SAS Visual Analytics vs Einstein Analytics

SAS Analytics is a versatile business intelligence and analytics tool that empowers users to explore and understand data through interactive data visualizations. Many users who reviewed data analysis said that, coupled with the power of predictive analytics, the platform offers a plethora of graphics options — charts, graphs and dashboards — with deep-dive capabilities, such as filtering, to zero in on pertinent business data. Many users who reviewed functionality and data preparation said that, possibly because of its capable ETL engine and in-memory architecture, data processing speed is very high and reports load faster. A majority of users who reviewed data connectivity said that the tool is efficient in pulling data from multiple sources for data modeling and analysis. On the flip side, quite a few users who reviewed functionality said that the platform’s integration with Python and R is still in the development stage and this limits its functional scope. Some users who discussed user-friendliness said that the processes are not the most intuitive — errors and warnings in logs are misleading, and new users may find adoption difficult. Though the industry scope of user tutorials is limited, a majority of users said that the steep learning curve of the platform is sufficiently addressed by training. For many users, its cost-prohibitive licensing plans caused them to not consider it their first choice when it came to purchasing a BI solution. Overall, SAS Visual Analytics is a versatile tool with fast data processing capabilities and strong visualizations to generate reports for insightful data analysis.

Einstein Analytics from Salesforce is a predictive analytics BI tool that uses the power of AI and machine learning to glean insights and create visualizations and reports to drive business decisions. All users who reviewed its analytics capabilities said that it excels at augmented analytics. Many users who reviewed data visualization said that templates and dashboards are easy to customize for deep-dive data exploration. With a range of reporting options and intuitive drag-and-drop functionality, the platform empowers business users to create their own reports without needing to code. Being part of the Salesforce suite, the platform integrates well with other SF offerings, as expected, as well as with external data sources. As for the tool’s data management capabilities, some users said that ETL functions are self-contained in that they replace the need to write code, however others said that data needs to be cleansed before the ETL engine can consume it for data analysis. Commenting on the software’s functionality, around 68% of users said that it is easy to drill down into KPIs with little training in analytics, whereas some users said that the platform is sparse in terms of features and does not have the same reporting capabilities as other Salesforce tools. Mentioning the interface, a majority of users said that it is clean and interactive, though quite a few users said that they preferred the classic version to the new one. A majority of the users who reviewed pricing said that, in addition to expensive per-user licenses, other costs can quickly add up, since implementation is not easy and often requires professional vendor support. Many users who discussed setup said that the platform struggles when processing large amounts of data, and plugins are needed to process heavier data sets, which further compounds costs. Quite a few users said that the platform performs well within the Salesforce ecosystem; however, it does not have the robustness and flexibility of Tableau. Overall, Einstein Analytics is a BI tool with strong out of the box ETL and data visualization capabilities that glean deeper insights into business metrics and seems to be suited for organizations with lightweight data analysis needs or those that already implement Salesforce solutions.