Pentaho: Data Analytics Via Heat Grids and Bubble Charts

Pentaho Business Analytics 4.5 arrives this week with a promise to provide exploration and visualization capabilities across "all" data sources, including big data. Also incorporating an interface to SaaS-based third-party visualizations, this data analytics tool now features geo-mapping, heat-grids, and scatter/bubble-chart visualizations.

The firm is hoping to gain support from both IT and line of business users who might use its tool to "collaborate and iterate" to achieve better analysis and make better business decisions.

Adding further data sizzle to an already (for some) sexy heat-grid bubble-chart combo offering are Pentaho's interactive visual analysis functions such as lasso filtering, zoom, and "attribute highlighting" on all chart types. There are also interactive reporting enhancements designed for non-technical users and in-memory cache performance improvements.

"Pentaho Business Analytics 4.5 delivers interactive visualization and big data integration in a unified pluggable platform that speeds time to business insights for both IT and line of business," said Jake Cornelius, senior vice president, products, Pentaho Corporation. "We built the Pentaho platform from the ground up with an understanding that data integration and business analytics are better together."

The company is making much of its so-termed "simplified deployment options" for data distribution across Hadoop clusters, including a new Debian RPM for MapR and support for Hadoop's distributed cache. There is expanded NoSQL database integration including read, write, and reporting with Apache Cassandra, DataStax, and MongoDB. Plus performance and ease-of-use improvements in the Pentaho MapReduce visual designer and support for secure Hadoop clusters.

Pentaho also provides an online, distribution-specific "how to" resource center.