How does Looker BI & Analytics score on certain components?
Figure 1: The pros and cons of the software vendor Looker BI & Analytics. A maximum of 100% can be obtained. Source: the BI & Analytics Guide 2023. Do you want more information about the survey structure? Click here to download this guide.
In our survey we looked in detail at the various software products of Looker software. More than 710 evaluation criteria were examined. The visualization to the right gives good insight into the strengths and weaknesses of Looker Data Analytics. Please note that Passionned Group is 100% independent of the suppliers in the research. We are not a reseller, we do not make deals or have done business with the supplier. Among other things, we help and advise companies in the proper selection of BI tooling.
The Looker analysis was conducted by collecting a lot of public big data and from there it was extensively analyzed. More than 4,777 documents have reviewed from Looker in recent years. In this analysis process both algorithms and the critical eye of a senior BI expert played a key role in drawing conclusions.
In our 100% vendor-independent BI & Analytics Guide we have collected all the ins and outs of Looker BI & Analytics for you. You get access to hundreds of (shorter) trainings, tech talks, lectures, demos, tutorials, and so on and always have the latest BI & AI news. This guide will additionally guide you in profoundly improve your knowledge about BI & Analytics. Download now.
Looker and their complete BI & Analytics product portfolio
Looker knows (a minimum of) 14 products in the realm of BI & Analytics. Starting with the most popular product of Looker BI & Analytics we list the most important products below:
What is Looker Data Analytics?
Other names by which this software product is known: Looker Business Intelligence, Looker BI, Looker Platform
Under this heading, we provide a description of Looker Data Analytics, including some of its features and any related products. This product group consists of LookML, Looker API, LookML Dashboards, Looker Blocks, Looker Studio, Looker Server, Looker mobile, Looker Embedded Analytics, Looker Retail, Looker Data Modeling, Looker Marketing Analytics, Looker Web Analytics and Looker Digital Marketing. The Looker Data Analytics can be best defined by the following features:
- analytics
- business intelligence > reporting
- data connectivity > Hadoop Distributed File System
- real-time analytics > real-time
- analytics > analytics platform
- data connectivity > Teradata
- data governance > data management > SQL
- big data
- analytics > web analytics
Are you curious about all the functionalities (100+) of Looker Data Analytics? Download directly our BI & Analytics Guide™ 2023 here.
Lacking capacity and want to hire an experienced Looker Data Analytics consultant?
Do you want to hire a freelance Looker Data Analytics developer who can do a mountain of work for you and implement an Looker Data Analytics application? Or do you want to develop an application for one of the related products like LookML, Looker Blocks, Looker Platform, Looker API, Looker Data Modeling and Looker Web Analytics? You can do so using our interim services. Indeed, hiring Looker Data Analytics developers is not always necessary and sometimes even inconvenient. Leave a message here and we will explore the possibilities of cooperation with you.
What is LookML?
In this paragraph, we portrait LookML, including some of its features and any related products. This product / group of products can be characterized by the following functionalities:
- data governance > data management > SQL
- business intelligence > dashboards
- artificial intelligence > Python
- data governance > data management > data modeling
- BI infrastructure > Application Programming Interface
- data discovery > analysis
- BI infrastructure > open source
- data connectivity > native
- data discovery > analysis > cohort analysis
- analytics
Do you want to know everything about all elements (100+) of LookML? Download the BI & Analytics Guide™ 2023 here.
What is Looker API?
Under this heading, we report the (main) characteristics of Looker API, including some of its features and any related products. This product / group of products can be best defined by the following characteristics:
- BI infrastructure > Application Programming Interface
- BI infrastructure > SDK
- BI infrastructure > authentication > OAuth
- business intelligence > dashboards
- BI infrastructure > authentication > API authentication
- artificial intelligence > Python
- analytics
- business intelligence
- data connectivity > Google Sheets
Are you curious about all characteristics (100+) of Looker API? Download directly our BI & Analytics Guide™ 2023 here.
What is LookML Dashboards?
Under this heading, we describe LookML Dashboards, including some of its features and any related products. This product / group of products can be best defined by the following functionalities:
- business intelligence > dashboards
- BI infrastructure > Application Programming Interface
- data discovery > data visualization > waterfall chart
- data discovery > data visualization > pie charts
- data discovery > data visualization > map chart
- BI infrastructure > authentication > Single Sign-On
- data discovery > data visualization > line charts
- data discovery > data visualization > tiles
- artificial intelligence > R
- BI infrastructure > open source
Are you now curious about all properties (100+) of LookML Dashboards? In that case open the BI & Analytics Guide™ 2023 here.
What is Looker Blocks?
In this section, we provide a description of Looker Blocks, including some of its features and any related products. This product / group of products can be best characterized by the following features:
- analytics
- business intelligence > dashboards
- business intelligence > reporting
- BI infrastructure > scalability > Amazon Web Services
- data connectivity > Google BigQuery
- data discovery > analysis
- data governance > data management > SQL
- analytics > analytics platform
- analytics > marketing analytics
Do you want to know the intricacies of all characteristics (100+) of Looker Blocks? Then download our BI & Analytics Guide™ 2023 here.
What is Looker Studio?
In this paragraph, we report the (main) characteristics of Looker Studio, including some of its features and any related products. This product can be defined by the following features:
- analytics
- business intelligence > reports
- business intelligence > report
- business intelligence > dashboards
- business intelligence > reporting
- BI infrastructure > API
- data connectivity > Google Analytics
- BI
- data discovery > data visualization
Do you want to know everything about all elements (100+) of Looker Studio? Then download our BI & Analytics Guide™ 2023 here.
What is Looker Server?
We don’t reveal everything here but, in this paragraph, we provide a description of Looker Server, including some of its features and any related products. Looker Server can be best characterized by the following features:
- BI infrastructure > Application Programming Interface
- analytics
- business intelligence > dashboards
- business intelligence
- data governance > data management > SQL
- BI infrastructure > SDK
- BI infrastructure > authentication > Single Sign-On
- BI infrastructure > authentication
- analytics > analytics platform
- BI infrastructure > authentication > two-factor authentication
Are you now curious about all the functionalities (100+) of Looker Server? Download the BI & Analytics Guide™ 2023 here.
What is Looker mobile?
In this paragraph, we provide a description of Looker mobile, including some of its features and any related products. The product Looker mobile can be best characterized by the following characteristics:
- business intelligence > dashboards
- analytics
- business intelligence > dashboard
- mobile business intelligence > Android
- business intelligence
- BI
- business intelligence > report
- BI infrastructure > operating systems > iOS
- BI infrastructure > authentication > SSO
- business intelligence > reports
Are you curious about all the functionalities (100+) of Looker mobile? Then order the BI & Analytics Guide™ 2023 here.
What is Looker Embedded Analytics?
In this paragraph, we provide a description of Looker Embedded Analytics, including some of its features and any related products. The Looker Embedded Analytics can be best characterized by the following functionalities:
- analytics
- business intelligence
- data connectivity > Amazon Redshift
- business intelligence > reporting
- BI infrastructure > embedded analytics
- data discovery > data visualization > custom visualizations
- data governance > data management > data modeling
- data connectivity > Slack
- business intelligence > dashboards
- BI infrastructure > scalability > Amazon Web Services
Are you now curious about all properties (100+) of Looker Embedded Analytics? Open the BI & Analytics Guide™ 2023 here.
What is Looker Retail?
In this paragraph, we provide a description of Looker Retail, including some of its features and any related products. This product can be best characterized by the following properties:
- analytics > retail analytics
- business intelligence
- BI infrastructure > scalability > Amazon Web Services
- data connectivity > Amazon Redshift
- business intelligence > dashboards
- data discovery > data visualization
- analytics > ecommerce analytics
- artificial intelligence
- business intelligence > reporting
Do you want to know the intricacies of all features (100+) of Looker Retail? In that case order the BI & Analytics Guide™ 2023 here.
What is Looker Data Modeling?
In this paragraph, we describe the key elements of Looker Data Modeling, including some of its features and any related products. This product can be characterized by the following characteristics:
- business intelligence
- data governance > data management > SQL
- analytics
- data governance > data management > data modeling
- artificial intelligence > machine learning
- data connectivity > Google BigQuery
- business intelligence > reporting
- analytics > analytics platform
- business intelligence > dashboards
- agile analytics
Do you want to know the intricacies of all the functions (100+) of Looker Data Modeling? Download the BI & Analytics Guide™ 2023 here.
What is Looker Marketing Analytics?
We do not display here all the features but, in this paragraph, we display the details of Looker Marketing Analytics, including some of its features and any related products. This product / group of products can be characterized by the following properties:
- analytics
- business intelligence
- analytics > marketing analytics
- self-service BI
- analytics > analytics platform
- data discovery > analysis
- business intelligence > dashboards
- data connectivity > Google BigQuery
- data governance
- data connectivity > Google Analytics
Are you now curious about all elements (100+) of Looker Marketing Analytics? Download directly our BI & Analytics Guide™ 2023 here.
What is Looker Web Analytics?
In this part, we describe Looker Web Analytics, including some of its features and any related products. The Looker Web Analytics can be characterized by the following functionalities:
- analytics > web analytics
- analytics
- data governance > data management > SQL
- data discovery > analysis
- analytics > analytics platform
- BI infrastructure > embedded analytics
- data discovery > data visualization > custom visualizations
Do you want to know the intricacies of all the functions (100+) of Looker Web Analytics? Then order the BI & Analytics Guide™ 2023 here.
What is Looker Digital Marketing?
In this section, we report the (main) characteristics of Looker Digital Marketing, including some of its features and any related products. The Looker Digital Marketing can be best characterized by the following functionalities:
- analytics
- data discovery > analysis
- analytics > web analytics
- analytics > marketing analytics
Are you curious about all characteristics (100+) of Looker Digital Marketing? Download directly our BI & Analytics Guide™ 2023 here.
Innovations of Looker Data Analytics-tools and the version history
Lately, we see a positive trend when it comes to BI & Analytics functionality and support for various platforms and data sources. The latest added ‘gadgets’ are in the areas of data connectivity > ODBC, data discovery > data visualization > bubble charts and data discovery > data visualization > Sankey chart.
We reviewed Looker’s latest updates of its product portfolio. Below you can see the respective version numbers of all the ones known to us BI & Analytics products of Looker:
- Looker Data Analytics: 192 23 22.20 22.16 22.12 22.10 22.8 22.6 22.4.35 21.20 21.4 7.0 6.6 5.14 4.6 0.1.3
- Looker mobile: 1.2.5 january 1.2.5 1.2.1 1.2.0 may 1.2.0 1.1.1 february 1.1.0 january
Behind each product we mention the version numbers, the older the version the more backward the version is in the list.
What are the licensing costs of LookML, Looker API and LookML Dashboards?
It is difficult to determine exactly what a license of LookML, Looker API and LookML Dashboards costs because it depends on the country, the number of users (also consider the amount of CPUs for server versions), the connectors to data sources, and at what point in the year you request a quote. And before the end of a fiscal quarter of Looker, you may be able to look forward to a decent discount. In addition, we recommend running the software in the cloud, for the most part, you only pay for your consumption then. The purchase cost of LookML, Looker API and LookML Dashboards may not be the single largest expense, but maintenance and support can certainly put quite a strain on your annual budget.
What makes Looker BI & Analytics unique compared to other BI platforms
In our study, we see that Looker in the field of BI & Analytics software has several specific features which emerged distinctively in our research. This makes Looker Data Analytics more or less unique: ab testing, customer profitability analysis, funnel analysis, profitability analysis and API authentication.
The advantages and disadvantages of Looker Data Analytics
Figure 23: Tag cloud of the strengths and weaknesses of Looker BI & Analytics
In the following paragraphs, we name all the advantages and disadvantages of Looker BI & Analytics, LookML, Looker API and LookML Dashboards, et cetera. The listing in the following paragraphs is subject to change, because: Looker can currently work to improving existing and developing new functionality at this time (such as support for big data, Salesforce, Linux, predictive analytics, Google Analytics, high availability, in-memory, IIS, MDX and performance management). It may also be that a feature has not yet been adequately described.
Share your experience with Looker BI & Analytics
Report your experience with Looker BI & Analytics here. Your observations may then be taken into consideration in an even better assessment of the performance of Looker Data Analytics.
1. Looker Business Intelligence
The vendor Looker has a moderate rating in our objective BI & Analytics survey on the section ‘Business Intelligence’. The score amounts to 40%, relative to other vendors. However, this is one of the best engineered parts of Looker. The following criteria were used: reporting, dashboards, CRM, business intelligence platform, enterprise business intelligence and business process monitoring. In doing so, we studied the following five products: Looker Data Modeling, Looker Data Analytics, Looker API, Looker Retail and Looker Blocks. In total, we examined 73 criteria in this category. Would you like to delve further into the topic ‘Business Intelligence’? Then download here our BI & Analytics Guide 2023.
2. Looker Data Discovery
The vendor Looker has a moderate score in our current BI & Analytics survey on the section ‘Data Discovery’. The score amounts to 37%, relative to other vendors. We used the following selection criteria: analysis, time series and data visualization. In doing so, we looked at the following products: Looker Data Analytics. In total, we examined 400 selection criteria within this main theme. Would you like to go into more depth with the topic ‘Data Discovery’? Then download here our BI & Analytics Guide 2023. Or take a deep dive in the following content:
3. Looker Data Connectivity
Looker has a moderate score in our current BI & Analytics survey of the theme ‘Data Connectivity’. The company scores 36% on this topic, compared to other vendors. We looked at the following criteria, among others: Sharepoint, Salesforce, Teradata, Amazon Redshift, PostgreSQL, Google BigQuery and Microsoft Excel. In total, we examined 91 features within this discipline. Would you like to learn more about the topic ‘Data Connectivity’? Then download here our BI & Analytics Study 2023.
4. Looker BI Infrastructure
Looker has a moderate rating in our independent BI & Analytics survey on the subject ‘BI Infrastructure’ with a score of 35%, relative to other vendors. The following criteria were used: infrastructure, repository, open source, web services, web server and hybrid cloud. In total, we examined 162 criteria in this category. Would you like to learn more about the topic ‘BI Infrastructure’? Then download here our BI & Analytics Guide 2023.
5. Looker Performance Optimization
The company has a poor performance in our 100% vendor-independent BI & Analytics survey of the theme ‘Performance Optimization’. The score amounts to 29%, relative to other vendors. We looked at the following criteria, among others: parallel processing, data pipelines, materialized views and cache settings. In total, we examined 29 criteria in this category. Would you like to learn more about the topic ‘Performance Optimization’? Then download here our BI & Analytics Guide 2023.
6. Looker Analytics
Looker has a poor performance in our independent BI & Analytics survey on the subject ‘Analytics’ with a score of 20%, compared to other vendors. We looked at the following criteria, among others: analytics platform, customer analytics, retail analytics, marketing analytics and HR analytics. In doing so, we looked at the following five products: LookML, Looker Data Modeling, Looker Web Analytics, Looker Data Analytics and Looker API. In total, we examined 130 criteria in this category. Would you like to learn more about the topic ‘Analytics’? Then download here our BI & Analytics Study. Or take a deep dive in the following content:
7. Looker Self-service BI
Looker has a poor performance in our 100% vendor-independent BI & Analytics survey of the theme ‘Self-service BI’ with a score of 19%, relative to other vendors. We looked at the following criteria, among others: self-service data preparation, self-service reporting and self-service data exploration. In doing so, we looked at the following products: Looker Marketing Analytics. In total, we examined 14 criteria in this category. Would you like to delve further into the topic ‘Self-service BI’? Then download here our BI & Analytics Guide 2023.
8. Looker Data Integration
The company has a poor performance in our independent BI & Analytics survey on the subject ‘Data Integration’ with a score of 19%, relative to other vendors. We looked at the following criteria, among others: data warehousing, data virtualization, data integration platform, data wrangling, cross-database joins and Extract-Transform-Load. In total, we examined 76 selection criteria within this main theme. Would you like to learn more about the topic ‘Data Integration’? Then download here our BI & Analytics Guide 2023. Or take a deep dive in the following content:
9. Looker Artificial Intelligence
The vendor Looker has a poor rating in our 100% vendor-independent BI & Analytics survey on the section ‘Artificial Intelligence’ with a score of 17%, relative to other vendors. We looked at the following criteria, among others: machine learning, R, algorithms, natural language processing, linear regression, business rules and cognitive services. In total, we examined 164 criteria in this category. Would you like to learn more about the topic ‘Artificial Intelligence’? Then download here our BI & Analytics Guide 2023.
10. Looker Mobile Business Intelligence
The vendor Looker has a poor rating in our current BI & Analytics survey on the section ‘Mobile Business Intelligence’ with a score of 15%, relative to other vendors. The following criteria were used: push notification, mobile server, mobile analytics, mobile dashboards and mobile push notifications. In total, we examined 10 criteria in this category. Would you like to learn more about the topic ‘Mobile Business Intelligence’? Then download here our BI & Analytics Guide 2023.
11. Looker Data Governance
The vendor Looker has a poor performance in our objective BI & Analytics survey on the section ‘Data Governance’. The score amounts to 15%, relative to other vendors. We looked at the following criteria, among others: data management, data quality and data catalog. In total, we examined 91 criteria in this category. Would you like to learn more about the topic ‘Data Governance’? Then download here our BI & Analytics Study 2023.
12. Looker Real-time Analytics
The vendor Looker has a poor score in our objective BI & Analytics survey on the subject ‘Real-time Analytics’ with a score of 12%, relative to other vendors. We looked at the following criteria, among others: real-time, real-time data, near real-time, real-time insights, real-time big data, real-time data warehousing and real-time streaming data. In total, we examined 19 criteria in this category. Would you like to go into more depth with the topic ‘Real-time Analytics’? Then download here our BI & Analytics Study 2023.
13. Looker Big Data
The company has a poor performance in our 100% vendor-independent BI & Analytics survey on the subject ‘Big Data’ with a score of 11%, relative to other vendors. We looked at the following criteria, among others: streaming, unstructured data, sensors, Blob storage, sensor data and big data integration. In doing so, we looked at the following products: Looker Data Analytics. In total, we examined 59 features within this discipline. Would you like to learn more about the topic ‘Big Data’? Then download here our BI & Analytics Guide.
14. Looker Decision Management
The company has a poor performance in our 100% vendor-independent BI & Analytics survey on the section ‘Decision Management’ with a score of 6%, relative to other vendors. We looked at the following criteria, among others: performance management, decision support, decision-making platform, enterprise decision management and real-time decisioning. In total, we examined 30 criteria in this category. Would you like to delve further into the topic ‘Decision Management’? Then download here our BI & Analytics Guide. Or take a deep dive in the following content:
15. Looker Multidimensional Models
The vendor Looker has a poor score in our objective BI & Analytics survey on the subject ‘Multidimensional Models’ with a score of 4%, relative to other vendors. We considered the following factors: OLAP, DAX, ROLAP, MOLAP and tabular data models. In total, we examined 14 selection criteria within this main theme. Are you planning to specialize further in the topic ‘Multidimensional Models’? Then download here our BI & Analytics Guide 2023.
In which sectors is Looker BI & Analytics most active?
In our recently updated, independent BI & Analytics research on, we also looked at which industries a supplier has a track record. This is the sector where Looker is (very) popular: automotive.
Looker software is most used by…
The BI & Analytics software from Looker is most often mentioned in combination with the following function: data analysts.
Education and training course Looker BI & Analytics
We provide various training courses in the field of BI & Analytics but can also provide specific Looker training, for example as incompany. Then think about the following software: LookML, Looker API and LookML Dashboards. Of course we color such a training with the ideas of the intelligent, data-driven organization.
Final Verdict: Looker Data Analytics scores moderately
Looker has a compact product portfolio with which it scores moderately in our BI & Analytics survey. Looker BI & Analytics innovates (approximately) at an average rate of more than 15 features per year, is active (for now) in a few sectors, and has developed best in business intelligence.
About Passionned Group
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