What is our primary use case?
My main use case for
Palantir Foundry is pipelining and analyzing data there.
I replace the existing pipelines with Pipeline Builder in Palantir Foundry. I have various data flows and production of national reports, and I am replacing that using Palantir as part of an NHS Federated Data Platform. In terms of analytics, I use it to check data consistency and test it against what I have in other systems. People also use Quiver and Contour.
That is pretty much everything I have to add about my main use case or the way my team interacts with Palantir Foundry.
What is most valuable?
My background is in
Databricks, and if I compare Palantir Foundry to
Databricks, I see benefits of Palantir Foundry in that they make it simpler to configure clusters or at least to manage some infrastructure. If I think of
Foundry as being an implementation of
Apache Spark and compare that to Databricks, it is easier for an organization to use
Foundry. I would also say that pipelining itself is more drag-and-drop style.
It is obviously easier to start with Palantir Foundry. I get more things managed by Palantir themselves. If I have a team with mostly SQL background and I want to move them to a Python, PySpark environment to use clusters, obviously using Palantir Foundry is an easier option than using Databricks.
There are pros and cons, obviously, regarding the features of Palantir Foundry. If I get stuck with the drag-and-drop nature of Pipeline Builder, it is going to be more difficult to migrate that to a different platform. From a Python coding perspective, even if I don't use much of that, I would say Databricks is probably better.
It is difficult to say how Palantir Foundry has impacted my organization positively. Palantir helped me migrate some data into the cloud. Whether they indeed impacted my organization positively is not clear because of Palantir's appalling reputation. So it is not that easy to say. If it was my choice, I wouldn't sign the contract with Palantir in the first place. I would probably stick to standard Databricks.
What needs improvement?
I wouldn't add more about the needed improvements, either on the technical side or regarding compatibility and integration.
Obviously the company's reputation needs to be improved regarding Palantir Foundry, or ideally, Palantir needs to get away from the appalling views on human rights and improve the reputation. Whether it can be improved, I don't know. This is not a technological problem; it is a problem of company image, so I wouldn't be surprised if the NHS actually triggers a break clause in the contract in February next year. That is not linked to the product itself. From a technical perspective, maybe to make Palantir Foundry more compatible with Databricks could be one option, or maybe more integrated with Azure. It is difficult to say because they might lose some of their competitive advantage in doing so.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Palantir Foundry for about nine months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Palantir Foundry is okay in terms of stability. It gets sometimes occasional issues, but compared to Databricks, it is probably the same or may be better. However, as maybe one of early adopters, I get more technical support from Palantir, and I am maybe in a honeymoon phase. It is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I don't know the answer to the question about Palantir Foundry's scalability, really, because I didn't test that. My assumption is that it is correct. I don't know the financial side of it, the cost. I can't judge that. To the best of my knowledge, it is not worse than Databricks.
How are customer service and support?
Customer support for Palantir Foundry is okay. However, I am in this potentially better supported phase by Palantir Foundry. I am not admins on my tenant. What I have in the current environment is that Palantir Foundry themselves are running my tenant and configuring clusters and doing things that I need, simply because I don't have permissions. So when I get to that point of being admins on my own tenant, then I may be able to provide more information about that.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
In the current organization, I used legacy on-premises and cloud databases, and I used and still use
Microsoft Azure before I switched to Palantir Foundry. I haven't fully switched yet, but the decision to overall switch was based on the momentum to go to this FDP, a Federated Data Platform. I believe it was a financial incentive to do so because from my organizational perspective, I am not paying for cloud space that I use in Palantir. I only pay for computing, but even that is probably covered by a bulk contract.
How was the initial setup?
I didn't purchase Palantir Foundry through the
AWS Marketplace because in my case, it is a part of the contract between NHS England and Palantir. I don't know if they procured it via
AWS Marketplace or not.
What about the implementation team?
My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
What was our ROI?
I haven't seen a return on investment with Palantir Foundry. I wouldn't even see the financial data. It is very difficult to judge for me. That is why if somebody would ask me whether Palantir Foundry in the NHS is value for money, it is difficult to answer that question.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I have no experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Palantir Foundry because for me, essentially, it is free. NHS England pays for that as part of their procurement process. That is why I can't answer this question. But in terms of getting a contractor to work on that, I would probably say it is more expensive because there are fewer people with that skillset compared to, say, Databricks or Azure.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I didn't choose Palantir Foundry; I wouldn't choose them. If it was my choice, I would probably go for Databricks or even stay with Azure and try to see if I could use Spark there even without Databricks.
What other advice do I have?
First of all, I would advise others looking into using Palantir Foundry to ask themselves if they want to use it given the reputation of the company. You don't need to use Palantir Foundry per se. The second consideration would be whether you want to use Databricks or any other implementation of
Apache Spark. It would be interesting to see if you prefer the drag-and-drop nature of Pipeline Builder as opposed to, say, notebook structure of Databricks. So it might be a choice. I would probably say talk to your data engineers and ask for their opinion. Take that into consideration as well. Factors to consider include if you implement Palantir Foundry as what they consider a default option, you are likely to be very entangled into the product. It would be difficult to decouple in the future. That is why they are very sticky. That is probably one of the issues the NHS will get with the product in the future. My overall rating for Palantir Foundry is 6.