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IBM SPSS Modeler vs SAS Enterprise Miner comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 5, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

IBM SPSS Modeler
Ranking in Data Mining
4th
Ranking in Data Science Platforms
13th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SAS Enterprise Miner
Ranking in Data Mining
7th
Ranking in Data Science Platforms
18th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Data Mining category, the mindshare of IBM SPSS Modeler is 17.1%, up from 16.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAS Enterprise Miner is 4.4%, down from 4.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Mining
 

Featured Reviews

PeterHuo - PeerSpot reviewer
Good tool for extracting data from data warehouses, creating streams, and manipulating logic to extract final data
There are performance issues. Extracting data from many combined tables can take hours and occasionally crash the server due to memory leaks. This performance problem bothers people. The performance issue seems to be related to the server. We design streams on the client and submit them to the server, which generates a large SQL statement. There are two potential bottlenecks: one in the server and another in data extraction. I'm unsure about the exact mechanics of data splitting when fetching from the database. When streams become larger, performance bottlenecks may occur in the IBM SPSS Modeler server or the database. Sometimes the server crashes and needs to be restarted to release memory on both sides. I'm not sure exactly where the problem is caused, as I focus on stream design rather than server issues. The problem could be on the IBM SPSS Modeler server and database.
reviewer1447110 - PeerSpot reviewer
Good technical support but too complex and not open-source
We're using Enterprise Guide simultaneously with Enterprise Miner. From my perspective, I believe that open-source analytics tools are closer to fitting our needs. We prefer open-source options like Anaconda. They offer good support and features. Anaconda also integrates well with Jupyter NET, which is important for us. Overall, on a scale from one to ten, I'd rate the solution at a five. If there were better protocols and wasn't as complex as it is, I'd rate it a bit higher.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We had an IBM Guardium service contract where we used one of their resources to help us develop our prototype. It was a good experience, but they were helpful and responsive."
"It handles large data better than the previous system that we were using, which was basically Excel and Access. We serve upwards of 300,000 parts over a 150 regions and we need to crunch a lot of numbers."
"It is pretty scalable."
"It scales. I have not run into any challenges where it will not perform.​"
"We are using it either for workforce deployment or to improve our operations."
"Very good data aggregation."
"It continues to be a very flexible platform, so that it handles R and Python and other types of technology. It seems to be growing with additional open-source movement out there on different platforms."
"IBM was chosen because of usability. It's point and click, whereas the other out-of-the box-solution, or open-source solutions, require full-on programming and a much higher skill level."
"Most of the features, especially on the data analysis tool pack, are really good. The way they do clustering and output is great. You can do fairly elaborate outputs. The results, the ensembles, all of these, are fantastic."
"The most valuable feature is that you can use multiple algorithms for creating models and then you can compare the results between them."
"Good data management and analytics."
"The solution is able to handle quite large amounts of data beautifully."
"The solution is very good for data mining or any mining issues."
"he solution is scalable."
"The most valuable feature is the decision tree creation."
"I found the ease of use of the solution the most valuable. Additionally, other valuable features include: the user interface, power to extract data, compatibility with other technologies (specifically with PS400), and automation of several tasks."
 

Cons

"Dimension reduction should be classified separately."
"The forecasting could be a bit easier."
"It's not as user friendly as it could be."
"The platform's cloud version needs improvements."
"Formula writing is not straightforward for an Excel user. Totally new set of functions, which takes time to learn and teach."
"I would like see more programming languages added, like MATLAB. That would be better."
"The integration with sources and visualisation needs some improvement. The scalability needs improvement."
"I can say the solution is outdated."
"The solution is very stable, but we do have some problems with discrepancies involving SAS not matching with the latest Java versions. It's not stable in cases where SAS tries to run on a different version because SAS doesn't connect with the latest Java update. Once a month we need to restart systems from scratch."
"The product must provide better integration with cloud-native technologies."
"The solution is much more complex than other options."
"The solution needs an easier interface for the user. The user experience isn't so easy for our clients."
"The visualization of the models is not very attractive, so the graphics should be improved."
"The user interface of the solution needs improvement. It needs to be more visual."
"The ease of use can be improved. When you are new it seems a bit complex."
"Virtualization could be much better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Its price is okay for a company, but for personal use, it is considered somewhat expensive."
"If you are in a university and the license is free then you can use the tool without any charges, which is good."
"When you are close to end of quarter, IBM and its partners can get you 60% to 70% discounts, so literally wait for the last day of the quarter for the best prices. You may feel like you are getting robbed if you can't receive a good discount."
"It got us a good amount of money with quick and efficient modeling."
"The government has funds and a budget, it's hard to say if it's expensive or cheap. In Canada, they have a yearly budget. They used to encourage people to use the modeler for development. If ten users use the server with ten licenses, it runs faster. But if forty users use the same appliance, everything slows down. People then think it's not easy to do things and prefer using remote tools like Python to extract data from the database. It's not about being expensive or cheap, but about people's knowledge and experience in how to do the work."
"$5,000 annually."
"The scalability was kind of limited by our ability to get other people licenses, and that was usually more of a financial constraint. It's expensive, but it's a good tool."
"It is a huge increase to time savings."
"The solution must improve its licensing models."
"This solution is for large corporations because not everybody can afford it."
"The solution is expensive for an individual, but for an enterprise/institution (purchasing bulk licenses), it is not a high price for the use that will come from it."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Educational Organization
12%
University
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
26%
University
12%
Educational Organization
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM SPSS Modeler?
Compared to other tools, the product works much easier to analyze data without coding.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM SPSS Modeler?
The government has funds and a budget, it's hard to say if it's expensive or cheap. In Canada, they have a yearly budget. They used to encourage people to use the modeler for development. If ten us...
What needs improvement with IBM SPSS Modeler?
There are performance issues. Extracting data from many combined tables can take hours and occasionally crash the server due to memory leaks. This performance problem bothers people. The performanc...
What do you like most about SAS Enterprise Miner?
I like the way the product visually shows the data pipeline.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAS Enterprise Miner?
The solution must improve its licensing models. It bundles all the products into smaller products. We can only have a subset of the functionality available according to our license. I rate the pric...
What needs improvement with SAS Enterprise Miner?
The product must provide better integration with cloud-native technologies.
 

Also Known As

SPSS Modeler
Enterprise Miner
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Reisebªro Idealtours GmbH, MedeAnalytics, Afni, Israel Electric Corporation, Nedbank Ltd., DigitalGlobe, Vodafone Hungary, Aegon Hungary, Bureau Veritas, Brammer Group, Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, InSites Consulting, Fortis Turkey
Generali Hellas, Gitanjali Group, Gloucestershire Constabulary, GS Home Shopping, HealthPartners, IAG New Zealand, iJET, Invacare
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM SPSS Modeler vs. SAS Enterprise Miner and other solutions. Updated: February 2025.
842,296 professionals have used our research since 2012.