David Menninger's Analyst Perspectives

Domo Rated Exemplary and Collaborative Leader in 2021 Value Index on Analytics and Data

Written by David Menninger | Jun 10, 2021 10:00:00 AM

We are happy to share some insights about Domo drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.

Earlier this year we published the Ventana Research Value Index: Analytics and Data 2021, the distillation of a year of market and product research efforts. We then developed three additional Value Indexes on analytics and business intelligence focusing on mobile, embedded and collaborative capabilities. Because each is a critical aspect of modern BI, we developed specific criteria to provide an in-depth look at features geared specifically to mobile, embedded and collaborative use.

In all of our Value Indexes, we utilize a structured research methodology that includes evaluation categories designed to reflect real-world criteria incorporated in a request for proposal and vendor selection process for analytics and business intelligence. We evaluated Domo and 17 other vendors in seven categories: five relevant to the product – Adaptability, Capability, Manageability, Reliability and Usability – and two related to the vendor – Total Cost of Ownership/Return on Investment and Vendor Validation. To arrive at the Value Index rating for a given vendor, we weighted each category to reflect its relative importance in an RFP process, with the weightings based on our experience and on data derived from our Benchmark Research on Analytics and Business Intelligence.

Domo, a publicly traded vendor of cloud-based BI, was categorized as an Exemplary Vendor and ranked sixth overall in this Value Index evaluation. Domo performed consistently well in the Value Index across all categories in the evaluation and its best in Manageability.

The Domo product runs in the cloud and data is generally loaded into Domo’s platform for analysis, but there are also hybrid capabilities to support accessing databases on demand. The product includes connectors to many types of business applications for hundreds of cloud and on-premises data sources extending well beyond databases. Domo also includes good collaboration and built-in machine language capabilities. It has been enhanced significantly since our last assessment, with additional customization capabilities.

Our assessment finds room for improvement with additional predictive analytics and planning capabilities. Domo would have performed better in TCO/ROI if it provided additional tools for prospects to evaluate projected returns on investment. It would have performed better in Validation if more information were available on services, either from Domo or its partners.

Collaboration among a team of individuals on analytical processes is important because it helps organizations maximize the value of analytics investments. Social media has introduced significant new collaboration capabilities that can further enhance the analytics process. Domo is the Value Index Leader in collaborative analytics. The product includes a community framework for communicating among teams or individuals. It includes alerting, annotations, social recognition and a task management framework for assigning and tracking actions associated with or resulting from the analytical process. Its Capability ranking would have been even higher with better integration with third-party collaboration tools.

Demand for embedded analytics is growing: Nearly three-quarters of participants in our Data and Analytics in the Cloud Benchmark Research said they considered embedded analytics important. Analytics embedded in business processes and applications make analyses easier to perform and more accessible to line-of-business personnel. Domo provides developers REST application programming interfaces to access most of the system, along with examples in Java, Python and JavaScript, depending on the type of API. It also provides a framework for creating custom connectors with read or write functionality. Individual components can be embedded in other applications, and branding can be modified as needed. Domo would score better in Capability with support for more complex queries, natural language processing and ML assistance.

Workers today switch between desktop/laptop devices when in the office to mobile devices when outside the office, so integration between these two modes is important. Vendors are focusing on delivery of analytics and business intelligence on a variety of mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets. Domo provides native iOS and Android mobile applications. The mobile product supports a wide variety of visualizations and interactions including collaboration, notifications and search. Custom Domo applications can also be deployed to mobile devices. Our assessment finds room for improvement with support for more native device capabilities such as location awareness, voice interaction and camera integration.

This assessment was based on Domo’s analytics products available at end of December in 2020. Domo launched more than 100 new features at 2021 in March. Domo now offers a single interface where personnel can use data across multiple cloud platforms. Domo has also expanded its relationship with Amazon Web Services and introduced a new tool – Domo for Amazon Redshift, which enables native integration between Domo and AWS' cloud data warehouse. Along with enhanced embedded analytics and cloud-related capabilities, Domo's platform update features artificial intelligence capabilities including natural language in narrative cards, which automatically generates narratives. DDX Bricks is a feature that enables customers to create and deploy custom data visualizations and BI applications without writing code. Additional information about the latest releases is posted here.

Organizations should evaluate data and analytics requirements including collaborative, embedded and mobile capabilities to ensure existing solutions are meeting business needs. If existing solutions are not satisfying those requirements, organizations should consider whether Domo can help meet those needs.

This research-based index is the most comprehensive assessment of the value of analytics and BI software in the industry. Technology buyers can learn more about how to use our Value Index by clicking here, and included vendors that wish to learn more can click here. Read the report here.

Regards,

David Menninger