Big Data Software Vendors Nail Features but Lack in Training, Says SoftwareReviews User Study

Top three vendors for user satisfaction are Amazon Web Services Big Data, IBM InfoSphere, and Microsoft Azure Big Data, each earning a gold medal in the 2020 SoftwareReviews Data Quadrant Awards

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SoftwareReviews, a division of world-class IT research and consulting firm Info-Tech Research Group, announces the publication of its 2020 Big Data Quadrant Awards today, naming three gold medalists based on user reviews. The following vendors are leaders according to software users’ answers to questions focused on user satisfaction, which have been crafted by seasoned IT industry analysts and backed by 22 years of IT research:

1. Amazon Web Services Big Data
2. IBM InfoSphere
3. Microsoft Azure Big Data

What makes the SoftwareReviews Data Quadrant different? Software users provide emotional response ratings in service, negotiation, product impact, conflict resolution, strategy, and innovation. SoftwareReviews calls this insight the Net Emotional Footprint because it creates a powerful indicator of overall user feeling toward the vendor and its product from the software users’ point of view.

Each of the three winning big data vendors earned a very high Net Emotional Footprint score, between 82% and 85%, significantly more than the average score of 77%. Amazon Web Services Big Data users liked its analytics, data science tools, and data security the best, earning top product for each. IBM InfoSphere earned top product for metadata management, and second place for its real-time capabilities. Microsoft Azure Big Data took the top-product spot for workload management and monitoring as well as analytics and reporting.

“Managing big data is quite different from building a traditional data warehouse: the volume and complexity of data, its variable velocity – as well as unpredictability of analytical use cases – requires multi-phased and modularized architecture that is flexible enough to adapt without rebuilding everything from the ground up,” said Igor Ikonnikov, research advisor at Info-Tech Research Group. “A vendor’s ability to provide a complete toolkit for multi-phased and multi-faceted data management and advanced analytics solution implementation – either with own technology or via seamless integration with other technologies – has become the main differentiator in the big data space,” he explained.

Although big data software users were most satisfied with vendors’ quality of features, ease of data integration, and ease of IT administration, they were least satisfied with training, usability, and intuitiveness. Perhaps this is an opportunity for vendors in the space to focus on providing excellence in education, in addition to excellence in capabilities and features.

About the SoftwareReviews Data Quadrant Awards and Software Reports

SoftwareReviews Data Quadrant Awards recognize outstanding vendors in the technology marketplace as evaluated by their users annually. Top vendors in a software category are eligible to receive Data Quadrant Gold Medals, provided their net-promoter scores meet the threshold for sufficiently high user satisfaction across four areas of evaluation: vendor capabilities, product features, likeliness to recommend and vendor experience. In-depth product evaluation reports are available at www.softwarereviews.com.

About SoftwareReviews

SoftwareReviews is a division of Info-Tech Research Group, a world-class IT research and analyst firm established in 1997. Backed by two decades of IT research and advisory experience, SoftwareReviews is a leading source of expertise and insight into the enterprise software landscape and client-vendor relationships.

By collecting data from real IT and business professionals, the SoftwareReviews methodology produces the most detailed and authentic insights into the experience of evaluating and purchasing enterprise software.