First Look: Rapid Insight Update

I last got an update from Rapid Insight back in March of 2012. Since then they have made a number of updates to the products. To recap, Rapid Insight Veera is a data intelligence tool for creating analytical processes and modeling datasets (supporting an extract, transform, analyze metaphor) and Rapid Insight Analytics is a data mining or predictive workbench. Recent releases have focused on updates to the Veera product:

• The data preparation capability has been extended to include automated analysis. For instance Veera can analyze a dataset to see which variables are statistically related or relevant to the target variable. Veera can also suggest transformations that might be helpful, that might improve the predictive power of the variable.
• From within Veera users can create a new dataset (focusing on the most predictive attributes for instance) or begin modeling against the dataset directly. Modeling in Veera uses the same underlying technology as Rapid Insight Analytics but does not do the modeling in memory, allowing potentially very large datasets to be analyzed albeit in a less interactive way.
• Tableau integration for Veera has been added, allowing datasets to be provided directly to Tableau for visualization.
• Hadoop is now supported by Veera for both read and write. This allows data in Hadoop to be brought into Veera workflows and integrated with other data sources for analysis. Some of the processing that can be defined in Veera, such as aggregates for instance, can be pushed to MapReduce scripts automatically to do more of the processing in Hadoop.
• SQL pushback of processing steps has been extended with code optimized for Teradata, HANA, SQL Server, MS Access, Postgres, MySQL, Vertica and Oracle allowing workflows to do in-database processing.
• Veera can now also use R scripts as a node in the workflow. A skeleton R script can be generated based on the current Veera workflow (matching inputs and outputs in the R script to the Veera workflow) or an existing R Script can be brought in and data elements mapped to those in Veera.
• In support of their healthcare clients, Rapid Insight have added support for EDI files to make it easier, for instance, to bring in claims data.
• Jobs in Veera can also now be scheduled on a recurring basis. Jobs can be kicked off by other jobs, based potentially on results from the first job, and from outside Veera.

A major update to the Analytics product is underway and is expected later this year.

Rapid Insight is one of the vendors listed in our Decision Management Systems Platform Technologies report and you can get more information on their products here.