Event stream processing has gone through significant changes, thanks to the rise of big data and the need to continuously gather and analyze data in real-time. Back when you could rely on just a few siloed data sources, it was fine to use the outdated request/response architecture. The problem with this approach today is that it requires a pause during each step in the event stream, which is something that modern businesses simply can’t afford.
Part of a full digital transformation means that you’ll have integrated systems that are constantly sharing data with each other, and you need a real-time data solution to keep up. Data is one of your most important resources, but if you can’t use it while it’s still accurate and current, the help you’ll get from it is limited.
Streaming analytics are able to make continuous queries and handle multiple events simultaneously, so there never needs to be a break in the stream again. These analytics can help you quickly gain actionable insights to improve your business processes, cut unseen costs, improve safety on the manufacturing floor with IoT devices, and much more. Of course, such improvements carry a great deal of weight, and analytics customers shouldn’t rely on the first provider they come across. Fortunately, Forrester Research provides a quarterly guide on the best providers in the technology market.
The Forrester Report:
The Forrester Wave: Streaming Analytics report is compiled thanks to the participation of four crucial players who help aggregate the most significant providers in analytics. The lead analyst is the resident Forrester expert who determines the inclusion criteria, evaluation criteria, and is generally responsible for the content in the full report. The analyst is assisted by a research associate who meets with analytics providers for demonstrations and collects data on specific products, services, and each provider’s market strategy.
This information is generally provided by vendor response teams, although in the instance that a vendor decides not to participate in the evaluation, it will continue based on Forrester’s publically available Incomplete Vendor Participation Policy. Customer references are also collected via phone calls and surveys to evaluate customer experiences with specific products and services.
The full evaluation is based on data gathered in previous steps and on a questionnaire the analyst prepares to gather specific data. Providers have three weeks to return the questionnaire before the evaluation proceeds to the next steps. Each vendor will have a scorecard that shows how well they did on each of the 22 criteria. They’ll each be sent a copy of their scorecard for review, and they’ll have the opportunity to correct any errors. Once things are finalized, each participating provider is sent a courtesy preview of the Forrester Wave five days before publication.
Identifying Industry Leaders:
It’s easy to determine who did the best on the Forrester Wave by looking at the four classifications that advanced analytics providers are divided into: Challenger, contender, strong performer, and leader. In the Q2 2021 report, TIBCO Software was named an industry leader along with Microsoft, Google, Oracle, and SAS. The technological scalability of each product and its ease of development are given greater weight than any other criteria, and leaders have high scores in these areas.
In the Q2 Forrester Wave Report, TIBCO earned the highest possible score in development, enablement, and market presence. This shows that TIBCO knows what customers need from their big data streaming analytics, and they make using their technology as easy as possible. A big part of this is their purely visual development tools.
While experienced software developers are welcome to use custom code, even those without experience in data science can customize TIBCO’s solutions to their needs. There’s even a 30-day free trial available for the TIBCO Spotfire data visualization platform, so you can try them risk-free and see why TIBCO is such a success now and why they’re likely to continue that success into Q3.
