requires some advanced knowledge, so it’s not a good option for organizations that don’t have experienced engineers and architects setting up the data pipelines and data warehouse.

Fivetran

Founded in 2013, Fivetran is a pure-play startup that focuses on “simple, reliable data integration for analytics teams.” It has more than 1,000 customers, including Square, DocuSign, Lime, Spanx, Udacity and others.

The Fivetran platform offers fully managed ELT pipelines. Key extraction features include normalized schemas, incremental batch updates, 24-hour tech support, real-time monitoring, granular system logs, and a 99.9% uptime guarantee. It has more than 150 built-in connectors, including MySQL, Oracle, Amazon S3, Microsoft Dynamics, and many others, and it can pull data directly from more than 5,000 different cloud-based applications.

Fivetran lists pricing on its website, but the pricing method is complicated. The service costs $1/credit for the Starter version, $1.50/credit for Standard, and $2/credit for Enterprise. Credits are determined based on the monthly active rows, but as your volume increase, each credit covers more active rows. Free trials are available.

Pros

• Fivetran claims that most users can set up the service in just five minutes.
• The pay-as-you-go pricing makes it easy to scale.
• The 99.9% uptime SLA provides confidence that data will always be available for analysts.

Cons

• Customers say that Fivetran’s transformation capabilities are not as advanced as its extract and load capabilities.
• The company provides upfront pricing by keeping track of your actual usage can be difficult.
• Sometimes syncing takes longer than expected.

Keboola

Based in the Czech Republic, Keboola offers a data operations platform that includes storage, sharing, transformations and data science capabilities. Its customers include Mall Group, Kiwi.com, Platterz, Heureka, Firehouse Subs, Hello Bank! and others.

Keboola can perform ETL or ELT jobs. It promises fast deployment, enterprise-grade security, automation, an open platform, “scaffolds” for connecting to common data sources, data catalog capabilities, a developer portal and more.

Keboola offers a free plan with 300 free minutes each month, with paid overages after that. The subscription plan adds more features and starts at $2500 per month.

Pros

• Keboola offers more breadth of capabilities than some of the ETL-only tools.
• Customers applaud Keboola’s excellent service.
• The free tier is a big plus for organizations that are just getting started with data pipelines.

Cons

• Keboola’s interface isn’t as easy to use as some other options.
• Some customers complain that it isn’t as easy to integrate into their continuous integration workflows as they would like.
• Keboola promises fast setup, but onboarding isn’t as fast or easy as with some competing services.

Matillion

Matillion describes itself as a cloud-based ETL software provider. Founded in 2010, it has amassed an impressive customer list that includes The Home Depot, Travis Perkins, GE, Siemens, Western Union, Splunk, Ikea, Cisco, Amazon, Merck, Accenture and others. Gartner named it a Niche Player in its Magic Quadrant for Data Integration tools.

Matillion natively integrates with AWS Snowflake and Redshift, Google BigQuaery, Microsoft Azure Synapse and other cloud services, making it easy to feed data into a data warehouse. It supports advanced transformations and has a long list of pre-built connectors for data sources.

The software is available in two different versions: Data Loader is a free version with basic capabilities, and ETL is the paid version. The ETL version has four different pricing tiers: Medium ($1.79 per hour), Large ($3.49 per hour), XLarge ($6.49 per hour) and Enterprise (pricing on request). A demo is available.

Pros

• Matillion is very easy to use.
• Performance is very fast, often faster than multi-function tools that do more than ETL.
• The upfront pricing makes it easy to estimate costs.

Cons

• Customers complain about slow and/or poor customer support.
• Error messages are difficult to understand.
• Documentation is inadequate to customer needs.

Panoply

Founded in 2015, Panoply offers a cloud data platform that allows small to medium-sized businesses to create data warehouses. Its customers include Kaplan, Spanx, Shinesty and others. It has won several awards, including being named a Gartner Cool Vendor in 2019.

This platform combines data extraction and integration with full data warehouse capabilities, and some versions also include data governance features. It offers connectors for more than 60 data sources, and it promises world-class security and 99.99% uptime. Other features include fully managed syncing and storage, automatic data type detection, built-in performance monitoring, high scalability and pre-built SQL queries.

Panoply comes in Lite ($200 per month), Starter ($325 per month), Pro ($665 per month), Business ($995 per month) and Enterprise (pricing on request) versions. All offer a free 14-day trial.

Pros

• Panoply is one of the highest-rated data extraction tools on the market.
• Its customer service team gets high marks from customers.
• The tool makes connecting data sources very easy.

Cons

• While it is well-suited for most SMB needs, it doesn’t have the more advanced features that large enterprises might need.
• It doesn’t have as many built-in connectors as some of the other options available.
• Some customers say they wish it had data visualization capabilities.

Rivery

Rivery describes its platform as a “real-time data pipeline,” and it offers cloud-based ETL, data migration and data orchestration capabilities. Its customers include Bayer, the American Cancer Society, Minute Media, WalkMe and others.

On its list of benefits, Rivery touts its ability to ingest data from any source, scalability, speed, low cost and simplicity. It designed its ETL tool to be used by business users without assistance form DevOps teams, and it is compatible with AWS Snowflake and Redshift, Google BigQuery and Microsoft Azure.

Rivery offers some pricing details on its website, but the information is not very specific. It says its Base package costs between $10 and $50,000 per year with a free trial available, and pricing for the Enterprise package is available on request.

Pros

• Rivery gets very high reviews from customers.
• Its customer support is top notch.
• The interface is user-friendly.

Cons

• Setting up a new data source can be time-consuming.
• Rivery’s documentation is not very clear.
• The pricing on its website is vague and not very transparent.

Talend/Stitch

Now owned by unified data fabric vendor Talend, Stitch offers “simple, extensible ETL.” While Talend and Stitch products integrate well together, Stitch still operates as an independent business unit. Its customers include Peloton, Envoy, Invision, Indiegogo, Instapage and Postman.

This fully managed data pipeline integrates with more than 130 data sources, and the company sponsors the Singer open source framework, which makes it easy to build integrations with other applications. Stitch doesn’t require any coding, and you can set it up in minutes. It offers orchestration, security, compliance, and data quality features.

Stitch Standard starts at $100 per month for 5 million rows of data, climbing up to $1,250 per month for 300 million rows. Discounts are available for an annual purchase, and the company offers a free 14-day trial. Prices for Stitch Enterprise are available on request.

Pros

• Stitch has a long list of integrations and makes it easy to integrate with other data sources that don’t have built-in support.
• Its customer service gets very good reviews.
• Stitch’s pricing is very affordable.

Cons

• Customers say they would appreciate better data filtering capabilities.
• It has limited data transformation capabilities.
• Some customers also would like to see better logging and error handling.

Xplenty

Calling itself the “most advanced data pipeline,” Xplenty offers both ELT and ETL capabilities. It is a pure-play startup founded in Isreal in 2012. Its customers include Gap, Samsung, Philip Morris International, PWC, Masterclass, Deloitte, Accenture, Ikea and others.

Xplenty offers a complete data pipeline toolkit that includes orchestration and monitoring capabilities. It integrates with more than 140 data sources and is particularly well-suited to organizations that use Salesforce. It is highly scalable has advanced customization capabilities.

A demo is available and pricing are available on request.

Pros

• Xplenty’s close Salesforce integration make it a good option for organizations that use a lot of Salesforce services.
• The tool gets kudos from customers for being easy to use.
• The customer support is very good.

Cons

• Customers with very large datasets can encounter scalability problems.
• Logging and error reporting aren’t as robust as they could be.
• Documentation is lacking.

Data Extraction Software Comparison Table

Data centers are buildings that are used by companies to store their data, applications, and infrastructure components, such as servers, storage, and switches. 

Demand for data centers is growing due to their heightened cybersecurity, storage capabilities, and continuous monitoring as well as managed and self-service options. The demand can also be attributed to the growth in cloud computing, the Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence (AI).

The data center market was estimated to be worth $206.2 billion in 2021 and is projected to grow to $404.9 billion by 2028, according to BlueWeave Consulting. 

See below to learn all about data center technologies and the top companies in the data center market:

Choosing the right data center company

• Top data center companies

• Equinix

• Digital realty

• Coresite

• Cyxtera Technologies

• CyrusOne

• NTT Global Data Centers

• China Unicom

• QTS Realty Trust

• Flexential 

• Iron Mountain

• Data center features

• Data center benefits

• Use cases
• What to look for in data center companies

For more: The Data Center Equipment Market

Top data center companies

Equinix

Redwood City, California-based Equinix is a vendor-neutral multi-tenant data center provider founded in 1998. Equinix runs a network of over 240 International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers in 70 major locations around the world to help over 10,000 customers connect globally.

Equinix data centers offer real-time monitoring, deployments with data center experts, remote support, and were built to exceed rigorous energy standards.

“The Equinix solution is ideal for ModEx, as it allows us to bring flexibility, reliability, and cost efficiencies to a marketplace that needs new technology and innovation. By using Equinix data centers, our clients can be confident that their data is safe and that the solution can meet their capacity needs,” says James Lay, ModEx commercial director, Simplitium, a user of Equinix data centers.

Equinix was named the 2020 “Asia-Pacific Data Center Services Provider of the Year” by  Frost & Sullivan.

Differentiators

• Invested $129 million in energy-efficiency upgrades
• Large provider of carrier-neutral data centers
• Reports 99.9999% uptime

Pricing

For pricing, go to the Equinix sales contact page.

Digital Realty

Digital Realty, founded in 2001, owns, acquires, develops, and operates data centers worldwide. Based in Austin, Texas, their data center reach extends to six continents, 26 countries, and 50 metros. In total, Digital Realty owns and runs over 290 data centers.

Digital Realty aims to simplify infrastructure delivery by regulating a single global data center platform, giving customers business agility by shortening the time to connect to their data and supporting global capabilities.

“To meet aggressive growth demands while remaining flexible to meet our customer’s unique requirements, we needed a partner that was able to perform. Digital Realty offers us the ability to deploy a single cabinet, all the way up to large caged environments along with flexible connectivity options. 

“Working collaboratively with the Digital team, we designed a solution providing us everything we needed through a consolidated solution. We knew it was the smart choice to stay and grow with Digital,” says Robert Keblusek, CTO, Sentinel Technologies, a user of Digital Realty data centers.

Digital Realty won Company of the Year in the 2021 Best Practices Awards by Frost & Sullivan. 

Differentiators

• Data centers for the gaming industry
• 100% renewable energy for U.S. and European platforms
• ServiceFabric Connect global orchestration software

Pricing

For pricing information, contact Digital Realty here.

For more: The Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC) Market

CoreSite

CoreSite is a Denver-based company that owns and operates data centers and provides colocation and peering services. CoreSite has 27 data center facilities in over 10 markets, including media and content, and 4.6 million square feet of rentable space.

CoreSite has multiple offerings: cabinet colocation, cage colocation, private data center suites, remote hands support, and move-in assistance services.

“Many data centers feel exclusive like a country club, because they often cater to just a handful of specialty industries or small groups of enterprise companies. CoreSite has built a true peering ecosystem comprising a unique mix of IP traffic from different industries,” says Maria Sirbu, VP of business development, Voxility, a user of CoreSite data centers.

CoreSite was recognized as one of the 2021 “NVTC Tech 100 Companies” by the Northern Virginia Technology Council.

Differentiators

• Partners with over 325 cloud and IT service providers
• Over 35,000 customer interconnections
• An open cloud exchange in each of data center market

Pricing

To get pricing, go to CoreSite’s quote page.

Cyxtera Technologies

Coral Gables, Florida-based Cyxtera Technologies is a global leader in data center colocation and interconnection services. Cyxtera Technologies owns and operates 61 data centers in over 29 markets globally. These data centers provide services to over 2,000 enterprises and government agencies.

Cyxtera data centers offer cross-platform versatility and custom solutions to give customers control over their data and scale with growth.

 “Cyxtera’s data centers have proved very reliable, with their personnel always being accommodating to our needs,” says Tom Davies, senior manager, Cisco DevNet, a user of Cyxtera Technologies data centers.

Cyxtera was named the Global Service Provider of the Year at Nutanix’s .NEXT Digital Experience and recognized for “Best Data Center Cyber Security” by DataCloud.

Differentiators

• Uses machine learning (ML) and AI to manage data centers
• SmartCabs to speed deployments
• Enterprise-grade compute, storage, and networking solutions

Pricing

For pricing, fill out this form.

CyrusOne

CyrusOne, a data center provider, was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. CyrusOne has over 40 enterprise-class data centers across three continents with more than four million rentable square feet. CyrusOne data centers serve hundreds of customers.

CyrusOne helps enterprises with their data center infrastructure: by assisting through scoping, engineering, and implementation phases; offering low- to ultra-high density solutions tailored to the rack level; and design services that include power and usage projections, floor planning, connectivity assessment, and implementation scheduling.

“Our online business has increased to the point where our legacy infrastructure has limited ability to support our continued growth. And our private data center can’t support the IT infrastructure we need to deliver our products and services,” says Joedy Lenz, VP and CTO, Carfax, a user of CyrusOne data centers. 

“When we call to request a configuration of our IT footprint, they start working to approve it immediately, and then send us the work order to document it. They never make it a burden on us, or make us feel like it’s a burden on them. They’re obviously focused on ensuring their customer’s success, rather than their own.”

CyrusOne won the Top Project of the Year Award by Environment + Energy Leader as well as the Hyperscale Data Center Innovation Award by Data Center Dynamics.

Differentiators

• Builds new data halls in 12-16 weeks to meet customer demand
• $15 billion dollar investment toward sustainability
• Pledged to be carbon neutral by 2040

Pricing

To get pricing, request a proposal here.

NTT Global Data Centers

NTT is a global data center company with locations across Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia. These data centers have cross-regional networks in locations such as London, Singapore, Tokyo, and Virginia.

NTT focuses on their data centers being innovative through the testing and validation of emerging technologies, such as cloud, blockchain, IoT, and AI as well as enterprise applications. 

They aim to help an enterprise stay connected globally and add support services. For instance, Araceli Pedraza, country managing director at NTT Ltd. in Spain, says:

“Spain has become a hub for communications in southern Europe in recent years, in part due to new submarine cables. With our new data center in Madrid, we are actively shaping the digital future of the region.” 

NTT was named Asia-Pacific Cloud Infrastructure Services Provider of the Year, Asia-Pacific Customer Experience System Integrator of the Year, Asia-Pacific Managed Security Service Provider of the Year, Southeast Asia Unified Communications Systems Integrator of the Year, and Philippines Contact Center System Integrator of the Year by Frost & Sullivan.

Differentiators

• A Leader by IDC in the “Worldwide Colocation and Interconnection Services MarketScape”
• Offers a trial period
• Uses robotics for data centers

Pricing

To request a quote, go here.

China Unicom

China Unicom is a data center company based in Hong Kong. China Unicom works in 70 countries and regions with 31 subsidiaries and offices and over 130 overseas points of presence (PoP).

China Unicom plans to grow with the global connectivity market as an information and communications technology (ICT) provider, offering global internet access, cloud, IoT, unified communications, content, and security services.

China Unicom won the Best International Network Operator Award at the 2020 Cahk Star Awards.

Differentiators

• Owns 20 terrestrial cable systems and over 40 submarine cable systems
• Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) protection service for traffic monitoring, alerting, and protection
• 32 scrubbing nodes to handle T-level attacks

Pricing

For pricing, go to the contact page.

QTS Realty Trust

Overland Park, Kansas-based QTS Realty Trust operates numerous data centers throughout North America, covering over nine million square feet, and two locations in the Netherlands.

QTS offers secure and compliant infrastructure through its software-defined (SD) platform. It is QTS Realty Trust’s mission to provide optimal connectivity, resiliency, redundancy, and scale to over 1,000 customers. They also provide around- the-clock security inside and outside of their data centers.

“Data center services done right, nothing lacking. QTS is by far the best data center provider we have worked with. We are running at 100% uptime over our three+ years relationship. However, the main differentiator is the QTS staff. A very competent, and friendly bunch,” says a user of QTS’ data centers.

QTS Realty Trust was named a 2022 “Champions of Business” honoree by Kansas City Business Journal and given the “Data Center Construction Project Award ” by Northern Virginia Technology Council. 

Differentiators

• Open internet exchange (OIX) data center certifications
• Helped Atlanta achieve 350 MW of new renewable energy for the power grid
• Has five security hubs: signal intel hub,; measurements and signature hub; BC/DR hub; insider threat hub; and cyber threat hub

Pricing

For a colocation quote, go here.

Flexential

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Flexential operates 40 data centers covering three million square feet. Since starting in 1999, Flexential has helped deliver their services to over 4,000 customers across the U.S. and Canada. Flexenial’s top industries are health care, manufacturing, technology, financial, retail, and logistics.  

Flexential offers three different types of colocation to help fit customers’ needs: Retail Colocation, Wholesale Colocation, and Colocation Remote Hands Service.

“Flexential has strong security features and solid processes and procedures that are under continuous SOC2 audit. Plus, they have convenient, geographically diverse locations that are interconnected, and they support availability at a reasonable price,” says Mark Cavaliero, founder and CEO, Carolinas IT, a user of Flexential data centers.

Flexential won the Service Provider of the Year – Americas, by Infinidat.

Differentiators

• Managed virtual firewall
• 100% uptime commitment
• 13,000 route miles

Pricing

To request a quote from Flexential, go here.

Iron Mountain

Founded in 1951, Boston-based Iron Mountain is a global leader in the data center market. Iron Mountain’s 1,400 data centers are used by over 225,000 organizations and cover over 85 million square feet across 54 countries.

Their data centers help protect and store private business information, critical data, and artifacts. Iron Mountain has multiple data center as-a-service options, such as wholesale data centers, build-to-suit data centers, private suites, and modular data centers. There are also add-ons for secure cages, individual cabinets, and server colocation to keep data secure.

“We chose them because of their expertise, knowledge, and customer service. We were looking for a provider that was focused on providing enterprise-grade data center space, power and network access, Iron Mountain had it all. … Iron Mountain was able to get us moved and powered up in short order with no interruption in service. … I don’t worry about the data center anymore and that lets me sleep a little easier at night,” says Chris Filandro, CIO, Meritage Homes, a user of Iron Mountain data centers.

Iron Mountain is part of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Better Buildings Initiative and won the “2019 Nareit Leader in the Light Award” by Nareit.

Differentiators

• Data centers in UK, Ireland, and Benelux use 100% renewable energy
• Used by 95% of the Fortune “1000”
• Offers service organization controls, quality management, information security, energy management, and environmental management

Pricing

For pricing information, go to the Iron Mountain sales contact page.

Data center features

• Compute: the processing power and memory to run applications on a server 
• Storage: the hardware and software used to store and manage data
• Networking: integration of networking resources, such as switches, routers, load balancing, and network monitoring and analytics
• Cybersecurity: using software that keeps data center operations, including data and applications, safe from cyberthreats
• Scalability: adjust capacity of compute, storage, and networking functions based on usage

Data center benefits

Enhance cybersecurity: better secure proprietary and sensitive corporate information, such as intellectual property, customer data, and financial records

Increase productivity: increase IT operations efficiency, redundancy, and flexibility and better optimize IT assets

Reduce costs: help customers lower their upfront hardware and software infrastructure expenses and staffing needs 

Use cases

Yarra City Council

The Yarra City Council provides many different services for the City of Yarra in Australia, which caused a need for reducing costs and complexity in their IT infrastructure. A data center through Equinix seemed to be a good decision for the Yarra City Council. 

“There are a lot of data centers out there that look great. But the crucial factor for us was establishing a solid, in-depth relationship. Equinix and its team demonstrated that from day one — really going the extra mile to address our needs and build a foundation that would last for the foreseeable future. 

“We felt comfortable it was a genuine partnership on every level, not only on costs, but in terms of a long-term relationship,” says Rick Bottigileri, innovation manager, Yarra City Council.

With Equinix, moving legacy IT systems from in-house data centers has reduced complexity, improved reliability, and reduced costs with Yarra City Council saving, for instance, on their air conditioning costs.

The new hybrid cloud and data center strategy means that the council is agile and can roll out new services almost overnight rather than eight months. 

Fender

Fender is an instrument manufacturer that needed help managing their IT services for financial planning and e-commerce systems. They wanted to decrease IT costs without affecting their relationships with customers. 

Fender did not want a solution that could take away from their focus on product development, customer satisfaction, and revenue growth. Fender soon realized outsourcing to a provider that specializes in the design, build, and operation of data centers was the most beneficial option.

“We looked at a dozen data center providers on the East and West coasts, and none of them could match what Iron Mountain had. When we toured Iron Mountain, we were sold,” says Jason Bredimus, VP of IT infrastructure, Fender.

With Iron Mountain, Fender increased uptime to 100% and gained more freedom to focus on other IT business needs.

What to look for in a data center company

Many data center companies offer a range of essential IT infrastructure, improved cybersecurity, managed services, and on-site support. 

However, comprehensive energy-efficiency practices built into data centers, artificial intelligence tools, and in-market and edge locations are not provided by every data center company. These are the types of features that some of the leading players are offering customers in the data center market. 

For more: The Data Center Networking Market