Quest Software is a Leader in

SPARK Matrix: Data Preparation Tools,

2022

Data Preparation Tools An Excerpt from Quadrant Knowledge Solutions

2022 “SPARK Matrix: Data Preparation Tools, 2022”
Knowledge Brief

Quest Software is a Leader in SPARK

Matrix: Data Preparation Tools, 2022
Data preparation tools enable organizations to identify, clean, and convert raw
datasets from various data sources to assist data professionals in performing data
analysis and gaining valuable insights using machine learning (ML) algorithms
and analytics tools. These data sets are used for business analysis, which enable
organizations in decision-making through cleansing, accessing, validating, and
transforming data without requiring human processes or coding expertise.
Data preparation tools allow users to spend less time gathering, cleansing, and
structuring data and more time mining and analyzing it.

Data preparation tools are most effective in big data environments that store
structured, unstructured, and semi-structured data. Data preparation software
includes pre-built functions to automate and streamline repeated processes and
a collaborative interface for reports and model building. Data preparation tools
ensure that the highest quality data is migrated for analysis, alerting users to any
data duplication, and allowing them to take appropriate action.

Leading data preparation tools vendors provide multiple capabilities, including

blending multiple sources into one dataset, AI-based data and field identification in
multi-structured documents, automated extraction and data classification, quality
assessment, data discovery, data lineage, and pattern recognition between the
data sets. It also skews imbalanced data sets by blending internal and external
data sets, producing new data fields, and eliminating outliers. Data preparation
tools are expanding, with an emphasis on cloud-based data preparation and
augmentation of data preparation capabilities and DataOps, which allows users to
automate the building of data pipelines for BI and analytics.

Quadrant Knowledge Solutions’ SPARK Matrix: Data Preparation Tools, 2022

research includes a detailed analysis of the global market regarding short-term and
long-term growth opportunities, emerging technology trends, market trends, and
future market outlook. This research provides strategic information for technology
vendors to better understand the existing market, support their growth strategies,
and for users to evaluate different vendors’ capabilities, competitive differentiation,
and market position.

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Knowledge Brief

The research includes detailed competition analysis and vendor evaluation

with the proprietary SPARK Matrix analysis. SPARK Matrix includes ranking
and positioning of leading data preparation tools vendors with a global impact.
This study includes an analysis of key vendors, including Altair, Alteryx, Boomi,
Cambridge Semantics, Datameer, DataRobot, Elegant MicroWeb, Informatica,
Modak Analytics, Oracle, Precisely, Quest Software, SAP, SAS, Talend, Tamr,
TIBCO, Yellowfin.

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Knowledge Brief

Market Dynamics and Trends

Data preparation tools deal with large amounts of unstructured data by combining
data from multiple sources and preparing data for analysis. Data preparation
tools include a set of capabilities that allow organizations to collect, analyze,
and standardize data. Quadrant analysts believe that data preparation tools are
gaining traction owing to increased adoption by industry verticals such as banking
& financial services, government & public sector, and healthcare. These tools
provide organizations with easy access to the data, blend data into one dataset,
and provide data classification. Organizations are looking to shift to self-service
data preparation tools to accelerate the business impact by helping them achieve
better outcomes, streamline the data supply chain, and provide more data to
analyze with better insights.

Data preparation tools have always witnessed a high demand owing to their
capability of providing quality data by standardizing the format, removing
inaccurate data & duplicates, and flagging incomplete data in the organization.
Businesses are more likely to adopt data preparation tools because they help
reduce the time spent preparing the data prior to analysis. The future of data
preparation tools is being driven by AI and ML, which will automate processes to
quickly identify, locate, and curate data sets, and provide data privacy regulations.
Data preparation tools vendors are focusing on providing platforms that process
various data formats faster with greater accuracy and help organizations streamline
their business workflows. The market trends discussed above are expected to
play a vital role in increasing the adoption rate and total market growth of data
preparation tools.

Technology Trends

The following are the key technology drivers as per Quadrant Knowledge Solutions’
data preparation tools strategic research:

• Vendors are focusing on integrating modern analytics, BI, data

engineering platforms, and cloud services as part of their end-to-end
analytics workflow with data pipeline features.

• Vendors are implementing a spreadsheet-style grid for customers to

readily evaluate data and cut down on data preparation stages in a
task-based framework.

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Knowledge Brief

• Data preparation tools vendors provide customized templates for

specific use cases based on organization- or vertical-specific data
and models.

• Data preparation tools vendors provide AI-based solutions with

capabilities such as data lineage and data governance.

• Vendors are focusing on impact analysis which provides insights into

data transformation and usage efficiency.

• Organizations are continuing to prioritize the incorporation of data

preparation tools into data management and analytics frameworks.
Organizations are also using no-code tools to make technology more
accessible to non-technical users and to provide more self-service
data preparation tools.

• Data preparation tools vendors are looking beyond traditional

workflows and gradually integrating automation into their ecosystems
to improve their business operations and create a seamless user
experience.

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Knowledge Brief

SPARK Matrix Analysis of the Data

Preparation Tools Market
Quadrant Knowledge Solutions conducted an in-depth analysis of the major data
preparation tools vendors by evaluating their product portfolio, market presence,
and customer value proposition. The Data preparation tools market outlook
provides competitive analysis and a ranking of the leading vendors in the form of
a proprietary SPARK MatrixTM. SPARK Matrix analysis offers a snapshot of key
market participants and a visual representation of market participants. It offers
strategic insights on how each vendor ranks related to their competitors based
on their respective technology excellence and customer impact parameters. The
evaluation is based on primary research, including expert interviews, analysis of
use cases, and Quadrant’s internal analysis of the overall data preparation tools
market.

According to the SPARK Matrix analysis of the global data preparation tools
market, “Quest Software, with its unique enterprise-grade data preparation tools,
has secured strong ratings across the performance parameters of technology
excellence and customer impact and has been positioned amongst the technology
leaders in the 2022 SPARK Matrix of the data preparation tools market.”

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 Knowledge Brief

Figure: 2022 SPARK Matrix™

(Strategic Performance Assessment and Ranking)
Data Preparation Tools Market

SPARK Matrix™: Data Preparation Tools, 2022

Aspirants Challengers Technology Leaders

Informatica
t ltery
Alteryx
IBM
BCO
TIBCO
Talend
alen
SAS
S Altair
Alt i
Oracle
e
Quest Software
e
Customer Impact

Modak Analyticss SAP ataRo

DataRobot

cisel
Precisely
Boomi
Tamr
T
Tamr
Elegant MicroWeb
Yellown
ellow
Datameer
atam
Cambridge Semantics

June 2022 ©Quadrant Knowledge Solutions

Technology Excellence

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Knowledge Brief

Quest Software
Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Aliso Viejo, CA, Quest provides data
preparation tools as part of the Quest Toad Data Point solution. The solution
improves data integration capability and provides an interface to support business
users in establishing data reports and automate data workflows. The platform
integrates and provides access to multiple data sources on-premises and in the
cloud. It enables organizations to perform data profiling, build reports, and design
automation workflows. The key features and functionalities offered by Toad Data
Point include a client interface to access multiple data sources, build queries
easily, and curate and provision data.

The Quest Toad Data Point data preparation platform offers the ability to integrate
data from multiple sources like Microsoft Power BI and Microsoft Excel and
customizes data as per organizational requirements. Users can create queries by
dragging tables and objects in a visual query building palette, without having to write
any coded statements. The provisioning capabilities of Quest Toad Intelligence
Central make data available to users and data consumers in an organized and
secure manner. Additionally, it allows users to select from two interfaces, traditional
and Workbook, based on their requirements. The traditional interface provides
greater flexibility and a wider range of functions for data professionals, while the
Workbook interface allows users to build query-to-report workflows.

Analyst Perspective

Following is the analysis of Quest Software’s capabilities in the global Data

Preparation Tools market:

• Toad Data Point provides a cross-platform, self-service, and data

integration tool that allows easy data access, preparation, and
provisioning. The capabilities enable users to connect and run queries
on a variety of data sources. Furthermore, Toad Data Point uses a
drag and drop interface to perform cross-platform querying as well as
provide greater flexibility and agility with data sets by capitalizing on
the concept of local data storage.

• Some of the key differentiators for the Toad Data Point data
preparation tool offering include an automation engine, compare
and sync, and an Import/Export utility wizard that allows for

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Knowledge Brief

cross-platform data migration, where possible. Toad Data Point helps

users, who may not have coding skills, by providing them a simple means
to build comprehensive queries visually to extract data from multiple
sources. These capabilities enable the user to automate and schedule
routine tasks, build data workflows, and link data between multiple
data sources to ensure consistency and validation. Additionally, the
solution is equipped with self-service data preparation/curation tooling
allowing users to compare/visualize/profile data for quality validation
and perform many common transformations which may be necessary
before data is consumed by other users or third-party applications.
Finally, the solution provides an Automation Engine that enables users
to create visual workflows that could include many of the capabilities
mentioned above.

• The company holds a strong customer base, including the leading

brands across industry verticals such as banking and financial services,
manufacturing, healthcare, life sciences, and academic institutions.
From a geographical presence perspective, Quest has customers
around the world, with its strongest presence in North America,
followed by the European Union. The company also has a presence in
the Asia Pacific and Latin America.

• Some of the top use cases for Toad Data Point include allowing
business users access to data sources with drag-and-drop query
capabilities, streamlining day-to-day tasks involving data access,
curation, preparation, and providing useful data insights. Unlike many
tools, Toad Data Point can be used as a tool that allows business users
to access their important data assets.

• Toad Data Point’s primary challenges include the growing competition

from well-established and emerging vendors providing data preparation
tools and technology offerings. However, with its sophisticated
technology platform, comprehensive functional capabilities, and
competitive price point, QuestToad Data Point is well-positioned to
expand its share in the global data preparation tools market. Additionally,
Quest’s strategic roadmap for their data prep solutions over the next
few years includes continuous investments in emerging technologies
like data engineering and DataOps and enhancing its existing platform
capabilities.

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