Are low customer retention rates, slow growth, and a lack of growth causing you to lose your mind? Are you fed up with looking at the disorganized and scattered information in your contact database and are you ready to take control? We’ve compiled a list of the top data preparation tools providers to simplify your search.
It is not enough to simply migrate to a new CRM. Not with your current data. Your CRM will be just as messy if you pull together data from multiple lists and platforms.
Data preparation tools allow you to pull together all of your data, evaluate it, clean it, and enrich it. These tools increase the value and make it possible to automate advanced automation.
What are data preparation tools?
Data preparation tools are software programs that allow organizations to consolidate, process, and standardize their data. These tools allow you to organize your data in a way that is useful.
Your insights will not be accurate if you try to analyze a contact list without first preparing it. Use data quality tools to ensure that your data is in the best possible form before you begin to analyze it or use it in marketing campaigns.
These are just a few of the many ways data preparation software can prepare your data.
1. Compile
Data preparation tools can access data no matter what format it is, and extract data from both structured as unstructured sources. Data prep tools can pull together data from any format, including Excel spreadsheets, Word documents, and CRMs.
2. Improve data quality
Human error is possible when data are entered manually into lists. The same goes for manually cleaning your list. Manual data prep can be inefficient and expensive.
Clean data is essential for any automation of sales and marketing processes.
“Sometimes CRM is not trustworthy. Manual, time-consuming, and messy methods to manage customer relationships are a common way to deal with data that has been left unattended.
Data preparation tools can clean up your data and improve its quality so that you can get started faster. This includes:
- Standardizing formats
- Correcting incorrect data
- Removing duplicates
- Flagging incomplete data
Also read: How to Become A Successful Data Analyst? Here’s A Guide for You
3. Validate
Data preparation tools can validate your data once it has been compiled and cleaned up. Let’s say, for example, that a staff member has entered the wrong email address.
Although the software might standardize the format to ensure it fits the right format, that does not mean the email is valid. To ensure the highest quality data, data preparation tools can validate all data.
What are the key features to look out for when selecting tools for data preparation?
Although every company has its own data preparation needs, there are key characteristics you should consider when selecting data preparation tools.
1. Data discovery and access to any data
Data accessibility is one of the most important aspects to look for when selecting your tool. Data accessibility is essential. You should be able to access data from any source, no matter where it is stored. Your staff may be working in different workflows and have stored their data separately up until this point. Data storage formats vary, so it is essential that your data preparation tool pulls data from:
- Excel sheets
- CSV files
- Word documents
- Data warehouses
- Cloud apps
- Other CRMs
2. Data cleansing
Data preparation tools should have data cleansing capabilities. Data cleansing is an important part of data management. These data cleansing steps are:
- Extra spaces can be removed
- Spell check
- Standardizing cases (lower/upper case)
- Flagging blank cells
- Converting text numbers into numbers
- Converting dates into the same format
- Duplicates can be removed or merged
3. Data enrichment features
Data enrichment tools will allow you to segment your contacts and personalize your marketing campaigns. Personalization is key to both sales and marketing success. The more information you can provide about your contacts the better. Data enrichment and data cleansing have some key differences. Data enrichment is the combination of internal data with data from external sources. This could include details such as:
- Job title
- Title (i.e. Mr. Mrs. Dr., etc.)
- Complete postal address
- Company
- Data enrichment can make your raw data more valuable.
4. Export functions
Once you have used a data preparation tool to prepare your data, it is time to export it in the best format for you. You will need your data in a particular file format depending on how you store it. You should look for export options to file types that are relevant for your company, such as Excel, cloud, or data warehouses.
The best data preparation tools
It can be difficult to find the right data preparation tool for you. There are hundreds to choose from. There are many features and capabilities that will be required depending on how your business stores and uses data.
This year’s top 10 data preparation tools have been compiled by us. Some of these tools are ideal for small businesses that need to prepare their data for sales and email campaigns. Some are better suited to enterprises that require standardized data for business analytics. These are easy to use and have many features that make it simple for non-technical users to access their data.
1. Dataladder
Data Ladder simplifies data preparation by ensuring data quality and cleansing. The software doesn’t require any training and you don’t have to be a data scientist in order to reap the benefits. Data Ladder uses machine learning and learns from the more data it receives. It can quickly merge data from any source and it does so with great accuracy.
Data Ladder’s sophisticated matching algorithms were developed over years of research and development. They match data fields from more than 4000 locations around the globe.
The best features
- Deduplication
- Geocoding capabilities
- Validation of address
- Firewall to protect data quality
- 4000+ deployments
Pricing: Prices are determined by the number of data records. For a quote, you can reach them.
2. Microsoft Power Bi
Microsoft Power Bi data preparation software designed for business analysts and users. It has been rated 4.5/5 stars by Gartner. It offers business intelligence capabilities as well as data visualization via its user-friendly interface.
It produces high-quality reports that are based on data analysis, which data scientists can then use to gain insight into their data. This is the best option for anyone who wants to analyze their data and make informed business decisions. Microsoft Power BI is an alternative to Metabase. It allows users to convert this data into a visual format you can share with clients or your team.
The best features
- Dashboards and reports that can be customized
- Data visualization
- Collaborative reporting features
- Security features built-in
- Real-time dashboards
Pricing: Microsoft Power BI Premium provides advanced analytics, big-data support, on-premises reporting, and cloud reporting. It costs organizations $4,995 per month.
Also read: Best 10 Amazing and Powerful Data Modeling Tools You Should Know
3. Tableau Prep
Tableau Prep cleans, shapes, and combines data for data analysts, engineers, and business people who work with data. It connects to data on-premises or on the cloud as a Power BI alternative. Smart features make data preparation easy. This allows you to perform repetitive tasks that have been done for years with just one click.
It is one of the most popular self-service data preparation tools available, making it easy to fix common issues in your datasets. The collaborative interface allows more people to access the data they need in order to make data-driven business decisions.
The best features
- Connects to data on-premises or in the cloud
- Visual feedback
- Scalable
- Restructures ill-formatted data
Pricing: The Tableau Prep creator package is $70 per user/month.
4. Infogix Data360
Infogix provides a set of data governance tools that can be used in data preparation. This suite includes metadata management, data cataloging, and advanced automation. These tools help you convert complex data into business-ready formats.
Infogix is used by many organizations for data management, risk, compliance and data value. Infogix creates a 3D lineage visual graph that allows users to extract the maximum value from their data, no matter how proficient they may be in data science. To ensure consistency and accuracy at every touchpoint, they have automated data quality controls.
The best features
- Data catalog
- Visual reporting that is easy to use
- Smart business glossary
- Automated data quality checks
Pricing: Limited records are eligible for a free version. Prices will be determined based on volume.
5. Tamr Unify
Tamr unify is machine-learning-based data preparation software. It’s designed for data transformation and data blending at an enterprise scale. It allows enterprises to link data from any tabular format and publish them anywhere. It allows users to standardize and standardize data formats with SQL and spark. This optimizes it for business intelligence.
Tamr Unify uses machine learning and algorithms to connect thousands of data sources. Tamr Unify is an excellent choice for large enterprises, but it can be too robust for solopreneurs and SMBs.
The best features
- Advanced machine learning algorithms are used to curate data
- Access control and security at the highest level
- Large scale data unification
- The patented feedback system for analytics
Pricing: Prices are determined based on the size and needs of your database.
6. Talend
Talend , another machine-learning-based, self-service data preparation tool is. This tool is great for data analysts, developers, and business analysts. It allows them to work together to enrich and clean their data sets. The same rules can be reused by different teams across data sets. This allows you to use your knowledge of common errors to decrease the time spent on data analysis. The software provides suggestions to assist users in the data preparation process.
Talend makes it easy for users to share their data or embed them in live data integrations. It integrates with cloud services such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft Office products, and data warehouses. Gartner has ranked Talend in the 2020 Magic Quadrant of data integration tools as a leader.
The best features
- Role-based access
- Data compliance features
- Automated workflows
- Smart mapping
Pricing: Talend Open Source is available for all users who have limited capabilities. Talend Cloud Data Integration is $1170 per month per user. The price for Talend Data Fabric is dependent on the size of the database and the unique business requirements.
7. Alteryx Analytics
Alteryx Analysis is a self-service analytics and data preparation tool. It helps users automate manual work. The intuitive user interface includes drag-and-drop visual workflows that make data preparation easier.
Alteryx Analytics automatically sends your data analysis results to 70+ sources including SQL, Oracle and XML. Data can be compiled from both cloud and on-premises apps. This includes social sources, databases, spreadsheets, and unstructured data. This simple analysis tool can be used by anyone, rather than having to rely on data scientists for data mixing and data wrangling.
The best features
- Processing in-database (Spark Oracle, Microsoft SQL, and Cloudera Impala)
- Advanced machine learning capabilities
- Data profiling that is user-friendly
- Drag-and-drop visual workflow
Pricing: Alteryx’s basic package costs $5195 per user/per annum, with additional upgrades.
8. Altair Monarch
Altair Monarch is an online data preparation tool for organizations that work with data. It helps them to cut down on manual data entry. This desktop-based program connects to unstructured data sources such as PDFs, spreadsheets, and text files to clean, prepare, and combine them.
It can also be used with cloud-based data sources as well as big data. It is easy to use, thanks to its click-based interface. You don’t need to be a data scientist to make it work. There are over 80 functions that can be used to optimize your data and ensure it is error-free.
The best features
- 80+ pre-built data preparation functions
- The interface that is intuitive and wizard-driven
- Automated repeatable processes that are scheduled to run at predetermined frequencies and times
Pricing: Altair Monarch’s annual subscription costs $1995 per person.
Also read: Top 12 Data Visualization Software Tools for Data-Driven Decisions
9. Paxata
Paxata is a self-service, adaptive data prep tool for IT leaders and business analysts. It has three layers of application, including a data management layer that allows it to keep data in the HDFS (Hadoop Distributed File System). This software is especially useful for large-scale data profiling, transformation, and cleansing at the enterprise level.
The software uses AI applications and machine-learning models to transform unstructured and semistructured data into data that can be used for marketing, sales, analytics, and other purposes. The embedded algorithms provide AI support to users throughout the data preparation process, such as segmenting, profiling, and cleaning data.
The best features
- Interface that you can point-and-click
- Visual profiling and transformations
- Apache Spark engine, specially designed for large-scale data prep
- Smart algorithms to standardize values quickly
Pricing: Paxata Professional Plan pricing depends on the size of the database and not the number of users.
10. Trifacta
Trifacta allows data analysts and organizations access to unstructured data. It transforms, integrates, and explores these data. It compiles all of your raw data, including data on your desktop and data on the cloud.
Trifacta organizes, cleans, enriches, and validates all data once it is in the software. Machine learning algorithms will suggest transformations and aggregates. Trifacta has many features, but you will need to have some data science knowledge in order to fully take advantage of its full set of capabilities.
The best features
- Visual representations of data that are automated and visual
- Monitoring and managing data quality on an ongoing basis
- Predictive data transformation using machine learning
- Multiple methods for clustering values
Pricing: Trifacta is available for free for up to 100MB. The Pro version starts at $419 per user per month.
11. tye
Tye is data cleansing and enrichment software designed for small businesses. This easy-to-use system will merge and clean large databases for you. It also uses machine learning to provide clean, enriching data.
We can remove invalid or incorrect email addresses, enrich your contacts, and help you improve your email marketing and sales funnel automation. Our software optimizes email hygiene to ensure the success of your campaigns.
The best features
- Data normalization
- Data discovery
- Merger
- Data enrichment
- De-duplication
Pricing: Tye offers a self-service data prep for a small dataset. Additional services are available at a cost of $0.05 – $0.24 depending on the size of your database and your specific needs.
Which is the best data preparation tool?
Every organization has its own reasons for data preparation. Some companies need optimized data sets for data analysis. Others want their data to be used for sales or email marketing. Although most data preparation tools share similar features, each tool is designed for a specific user type.
Data scientists and business analysts who need a faster way to organize, clean, and enrich their data will find some data preparation tools more useful than others. Some tools are intuitive and others require no technical knowledge. These tools are ideal for small businesses that don’t have any experience with data analysis.
Consider how you currently store and collect data when choosing a data preparation tool. Make sure your chosen data preparation tool is compatible with your existing datasets.
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