- A data integration tool is defined as a software or tool that lets users consolidate, transform, and transfer data from various sources to a specific destination, offering a unified view that helps analyze the data better for business intelligence purposes.
- This article compares the top two data integration tools in 2023: Keboola and SnapLogic.
What Is a Data Integration Tool?
A data integration tool lets users ingest, consolidate, transform, and transfer data from its source of origin to the destination, such as a data lake or data warehouse. Data integration offers a unified view that can be easily analyzed for business intelligence purposes, such as improved decision-making, streamlined functionalities of the related departments, and better customer experience.
Data Integration
Source: Alibaba Cloud
Other advantages of a data integration tool include improved data integrity and quality, enhanced connection and operational efficiency of the data sources, and better real-time analytics and overall efficiency.
Let’s review two popular data integration tools—Keboola and SnapLogic—based on their features, strength, and usage.
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What Is Keboola?
Keboola is a well-known data integration tool that offers an end-to-end ETL (extract, transform, load) solution to businesses from diverse sectors such as ecommerce, retail, and hospitality, among others. Not only does it run a complete data platform as a service from a single place, but it also ensures seamless functionality and fully observable processes.
Keboola Dashboard
Its dedicated data integration solution is focused on improving collaboration on automation and analytics by offering a compact and streamlined solution for data extraction, data transformation, data management, reverse ETL, and pipeline orchestration. Leading companies that use Keboola include Productboard, Mall Group, Home Credit, BNP Paribas, and DXC.Technology, to name a few.
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What Is SnapLogic?
SnapLogic is another famous data integration tool that offers a compact data integration (ETL/ELT) and automation solution for various verticals such as human resources, IT, sales, finance & accounting, and others. It helps businesses easily mobilize data even at scale to destinations such as cloud data lake houses and warehouses with visual ETL and ELT.
SnapLogic Dashboard
With its drag-and-drop functionality, you can easily consolidate, transform, and transfer data into a cloud warehouse. The low-code/no-code platform offered by SnapLogic helps businesses create, transfer, and build data pipelines with ease for better decision-making and customer experience. Some of the top companies and entities using SnapLogic are Siemens, Sony, Ikea, Aramark, Adobe, Stanford University, and Wendy’s, among others.
Comparative Overview of Keboola and SnapLogic
Feature/Solution |
Keboola | SnapLogic |
Fast Data Loader (FDL) | No dedicated feature |
Yes |
Data Integration Business Template |
Customizable data templates | SnapLogic Flows: Templates for common business processes |
Industry-based Solutions | Offers industry-wise integration solutions |
Offers integration solutions for diverse verticals |
Auto Sync Data |
Available | Available |
Autoprep Data | Available |
Available |
Intelligent Integration |
Not available | AI-Powered integration platform |
OEM | Available but not a powerful feature |
Custom org branding or OEM available |
Resumable Pipelines |
Not available | Yes |
Ultra Pipelines & Tasks | No such powerful feature |
Yes |
Change Data Capture (CDC) |
Available | Available |
Data Pipeline Building and Designing | Yes |
Yes |
Data Security Compliance |
|
|
Data Access Friction Removal | Yes |
Yes |
Reverse ETL Implementation |
Yes | Yes |
Pre-built Connectors | Over 250 |
Over 600 |
Ease of Implementation |
Relatively simpler | Somewhat difficult |
Active Directory Implementation | Not that efficient |
Efficient |
Analytical Workspace |
Lack of analytical workspace in Golang | No such issue |
Pricing | Pay-as-you-go pricing is expensive after 5 hours of use |
No such issue |
Complex Pipeline Functionality |
No such issue | Difficult to stitch all the pipelines together for complex pipelines |
Version Control in GitHub | No such difficulty |
Difficult to maintain version control in GitHub |
Preview |
No such issue |
Difficult to start/stop preview |
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Features Review of Keboola and SnapLogic
Based on my research and experience of using both these tools, listed below are the features review of Keboola and SnapLogic.
1. Data migration and integration
Keboola offers a compact solution for fast data migration and integration from your preferred source of origin to the destination. It has over 250 ready-to-use integration solutions from which you can choose your preferred source and destination for easy data integration.
Keboola Flows
The sources and destinations for its ready-to-use integration feature include:
Source:
- 2Performant
- ARES Open Data
- AWS Cost and Usage Reports
- AWS S3
- ActiveCampaign
- AdForm (Master Data)
- AdForm (DMP)
- AdForm DSP Reports
- Apache Hive
- Apify
- AppsFlyer
- Asana
- Asana V2
- Azor
- Azure Blob Storage V2
- Azure Cost Management OAuth
Destination:
- AWS S3
- Apache Hive
- Azure Blob Storage
- Azure Event Hub
- CleverMaps Writer
- Cloudera Impala
- Dropbox
- DynamoDB
- Elasticsearch
- Exasol
- FTP/FTPS
- Fakturoid
- Firebolt
- Generic
- GoodData
You can also choose the source and destination from the range of categories and types and filter out as per your preferences, such as:
- APIs
- AWS
- Ads
- Analytics
- Augmentation
- Azure
- CDP
- CRM
- Call Center
- Collaboration
- Customer Support
- DataOps
- Databases
- Dev Tools
- Documents
Not only do these speed up the data integration process but also let you execute the process without prior API knowledge or the need to write scripts.
SnapLogic also offers an easy and fast solution for data integration with over 600 pre-built connectors with a dedicated patterns catalog. You can browse from the list of connectors, such as:
- Active Directory Snap Pack
- AlloyDB Snap Pack
- Amazon DynamoDB Snap Pack
- Amazon Redshift Snap Pack
- Birst Snap Pack
- Box Snap Pack
- Cassandra Snap Pack
- Coupa Snap Pack
- Data Catalog Snap Pack
- Databricks Snap Pack
- Expensify Snap Pack
- Fixed Width Reader/Writer Snap
- Google Analytics Snap
- Hive Snap Pack
- JSON Web Token Snap Pack
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales Snap Pack
Snaplogic Snap Pack
You can utilize these connectors using their respective patterns in the SnapLogic community.
Mapping in SnapLogic
You can also search for them using your preferred keywords as well as browse from the list of categories, verticals, or types, such as:
- Analytics
- APIs & Protocols
- Big Data
- Core Snaps
- Database
- Enterprise
- ERP
- IoT
Based on my analysis, SnapLogic is the winner here as it offers a wider range of competitive connectors for easy, fast, and efficient data integration.
2. Security
Keboola comes with robust security solutions for internal security, certifications, and product security. After using it for a while, here are some useful insights.
i. Internal security
The three pillars of Keboola’s internal security are:
- Data encryption: Keboola ensures data encryption with the current security policies of AWS and Azure. It also offers end-to-end encryption solutions through dedicated AWS key management. Furthermore, it uses SSL (secure sockets layer) encryption for all the connections calling REST APIs.
- Physical security: Keboola provides optimum physical security solutions, including multi-factor access control and electronic surveillance. It ensures end-to-end security for diverse failure occurrences and modes, such as system failures, natural disasters, and other adverse events.
- Safe data restoring: Keboola’s data security solution offers complete data rollback through Snowflake’s time travel. For instance, in Amazon Redshift, several snapshots are taken throughout the day, which ensures complete data restoration for any possible failures.
ii. Certifications
Keboola ensures optimum security based on enterprise-grade frameworks. Its key security compliances include:
- GDPR: GDPR or General Data Protection Regulation has been laid down by the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and is focused on the rights to protect personal data.
- HIPAA: HIPAA, or Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, is applicable in the healthcare sector and is focused on safeguarding the privacy and integrity of crucial healthcare information.
- SOC 2: SOC 2 compliance is relevant for service organizations and has been developed by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). It ensures secure customer data management by organizations.
iii. Product security
Keboola’s product security offers a range of solutions, including:
- Multi-level access control: This helps establish different access controls for different users within the same organization. Not only does it help establish a granular level of access control by system administrators, but it also offers other crucial solutions, such as creating temporary tokens for high-level access management and handling outdated access credentials.
- Password management: It offers a dedicated solution for password protection and management, including the eight-character long password rule and CRYPT_BLOWDISH algorithm-hashed passwords. It also offers easy Google authentication and SAML integration with different systems such as Active Directory.
- Multi-factor authentication: Keboola’s dedicated multi-factor authentication is compatible with both mobile platforms and diverse hardware keys, and admins can enforce them as per their requirements.
SnapLogic, on the other hand, offers a highly competitive security and compliance solution that is fully focused on secure data integration. The key components of its security features are:
- Cloud application security: SnapLogic offers a robust cloud application security solution, which ensures that all crucial log files and metadata are hosted on AWS cloud infrastructure. Being completely AWS-based, it unleashes the full potential of AWS’s impenetrable security and compliance capability.
- Data management & encryption: Be it encrypting data at the disk level or data fields encryption at the account level, SnapLogic offers a compact solution for all through its data management and data encryption feature. For disk-level data encryption, it utilizes data stored in the server-side encrypted bucket in the Amazon S3 environment, while it utilizes customer-defined pipelines for customer data security.
- Runtime data security: As a stateless engine, SnapLogic’s AI-powered data integration platform doesn’t store any business-oriented or runtime data while offering end-to-end runtime data security. Its range of connectors utilizes the endpoint security solution through HTTPS-based SOAP, REST API, or a secure JDBC connection. This ensures encrypted data sending and receiving. Also, the private key/public key encryption model ensures optimum customer data integrity.
- Password security management: SnapLogic’s smart data integration platform is equipped with a robust password security management solution that gives administrators complete control over granting, limiting, or restricting access to various components and pipelines.
- Security & compliance certifications: SnapLogic offers a range of competitive security and compliance certifications, including
- SSAE18 Type II: Ensures that a service organization is fully compliant with the attest procedures in accordance with AICPA.
- ISAE 3402 Type 2: Ensures a fully compliant and effective report of description, design, and operational effectiveness of controls in a service organization.
- HIPAA: Focuses on safeguarding the privacy and integrity of crucial healthcare information.
- SOC 2 Type II: Ensures secure customer data management by organizations.
- CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act): Compliance to grant customer rights for personal data collection, usage, and selling.
- GDPR (EU: General Data Privacy Regulation): Focuses on the rights to protect personal data.
- EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Frameworks: Frameworks focused on the self-certification agreed upon by the European Commission and the US Department of Commerce.
Based on these comparisons, SnapLogic is the winner for having a better and broader range of security features.
3. Automation
Automation plays a crucial role in any data integration platform. Based on my experience with using both Keboola and SnapLogic, I must say that both of them offer robust automation features. Let’s take a closer look!
Automation in Keboola
Keboola’s data integration solution comes with a high level of automation where it runs a data platform and service to ensure seamless functionalities and highly transparent process execution. It speeds up data engineering ten times by letting data analysts, engineers, and relevant teams collaborate on automation and analytics. From fully automated ETL to reducing the dependencies on linear processes, automation remains at the forefront of Keboola’s competitive data integration solution.
SnapLogic, on the other hand, majorly focuses on automation through its no-code low-code data integration solution, with the top three highlights being:
- End-to-end automated integration for hybrid and agile enterprises
Automation in SnapLogic
- Completely automated data synchronization to various cloud data warehouses
- Fully automated data preparation to avail 30 times faster time to value compared to traditional coding
SnapLogic is the winner in terms of automation.
See More: What Is Encryption? Definition, Working, and Types
Keboola or SnapLogic: Which Data Integration Tool To Choose?
As discussed above, based on my personal experience using Keboola and SnapLogic, I must say that SnapLogic is more advanced and faster and comes with a range of competitive features.
While the learning curve may look steep for SnapLogic, it can be a good fit in the long run if you have a growing startup or big business. Keboola, on the other hand, is comparatively simple to use and can be your go-to option to cater to your data integration requirements.
Here are the use cases of both Keboola and SnapLogic to help you make the right decision.
Top use cases/applications of Keboola
- Ecommerce
- Retail
- Marketing Agencies
- Restaurants & Hospitality
- BFSI
Top use cases/applications of SnapLogic
- Human Resources
- IT
- Sales
- Finance & Accounting
- Marketing
Based on your requirement, application, use case, and other factors, you can choose the most suitable one.
Did this article help you understand the comparative features of Keboola and SnapLogic? Which data integration tool do you prefer among these two? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. We’d love to hear from you!
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