IBM Watson Explorer vs SAS Analytics comparison

IBM and SAS are both solutions in the Data Mining category. IBM is ranked #10, while SAS is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.0. IBM holds a 0.7% mindshare in DM, compared to SAS’s 6.6% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of SAS users who would recommend it.

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IBM Watson Explorer and SAS Analytics based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Data Mining solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Watson Explorer vs. SAS Analytics Report (Updated: December 2024).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Watson Explorer vs. SAS Analytics

December 2024

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Categories and Ranking

IBM SPSS Statistics

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Data Mining category, the mindshare of IBM SPSS Statistics is 15.1%, up from 12.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Watson Explorer is 0.7%, down from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAS Analytics is 6.6%, down from 10.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Data Mining

Featured Reviews

Md Masudul Hassan

Agricultural Finance and IT Researcher at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University

Comprehensive data analysis capabilities with a user-friendly interface, providing an efficient and reliable platform for researchers and analysts

I believe that offering short-term SPSS licenses, perhaps when customer sourcing is available, could make it more affordable. These licenses shouldn't include features tailored for universities or large sales organizations. Instead, they could offer discounts or additional facilities for smaller entities to access the software. In developing countries, it would be beneficial to provide certain features to users at no cost initially, while also customizing pricing options. For example, offering basic features to the first hundred users can help them become familiar with the software and its capabilities. This approach encourages users to upgrade to higher tiers as they become more experienced and require additional functionality.

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it_user840897

Head of Commercialization at Woodside Energy

Ingests, retrieves information from a range of sources; enables dissecting questions in context and answering them

WEX is more a platform, I believe, than it is the application. I could talk about what I'm looking for in the application. We've done visualizations and we can do basic analysis with the system as it stands. Where we're looking to take it is implementing it into workflows, so the workers on the line can actually understand the risks that they're exposing themselves to and then address them on the fly. So that's fantastic. And then the final one is, it's not prediction, but maybe anticipation. So when people are put at risk, we'll be implementing solutions shortly that will help people anticipate the risks and the dangers they're exposing themselves to so they can control them.

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Tanin U

Assistant Vice President at AEON Thana Sinsap

Provides comprehensive data analysis tools and functionalities, but its higher pricing and potential stability issues may present drawbacks

SAS Analytics plays a vital role in enhancing our decision-making processes, particularly in areas such as customer segmentation and operational efficiency. While our current setup operates smoothly, certain partners still rely on another platform, specifically the virtualization dashboard. I believe it's a significant improvement compared to the traditional approach I've been using for the past ten years. Previously, when management had inquiries, they would create documents or memos, and IT would then track down the data, interpret it, and provide feedback. This process involved explaining the data structure, database, and definitions in the data warehouse. Now, with SAS Analytics, the workflow is much smoother and faster. IT is more streamlined, allowing for quicker access to data, and managers can directly access and utilize the sales reports.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"One feature I found very valuable was the analysis of variance (ANOVA)."

"SPSS is quite robust and quicker in terms of providing you the output."

"The solution is very comprehensive, especially compared to Minitabs, which is considered more for manufacturing. However, whatever data you want to analyze can be handled with SPSS."

"Some of the most valuable features that we are using with some business models are machine learning algorithms, statistical models given to us by the business, and getting data from the database or text files."

"It is perfectly adequate if all you need are the results and not the trail of evidence."

"Since we are using the software as a statistical tool, I would say the best aspects of it are the regression and segmentation capabilities. That said, I've used it for all sorts of things."

"Most of the product features are good but I particularly like the linear regression analysis."

"The learning curve to using this product is not steep. The program is appropriate for those who do not have a lot of background in programming, yet have to perform basic statistical analysis."

More IBM SPSS Statistics pros

"Ease of use is pretty good as is the standardization of not actually having to have my own natural learning algorithms, just to use the Watson APIs."

"The ability to easily pull together lots of different pieces of information and drill down in a smarter way than has been possible with other analytics tools is key. Watson is all based on a set of AI and deep learning, machine-learning capabilities, and it is looking behind the scenes at some relationships that you likely would not have spotted on your own. It's pulling things together, categorizing some things, that are not something that you might have seen on your own."

"For me, as a user, the most valuable feature is the ability to ingest and then retrieve information from a range of separate sources; the ability to dissect questions in context and actually answer them."

"We take natural language that was happening in our repositories and our application and then feed it to the Watson APIs. We receive JSON payloads as an API response to get cognitive feedback from the repository data."

"The valuable feature of Watson Explorer for us is data entities, and to see the hidden insights from within unstructured data."

"I have found the auto-generated document very useful as well as the main keywords that are highlighted, which are used for the search functionality within IBM Watson Explorer."

"It is able to connect to all major platforms, and all the smaller platforms that I have come across."

"It's very easy to use once you learn it."

"They have provided virtually everything we have needed to accomplish our task, as well as continuously improving our accuracy."

"Modeling ones and figures, such as PROC LIFETEST, PROC LOGISTICS, PROC GPLOT. PROC FREQ and PROC MEANS, are also among the valuable features."

"The team immediately resolves the issues."

"It has improved the level of efficacy and validity of our reports."

"SAS Analytics plays a vital role in enhancing our decision-making processes, particularly in areas such as customer segmentation and operational efficiency."

"I use SAS daily to analyze data, produce reports, and other outputs."

More SAS Analytics pros

Cons

"SPSS is a tool that's been around since the late 60s, and it's the universal worldwide standard for quantitative social science data analysis. That said, it does seem a bit strange to me that the graphical output functions are so clunky after all these years. The output of charts and graphs that SPSS produces is hideous."

"It could provide even more in the way of automation as there are many opportunities."

"I'd like to see them use more artificial intelligence. It should be smart enough to do predictions and everything based on what you input."

"The solution needs more planning tools and capabilities."

"IBM SPSS Statistics could improve the visual outputs where you are producing, for example, a graph for a company board of directors, or an advert."

"I would like SPSS to improve its integration with other data-filing IBM tools. I also think its duration with data, utilization, and graphics could be better."

"Technical support needs some improvement, as they do not respond as quickly as we would like."

"Improvements are needed in the user interface, particularly in terms of user-friendliness."

More IBM SPSS Statistics cons

"Small businesses will probably have a little harder time getting into it, just because of the amount of resources that they have available, both financial and time, but it really is a solution that should work for them."

"The solution is expensive."

"I would say, give some kind of a community edition, a free edition. A lot of companies do, even Amazon gives you some kind of trial and error opportunities. If they could provide something like that, it would be good."

"Much of IBM operates this way, where they have sets of tools that are in the middleware space, and it becomes the customer's responsibility or the business partner's responsibility to develop full solutions that take advantage of that middleware. I think IBM's finding itself in that spot with Watson-related technologies as well, where the capabilities to do really interesting and useful things for customers is there, but somebody still has to build it. Is that going to be the customer? Are they going to be willing to take on that responsibility themselves"

"Stability is actually one of the areas that could use improvement. Setting it up is always tough. Setting Explorer requires experts, but also the underlying platform is not that stable. So it really needs a good expert to keep it running."

"It needs better language support, to include some other languages. Also, they should improve the user interface."

"It is a little bit tricky to get used to the workflow of knowing how to train Watson, what can be provided, what can't be, how to provide it, how to import, export, and what it means every time you have to add a new dictionary"

"More cognitive feedback would be good. The natural language analysis is great, the sentiment analyzers are great. But I would just like to see more... innovation done with the Watson platform."

"Support at universities used to be limited, but I hear this is changing."

"Once a SAS figure is produced one would like to modify things, such as titles, legends, and incorporate risk sets as a footer on the plots."

"The graphing and visualization features could be enhanced, in my opinion. I would especially stress improving the visualization capabilities."

"They could enhance the AI capabilities of the product."

"This solution should be made more user-friendly."

"The installation could also be easier, and the price could be better."

"There is potential for enhancement, particularly in the virtualized dashboard's capability to generate reports."

"The natural language querying and automated preparation of dashboards should be improved."

More SAS Analytics cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of this solution is a little bit high, which was a problem for my company."

"SPSS is an expensive piece of software because it's incredibly complex and has been refined over decades, but I would say it's fairly priced."

"More affordable training for new staff members."

"The pricing of the modeler is high and can reduce the utility of the product for those who can not afford to adopt it."

"It's quite expensive, but they do a special deal for universities."

"I rate the tool's pricing a five out of ten."

"We think that IBM SPSS is expensive for this function."

"While the pricing of the product may be higher, the accompanying service and features justify the investment."

More IBM SPSS Statistics pricing and cost advice

"The solution is expensive."

"Setup costs were quite reasonable."

"Licensing was rather straightforward."

"SAS is very expensive."

"Prices were comparable with alternative solutions."

"The cost for SAS Business Intelligence can prove to be a little prohibitive."

"The pricing tends to be higher, and there are additional expenses involved."

"I think that the cost-benefit ratio is okay."

"Our licensing covers the usage for around 50 data analysts."

More SAS Analytics pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

17%

Computer Software Company

University

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

18%

Educational Organization

13%

Outsourcing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Educational Organization

10%

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM SPSS Statistics?

The software offers consistency across multiple research projects helping us with predictive analytics capabilities.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM SPSS Statistics?

The cost of IBM SPSS Statistics is managed by organizations, not individual researchers. It is a very expensive produ...

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What needs improvement with IBM SPSS Statistics?

IBM SPSS Statistics does not keep you close to your data like KNIME. In KNIME, at every stage, you can see the result...

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What do you like most about SAS Analytics?

I like that it is quickly embedding interactive reports and dashboards into a website, Outlook Mail, or even a mobile...

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What needs improvement with SAS Analytics?

The natural language querying and automated preparation of dashboards should be improved. The cost and accessibility ...

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What is your primary use case for SAS Analytics?

This is an application I use for data prep, data exploration, BI reporting, and some basic automated analytics.

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Comparisons

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Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio vs IBM SPSS Statistics

Compared 11% of the time

Dataiku vs IBM SPSS Statistics

Compared 3% of the time

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Microsoft Power BI vs IBM Watson Explorer

Compared 35% of the time

Salesforce Einstein Analytics vs IBM Watson Explorer

Compared 30% of the time

Tableau vs IBM Watson Explorer

Compared 27% of the time

Izenda vs IBM Watson Explorer

Compared 8% of the time

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KNIME vs SAS Analytics

Compared 36% of the time

Weka vs SAS Analytics

Compared 21% of the time

IBM SPSS Modeler vs SAS Analytics

Compared 14% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM SPSS Statistics

December 2024

Download IBM SPSS Statistics product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Watson Explorer

December 2024

Download IBM Watson Explorer product report

Buyer's Guide

Data Mining

November 2024

Download SAS Analytics product report

Also Known As

SPSS Statistics

IBM WEX

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SAS

Overview

IBM SPSS Statistics is a powerful data mining solution that is designed to aid business leaders in making important business decisions. It is designed so that it can be effectively utilized by organizations across a wide range of fields. SPSS Statistics allows users to leverage machine learning algorithms so that they can mine and analyze data in the most effective way possible.

IBM SPSS Statistics Benefits

Some of the ways that organizations can benefit by choosing to deploy IBM SPSS Statistics include:

Ease of use. SPSS Statistics enables users to simply and intuitively take control of their statistical needs. The solution is designed so that analysts who do not know how to code can easily make full use of the various tools and capabilities that SPSS Statistics has to offer. Its command language is so straightforward that it does not require users to undergo special training before they use it.

Comprehensive and flexible build. SPSS Statistics is designed to be both a comprehensive and highly flexible analytics solution. It enables users to utilize a variety of integrations that make it easy for users to add features that they might feel they are missing.

Automation. SPSS Statistics makes it simple for users to automate basic tasks that they might otherwise devote too much time worrying about. Tasks like calculation or data gathering can be delegated to the system while more conceptual tasks like data analysis are given to an organization’s analysts to handle.

IBM SPSS Statistics Features

Intuitive user interface. SPSS Statistics enables users to deploy an intuitive interface that makes the process of system management simple. Among the other components of this interface is a drag-and-drop feature that makes analysis and management possible for anyone who wants to use it.

Advanced data visualizations. Analysts that employ SPSS Statistics gain access to tools that empower them to create and export data visualizations. These visualizations can be formatted in many different ways depending on what the user needs.

Local data storage. SPSS Statistics has the ability to securely store data on a user’s computer. This enables them to add layers of security that would not necessarily be present if the data was stored in the cloud.

Reviews from Real Users

IBM SPSS Statistics is a highly effective solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Two major advantages it offers are the wealth of functionalities that it provides and its high level of accessibility.

An Emeritus Professor of Health Services Research at a university writes, "The most valuable feature of IBM SPSS Statistics is all the functionality it provides. Additionally, it is simple to do the five-way analysis that you can in a multidimensional setup space. It's the multidimensional space facility that is most useful."

A Director of Systems Management & MIS Operations at a university, says, “The SPSS interface is very accessible and user-friendly. It's really easy to get information from it. I've shared it with experts and beginners, and everyone can navigate it.”

IBM Watson Explorer is a cognitive exploration and content analysis platform that lets you listen to your data for advice. Explore and analyze structured, unstructured, internal, external and public content to uncover trends and patterns that improve decision-making, customer service and ROI. Leverage built-in cognitive capabilities powered by machine learning models, natural language processing and next-generation APIs to unlock hidden value in all your data. Gain a secure 360-degree view of customers, in context, to deliver better experiences for your clients.

SAS was founded in 1976 and actually began as a project at North Carolina State University to analyze agriculture research. It has since become a global company that is recognized for its innovation in data analytics and business intelligence. SAS is redefining what's possible with data analytics through greater efficiency, strong information value chains, effective collaboration tools, and state-of-the-art visualization software. SAS Analytics is designed for use in a variety of industries including government, manufacturing, higher education, defense & security, banking, automotive, communications, and much more. SAS Analytics is a business intelligence (BI) solution that has the ability to reveal patterns and anomalies in data, identify relationships and different variables, and predict future outcomes. Users of SAS Analytics will benefit from making more sound, better informed business decisions based on company data and market trends. Data mining, data visualization, text analytics, forecasting, statistical analysis, and more are all available through SAS Analytics. Staples, which boasts $27 billion in sales across the globe, has a business philosophy that prioritizes customer loyalty and satisfaction. In order to better engage their customers, Staples utilizes SAS Analytics to plan finely tuned marketing campaigns. Through forecasting and advanced analytics, Staples has been able to rely on fewer contractors, and cut their marketing budget, while improving their customer retention rate.

Sample Customers

LDB Group, RightShip, Tennessee Highway Patrol, Capgemini Consulting, TEAC Corporation, Ironside, nViso SA, Razorsight, Si.mobil, University Hospitals of Leicester, CROOZ Inc., GFS Fundraising Solutions, Nedbank Ltd., IDS-TILDA

RIMAC, Westpac New Zealand, Toyota Financial Services, Swiss Re, Akershus University Hospital, Korean Air Lines, Mizuho Bank, Honda

Aegon, Alberta Parks, Amway China, Axel Springer, Bank of America, Belgium Special Tax, CAP Index, CareSource, CBE Group, Cemig, Center for Responsible Lending, CESCE, Ceska sporitelna, Chantecler, Chico's, Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, CIGNA Thailand, City of Wiesbaden, Germany, Confused.com, Creditreform, Des Moines Area Community College, Deutsche Lufthansa, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, DIRECTV, Dow Chemical Company, Dow Chemical Company, Dun & Bradstreet, EDF Energy, Electrabel GDF SUEZ, ERGO Insurance Group, Erste Bank Croatia, Farmers Mutual Group, Finnair, Florida Department of Corrections, Geneia, Generali Hellas, Genting Malaysia Berhad, Grameenphone, Grandi Salumifici Italiani, HealthPartners, Highmark, Hong Kong Efficiency Unit, HP, Hyundai Securities, Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family ServicesInc Research, ING-DiBa, Institut Pertanian Bogor, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), IOM, Kelley Blue Book, Lenovo, Lillebaelt Hospital, Los Angeles County, Maspex Wadowice Group, National Bank of Greece, New Zealand Ministry of Health, New Zealand Ministry of Social Development, Nippon Paper, NMIMS, North Carolina Department of Transportation, North Carolina Office of Information Technology Services, Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC), Oberweis Dairy, ODEC, Ohio Mutual Insurance Group, Oklahoma State University, OneBeacon, Orange Business Services, Orange County Child Support Services, Organic, Orlando Magic, OTP Bank, Plano Independent School District, Project Odyssey, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, RSA Canada, SCAD, Scotiabank, Singapore National Library Board, Sobeys Inc., SRA International, Staples, Statistics Estonia, Swisscom, SymphonyIRI Group, Telecom Italia, Telef‹nica O2, Town of Cary, Transitions Optical, TrueCar, Turkcell Superonline, UniCredit Bank Serbia, University of Alabama, University of Missouri, USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service

Buyer's Guide

IBM Watson Explorer vs. SAS Analytics

December 2024

Free Report: IBM Watson Explorer vs. SAS Analytics

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