Knime For Data Blending And Analytics

I’ve mentioned before about learning to use Alteryx, and even trying out for the certification in it, as it’s quite a well known platform in the Data Analyst/Scientist community. The features it has and the speed with which it executes them is astounding to someone like me coming from an Excel background, where even a fraction of the work that Alteryx does would bring Excel to a crash-y crawl. The only downside of Alteryx is the price-tag, which I have seen put companies off where they don’t really understand it and therefore cannot “sign off” on buying it, which is a shame because even with the little time I’ve spent with it, I am convinced it pays for itself in time saving alone.

Now imagine my excitement when I discover there is an open source alternative that can be acquired freely. This is Knime, a product where all of the amazing cool features are free, with the option to extend its abilities for a yearly licensing fee.

I’ve only just downloaded it, but at first glance the interface seems a lot more complicated than Alteryx, which effectively holds your hand throughout the process. The features and capabilities may all be there, but intuitive is not a word I would use to describe it. However, there is a community for it and several examples are included with the tool, so I may change my tune once I’ve gone through a few of those.

Plus the logo reminds me of a triforce…