Data Mining Software: Easy-to-Use?

Data Mining Software: Easy-to-Use??  Actually, software available today is designed to be used by the non-experts, i.e., those who do not have an underlying expertise of statistics or mathematics, but DO have both an underlying subject knowledge and basic understanding of data mining concepts.

Data Mining Labs conducted an Evaluation of High-end Data Mining Tools for Fraud Detection looking at the following software vendors: Clementine(ISL), Darwin(TMC), Enterprise Miner(SAS), Intelligent Miner for Data (IBM), Pattern Recognition Workbench (Unica).  The graphic identifies the overall rating for each software application.

The conclusions are as follows:

• IBM's Intelligent Miner for Data has the advantage of being the current market leader, with a strong vendor offering well-regarded consulting support.
• ISL's Clementine excels in support provided and in ease of use (given Unix familiarity) and might allow the most modeling iterations in a tight deadline.
• SAS's Enterprise Miner would especially enhance a statistical environment where users are familiar with SAS and could exploit its macros.
• Thinking Machine's Darwin is best when network bandwidth is at a premium (say, on very large databases).
• And Unica's Pattern Recognition Workbench is a strong choice when it's not obvious what algorithm will be most appropriate, or when analysts are more familiar with spreadsheets than Unix.