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Pros & Cons summary

Buyer's Guide

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Pentaho's BI Server, CDE Dashboards, Saiku, and Kettle are highly experienced and effective tools.
Components are easy to use for job creation.
Initial setup is straightforward, and installation is possible without tech support.
Offers valuable features like Tableau reports and ease in developing data flows.
Provides a wide range of database connectivity options, including cloud support, and is suitable for big data management and analytics.

CONS

Pentaho should improve dashboard construction and integration of information from different sources without technical user intervention.
Logging capability and version control are needed.
The repository requires improvement, and Pentaho is not customizable or interactive.
Pentaho is hard to learn and not suited for initial users due to its reliance on Java and technical skills.
Deployment is complex due to dealing with large amounts of data and storage.
 

Pentaho Business Analytics Pros review quotes

it_user736950 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director Tecnologia
Sep 14, 2017
I use the BI Server, CDE Dashboards, Saiku, and Kettle, because these tools are very good and highly experienced.
it_user798240 - PeerSpot reviewer
Identity and Access Management Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Jan 8, 2018
Easy to use components to create the job.
Sayan König - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager, Financial Services at KPMG
Feb 16, 2022
The initial setup is pretty straightforward.
Learn what your peers think about Pentaho Business Analytics. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Muhammed Shafad - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Data Analyst at 6d Technologies
May 25, 2022
The most valuable feature of Pentaho is the Tableau report.
Azhagarasan Annadorai - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder at Unknown.University
May 28, 2025
We were able to install it without any assistance from tech support.
reviewer2031747 - PeerSpot reviewer
Administrative Assistant at a university with 10,001+ employees
Dec 2, 2022
Pentaho Business Analytics' best features include the ease of developing data flows and the wide range of options to connect to databases, including those on the cloud.
Mir Gulzar Ahmed - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at Synergy Computers
Nov 6, 2023
Pentaho is an analytics platform that can be used when an organization has a lot of big data storage systems already installed and needs to manage and analyze that data. It has a specific use case for unstructured data, such as documents, and needs to be able to search and analyze it.
PK
Digital Development Specialist at Vittne Digital Teknologi
Dec 6, 2024
It is robust, offers market intelligence, and utilizes modules effectively.
AR
DBA at Federal University of Uberlândia
Mar 28, 2025
The interface of Pentaho Business Analytics is easy to use and does not require high-level skills to operate the tool.
 

Pentaho Business Analytics Cons review quotes

it_user736950 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director Tecnologia
Sep 14, 2017
Pentaho, at the general level, should greatly improve the easy construction of its dashboards and easy integration of information from different sources without technical user intervention.
it_user798240 - PeerSpot reviewer
Identity and Access Management Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Jan 8, 2018
Logging capability is needed.
Sayan König - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager, Financial Services at KPMG
Feb 16, 2022
The repository should be improved.
Learn what your peers think about Pentaho Business Analytics. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Muhammed Shafad - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Data Analyst at 6d Technologies
May 25, 2022
Another concern is that Pentaho is not customizable or interactive.
Azhagarasan Annadorai - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder at Unknown.University
May 28, 2025
We did not achieve the ROI. The work delivered to users had lesser value than the subscription cost.
reviewer2031747 - PeerSpot reviewer
Administrative Assistant at a university with 10,001+ employees
Dec 2, 2022
Pentaho Business Analytics' user interface is outdated.
Mir Gulzar Ahmed - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at Synergy Computers
Nov 6, 2023
Deployment is not simple. It is not simple because we are dealing with a lot of data; we are dealing with a lot of storage. So, it's not a simple process.
PK
Digital Development Specialist at Vittne Digital Teknologi
Dec 6, 2024
The tool is very good, and yet it has some problems as it relies heavily on Java.
AR
DBA at Federal University of Uberlândia
Mar 28, 2025
Pentaho Business Analytics is hard to learn and not suited for initial users as it requires knowledge of operating systems, Java, and other technical skills.