KNIME Reviews

I use KNIME for a wide variety of purposes. Most recently, I employed it in a survey and experiment to explore different teaching methods, specifically using software to help nurses learn drug dose calculations. This became particularly important during the pandemic when there was an urgent need to reskill healthcare professionals rapidly.

During the early days of the pandemic, no one knew how to treat COVID-19, and it was a dire situation with high mortality rates. The healthcare system had to adapt quickly, with retired nurses and doctors being called back into service and nursing students stepping up to meet the demand. A program I had previously worked on, which taught drug dose calculations, became crucial again. Nurses had to familiarize themselves with a whole new set of drugs.

I analyzed the data from this program using KNIME. I handled various statistical analyses, including mean, standard deviations, regression, correlation, and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests.

It's difficult to pinpoint one single feature because KNIME has so many. For starters, it's very easy to learn. You can get started with just a one-hour video. The drag-and-drop interface makes it user-friendly. For example, if you want to read an Excel file, drag the "read Excel file" node from the repository, configure it by specifying the file location, and run it. This gives you a table with all your data.

Next, you can clean the data by handling missing values, selecting specific columns you want to analyze, and then proceeding with your analysis, such as regression or correlation. KNIME has over 4,500 nodes available for download. 

In addition, KNIME offers various extensions. For instance, the text processing extension allows you to process text data efficiently. It's more powerful than other tools like NVivo and Palantir.

KNIME also has AI capabilities. If you're unsure about the next step, the AI assistant can suggest the most frequently used nodes based on your previous work.

Another valuable feature is the integration with Python. If you need to perform a task that requires Python, you can simply add a Python node, write the necessary code,

We have been using the most recent version. It's version 4.6.

10 August 2023 - It has now been upgraded to 5.0 and is, if anything, even more impressive, especially in its ability to use Python and its libraries.

Knime seems to keep getting better. Their open-source model seems to be working. The addition of AI both to help in the building of workflows and as a facility within a workflow once it is up and running seems to add a dimension. At the moment, though, the system is so rich and fully featured that I have explored only the surface of the new version (5.4).

To date, all my needs have been met by earlier versions of Knime. I am, though, confident that should I need to start using version 5.4, the process will be smooth, and the new functionality fit for purpose. Upgrades to Knime have always worked like that in the past and I would expect them to do so in the future.

KNIME is an analytics platform. We use the tool for prototyping solutions by using flat files without database connections. We use it for the decision tree models.

The product is user-friendly. It is easy to use. My experience is very good. We could see the benefits of the solution immediately after deployment. It is a complete solution. The documentation is very good.

Rather than specific use cases, I've used it in different sectors. Mostly education. For example, we've used it to predict the kinds of courses or degrees students should pursue based on their skill set and learning capability.

KNIME is very easy to handle and use. Anyone can use it, and it's easy to learn. You don't need a specific class. They're very good at model prediction. It has got everything.

From data analysis to model prediction and application, it's very good. I only use the free community edition, not the enterprise one. I feel KNIME is really good. I haven't tried any other tool or platform yet, but KNIME is pretty good.

The workflow is great. You drag and drop, and then you have the data explorer and charts that give results. 

The execution is also good – it's easy to identify where your model has gone wrong. It shows you the exact point of error within the workflow, so you don't have to execute the entire workflow to find it. For example, if your workflow has ten steps and the error is in the sixth step, it will show you the error at that step. You don't have to worry about the first five steps.

The Data Explorer is very good, and the charts are great too. The accuracy charts for different models, like decision tree, K3, Naive Bayes, are all very good. KNIME is great at reporting, whether it's structured or unstructured data. These are all very good features.

I am promoting the use of KNIME because of my background as a computer scientist and my experience programming in languages, such as Pascal, Python, and R. Many of my junior colleagues at the university lack proficiency in computing, and KNIME is an effective tool for introducing beginners to programming. The platform is user-friendly and does not require coding, making it accessible for those who can learn the basics in just an hour through video tutorials.

One way KNIME has improved our organization is by allowing us to perform analyses that we previously couldn't. We often start with data in Excel or CSV format, and the process of importing data from other software, such as SPSS or STATA can be challenging. With KNIME, the process is simplified, as we can easily import the data with a single node, making it quick and efficient.

I manage our data analytics team for a client in the insurance industry and we use the solution for cancelation probation campaigns, ratio modeling, and automatic claim models. 

The solution allows for sharing model designs and model operations with other data analysts. Other solutions such as SAS, R, and Python consist of just the script which is difficult to share. 

The solution is a low-code platform which reduces data mining time and its platform includes a clickable icon for linking script. 

It is suitable for various industries, including government, enterprise business, product manufacturing, and banking and finance. KNIME provides effective solutions for data-related tasks.

It takes and improves performance analytics.

KNIME is an excellent product, and I've used many other platforms like Google Collab, Azure, and even AWS. However, KNIME, especially for AI and machine learning, is very different. It's almost no-code. You can add code if needed, but it's not necessary.

KNIME has hundreds, maybe even thousands of modules, which are called nodes. These nodes, along with their libraries, are essential for solving specific issues or problems. You can select the nodes you need, and they come pre-recorded as visual boxes. You just need to assemble the nodes required for your solution. As mentioned earlier, you can search for libraries and select the appropriate nodes, then combine them to form your entire workflow. KNIME supports coding in Python and other languages, but you can assemble the nodes visually without writing code. Each node has a specific function, and if one node doesn't suit your needs, you can easily replace it with a different one.

Additionally, each node has inputs and outputs, and you can configure them based on your requirements. Once the nodes are set up, you can attach the data and let it flow through the nodes to execute your workflow.

One significant improvement is its speed. With KNIME, you can accomplish many tasks in a single day. It's very fast since you mostly work with prebuilt nodes and libraries. Also, the latest version allows us to add Python code if needed.