Altair SLC Reviews

Flexible & Powerful Analytic Toolset for a price small businesses can afford

Pros:

The product is easy to use if you know SAS programming. They have their own ML PROCS that are better than SAS offerings. The cost is very reasonable and support is prompt and thorough.

Cons:

I do not use the GUI Workflow side of the product so I am unable to rate that. Most complaints or issues I have had are so rapidly solved by support that many disadvantages are transitory. I would say that the set of extra windows is confusing to me when doing SAS coding and troubleshooting. They do not have all options in certain procedures that you would get with SAS 9.4.

Good product

Pros:

- the ability to code in SAS - the ability to mix Python, R and SQL with the SAS language- server mode operation- fiability of the product

Cons:

- I would have liked to see more training on this very feature-rich product via more tutorials or to make these resources more visible.- get logs of python or R programs encapsulated in SAS code- more monitoring tools

Dud

Pros:

Nothing much - it does not keep up with SAS

Cons:

Changes in install need to be better documented and CFG file needs to stay when new release is installed

A robust product that is worth the money

Comments: Overall we have been very happy working with Altair.

Pros:

Setup is fairly easy, ease of use as a standalone but works well with Python, and the database connections are so far stable and easy to configure.

Cons:

1. Sorting large datasets have always been a challenge. Some of this is due to our config settings, as by default we always compress datasets and use the sas7bdat engine, but the way the product works with the Windows OS to balance cpu/memory can be frustrating.2. GETTING TO THE DOCUMENTATION! You must bookmark it once you find it else it takes 10 minutes to figure out how to get to it, as it gets lost in the midst of everything else that is on the site.

Long-time user!

Pros:

I have used it for well over 10 years since the early WPS years. Their support has been great, with favorable licensing terms for consultants like me. Also, the pricing structure now makes it possible for me to use additional Altair products.

Cons:

Sometimes the convenient features in the SAS language are unavailable, though workarounds usually exist. Also, sometimes it has limitations that had not existed in SAS, so, moderately complex tasks often require non-trivial adjustments.

My short trial period

Pros:

I like more the interface of the software and it is user friendly

Cons:

Data importing is not flexible and you have to comply with the requirements before importing the data. Other softwares adjust the data according to the requirements automatically

replacing SAS use

Pros:

Easierer than SAS to uimplement and use wit similat functionnality

Cons:

performance can be improved in management of I/O and memory spacially for access to extternal Database

Altair SLC

Pros:

Simple to use, lots of functionality, flexible to work with, either using data from CSV or our internal database. multiple coding languages - perfect for a start up.

Cons:

Integration with our internal server and databases has been challenging, and required us to get help from the support team. documentation helps but was light or lacking in places.

Ruined the product

Comments: I'm switching analytics platforms.

Pros:

None and i'm typing more words to fill the minimum word count

Cons:

I've had to rewrite most of my code since the most recent upgrade. Customer support has been dismal and beyond useless.

I love SAS but....$$$

Pros:

I've been programming in SAS for nearly 40 years and it's indispensable for working with large data sets and statistical analysis. I love the software but let's face it, SAS pricing is not transparent, is too expensive, and they charge for additional functionality like SAS/Stats. I've been using SLC (formerly WPS) for over 10 years and have had no problems with compatibility to Base SAS. There have been a few statistical procedures that were not initially supported but when I requested them they were implemented within the year. I could not be happier with SLC. Their support team has been great, too.

Cons:

Honestly, there is nothing that I do not like about the software. It lives up exactly to my expectations and has not failed me in any way. That said, I would like to see a connector to Tableau hyper datasets. That could make my life easier.

Happy User!

Comments: All positive. Excellent customer support!

Pros:

Able to extract, analyze, report, and predict with one package!

Cons:

None...have been able to answer all related data analytics questions.

World Programming System

Pros:

Cost effective solution and great connectivity options

Cons:

Bugs, slow speeds and performance issues/crashes

Great for Developing Quick IVS

Comments: Overall rating B

Pros:

We mainly use Altair Knowledge Studio for predictive analytics purposes. The decision tree functionality provides an easy to use interface for creating interactive variables between attributes. This is a huge advantage for myself and team as we can quickly examine relationships between certain predictors in our models.

Cons:

Cost can be a big factor, but Altair stands alone in the industry for the capabilities it provides to fintech companies.

Best Analytics Product

Pros:

I have really enjoyed using this software and the fact that I can use both visual and code based views of this.

Cons:

A number of my colleagues bitching and moaning about pricing, functionality and the desire to not use Hub in preference for AWS.

New position - SAS to Altair

Pros:

Almost a seamless switch for me from SAS to WPS/ Altair.Flexibility facilitated by macros language and data-step are industry leading.

Cons:

Graphic visualizations remain difficult to use.

Chief Actuary review

Pros:

My team found this to be a dependable product to help with data manipulation.

Cons:

Customer service isn't great especially with the acquisition of WPS by Altair.

Alternative to Win PC SAS

Pros:

Almost like traditionally SAS. The price is probably much lower.

Cons:

The user interface is not good: VERY SMALL symbols, No command line. "I know where I want to go! How to I specify that?"

Software Install and customise

Comments: Product was easy to install and customise, and support was good when issues were reported.

Pros:

My role was primarily to install and customize for our Analytics team, ease of installation and understanding install documentation is important for upgrade purposes.

Cons:

I cant really comment about the use, I only and customize and resolve user run and deploy issues

mi e' semplice utilizzare WPS perche' avevo gia' una buona conoscenza di SAS

Comments: Siamo in contatto con Michael Vallely per delle implementazioni sui nostri programmi e delle eventuali prove su cloud

Pros:

I vecchi programmi che utilizzavo in SAS sono stati facilmente e velocemente convertiti per l'utilizzo di WPS

Cons:

solo all'inizio (circa 2 anni fa) non erano ancora state implementate tutte le procedure che usavo con SAS : il servizio di supporto pero' mi e' stato di grande aiuto nella risoluzione / riscrittura di alcune parti di programma