Is Alteryx an ETL tool? How it differs from SSIS?
My client want me to implement ETL process using Alteryx as they have a license of it. I am confused whether the Alteryx is an ETL tool or not. I believe that Alteryx is commonly used to prepare data for Tableau data visualization tool.
Please advise whether its an ETL tool or not? How it differs from SSIS?
Thanks,
Answer
Alteryx is a data preparation / advanced anaytics application. People use it in many different ways due to the fact it allows data preparation, spatial analytics and predictive.
I work with many clients who choose to use Alteryx purely for its ETL capabilities moving data from one database to another, e.g. I have worked with one client who has used Alteryx to automate their loads into their Amazon Redshift database from MySQL, another who is using SQL -> Tableau data engine, and many other examples involving a range of data inputs (Alteryx supports everything from custom APIs -> Excel).
If you're already working with SSIS then you'll find Alteryx a breathe of fresh air to be honest, I was working with SSIS in a past life and have since found Alteryx to be much faster to develop with. It is more forgiving to changes to data and allows tighter integration of many different data sources. The new in-database tools give a much tighter integration with SQL as was previously possible allowing the work to be done inside the database.
Finally, compared to SSIS, I think you'll find Alteryx very simple to learn. The online training videos on their site will give you as much introduction as you need.
Enjoy, I think you'll enjoy the experience.
Chris