Altair Monarch: Data preparation solution review

See how Altair’s self-service data preparation solution can help your business. Learn more about Monarch now.

Data preparation is one of the most critical steps in any analytics process. It is the process of getting your data ready for analysis, which includes cleaning it up, transforming it into a format that is easy to work with and adding missing values.

Data preparation can be a time-consuming and tedious process, but it is essential if you want to get accurate results from your analytics. Altair Monarch is a no-code self-service data preparation solution that makes this process much more manageable. Learn more about Altair Monarch, how it works and key features in this review.

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What is Altair Monarch?

Altair Monarch is a no-code, self-service data preparation solution from Altair, a company with 30 years of experience in data discovery and transformation. This solution offers a fast and easy way to extract data from any source, including PDFs, spreadsheets, text files, and other structured and semi-structured sources.

What are Altair’s top features?

Self-service data preparation

Altair Monarch empowers business users to quickly and easily prepare data for analysis without relying on IT staff. This self-service approach reduces the burden on IT, freeing up resources to focus on more strategic initiatives.

In addition, Altair Monarch provides a user-friendly desktop interface that allows even non-technical users to connect to data sources, clean and transform data quickly, and generate reports (Figure A).

Figure A

Monarch Server

The server version of Monarch extends the tool’s capabilities into an enterprise-wide solution. Users can easily collaborate with colleagues on data preparation jobs, store and extract reports much faster, and share model results outside the platform. It also comes with a content server module that allows users to organize indexing, storage, search and retrieval of text files and reports.

Intuitive interface with prebuilt functions

With over 80 prebuilt functions and a simple wizard-driven interface, users can easily collaborate to transform complex data into rows and columns without any coding required.

Data extraction from dark and semi-structured sources

Altair Monarch helps you quickly and easily extract data from various sources, including PDFs, text files, big data and other structured and semi-structured data sources. Monarch also gives you the ability to view change histories and trace data lineage so you can confirm that your metrics are accurate. Because Monarch doesn’t require coding, it is an ideal solution for non-technical users who need to do this kind of data work (Figure B).

Figure B

Built-in automation and reusable workflows

If you’re still relying on IT to prepare your data for analysis, it’s time to switch to a desktop-based self-service model such as Altair Monarch.

Altair Monarch offers several features that make data preparation quick and easy, including:

• A visual interface to see what data is available and how it can be used
• Automated data preparation tasks that can be reused repeatedly
• The ability to create custom models and workspaces that can be reused and shared with others

Built-in connections to popular BI platforms

Once your data is prepared, you can use Altair Monarch’s built-in connections to popular BI platforms to consume the data for analytics directly. There is no need to export or save the data in a different format.

This direct connection makes it easy to get started with Altair Monarch and get the most out of your data preparation. You can easily extend model results from Monarch to users of IBM CMOD, Hyland Onbase, Fiserv Nautilus and Mobius/ASG Content Management Systems.

Pros and cons of Altair Monarch

Pros

• No-code, self-service data preparation solution
• Good track record with 30 years of experience in data discovery and transformation
• Easy to use with a gentle learning curve
• One-click data extraction from various sources
• 80+ prebuilt functions
• Extensive customer support options and learning resources

Cons

• The unit-based licensing model can be expensive for jobs that run in the Automator.
• Some customers complain that the cost is too high or wish a “lite” version with fewer features was available at a lower price.

Altair Monarch pricing

Altair Monarch is available in two editions:

• Altair Monarch: Costs $1,995 per user per year
• Altair Monarch Server: Pricing starts at $10,000

Altair offers prospective buyers a free 30-day trial. Alternatively, prospective customers can sign up for a demo or meet with a company representative.

Customers can purchase Altair Monarch through the company’s website or one of its resellers.

What do customers say about Altair Monarch?

Enterprise customers have widely praised Altair Monarch for its user-friendliness and excellent customer service. Its ability to reliably extract semi-structured data is unique, making it an essential tool for data preparation, classification and profiling.

Altair Monarch’s online resources provide comprehensive technical documentation that makes it easy to extract information from a wide variety of data sources. In addition, the no-code interface is intuitive and easy to learn, making Altair Monarch a valuable asset for many businesses with complex data preparation needs.