An evaluation of data processing solutions considering preprocessing and 'special' features

Recently we have witnessed an explosion of data in the digital world. In order to make sense of data, proper tools are required to carry out extensive data analysis. This is especially true with the advent of Big Data and how it is slowly becoming a part of everyday life. In this paper we evaluated multiple data processing tools in light of their data pre-processing features and "special features". These "special features" are a part of the contribution of this paper, as they have been gathered from a literature survey and through interviews of 20 experts from industry and academia. Based on these features 13 tools were scored, from which we selected four for further hands on testing. The hands on testing highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of these tools, giving an insight into their suitability in Big Data processing.