Alteryx adds tools for cloud, hybrid analytics deployments

Thursday at 06:47 PM

The latest Alteryx platform update provides new capabilities to support all types of data management and analytics system deployments, whether in the cloud, on premises or a hybrid of both.

Included in the vendor’s Fall 2024 Release are the general availability of Standard Mode, a channel in Designer Cloud that provides new data integration and preparation capabilities for working with data in the cloud, and LiveQuery, a feature that improves integrations with cloud data warehouses.

In addition, Alteryx’s update, unveiled on Nov. 12, includes new connectors to data storage platforms, support for analytics applications, whether on premises or in the cloud and improvements to APIs designed to improve efficiency.

Not included are the general availability of any significant new AI capabilities, which Alteryx tends to unveil separately from its general platform updates. For example, the vendor introduced its version of a generative-AI-powered assistant in May. However, one AI-related feature included in the Fall 2024 release now in public preview is Magic Reports, which uses AI to automatically generate insights.

Without any generally available AI features with the potential to change the way Alteryx customers interact with their analytics systems, the vendor’s Fall 2024 Release is made up of additive but not groundbreaking capabilities, according to Doug Henschen, an analyst at Constellation Research.

“The update is delivering mostly incremental improvements such as new connectors, app and user management upgrades and API enhancements,” he said.

While perhaps incremental, the update is providing customers with what they want, according to Jay Henderson, Alteryx’s senior vice president product management.

For example, adding new connectors and improved APIs was driven by customer feedback.

“We’re continuing to prioritize functionality that makes the analytics user’s life easier, and their work more efficient,” Henderson said. “By combining customer-driven product features with cloud advancements, Alteryx is [meeting the] needs of our customers.”

Based in Irvine, Calif., Alteryx is a longtime data management vendor whose platform is designed to automate aspects of the data preparation process.

In December 2023, following a slow evolution to the cloud that led to an executive overhaul in 2022, Alteryx agreed to be acquired by a group of private equity firms for $.4 billion.

Platform update

Standard Mode and LiveQuery are perhaps the most significant features in the latest Alteryx platform update, according to Henschen.

Designer Cloud is Alteryx’s cloud-based environment for data preparation, blending and analytics without writing code. Standard Mode is a new channel within Designer Cloud that contains added Designer Prep and Blend tools that broaden their potential applications beyond what was available and make it more efficient to work with data in the cloud.

LiveQuery, meanwhile, aims to improve Alteryx’s interoperability with cloud data warehouses such as Databricks and Snowflake by enabling users to work with data within cloud-based storage tools more directly. The intended results include reduced data egress costs, improved processing times and a lower risk of accidental data exposure.

“Taken together, the general availability of the new Standard Mode inside Designer Cloud and the LiveQuery capability for cloud data warehouses will be significant for any company that has its center of data gravity in a public cloud or multiple clouds,” Henschen said.

Like Henschen, Kevin Petrie, an analyst at BARC U.S., characterized Alteryx’s Fall 2024 Release as an incremental update. However, he noted that including the public preview of Magic Reports is noteworthy because data and AI teams now view AI-powered tools and enhancements as required features.

Magic Reports combines advanced editing capabilities with automated analysis and AI to automatically surface insights and simplify reporting.

Petrie noted that BARC research shows that enterprises are optimistic about generative AI’s potential with nearly half of them reporting that generative AI will dramatically improve their use of analytics.

Magic Reports feeds into the concept of AI simplifying and improving the analytics process.

“Alteryx is helping [data] stakeholders by providing them with AI prompts and auto-summarization of Magic Reports,” Petrie said.

In addition, Petrie pointed out the value of integrating more smoothly with cloud data warehouses including Databricks and Snowflake with LiveQuery.

“Alteryx is wise to integrate more deeply with Snowflake and Databricks,” he said. “The more they can help users transform and view data within those platforms, the better they can safeguard governance controls and reduce costs.”

Beyond Standard Mode, LiveQuery and Magic Reports, the latest Alteryx update includes the following:

New connectors, including support for Google Cloud Storage and SingleStore, to enable customers to access their data more easily.
Support for analytics applications in Alteryx Cloud Extension for Desktop, which allows AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure users to deploy and manage custom applications both on premises and in the cloud.
New security controls for administrators.
API improvements that let administrators schedule analytics workloads and retrieve jobs in a move designed to improve efficiency.

Collectively, almost three years after Alteryx overhauled its executive suite, the new features continue Alteryx’s evolution away from serving only on-premises users to meeting the needs of customers with different types of deployments, according to Petrie.

“Alteryx’s recent turnover does show they have struggled lately,” he said. “This [update] helps by making their platform more automated and intuitive, which builds on its strengths.”

However, Petrie noted that customers still express concern over the price of using Alteryx’s data management and analytics tools — Designer Cloud starts at $4,950 per user, per year — and the level of its support for Python, a popular programming language.

“I’d be interested to see them provide more visibility into processing cost with, for example, FinOps features and enhancements to support Python-oriented users,” Petrie said.

Henschen, meanwhile, noted that Alteryx’s presentation of its latest data management and analytics capabilities — highlighting its support for different deployment types — is notable.

Alteryx was founded in 1997, before the advent of the cloud. When data management and analytics shifted from exclusively on premises to cloud-based deployments, Alteryx was slow to adapt its data preparation platform for the cloud. Meanwhile, as it was evolving, other vendors such as Tableau and Qlik began offering data preparation tools in addition to their core analytics capabilities.

As a result, Alteryx lost some of its growth momentum, evidenced by modest revenue growth preceding its sale.

Now, however, as the cost of cloud-based deployments continues to grow, many organizations are reconsidering their data management and analytics strategies. Alteryx’s messaging suggests it’s trying to appeal to those enterprises.

“Alteryx had been struggling to become more cloud-centric and to deliver more value to justify new and existing licenses,” Henschen said. “Like many vendors with on-premises roots, Alteryx is … now reminding customers that it supports hybrid deployments, seeking to ride the coattails of the cloud-cost backlash we’ve seen over the last year.”

Plans

With its Fall 2024 Release now available, Alteryx’s product development plans include adding more AI-powered data management and analytics features and continuing to add cloud and hybrid capabilities, according to Henderson.

“We’re committed to making analytics easier to adopt and use, enhancing AI-assisted functionality to improve productivity and providing cloud-based features that are both powerful and secure,” he said.

In addition, Alteryx’s roadmap includes improving the user experience to enable faster and more efficient insight generation and adding new governance and security features that meet the needs of Alteryx’s largest and most complex customers, Henderson continued.

Henschen, meanwhile, stressed that Alteryx needs to continue working to discover messaging that will attract new customers and help the vendor regain the growth momentum it lost during its slow transition to the cloud, which didn’t begin until 2021.

If it doesn’t, the vendor could be a target for a merger or acquisition.

“The company needs to find a clear new direction to regain the sales growth momentum it once enjoyed,” Henschen said. “However, the competition is fierce, and budgets are tight, so we’re likely to see consolidation in the market overall.”

Eric Avidon is a senior news writer for TechTarget Editorial and a journalist with more than 25 years of experience. He covers analytics and data management.

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