# Best Data Discovery Software - 2026 Reviews & Pricing

> Find the best Data Discovery Tools for your organization. Compare top Data Discovery Tools with customer reviews, pricing, and free demos.

Source: https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/data-discovery-tools-comparison

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# Best Data Discovery Software of 2026

Updated June 21, 2026

On this page

1.  Popular Comparisons
2.  Buyers Guide
3.  Related Software

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170 results

### Compare Products

Showing 1 - 25 of 170 products

#### Company Size

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-   2-10
    
-   11-50
    
-   51-200
    
-   201-500
    
-   501-1000
    
-   1000+
    

#### Pricing Options

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**Recommendations**: Sorts listings by the number of recommendations our advisors have made over the past 30 days. Our advisors assess buyers’ needs for free and only recommend products that meet buyers’ needs. Vendors pay Software Advice for these referrals.  
  
**Reviews**: Sorts listings by the number of user reviews we have published, greatest to least.  
  
**Average Rating**: Sorts listings by overall star rating based on user reviews, highest to lowest.  
  
**Alphabetically (A-Z)**: Sorts listings by product name from A to Z.

[SAS Viya](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-catalog/sas-viya-profile/)

4.42

[(12)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-catalog/sas-viya-profile/)

### Pricing availability

Free trial: Available

Free version: Not available

Software Advice Summary

SAS Viya is a cloud-native platform designed for data analytics, machine learning and data management. It supports organizations in industries such as banking, insurance, healthcare, manufacturing and telecommunications. The platform covers the entire analytics lifecycle, from data integration to model deployment and operational decision-making. It provides comprehensive data management with access to various data sources and platforms, along with built-in governance, lineage tracking and auditability. The platform includes tools for data mining, machine learning and statistical modeling, accessible through visual and code-based interfaces. Features include automated machine learning, computer vision, forecasting and optimization. SAS Viya Copilot offers AI-powered assistance for data and AI-related tasks. The platform includes AI governance tools for fairness testing, bias detection, model explainability and compliance with regulatory requirements. It supports real-time event detection and integrates intelligence into workflows using business rules and decision governance. SAS Viya operates on cloud environments such as AWS, Azure and Google Cloud Platform, as well as on-premises setups. It is designed to enable collaboration among IT teams, data scientists and business users within a unified environment.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-catalog/sas-viya-profile/)

### Best rated features:

Workflow Management

5.0

Self-service Analytics

5.0

Modeling & Simulation

5.0

Configurable Workflow

5.0

### Worst rated features:

Real-Time Analytics

2.0

Data Connectors

2.0

Visual Discovery

2.0

Data Extraction

3.0

[See all features](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-catalog/sas-viya-profile/#key-features)

### Basic

Custom

Pricing available upon request

[See full pricing details](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-catalog/sas-viya-profile/#pricing-and-plans)

[Google Cloud](https://www.softwareadvice.com/compliance/google-cloud-platform-profile/)

4.68

[(2292)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/compliance/google-cloud-platform-profile/reviews/)

Best for:Mid-size businesses

### Pricing availability

Free trial: Available

Free version: Available

Software Advice Summary

Google Cloud is a suite of cloud computing services that allows businesses to build, deploy, and scale applications. The platform caters to a wide range of industries, such as retail, financial services, healthcare, media, telecommunications, gaming, manufacturing, supply chain, government, education, and automotive. At the core of Google Cloud is its technology through which businesses can build, deploy apps, and analyze data. The platform offers Gemini 20 and Google Agentspace. This includes AI agents, AI-enabled search, and NotebookLM for enterprises. Vertex AI is the fully managed AI platform enhanced by Gemini. It provides access to multiple foundation models. This empowers organizations to build and scale generative AI applications. Contact Center AI also delivers virtual agents and conversational AI products like Speech-to-Text to enhance customer service. Google Cloud's infrastructure includes Compute Engine. The platform features Google Kubernetes Engine and Cloud Run for automatically deploying, scaling, and managing containers. Cloud SQL is a fully-managed database service for MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server. AlloyDB for PostgreSQL allows enterprises to scale workloads and build generative AI apps. Businesses can also leverage BigQuery for analytics at scale, and Looker, a platform for BI data applications and embedded analytics. Featuring G-Suite and GCP, Google Cloud provides a set of solutions provides secure storage options, integrated data analytics products and computation options. With its G-Suite platform, users can establish team chats and collaborate on projects through productivity tools like Google Docs, Hangouts, Calendar and Drive. Also, G-Suite provides customization options for Gmail accounts of users. GCP data centers all around the globe consist of physical assets which include computers, hard drives and other virtual machines that help streamline distribution of resources, which provides redundancy in case of any failure or latency reduction. Providing Global, regional and zonal resources, GCP has managed to bring people into a serverless environment which has eliminated the need for any infrastructure.The AppEngine on GCP helps scale the system to automatically provide the required resources.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/compliance/google-cloud-platform-profile/)

### What users love

-   Robust and scalable data storage
-   User-friendly and intuitive interface
-   Comprehensive security and permissions

### To take in mind

-   Complex and unpredictable pricing
-   Steep learning curve for beginners
-   Limited and slow customer assistance

### Best rated features:

Pre-built Templates

5.0

Policy Management

5.0

Scheduling

5.0

Reminders

5.0

### Worst rated features:

In-Database Processing

2.0

Release Management

3.0

Testing/QA Management

3.0

Offline Access

3.0

[See all features](https://www.softwareadvice.com/compliance/google-cloud-platform-profile/#key-features)

### Free

Custom

Pricing available upon request

New customers get $300 in free credits to fully explore and conduct an assessment of Google Cloud. Users won’t be charged until they upgrade.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/compliance/google-cloud-platform-profile/#pricing-and-plans)

### Pay as You Go

Custom

Pricing available upon request

[See full pricing details](https://www.softwareadvice.com/compliance/google-cloud-platform-profile/#pricing-and-plans)

[Phocas](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/phocas-profile/)

4.74

[(134)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/phocas-profile/reviews/)

Best for:Value for money

### Pricing availability

Free trial: Not available

Free version: Not available

Software Advice Summary

Phocas is a SaaS platform designed to help mid-market businesses in manufacturing, wholesale distribution, and retail make data-driven decisions. Combining business intelligence (BI) and financial planning and analysis (FP&A) in one integrated solution, it simplifies the way businesses access, analyze, and plan their data. It connects teams with the insights they need to understand their business better and drive growth. Phocas integrates with ERP systems including Epicor, Sage, and Oracle NetSuite, extending their capabilities by centralizing data from ERP, CRM, spreadsheets, and other systems into one intuitive platform. This unified view enables cross-functional teams to make more informed decisions with real-time insights. Key features include intuitive dashboards, ad hoc reporting, financial statements, budgeting, forecasting, and automated rebate management. Phocas is designed for self-service, empowering users at all levels of the business to access and analyze data. By automating manual processes including consolidating financial and operational data, it helps users focus on strategic activities. It assists with preparing monthly reports, analyzing trends, managing cash flow, or optimizing rebates. Phocas centralizes data from ERP and other systems into one platform. With drill-down capabilities, AI-powered queries, and customizable pivot tables, users can explore everything from high-level overviews to granular transaction details. Ad hoc reporting tools let users create custom reports and dashboards, while KPI alerts ensure teams stay on top of performance and act to drive improvements across sales, products, and customers. Phocas transforms ERP data into up-to-date profit and loss, balance sheet, and cash flow statements. By automating financial reporting, integrating prebuilt formulas and ratios, and offering drill-down capabilities, it helps finance teams identify and resolve performance issues quickly. With customizable statements and secure access controls, teams can share actionable financial data with stakeholders across the business. Phocas provides a tool for connected business planning. It consolidates financial budgets, sales forecasts, headcount, and demand planning into one platform, enabling collaboration through workflows, user permissions, and audit logs. Live actuals and driver-based functionality allow businesses to track performance, compare plans to results, and adjust forecasts. The self-serve tool supports growing businesses with the ability to manage budgeting, helping users make informed decisions. Phocas Rebates automates rebate calculations and ensures accuracy. Built on a BI foundation, it helps businesses identify trends, spot near misses, and assess rebate performance. With real-time updates, users can optimize product offers, pricing, and purchasing decisions to capitalize on emerging opportunities and maximize profitability while strengthening trading relationships. Phocas CRM brings sales, finance, and customer data together in one platform, offering real-time insights for sales analysis and account management. By providing accurate sales reporting and streamlining the customer relationship process, it bridges the gap between finance and sales, empowering businesses to make informed decisions.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/phocas-profile/)

### Best rated features:

Key Performance Indicators

5.0

Reporting & Statistics

5.0

ETL

5.0

Real-Time Analytics

5.0

### Worst rated features:

Data Cleansing

3.0

Collaboration Tools

3.5

[See all features](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/phocas-profile/#key-features)

[Funnel](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/funnel-dashboards-reports-profile/)

4.74

[(19)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/funnel-dashboards-reports-profile/reviews/)

### Pricing availability

Free trial: Available

Free version: Available

Software Advice Summary

Funnel is a marketing intelligence platform designed to aggregate data from various marketing channels and provide tools for reporting, measurement, and data export. It is used by digital marketers, data analysts, business intelligence teams, IT departments, and marketing agencies across industries such as e-commerce, retail, B2B, B2C, travel, hospitality, and finance. The platform helps organizations centralize marketing data to improve visibility into campaign performance. The platform includes a library of data connectors that link to marketing platforms, analytics tools, and advertising channels. It offers automated reporting features that generate real-time reports without requiring manual spreadsheet work. AI-based tools, such as marketing mix modeling and multi-touch attribution, are available to analyze campaign impact beyond last-click attribution. A conversational AI feature, Data Chat, allows users to query marketing data and receive instant summaries. No-code workflows enable users to unify marketing, analytics, and sales data and export it to destinations such as data warehouses or business intelligence tools without ongoing ETL maintenance. Funnel adheres to enterprise-grade security standards, including GDPR, CCPA, SOC 2, and ISO 27001 compliance. It processes large volumes of digital advertising data and supports active data sources. The platform handles data cleaning and unification to create analysis-ready datasets and eliminate reporting gaps. Reports can be personalized to align with brand requirements and scaled across multiple clients or business units.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/funnel-dashboards-reports-profile/)

### Best rated features:

API

5.0

Website Analytics

5.0

Data Import/Export

4.0

Ad hoc Reporting

4.0

### Worst rated features:

Job Scheduling

1.0

Data Analysis Tools

3.0

Dashboard Creation

3.0

Keyword Tracking

3.0

[See all features](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/funnel-dashboards-reports-profile/#key-features)

### Starter

$120.00

Begin your journey to data-driven marketing with Funnel's Free plan.

### Business

$750.00/month

Experience rock-solid business intelligence and powerful connectivity.

### Enterprise

Custom

Pricing available upon request

Designed for organizations operating at scale with personalized, advanced onboarding.

[See full pricing details](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/funnel-dashboards-reports-profile/#pricing-and-plans)

[Lumenore](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/lumenore-profile/)

4.82

[(11)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/lumenore-profile/)

### Pricing availability

Free trial: Not available

Free version: Available

Software Advice Summary

Discover actionable insights in your data silos! Lumenore democratizes business intelligence with no-code analytics. Empower your entire team to derive insights from data - giving you a transparent view of your operations and helping you drive successful business outcomes. Move ahead of theLumenore, a Netlink flagship AI product, is an advanced analytics platform that leverages AI to provide businesses with deep insights into their data. It makes complex data analysis accessible and actionable for users of all skill levels through features like conversational analytics, AI-driven visualizations, machine learning-driven predictive analytics, and data storytelling through narrative insights. The platform simplifies the data analysis process by allowing users to interact with their data using natural language queries, much like they would talk to a digital assistant. herd. Leverage predictive analytics and conversational intelligence to grow faster than ever before.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/lumenore-profile/)

### Best rated features:

Single Page View

5.0

Workflow Management

5.0

Data Migration

5.0

Alerts/Notifications

5.0

### Worst rated features:

Scorecards

4.0

KPI Monitoring

4.0

Functions/Calculations

4.0

Search/Filter

4.0

[See all features](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/lumenore-profile/#key-features)

[DigitalRoute](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-management-platforms/digitalroute-profile/)

4.77

[(13)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-management-platforms/digitalroute-profile/reviews/)

### Pricing availability

Free trial: Available

Free version: Not available

Software Advice Summary

DigitalRoute is a data management platform that helps businesses integrate the platform with any system within a company's IT infrastructure to gather, process, enhance, and distribute substantial volumes of usage data to billing and other quote-to-cash applications. It empowers businesses to deliver timely invoices while driving billing enhancements through data-driven insights. The software supports revenue assurance, revenue leakage, and entitlement enforcement in real-time and with extreme precision and is aligned with the customers' software deployment preferences.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-management-platforms/digitalroute-profile/)

### Best rated features:

Invoice History

5.0

Data Extraction

5.0

Online Invoicing

5.0

Workflow Management

5.0

### Worst rated features:

Reporting/Analytics

3.8

[See all features](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-management-platforms/digitalroute-profile/#key-features)

### Basic

Custom

Pricing available upon request

[See full pricing details](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-management-platforms/digitalroute-profile/#pricing-and-plans)

[Infoveave](https://www.softwareadvice.com/product/461430-infoveave/)

5.0

[(5)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/product/461430-infoveave/)

### Pricing availability

Free trial: Not available

Free version: Not available

Software Advice Summary

Infoveave is a data platform that integrates data automation, analytics, and AI capabilities to transform raw data into actionable insights. It is used by organizations in industries such as manufacturing, energy, healthcare, retail, banking, automotive, telecommunications, and supply chain. The platform consolidates data from various sources, automates workflows, and provides access to insights without requiring technical expertise. The platform includes Fovea, an AI assistant that enables users to interact with data using natural language queries and automate complex tasks without coding. Infoveave connects to numerous data sources, including databases, applications, and files, and automates workflows with built-in data observability. It offers analytics features such as AutoML, predictive modeling, what-if analysis, and interactive visualization templates. Data quality tools help detect duplicates, standardize formats, identify anomalies, and apply rule-based corrections to maintain data integrity. Data governance features include a unified catalog, metadata management, data lineage visualization, role-based access controls, and audit trails. Infoveave supports various AI models, including GPT, Claude, Gemini, Llama, QWEN, and Kimi, with the option to integrate custom models. It allows users to create low-code data applications with customizable forms, mobile-friendly interfaces, and write-back capabilities. The platform complies with certifications such as ISO 27001, SOC 2, GDPR, and HIPAA, ensuring security and regulatory adherence. It also offers pre-built KPIs and workflows tailored to specific industry needs.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/product/461430-infoveave/)

### Best rated features:

Multiple Data Sources

5.0

Real-Time Monitoring

5.0

Data Extraction

5.0

Access Controls/Permissions

5.0

[See all features](https://www.softwareadvice.com/product/461430-infoveave/#key-features)

[Bold BI](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-collection/bold-bi-profile/)

4.86

[(7)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-collection/bold-bi-profile/)

### Pricing availability

Free trial: Available

Free version: Available

Software Advice Summary

Bold BI is an on-premise and cloud-based software that enables businesses in construction, education, energy, healthcare, insurance and other industries to process, combine and analyze collected data on a unified platform. With its business intelligence (BI) tools, managers can create custom dashboards using a drag-and-drop interface and share them with relevant team members or stakeholders. Bold BI provides mobile applications for iOS and Android devices, enabling users to gain insights into key information via actionable analytics. It allows enterprises to secure confidential data through multi-factor authentication and single sign-on (SSO) capabilities. Additionally, administrators can export data in PDF or Excel format and visualize them in the form of display widgets. Bold BI offers an API, which enables businesses to integrate and collect data from various third-party applications. Pricing is available on monthly subscriptions and on a one-time license basis. Support is extended via live chat, phone and an inquiry form.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-collection/bold-bi-profile/)

### Best rated features:

Customizable Dashboard

5.0

Data Connectors

5.0

Reporting/Analytics

5.0

Data Visualization

5.0

### Worst rated features:

Dashboard Creation

4.0

Data Management

4.0

[See all features](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-collection/bold-bi-profile/#key-features)

### Community License (Free)

Custom

Pricing available upon request

Bold BI offers a free Community License designed for individual developers and small teams, providing full access to core features without cost for as long as the Individuals or Companies meet the eligibility requirements.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-collection/bold-bi-profile/#pricing-and-plans)

### Bold BI Cloud Edition

Custom

Pricing available upon request

Run Bold BI in a fully managed cloud environment with no infrastructure to maintain. Deploy fast and adapt easily without IT effort.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-collection/bold-bi-profile/#pricing-and-plans)

### Bold BI On-Premises Edition

Custom

Pricing available upon request

Deploy Bold BI on your own infrastructure to retain complete control over data, security, and compliance requirements.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-collection/bold-bi-profile/#pricing-and-plans)

[See full pricing details](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-collection/bold-bi-profile/#pricing-and-plans)

[Wolfram Mathematica](https://www.softwareadvice.com/sales-forecasting/wolfram-mathematica-profile/)

4.62

[(169)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/sales-forecasting/wolfram-mathematica-profile/reviews/)

Best for:Features

### Pricing availability

Free trial: Available

Free version: Not available

Software Advice Summary

Wolfram Mathematica is a technical computing solution that provides businesses of all sizes with tools for image processing, data visualization and theoretic experiments. The notebook interface enables users to organize documents including texts, runnable codes, dynamic graphics and more. Wolfram Mathematica allows businesses to visualize statistical, financial or geographic information in chart formats such as bar, pie, bubble, sector, histogram and more. It lets users conduct statistical analysis through data smoothing, hypothesis tests, cluster analysis, random sampling and other methodologies. Additionally, the image processing module enables users to create, import and manipulate image properties including brightness, color, alignment and segmentation. Wolfram Mathematica comes with an application programming interface, which lets businesses integrate the system with several third-party solutions. It is available on monthly and annual subscriptions. Support is extended via live chat, phone, documentation and other online measures... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/sales-forecasting/wolfram-mathematica-profile/)

### Best rated features:

Dashboard

5.0

Neural Network Modeling

5.0

Data Visualization

4.7

Visual Analytics

4.6

### Worst rated features:

Ad hoc Reporting

3.7

Customizable Dashboard

3.8

Self-paced Learning

4.0

[See all features](https://www.softwareadvice.com/sales-forecasting/wolfram-mathematica-profile/#key-features)

### Basic

$335.00one time

[See full pricing details](https://www.softwareadvice.com/sales-forecasting/wolfram-mathematica-profile/#pricing-and-plans)

[Market Intelligence Platform](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/market-intelligence-platform-profile/)

5.0

[(3)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/market-intelligence-platform-profile/)

### Pricing availability

Free trial: Available

Free version: Not available

Software Advice Summary

Market Inside is a cloud-based trade intelligence platform that helps businesses view and analyze trade data via a unified portal. It is designed for businesses in a wide range of industries, including import/export, logistics, law firms, insurance, research and consulting, finance, sales, marketing teams, and more. With access to import-export trade data and shipment records from different countries, Market Inside provides users with valuable insights and metrics for different industries and businesses. Leveraging AI technology, Market Inside filters every shipment detail to deliver instant access to trade insights. Users can explore a wealth of data using filters, including HS code, product, importer, exporter, port, origin country, destination country, and more. The platform also offers customized charts and graphs to facilitate easy understanding of the data, empowering users to make well-informed business decisions. Trade Map, one of the platform's features, enables users to identify trade partners of companies and competitors, allowing them to gain a competitive edge. It also offers a Trade Intelligence API, providing seamless integration with existing systems.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/market-intelligence-platform-profile/)

### Best rated features:

API

5.0

Reporting/Analytics

5.0

Visual Analytics

5.0

Data Discovery

5.0

[See all features](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/market-intelligence-platform-profile/#key-features)

### Basic

$1,200.00

### Trade Data API

$5,000.00one time

API integeration

[See full pricing details](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/market-intelligence-platform-profile/#pricing-and-plans)

[Mozart Data](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/mozart-data-profile/)

5.0

[(3)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/mozart-data-profile/)

### Pricing availability

Free trial: Available

Free version: Not available

Software Advice Summary

Backed by award-winning data analyst support, Mozart Data is the fastest way to set up scalable, reliable data infrastructure that doesn’t need to be maintained by you. Mozart Data’s all-in-one modern data platform includes ETL, a data warehouse, and data transformation tools, empowering anyone to easily centralize, organize, and analyze their data without engineering resources. Instead of piecing together multiple tools, companies get everything they need to spin up a data stack in an hour, get visibility into their data pipelines, and ensure their data is reliable.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/mozart-data-profile/)

### Best rated features:

Query Builder

5.0

Alerts/Notifications

5.0

Ad hoc Reporting

5.0

Data Capture and Transfer

5.0

[See all features](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/mozart-data-profile/#key-features)

[BigID](https://www.softwareadvice.com/policy-management/bigid-profile/)

5.0

[(2)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/policy-management/bigid-profile/)

### Pricing availability

Free trial: Not available

Free version: Not available

Software Advice Summary

BigID is a cloud-based platform that helps businesses manage data intelligence via data governance, privacy, scanning, classification and more. The software offers various features such as machine learning (ML), cloud management, compliance management, data risk monitoring and data security posture management (DSPM).... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/policy-management/bigid-profile/)

### Best rated features:

Policy Management

5.0

Data Mapping

4.0

Compliance Management

4.0

Access Controls/Permissions

3.0

### Worst rated features:

API

1.0

Access Controls/Permissions

3.0

Compliance Management

4.0

Data Mapping

4.0

[See all features](https://www.softwareadvice.com/policy-management/bigid-profile/#key-features)

[Nightfall AI](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/nightfall-dlp-profile/)

5.0

[(2)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/nightfall-dlp-profile/)

### Pricing availability

Free trial: Available

Free version: Available

Software Advice Summary

Nightfall DLP is a cloud-based data loss prevention software which helps businesses classify and protect sensitive data using APIs. Key features include behavioral analytics, application security, sensitive data identification, incident management, false positives reduction and policy management. Teams using Nightfall DLP can set up automated workflows for various actions such as alerts, quarantines, deletion and more. With the system's REST API, users can add data classification to existing workflows and applications. The platform uses deep learning capabilities to receive structured results including API keys, credit card numbers and more. Nightfall DLP's API facilitates integration with various third-party applications such as Slack, Google Drive, GitHub, Confluence, JIRA and AWS. The solution is available for free as well as paid monthly subscriptions and support is extended via email, phone, FAQs and live chat.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/nightfall-dlp-profile/)

### Basic

$4.00/month

[See full pricing details](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/nightfall-dlp-profile/#pricing-and-plans)

[Collibra](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-privacy/collibra-profile/)

4.56

[(9)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-privacy/collibra-profile/)

### Pricing availability

Free trial: Not available

Free version: Not available

Software Advice Summary

Collibra unites organizations by delivering trusted data for every use, for every user, and across every source. Our Data Intelligence Cloud brings flexible governance, continuous quality and built-in privacy to all types of data. The Global 2000 relies on Collibra to create the critical alignment that accelerates workflows and delivers better results faster.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-privacy/collibra-profile/)

### Best rated features:

Data Governance

5.0

Data Security

4.7

Process Management

4.5

Data Lineage

4.0

### Worst rated features:

Policy Management

3.0

Data Mapping

3.7

Data Discovery

3.7

Access Controls/Permissions

4.0

[See all features](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-privacy/collibra-profile/#key-features)

[Conversionomics](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/conversionomics-profile/)

5.0

[(1)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/conversionomics-profile/)

### Pricing availability

Free trial: Available

Free version: Not available

Software Advice Summary

Conversionomics is an efficient data aggregation tool that offers a simple user interface that makes it easy to quickly build data API sources. From those sources, users can create interactive dashboards and reports using Conversionomics' templates and data visualization tools. Increase the rate analysts find trends and deliver insights with all data visualized in one convenient dashboard. Conversionomics works well with Google Analytics, Search Console, Sheets, AdWords, BigQuery, Facebook, Bing, Email, or users' own sources.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/conversionomics-profile/)

### Best rated features:

OLAP

5.0

Scheduled/Automated Reports

5.0

Ad hoc Reporting

5.0

Data Mapping

5.0

### Worst rated features:

Forecasting

3.0

Activity Dashboard

3.0

[See all features](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/conversionomics-profile/#key-features)

### Basic

$250.00/month

[See full pricing details](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/conversionomics-profile/#pricing-and-plans)

[OpenText Analytics Cloud](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/opentext-magellan-profile/)

5.0

[(1)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/opentext-magellan-profile/)

### Pricing availability

Free trial: Available

Free version: Not available

Software Advice Summary

OpenText Magellan is a predictive analytics platform powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. The platform is designed to help businesses across various industries make data-driven decisions by combining self-service analytics and real-time access to big data. Reports and dashboards can be created using both structured and unstructured data imported from enterprise data management platforms and third party systems. Features of OpenText Magellan include machine learning model creation, data crawlers, natural language processing (NLP), data visualization, algorithm customization, data connectors, and more. Reports and analytics can be used to better understand customers, partners, employees, sales, incidents, and other metrics that affect business performance.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/opentext-magellan-profile/)

### Basic

$0.01

[See full pricing details](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/opentext-magellan-profile/#pricing-and-plans)

[Shinydocs](https://www.softwareadvice.com/enterprise-search/shinydocs-profile/)

5.0

[(1)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/enterprise-search/shinydocs-profile/)

### Pricing availability

Free trial: Available

Free version: Not available

Software Advice Summary

Shinydocs is a cloud-based master data management solution that helps small to large businesses clean, search, migrate, secure and manage enterprise-level data.

### Best rated features:

Compliance Management

5.0

Visual Analytics

4.0

Information Governance

4.0

Metadata Management

4.0

### Worst rated features:

Master Data Management

4.0

Full Text Search

4.0

Reporting/Analytics

4.0

Metadata Management

4.0

[See all features](https://www.softwareadvice.com/enterprise-search/shinydocs-profile/#key-features)

### Shinydocs Pro

$30,000.00/year

Shinydocs Pro includes: Easy Identification of privacy (PII) Data like Driver’s Licenses, Passports, Social Security Numbers, Names, Credit Cards, Address Info, Healthcare Info and more. Content classification, Dashboards and reporting, Up to 50TB Content, Unlimited Content Sources, Up to 1TB Local Content, and Extend privacy, classification, and storage optimization rules. Pro includes a base 5 users for Shinydocs Search with additional seats available for 100USD/user per year. (volume discounts available) Shinydocs Pro also includes an Onboarding and Support Package consisting of: • On-Prem, In Your Cloud • Support for 3 Contacts • 24/7 access to Shinydocs Academy • 24/7 access to Shinydocs Customer Portal • Deployment support via Web Meetings... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/enterprise-search/shinydocs-profile/#pricing-and-plans)

[See full pricing details](https://www.softwareadvice.com/enterprise-search/shinydocs-profile/#pricing-and-plans)

[Max AI](https://www.softwareadvice.com/marketing/answerrocket-profile/)

4.60

[(15)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/marketing/answerrocket-profile/reviews/)

### Pricing availability

Free trial: Not available

Free version: Not available

Software Advice Summary

AI-Powered Enterprise Analytics AnswerRocket is an AI-powered augmented analytics platform that enables business users to get instant answers and insights from their data. With AnswerRocket, customers can monitor key metrics, identify performance drivers and detect critical issues in seconds. AnswerRocket's AI assistant for data analysis, Max, harnesses OpenAI’s GPT technology to enable conversational enterprise analytics on proprietary data to enable business users to get governed, secure, and accurate analysis and insights on their business performance, just by chatting. Companies like Anheuser-Busch InBev, Cereal Partners Worldwide, Beam Suntory, Coty, EMC Insurance, Hi-Rez Studios, and National Beverage Corporation depend on AnswerRocket to increase speed to insights. Enable Data-Driven Decisions at Scale AnswerRocket’s augmented analytics platform leverages OpenAI’s GPT large language model to deliver a simple conversational AI experience for insights discovery. Users can ask Max natural language questions and get accurate insights and visualizations in seconds. GPT’s advanced language processing capabilities allow Max to understand and respond to a wide range of queries. Key features: Easy data exploration: Effortlessly ask natural language questions and receive instant insights tailored to your data, such as metric drivers, trends, and outliers. Unveil hidden insights, enabling you to take actionable steps. Advanced analysis capabilities: Leverage built-in advanced analytics capabilities to run statistical, diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive analytics. Enable broader access to actionable insights across your teams, facilitating informed decision-making processes. Combining structured and unstructured data sources for richer answers: A significant amount of knowledge within organizations is housed in unstructured formats such as research reports, playbooks, and presentations. By harnessing both types of data, AnswerRocket not only provides quantitive analysis but also composes a full, contextualized narrative answer that includes valuable insights gleaned from unstructured sources. Streamlined data setup: AnswerRocket facilitates rapid data connection, preparation, and analysis, thanks to a streamlined data configuration experience powered by GPT. This includes automated data classification, definitions, synonyms, and suggested questions, reducing the setup time to a matter of minutes. Create Custom AI Analytics Assistants with Skill Studio Skill Studio provides organizations with the ability to personalize their AI assistants to their specific business, department, and role, which enables users to more easily access relevant, highly specialized insights. Skill Studio elevates Max’s existing analytics capabilities by conducting domain-specific analyses, such as running cohort and brand analyses. Key capabilities of Skill Studio include: Full Development Environment: End-to-end experience supporting the software development lifecycle for developers to gather requirements, develop, test, and deploy Skills to the AnswerRocket platform. Low-Code UX: User-friendly interface for developers and analysts to create customized Skills for the end users they support. Reusable Code Blocks: Accelerate custom Skill development with pre-built code blocks for analysis, insights, charts, tables, insights, and more. Bring Your Own Models: Deploy their existing machine learning algorithms within the Max experience. Create Purpose-Built AI analysts: Construct AI assistants designed for specific roles by giving them access to the Skills needed to perform a set of analytical tasks. Quality Assurance & Answer Validation: Testing framework for validating accuracy of answers generated by Skills.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/marketing/answerrocket-profile/)

[Atlan](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-collection/atlan-profile/)

4.50

[(2)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-collection/atlan-profile/)

### Pricing availability

Free trial: Available

Free version: Available

Software Advice Summary

The Atlan Collect platform helps businesses collect and track high-quality customer experience data. Also available on an easy to use mobile app, Atlan Collect is designed to work anywhere. The intuitively designed dashboard helps users easily create forms and collect responses providing insights immediately and also through integration with most BI tools. Atlan Collect also works without internet connection allowing users to collect responses even when a team is in the field. All data is instantly synced upon reconnection to the internet.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-collection/atlan-profile/)

### Basic

Custom

Pricing available upon request

[See full pricing details](https://www.softwareadvice.com/data-collection/atlan-profile/#pricing-and-plans)

[Microsoft Power BI](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/microsoft-power-bi-profile/)

4.58

[(1885)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/microsoft-power-bi-profile/reviews/)

Best for:Data Visualization

### Pricing availability

Free trial: Not available

Free version: Available

Software Advice Summary

Microsoft Power BI is a comprehensive data visualization tool that forms part of the Power Platform suite of products. Power BI enables users to connect to and visualize data from various sources, seamlessly integrating visualizations into everyday applications. With a focus on uncovering valuable insights and translating them into actionable outcomes, Power BI offers a range of features and capabilities to support data-driven decision-making across organizations. One of the key strengths of Power BI lies in its ability to leverage advanced data-analysis tools, artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, and a user-friendly report-creation interface. Users can easily turn their raw data into visually appealing charts, graphs, and reports to communicate insights effectively. The platform also facilitates the creation of datasets from diverse data sources, allowing organizations to establish a single source of truth within the OneLake data hub. Power BI empowers users to make informed decisions by embedding insights directly into the applications they use daily, such as those within the Microsoft 365 suite. By activating Microsoft Fabric within the Power BI experience, organizations can reshape how they access, manage, and act on data. The platform offers enterprise-grade ingestion and semantic modeling to handle large datasets and scale across thousands of users seamlessly. Sharing insights generated through Power BI is effortless, as reports can be embedded and distributed within various Microsoft services like Teams, PowerPoint, Excel, and the Power Platform. Additionally, Power BI incorporates artificial intelligence features to find patterns in data, generate reports instantly, and deliver answers promptly, enhancing productivity and decision-making efficiency. To ensure data governance, security, and compliance, Power BI provides robust features that meet regulatory requirements and offer end-to-end visibility into data management. Using conversational language, users can create reports, generate DAX calculations, and derive answers swiftly, simplifying the data exploration process. The platform also allows open access for users without paid licenses to interact with reports and access Microsoft Fabric workloads. Power BI supports self-service analytics, enabling users to create and publish reports effortlessly, fostering a culture of data-driven decision-making within organizations. Users can license individual users with modern analytics capabilities for publishing reports and accessing content. By integrating Power BI Pro with other Microsoft 365 applications, users can leverage industry-leading security features at a competitive price point. For those interested in exploring the capabilities of Power BI, a free account option is available for creating interactive reports with visual analytics features. Additionally, Power BI Desktop offers a free application for connecting, modeling, and visualizing data through a user-friendly report canvas with a wide range of visuals. Users can also sign up for a free trial of the Microsoft Fabric suite to access the full range of services, including Power BI offerings. Power BI caters to a wide range of business needs, allowing organizations to establish a governed source of truth, combine enterprise-scale and self-service BI for insights, seamlessly embed data experiences within applications, empower users with data exploration capabilities, and kickstart their data journey with AI-generated reports and templates. The platform supports reducing time-to-market by customizing BI reports for embedding in applications and branding as your own. In terms of industry recognition, Microsoft Power BI has been lauded in the 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms for its Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision. Additionally, independent studies like The Total Economic ImpactTM showcase the cost savings and business benefits enabled by Microsoft Fabric, including a significant return on investment over a three-year period. Power BI serves as a valuable tool for organizations looking to extract meaningful insights from their data, foster a data-driven culture, and drive innovation across all levels. With its intuitive interface, advanced analytics capabilities, seamless integration with Microsoft applications, and robust security features, Power BI stands as a prominent solution for businesses seeking to leverage their data effectively for informed decision-making and business growth.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/microsoft-power-bi-profile/)

### What users love

-   Comprehensive data analysis capabilities
-   Dynamic and interactive dashboards
-   Flexible and interactive reporting

### To take in mind

-   Steep usability challenges for beginners
-   Complex and costly licensing structure
-   Significant learning curve for mastery

### Best rated features:

Charting

5.0

Ad hoc Analysis

5.0

Activity Dashboard

4.8

Multiple Data Sources

4.7

[See all features](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/microsoft-power-bi-profile/#key-features)

[Lucidworks Fusion](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/lucidworks-fusion-profile/)

4.0

[(1)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/lucidworks-fusion-profile/)

### Pricing availability

Free trial: Available

Free version: Not available

Software Advice Summary

Lucidworks Fusion is a cloud-based solution designed to help IT teams manage data discovery through natural language processing (NLP), query intent classification, information clustering and ranking algorithms. Key features include contextual search, visual analytics, predictive modeling, full-text search and indexing. Businesses using Lucidworks Fusion can utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to understand the intent of phrases or sentences through topic classification, profanity filtering, entity/sentiment detection and more. With the head/tail query rewriting module, the application automatically generates synonyms by analyzing the most common as well as infrequent queries. Additionally, teams can use training data as per past outcomes and searches to manage autocomplete, query pipeline routing, type-ahead and query parsing. Lucidworks Fusion comes with a Learning to Rank algorithm, which extracts numerous tags, such as document categories, product names and titles in order to determine relevant scores in real-time. It extends support via documentation, phone and other online measures.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/lucidworks-fusion-profile/)

[DvSum](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/dvsum-profile/)

4.40

[(5)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/dvsum-profile/)

### Pricing availability

Free trial: Available

Free version: Not available

Software Advice Summary

DvSum is a cloud-based, AI-enabled data intelligence platform designed for data and analytics teams. It can be used to discover, monitor, and govern data and provide an actionable data catalog for enterprises. With DvSum, teams can organize and transform the data needed to make critical business decisions. Its features include a glossary of data definitions and business rules, data preparation recommendations, data quality rules and monitoring, plus more.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/dvsum-profile/)

### Best rated features:

Data Import/Export

5.0

Access Controls/Permissions

5.0

Drag & Drop

4.0

Reporting & Statistics

4.0

### Worst rated features:

API

3.0

Metadata Management

4.0

Monitoring

4.0

Data Connectors

4.0

[See all features](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/dvsum-profile/#key-features)

### Basic

$12,000.00/year

[See full pricing details](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/dvsum-profile/#pricing-and-plans)

[JMP](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/jmp-profile/)

4.55

[(53)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/jmp-profile/reviews/)

### Pricing availability

Free trial: Available

Free version: Not available

Software Advice Summary

JMP is an on-premise data analytics solution that helps scientists, engineers and data explorers understand complex data relationships and visualize them via interactive dashboards. The data acquisition and cleanup functionalities allow users to import data from Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) compliant databases and screen data for outliers, entry errors and missing values, among other inconsistencies. JMP enables data explorers to utilize what-if scenarios and reliability analysis to depict patterns, gain insights into product performance and address design vulnerabilities. It lets users design all experiments based on current problems, budgets and available timing. Additionally, leaders can conduct consumer and market research via data mining, survey analysis, choice experiments and more. JMP allows organizations to use third-party analytics tools, such as SAS, MATLAB, R and Python. It is available on a perpetual license and support is extended via email, discussion forum, documentation and FAQs.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/jmp-profile/)

### Best rated features:

Reporting & Statistics

5.0

Data Import/Export

5.0

Data Analysis Tools

5.0

Performance Metrics

5.0

### Worst rated features:

Statistical Simulation

1.0

Association Discovery

2.5

KPI Monitoring

3.0

[See all features](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/jmp-profile/#key-features)

### Basic

$1,390.00/year

Bulk discounts available

### JMP Pro

$8,820.00/year

Bulk discounts available

### JMP Clinical

$8,820.00/year

Bulk discounts available

[See full pricing details](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/jmp-profile/#pricing-and-plans)

[Adverity](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/datatap-profile/)

4.50

[(26)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/datatap-profile/reviews/)

### Pricing availability

Free trial: Not available

Free version: Not available

Software Advice Summary

Adverity is a data platform designed to automate the connectivity, transformation, and governance of marketing data. It supports marketing teams, analytics teams, agencies, and enterprise organizations in managing complex data operations through a centralized solution. The platform includes automated data connectivity with a library of pre-built connectors for marketing data sources, enabling direct collection to data warehouses. It cleans, harmonizes, and monitors data quality to maintain accuracy and consistency. AI-powered features support natural-language queries and automate workflows such as report creation, campaign optimization, and data preparation. Enterprise-grade data governance and security features include governed access controls and secure permissions, with certifications such as ISO/IEC 27001 and SOC 2 Type 2. Adverity enables teams to collaborate on data analysis and share insights across organizations. It supports scalable data operations with features such as bulk editing and flexible cloning. The platform allows data to be sent to various business intelligence tools or destinations within an organization's technology stack.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/datatap-profile/)

### Best rated features:

Data Cleansing

5.0

Data Visualization

5.0

Dashboard

5.0

Data Quality Control

5.0

### Worst rated features:

Reporting/Analytics

4.0

Performance Metrics

4.0

Multiple Data Sources

4.0

Data Connectors

4.0

[See all features](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/datatap-profile/#key-features)

[TARGIT Decision Suite](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/targit-profile/)

4.47

[(34)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/targit-profile/reviews/)

### Pricing availability

Free trial: Available

Free version: Not available

Software Advice Summary

TARGIT Decision Suite is a business intelligence and analytics solution designed to help business users turn complex data into clear, confident decisions. Whether you're a Data Analyst, Operations Manager, or Sales Rep, TARGIT helps you see the big picture and the fine details with intuitive dashboards, powerful reporting, and self-service analytics. TARGIT connects to multiple data sources including ERP, CRM, payroll tools, and more to give organizations a complete picture of their data. Plus, self-service capabilities enable business users to create their own reports and analyses through a framework of trusted data and robust access controls. Through a vast range of deployment options, TARGIT Decision Suite can be made accessible to every person in the organization through Windows, web interface, mobile client, or embedded dashboards in other programs. To aid adoption and successful implementation, TARGIT has a team of consultants, a wide range of training courses, and an active community of users.... [Read more](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/targit-profile/)

### Basic

Custom

Pricing available upon request

[See full pricing details](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/targit-profile/#pricing-and-plans)

1

[2](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/data-discovery-tools-comparison/?page=2)[3](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/data-discovery-tools-comparison/?page=3)[4](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/data-discovery-tools-comparison/?page=4)[5](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/data-discovery-tools-comparison/?page=5)[6](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/data-discovery-tools-comparison/?page=6)[7](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/data-discovery-tools-comparison/?page=7)

## Popular Comparisons

[

Microsoft Power BI vs Tableau

](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/microsoft-power-bi-profile/vs/tableau/)[

Looker vs Qlik Sense

](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/looker-profile/vs/qlik-sense/)[

Google Cloud vs Wolfram Mathematica

](https://www.softwareadvice.com/compliance/google-cloud-platform-profile/vs/wolfram-mathematica/)[

SAP Analytics Cloud vs epocrates

](https://www.softwareadvice.com/medical/epocrates-profile/vs/sap-analytics-cloud/)[

JMP vs Spotfire

](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/jmp-profile/vs/tibco-spotfire/)

## What is data discovery software?

Data discovery software is a tool that helps you to collect and combine data from multiple sources and identify patterns and trends in them. Data preparation, data modeling, visual analysis, and advanced statistical analysis are the key functions of data discovery software. Data discovery tools are primarily available as a part of business intelligence software solutions.

* * *

Data discovery is one of the fastest-growing and rapidly changing segments of the BI market. These tools differ dramatically from the [traditional systems of record](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/) that enable IT to push reports and [dashboards](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/dashboard-comparison/) out to the rest of the organization.

In many cases, data discovery tools are purchased by organizations that have already deployed traditional BI systems, in order to solve issues with data access, data preparation and data exploration. Data discovery solutions have also been a godsend for small businesses that can’t afford complex data warehouses and lack the expertise to build them.

The market for data discovery software is complex and highly fragmented. There are a number of different “flavors” of data discovery, and a variety of use cases in which one flavor works better than another.

In this Buyer’s Guide, we’ll explain how data discovery software differs from traditional BI and describe the categories into which these tools break down.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

[How Do Data Discovery Tools Differ From Traditional BI Systems?](#HowDoDataDiscoveryToolsDifferFromTraditionalBISystems)

[Capabilities of Data Discovery Software](#CapabilitiesofDataDiscoverySoftware)

[Types of Data Discovery Tools](#TypesofDataDiscoveryTools)

## How Do Data Discovery Tools Differ From Traditional BI Systems?

An easy way to understand this difference is to look at the history of BI solutions.

Traditional BI systems were an attempt to solve the difficulty of writing SQL queries in order to retrieve data such as sales information, customer information, shipping records etc. stored in multiple relational databases. Before BI, users had to be _highly_ familiar with SQL to get the data they needed out of such databases.

Thus, traditional BI systems mapped a layer of familiar business terms (known as a semantic layer) onto the relational databases’ storage schemas, thereby allowing users to retrieve and combine data without knowing SQL at all.

### Traditional BI Semantic Layer

The semantic layer is a way of expressing a data model, or a schematic representation of the relationships between data in one or multiple datasets. In particular, the semantic layer schematizes the relationships between data residing in different data sources/databases. For instance, the dimension “customer” in the semantic layer may be defined as grouping together information from both the “sales orders” database as well as the “customer records” database.

BusinessObjects—later acquired by SAP—was the first BI vendor to use the semantic layer model, and remains one of the most popular semantic layer-based solutions. The semantic layer model is still suitable for large enterprises that need unified access to data stored in numerous operational databases.

The problem with this model is that the semantic layer needs to be standardized across the organization. In other words, various business units must agree on which databases and tables in these databases the dimension “customer” will pull from. Moreover, once the semantic layer has been standardized, it remains under IT control.

As you can see in the above diagram, traditional tools for ad hoc queries pass analysts’ queries through the semantic layer, which automatically translates them into SQL queries to retrieve data from SQL databases and other data sources that support SQL querying. Thus, traditional querying tools can only work with data sources that have already been integrated into the semantic layer.

Data sources outside the semantic layer (a spreadsheet sent in an email, a public data source on the web, 500,000 Tweets about a product recall etc.) can’t be easily integrated with the semantic layer unless IT develops new processes. And, of course, IT can’t develop a process for every new data source.

When the semantic layer is standardized across the organization, the paths that analysts follow to retrieve and combine data get frozen into place. For instance, if the organization defines “store” as a subcategory of “branch,” and “branch” as a subcategory of “sales region,” while neglecting to slot “customer” somewhere into this hierarchy, blended analysis of sales and customer data can become overly complex.

_Business terms mapped to operational data in_ SAP BusinessObjects

Data discovery tools remedy this situation by providing direct access to the operational databases shown in our chart, instead of going through a semantic layer. **This allows users to combine spreadsheets and other data sources outside the semantic layer with operational data.**

Any data preparation work that needs to be done to combine data sources (e.g., converting “customer\_ID” to “customer”) is done on the fly, instead of forcing IT to standardize terminology across the organization.

Additionally, users can develop their own data models during analysis, instead of being bound to the data model encoded in the semantic layer. This allows greater flexibility for sophisticated queries that depend on blending data from multiple sources.

## Capabilities of Data Discovery Software

There’s a wide range of data discovery platforms, meaning that listing specific features is pointless. Instead, let’s take a quick look at the broad capabilities that define these solutions:

**(Graphical) front end for data manipulation**

Allows for data access and manipulation via visualizations of data sources and patterns in data. Instead of writing a query, you can simply click on a wedge of a pie chart to drill down, or choose a heat-map visualization for your data.

**In-memory processing**

Processes data by storing it in RAM (random access memory) instead of writing it to disk. This gives them the processing power to blend massive data sets on a user’s laptop, instead of doing the blends in the database as traditional BI tools do. See our [data blending report](https://www.softwareadvice.com/resources/what-is-data-blending-tool/) for more details.

[Big data](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/big-data-comparison/) **connections**

Supports direct connections to data sources, instead of confining access to sources within the semantic layer. Support for flat files (.xlsx, .csv etc.) is nearly universal, as is support for SQL databases. Beyond that, the range of data sources a tool can connect to is generally a point of competitive differentiation.

Data cleaning/preparation

Offers features for cleaning and preparing data, since analysts can’t rely on pre-integration of data sources via a semantic layer. These features are for normalizing dimensions, removing trailing spaces, testing the accuracy of joins etc. on the fly.

_Note: Several of these definitions of data discovery capabilities were adapted from Gartner research reports, specifically_ [What Data Discovery Means for You](http://www.gartner.com/document/2947518) _by Joao Tapadinhas and Dan Sommer (available to Gartner clients)._

## Types of Data Discovery Tools

Data discovery has been an emerging market for at least a decade, but instead of solidifying around a core set of concepts and features, the market has continued to evolve.

Data discovery functionality has also been added to traditional systems that use semantic layers, though such systems will still be overkill for many small businesses.

There are essentially three categories of data discovery solutions currently on the market:

-   “Search engine”-like tools for textual searches of data
    
-   Visual interaction tools that provide a graphical front-end for data manipulation
    
-   “AI”-based tools that do the bulk of the pattern recognition for you
    

**Visual data interaction tools are analytics tools that directly access data sources instead of going through a semantic layer.** They allow users to process massive datasets on their laptops (via in-memory caching engines) and spot patterns using a visual interface.

_Data visualizations in_ [Tableau](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/tableau-profile/)

The point of a visual data discovery tool isn’t simply to crunch numbers and then output pretty charts and graphs, which can easily be done with Excel and Powerpoint. Instead, these tools are for _interactive_ manipulation of data via visualizations.

For example, you can click on a particular city in a heat-map to begin analyzing sales just within that city’s stores. You can then add another dimension to your map—say, aggregate payroll expenses per store—to blend sales and payroll data and spot new patterns.

As you click on visualization elements and drag and drop dimensions and measures into your visualizations, an engine within the data discovery tool translates your gestures into SQL queries. Changing the visualization automatically refreshes it with newly processed data from your databases.

**These tools thus allow for highly interactive and sophisticated database querying without forcing users to learn SQL. Moreover, they allow users to access and blend data from multiple data sources that haven’t been integrated via a semantic layer.**

Visual data interaction tools are thus known as “self-service” BI tools, since business analysts can get the data they need and analyze it in the ways they want without involving IT in the workflow.

Originally, visual data interaction tools were designed to supplement the capabilities of an existing BI system. As they’ve evolved, however, they’ve incorporated more and more of the capabilities that used to be found only in traditional systems. Many organizations—especially smaller ones—are now exclusively relying on this form of data discovery as their dominant analytics platform.

Visual data interaction tools make up the bulk of the data discovery market, and frequently data discovery is used as a synonym for business analytics via interactive visualizations.

**“Search engine-like” tools** are a niche category in data discovery. They’re specifically for performing keyword searches of large collections of files, and they feature an interface similar to that of web search engines such as Google and Bing. Search-based tools harness text mining technology to allow users to search keywords within files and documents:

_Data discovery using keyword searches and word clouds in_ WebFOCUS

Search-based tools are clearly not the best choice for dealing with numerical values, which are, of course, absolutely central to business analysis. **Instead, this form of data discovery is used by organizations with massive collections of unstructured textual data (surveys, documents, presentations, product literature etc.) sitting in numerous data siloes.**

Without search-based data discovery, employees may never be able to track down the documents they need on their own. These tools thus enable better information-sharing, at the same time cutting down on the time that information “gatekeepers” have to spend tracking down documents for co-workers. Most small businesses won’t need them.

**“AI”-based tools.** Visual data interaction tools can be used to support pattern via machine learning (or “AI” in layman’s terms). Generally this requires integration with a variety of other tools and technologies ranging from the statistical programming language “R” to Apache Spark (a framework for programming machine-learning algorithms in cluster computing environments).

**“AI-based” data discovery tools directly leverage machine learning to** _**spot patterns for users**_**, instead of enabling users to spot patterns themselves through visual analysis.** These tools then output visualizations and can even express the patterns they find in narrative form for users (for example, they can output a sentence stating “Q4 revenue down 2.1 percent in Kentucky branch stores served by X, Y and Z distributors.”

Don’t assume that a HAL 9000 will replace your analysts anytime soon, however. Human beings still need to vet the patterns to make sure that they’re truly significant, and once a pattern has been spotted, users can continue to refine the analysis by asking new questions of the tool, similar to the workflow in a visual data interaction tool.

Examples of “AI”-based data discovery tools include IBM Watson and Salesforce BeyondCore. This is still an emerging market, and while promising, these solutions are too expensive and technologically immature for SMB users at present. Most SMBs will be better served exploring the wide range of visual data interaction tools on the market.

_Note: Several of these definitions of categories in the data discovery market were adapted from Gartner research reports, specifically_ [What Data Discovery Means for You](http://www.gartner.com/document/2947518) _by Joao Tapadinhas and Dan Sommer (available to Gartner clients)._

### Related Data Discovery Software

-   [Big Data Software](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/big-data-comparison/)
-   [Business Intelligence Software](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/)
-   [Data Visualization Software](https://www.softwareadvice.com/bi/data-visualization-comparison/)
-   [Electronic Discovery Software](https://www.softwareadvice.com/ediscovery/)
-   [Reporting Software](https://www.softwareadvice.com/reporting-tools/)