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Pentaho Data Integration and Analytics pros and cons

4.0 out of 5

Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Data transformation is highly valued within Pentaho, significantly improving data integration capabilities.
Pentaho offers a valuable open-source option with a free community version.
Using metadata in Pentaho automates data pipeline templates, reducing the need for additional ETLs and improving productivity.
Pentaho supports flexible deployment in multiple environments, accommodating both on-prem and cloud setups.
Pentaho's integration and analytics features enable the management of large data sets and integration of multiple data sources efficiently.

CONS

Pentaho Data Integration and Analytics lacks native support for newer databases and cloud services, limiting integration efficiency.
Backward compatibility is an issue, causing instability particularly in the Community Edition.
The performance is inadequate for handling large data volumes, requiring optimization for efficiency.
There is an absence of a data quality or Master Data Management solution, hindering data governance.
Debugging and troubleshooting complexities hamper effective pipeline execution, affecting user experience.
 

Pentaho Data Integration and Analytics Pros review quotes

it_user369171 - PeerSpot reviewer
Brazil IT Coordinator at a transportation company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Aug 24, 2017
Data transformation within Pentaho is a nice feature that they have and that I value.
it_user172275 - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
Sep 26, 2017
It's very simple compared to other products out there.
it_user254223 - PeerSpot reviewer
Project Manager - Business Intelligence at www.datademy.es
Jan 8, 2018
It has improved our data integration capabilities​.
Learn what your peers think about Pentaho Data Integration and Analytics. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer1384743 - PeerSpot reviewer
Specialist in Relational Databases and Nosql at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Jul 17, 2020
The solution has a free to use community version.
AG
Assistant General Manager at DTDC Express Limited
Jan 8, 2021
The amount of data that it loads and processes is good.
it_user1510395 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Manager at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Feb 22, 2021
Pentaho Data Integration is quite simple to learn, and there is a lot of information available online.
OM
IT-Services Manager & Solution Architect at Stratis
Jul 14, 2021
It's my understanding that the product can scale.
PR
Senior Engineer at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees
Dec 13, 2021
The graphical nature of the development interface is most useful because we've got people with quite mixed skills in the team. We've got some very junior, apprentice-level people, and we've got support analysts who don't have an IT background. It allows us to have quite complicated data flows and embed logic in them. Rather than having to troll through lines and lines of code and try and work out what it's doing, you get a visual representation, which makes it quite easy for people with mixed skills to support and maintain the product. That's one side of it.
DP
Enterprise Data Architect at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees
Dec 14, 2021
Lumada has allowed us to interact with our employees more effectively and compensate them properly. One of the cool things is that we use it to generate commissions for our salespeople and bonuses for our warehouse people. It allows us to get information out to them in a timely fashion. We can also see where they're at and how they're doing.
TG
Analytics Team Leader at HealtheLink
Jan 3, 2022
We're using the PDI and the repository function, and they give us the ability to easily generate reporting and output, and to access data. We also like the ability to schedule.
 

Pentaho Data Integration and Analytics Cons review quotes

it_user369171 - PeerSpot reviewer
Brazil IT Coordinator at a transportation company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Aug 24, 2017
I would like to see more improvements with AS400 DB2.
it_user172275 - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
Sep 26, 2017
One thing that I don't like, just a little, is the backward compatibility.
it_user254223 - PeerSpot reviewer
Project Manager - Business Intelligence at www.datademy.es
Jan 8, 2018
​There is not a data quality or MDM solution in the Pentaho DI suite.​
Learn what your peers think about Pentaho Data Integration and Analytics. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer1384743 - PeerSpot reviewer
Specialist in Relational Databases and Nosql at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Jul 17, 2020
It's not very stable, at least not in the case of the community edition. I'm working with the community edition right now and I think perhaps it is because of that it is not very stable, it causes the system to sometimes hang. I'm not sure if this is the case for pair tiers.
AG
Assistant General Manager at DTDC Express Limited
Jan 8, 2021
I would like to see improvements made for real-time data processing.
it_user1510395 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Manager at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Feb 22, 2021
I'm still in the very recent stage concerning Pentaho Data Integration, but it can't really handle what I describe as "extreme data processing" i.e. when there is a huge amount of data to process. That is one area where Pentaho is still lacking.
OM
IT-Services Manager & Solution Architect at Stratis
Jul 14, 2021
The product needs more plugins.
PR
Senior Engineer at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees
Dec 13, 2021
Although it is a low-code solution with a graphical interface, often the error messages that you get are of the type that a developer would be happy with. You get a big stack of red text and Java errors displayed on the screen, and less technical people can get intimidated by that. It can be a bit intimidating to get a wall of red error messages displayed. Other graphical tools that are focused at the power user level provide a much more user-friendly experience in dealing with your exceptions and guiding the user into where they've made the mistake.
DP
Enterprise Data Architect at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees
Dec 14, 2021
Some of the scheduling features about Lumada drive me buggy. The one issue that always drives me up the wall is when Daylight Savings Time changes. It doesn't take that into account elegantly. Every time it changes, I have to do something. It's not a big deal, but it's annoying.
TG
Analytics Team Leader at HealtheLink
Jan 3, 2022
Since Hitachi took over, I don't feel that the documentation is as good within the solution. It used to have very good help built right in.