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Alation Data Catalog vs BigID comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Alation Data Catalog
Ranking in Data Governance
4th
Average Rating
7.6
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Metadata Management (2nd)
BigID
Ranking in Data Governance
7th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Data Privacy Management Software (2nd), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Data Governance category, the mindshare of Alation Data Catalog is 8.0%, down from 12.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of BigID is 7.4%, up from 5.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Governance
 

Featured Reviews

Brahma Lam - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 7, 2023
Has metadata cataloging features but needs changes in domain model
The tool's metadata cataloging is the most valuable feature.  The tool's domain model needs to be changed.  Alation Data Catalog is stable.  The solution is scalable.  Alation Data Catalog's deployment is easy. I rate it a nine out of ten. Deployment takes only two to three hours to complete.…
Scott Margolis - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 12, 2023
Commendable and robust data-centric tool
The initial setup is complex. There's a nuance to it, and that's one of the things that's been interesting as the technologies evolve. It's not complex in and of itself. You can install it quickly and attach data quickly. The complexity arises because most organizations I've worked with are thinking about their data for the first time. So, while installing the software and operationalizing it is easy, the onboarding and understanding of the data, design, legacy systems, and everything from Oracle to side-based to MS Access, that's where it gets tricky. They need to catalog, correlate, combine, rationalize, and really think through it all. So, the software itself is easy to implement and operate. But the operational side, from the client's perspective, requires a commitment. It's like buying a circular saw and expecting to build a house. The tool will take you some of the way, but if you don't have the underlying knowledge, you're going to struggle.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The tool's metadata cataloging is the most valuable feature."
"The solution is used to query MySQL clients and store data and documentation."
"We had some of our data science engineers, who had built out some cloud-based data and data products for users. They were spending a lot of their time, up to 30 to 35% of their time, answering questions about the data and helping people understand how to use it. Once they were able to document that information within Alation, they were only focusing on around 5% of the high-value questions that really couldn't be solved through the catalog itself. It freed them up to be more productive, it made their end-users more productive, and it made the adoption rate of their data products rise more quickly because people were able to get to using them."
"We can customize templates based on our use cases."
"The most valuable feature is cloud integration."
"The platform's most valuable features are workflow automation, automated business metadata tagging, technical metadata tagging, and data integration with data quality tools or platforms."
"The most valuable features of Alation Data Catalog are the simplicity in onboarding data sources, the security in securing the data sources, and the way the various users of Alation Data Catalog communicate with each other through a messenger."
"Alation Data Catalog provides a nice interface for connecting to the database, querying the data, and working on it."
"One of the most valuable things in a data-focused world is a tool, a technology that's data-centric, not trying to master data management or whatever else. It's a source of truth for what data an organization holds, giving it the ability to catalog, categorize, and understand its data."
"It provides a unified view across different databases and supports a wide range of data source types, including cloud and on-premises systems."
"BigID offers different scan types for data discovery. The most powerful one is the full scan, which scans both data and metadata. However, the metadata scan is faster in comparison."
"BigID's scanning feature is its most valuable component."
"BigID is more advanced than Microsoft Purview when it comes to machine learning and AI development tools."
"BigID integrates well with our other products."
"The data classification offered by the tool can help companies improve their security strategy"
"The tool's most valuable feature is correlation. Using BigID's data classification capabilities has strengthened our data security. It lets me classify and connect data, which helps me manage data at various classification levels."
 

Cons

"We have had issues setting up the connectors and getting Alation's support team to resolve issues."
"Alation Data Catalog does not provide end-to-end data lineage."
"Alation Data Catalog doesn't support end-to-end lineage. By that, I mean the ability to trace the movement of data from when it first comes into our organization to where it's consumed."
"The interface is not user-friendly."
"The tool's domain model needs to be changed."
"It would be good if the tool could show the output from the records while querying."
"Although the solution performs far better in terms of data cataloging, its data governance capabilities need improvement."
"I know that this has been on their roadmap and they're working on it, but as a whole, there's an untapped reservoir of capabilities within their article features that could be used and built upon."
"More classifications about different states are needed"
"The tool currently lacks security features."
"BigID is making some forays into the GRC space, and that's a natural progression. I'd like to see that improve so that data governance is better, data risk is identified, and the ability to control and mitigate it."
"In terms of what could be improved, when you're looking in a BigID file, you cannot really get the whole file. You have to export it to download it to another platform that allows you to completely view it, or run a program. That was one of the things that was really a disappointing point for me. Not to be able to view everything. There's a lot more data, but you can't get it all at once."
"One concern I have with BigID is regarding certain scans, like the multi-scan. The issue is that we can stop and retrieve these scans, but once they start, they go through an enumeration process."
"BigID needs improvement in terms of automation."
"The challenge we encountered was with data connection across multiple databases. We struggled with configuring the data connection successfully. However, with the assistance of dynamic teams, we resolved this issue."
"BigID is expensive. I prefer McAfee."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The platform is moderately expensive compared to the other competitors in the market."
"The solution is a little expensive."
"A three-year agreement is better than a one-year rolling 12-month agreement from a price point of view. I'd recommend looking at a three-year deal because you can't stand up a catalog and produce value in 12 months."
"I don't have all the details on the pricing side, but the solution was more expensive than originally expected."
"The product is expensive, but so are all competitor tools"
"I think that BigID's pricing is very reasonable."
"The pricing depends. If you have thousands of data sources to connect and manage, and you struggled with an MDM package in the past, you'll find BigID valuable and even cheap. But if you're a small business, it's probably not the right tool for you."
"The solution is not licensed per user but rather based on capacity. For instance, organizations with large amounts of data, such as 50 GB or more, are the ones that typically qualify for BigID."
"The solution is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
26%
Computer Software Company
11%
Insurance Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Alation Data Catalog?
The platform's most valuable features are workflow automation, automated business metadata tagging, technical metadata tagging, and data integration with data quality tools or platforms.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Alation Data Catalog?
I don't have all the details on the pricing side, but the solution was more expensive than originally expected. On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solut...
What needs improvement with Alation Data Catalog?
When issues arise, two key concerns arise. First, how can we perform root cause analysis faster? Second, how can we optimize resource allocation, considering the associated costs? Every customer is...
What do you like most about BigID?
I like BigID's in-depth discovery and scanning capabilities, especially for unstructured data. This feature is a standout compared to competitors. The tool's data classification capabilities are i...
What needs improvement with BigID?
BigID needs improvement in terms of automation. Its automation capabilities are limited compared to Purview. While BigID can generate outcomes, it is not adept at automating business processes, whi...
What is your primary use case for BigID?
I have used BigID to scan for data discovery, data protection, analyze where the data is found, data classification, and data mapping. I integrated BigID with Microsoft Purview to expand the scope ...
 

Also Known As

Alation
No data available
 

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Salesforce, Snowflake, Citrix, eBay, TripAdvisor, Albertsons, Nasdaq, Pfizer, LinkedIn, Finnair.
Home Depot, Grant Thornton LLP, Cimpress, Fidelity Investments
Find out what your peers are saying about Alation Data Catalog vs. BigID and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
814,763 professionals have used our research since 2012.