ThoughtSpot ETL: Top Methods & Tools for Data Transformation

What Is ThoughtSpot?

ThoughtSpot is a data analytics platform to help organizations quickly access and analyze data from multiple sources. Users can connect to data sources, including data warehouses like Snowflake, and use SQL to query data.

ThoughtSpot offers search-driven analytics and automated insights. This means users can ask questions using natural language, and the platform will return insights in real time.

Users can create visualizations and share data with others. ThoughtSpot's visualizations are designed to be interactive and easy for non-technical users to understand.

While ThoughtSpot is a powerful tool, it does have some limitations. For example, it requires high-quality data to produce accurate insights. Additionally, it can be expensive to use.

What Is ThoughtSpot Used for?

ThoughtSpot is a powerful business intelligence and data analytics platform that is used to help organizations make data-driven decisions. It is beneficial for businesses looking to democratize data access and analysis across their organization and to operationalize data integration, data transformation, data modeling, data pipelines, and data analytics.

ThoughtSpot can connect to a wide range of data sources, including cloud data warehouses like AWS, and it offers a range of connectors for data integration. It also has powerful data modeling capabilities that allow users to visualize and explore complex data sets. With its search-driven analytics capabilities, users can quickly and easily analyze data and create custom dashboards and visualizations to share insights with others.

Some common use cases for ThoughtSpot include financial analysis, sales analytics, supply chain management, marketing analytics, and healthcare analytics. The platform is also commonly used for ELT (extract, load, and transform) processes, and it integrates with tools like Databricks to streamline data pipelines and data transformation.

What Is ThoughtSpot DataFlow?

ThoughtSpot DataFlow is a cloud-native data preparation solution that allows users to connect to data sources, prepare and transform data, and load it into ThoughtSpot for self-service analytics. It is designed to be intuitive, enabling business users to configure data pipelines without IT or data engineering support.

What Is the ThoughtSpot Dataflow Architecture?

The ThoughtSpot DataFlow architecture is built on modern data stack principles. It includes connectors for a wide range of data sources, including cloud data platforms like Amazon Redshift, and it supports data loading and transformation through an automated ETL process.

DataFlow uses a visual interface that allows users to create and configure data pipelines with drag-and-drop functionality. It also includes built-in automation features, such as alerting and granular data management, that make it easy to keep data up to date and ensure it's clean and ready for analysis.

ThoughtSpot Dataflow Disadvantages

Despite its many benefits, ThoughtSpot DataFlow does have some potential disadvantages.

For example, some users may find the pricing higher than other ETL tools on the market. Additionally, some users may find the visual interface limiting, and it may not be ideal for more complex data management tasks requiring advanced data engineering skills.

What is ThoughtSpot Spotapps?

ThoughtSpot SpotApps are pre-built applications that enable business users to quickly and easily analyze data without extensive technical expertise. SpotApps provides users with access to live analytics and real-time insights.

With SpotApps, users can create custom dashboards and visualizations that provide insights into key business metrics. They can also configure live boards, which are real-time data displays that update automatically as new data becomes available.

ThoughtSpot vs. Alternatives Comparison

Unlike other business intelligence and data analytics tools, ThoughtSpot stands out for its ease of use and search-driven analytics capabilities. While other tools may require more technical expertise or longer implementation times, ThoughtSpot aims to be accessible to all users, regardless of their technical skills.

Some potential alternatives to ThoughtSpot include Microsoft Power BI, Tableau, and Salesforce Einstein Analytics. While these tools offer similar functionality to ThoughtSpot, each has its strengths and weaknesses, and the choice of tool will depend on your business needs.

Is ThoughtSpot cloud-based?

Yes, ThoughtSpot is a cloud-based solution delivered as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering. Users can access the platform from anywhere without needing on-premise hardware or software. Additionally, as a cloud-based solution, ThoughtSpot is designed to be scalable, flexible, and easy to use, making it an ideal choice for businesses of all sizes.

Data Visualization Tool Comparison

ThoughtSpot

ThoughtSpot is a business intelligence and analytics platform that enables users to search and intuitively analyze their company's data. It is a data visualization tool that uses artificial intelligence and natural language processing to make data analysis more accessible and user-friendly.

Advantages

The platform allows users to connect to multiple data sources.
Users can search and analyze data using a Google-like search bar.
The platform automatically generates visualizations and offers various exploration tools to help users make data-driven decisions.

Disadvantages

ThoughtSpot can be costly, particularly for small businesses or individuals.
Its natural language search has a learning curve, especially for users inexperienced in data analysis or business intelligence tools.
May lack some functionality and not support all data sources or analysis types. Additionally, it requires high-quality data to provide valuable insights.

Pricing

Team: Unlimited users for $95 monthly, billed monthly.
Pro: Unlimited users starting at $2500 monthly, billed annually.
Enterprise: Contact the vendor for pricing. Unlimited users available.

Tableau

Tableau is a data visualization and business intelligence platform that enables users to create interactive and insightful visualizations, dashboards, and reports from their data. Tableau is designed to help people visualize and understand their data in a more intuitive and interactive way.

Advantages

Allows users to connect to diverse data sources and create customizable visualizations and dashboards.
Provides pre-built templates and a drag-and-drop interface for a quick and easy start.
Offers advanced analytics, machine learning capabilities, and mobile support, making it a popular choice among data analysts and business intelligence professionals.

Disadvantages

The data visualization platform can be costly for small businesses and individuals.
Its drag-and-drop interface requires a learning curve.
Lacks automatic version control and requires SQL knowledge and proper data management techniques.

Pricing

Tableau Creator includes all features starting at $70 per user monthly for the cloud version or $1,500 for a desktop license.
Tableau Explorer offers data exploration and collaboration but not creation, starting at $42 per user monthly.
Tableau Viewer allows viewing and basic interaction with data visualizations, starting at $15 per user monthly.

SAP

SAP is a German software company that provides enterprise software for businesses to manage operations and customer relations. SAP has four data visualization tools:

SAP Lumira is a self-service tool for creating interactive dashboards, charts, and infographics
SAP Analytics Cloud, a cloud-based platform for data visualization, analytics, and planning
SAP BusinessObjects, a suite of business intelligence tools including data visualization capabilities for creating reports, dashboards, and ad-hoc queries
SAP Crystal Reports, a reporting tool for creating pixel-perfect reports with charts, graphs, and other visualizations.

Advantages

SAP Lumira provides an intuitive interface for creating visualizations, allowing even non-IT business users to perform analyses.
SAP data visualization tools support sharing reports across the SAP BI ecosystem and allow for Microsoft Office compatibility, making collaboration and data sharing easy.
SAP's real-time HANA database delivers excellent performance and speeds up the processing of large data sets, enabling real-time decision-making.

Disadvantages

SAP's licensing costs tend to be cost-prohibitive, making it most accessible for large enterprises.
Users have reported unreliable customer support and administration, leading to potential productivity loss and delays in data analysis on TrustRadius.
Large sets of data can confuse non-technical users, leading to potential interpretation issues that can impact the accuracy of data analysis.

Pricing

SAP Lumira standard price is $185 per user
SAP Analytics Cloud starts at $36 per user
SAP BusinessObjects price starts at US $14,000 per year
SAP Crystal Reports single-user license starts at $495.
SAP Crystal Server starts at $1,034.

Qlik

Qlik provides software to help organizations explore, analyze, and visualize data from various sources. Their tools are user-friendly and interactive, allowing users to gain insights from their data easily. What sets Qlik apart from other tools is its ability to work with big data platforms and cloud-based services.

Advantages

Qlik provides intuitive visualizations, making it easy to present data insights.
Reports can be organized, shared, and controlled, enabling collaboration and secure data access.
It offers dynamic, real-time insights on multiple platforms and can easily connect to most data sources.

Disadvantages

Qlik requires trained experts to implement and use effectively, which limits its benefits without proper training.
Data extraction limitations may not be suitable for all data analytics needs.
When working with large data sets, Qlik's performance can impact productivity and speed of data analysis.

Pricing

Qlik Sense Business starts at $30 per user monthly for cloud-based subscriptions and $1,500 per user for on-premises deployments.
Qlik Sense Enterprise offers the most features and capabilities and is $70 per user monthly for cloud-based subscriptions and $3,000 per user for on-premises setups.

Top Thoughtspot ETL Tools

An efficient extract, transform, and load (ETL) process should be in place to make the most of this self-service analytics tool. ETL tools help organizations extract data from multiple sources, transform it into a usable format, and load it into a data warehouse or analytics platform like ThoughtSpot.

There are several ETL tools available that can help organizations streamline their data integration processes and make the most of their data. Some of the top ETL tools include Portable, Jitterbit, Talend, SnapLogic, and Hevo. Each tool offers unique features and capabilities to help organizations achieve integration goals and optimize their data in ThoughtSpot.

1. Portable

Portable is a cloud-based ETL tool with a no-code approach to building data pipelines.

With support for over 300 connectors, including long-tail connectors that are difficult to find in other services, Portable is an ideal choice for teams focusing on data insights rather than pipeline development. In addition, you can request custom connectors on request with fast turnaround times.

Pricing:

Free plan supports unlimited data volume and manual data syncs.
Automate scheduled data flows for $200 per month.

2. Jitterbit

Jitterbit is an integration platform-as-a-service (iPaaS) solution that simplifies data integration for organizations.

Leveraging artificial intelligence, Jitterbit provides native connectivity to various data sources, including enterprise applications, databases, and SaaS/cloud data. It also includes an automapper with 300 prebuilt templates for quick data transformation and employs high-performance parallel processing algorithms for large data sets. Jitterbit also includes data cleansing and smart reconstruction tools for complete reliability.

Pricing:

Starting at $100 per month
Advanced plans start at $1,000 per month
All plans require an annual contract.

3. Talend

Talend provides end-to-end data integration and management solutions, including a forever-free plan with limited features and self-service support.

Key features include comprehensive cloud data integration, flexibility in deployment on-premises, cloud, multi-cloud, or hybrid-cloud, and partnerships with AWS, Microsoft Azure, Snowflake, and other top technology services.

Pricing:

Free plan available with limited support.
Talend's Stitch costs $100--1,000 per month.

4. SnapLogic

SnapLogic is a cloud-based data integration solution that has influenced the data visualization landscape.

It utilizes artificial intelligence technology called Iris, a drag-and-drop visual platform, and pre-built connections called "Snaps" to create integrations without code. Key features of SnapLogic include support for integrations for cloud applications, big data, and IoT, real-time data integration capabilities, and over 600 Snaps to choose from.

Pricing:

G2 states Project Edition pricing starts at $48,000.
Enterprise Edition starts at $100,000.
30-day trial available upon request.

5. Hevo

Hevo is an end-to-end data pipeline platform that simplifies transferring data from various sources to your data warehouse.

With a growing library of integrations and destinations, Hevo supports popular data warehouse destinations such as Snowflake, AWS Redshift, and Google BigQuery. Additionally, Hevo's automatic schema detection makes working with new data sets easy, eliminating the need for manual mapping. With over 150 pre-built connectors, you can quickly connect to a variety of SaaS apps, databases, and data warehouses.

Pricing:

Free plan available for up to 1M events without live support.
Starter plan begins at $239 per month.

Bottom Line

We have explored ThoughtSpot, a search-driven analytics platform that enables business users to analyze and gain insights from their data efficiently. We have discussed its key features, advantages, and disadvantages and compared it to other alternatives in the market.

Additionally, we have highlighted some of the top ETL tools that can help organizations integrate their data with ThoughtSpot to achieve scalability in their analytics efforts. By utilizing these tools and platforms, organizations can harness the power of their data to make data-driven decisions and gain a competitive edge.