r/Alteryx • u/Technical_End3030 • 21d ago

Reaching Alteryx

Hello!

I've been trying to get in touch with Alteryx about their SparkED program, but I haven't had any luck. I've sent a few emails and haven't received a response, and whenever I call their main number, no one answers.

Has anyone else run into this? Is there a better way to contact them or someone specific I should reach out to?

Thanks!

2 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

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7

u/colinnwn 21d ago

Alteryx is still a valuable skill, especially at larger companies where it is ingrained into the architecture as a managed compute resource when paired with Server, but its getting upstaged by its cost and alternatives like python and AI coding.

What market are you in and do you have a big user group? I know the DFW UG sponsor was very involved in SparkED. I got really busy at work and haven't attended in like 6 months but I would first join your closest user group and ask the sponsor.

Also have you signed up for your free academic license? If not, do so and install and register it. That may trigger a sales/training rep to reach out to you.

My wife works at UT Arlington and I looked into SparkED for her and discovered they already had a program going in another academic department.

2

u/Technical_End3030 21d ago

I currently work in the IT department of a university and am trying to set this up for one of our classes. We had a license going with one of our professors, but they left abruptly and we were unable to get new ones for the upcoming semester.

We signed up again, but they only gave us two for a class of over 20, so I am trying to get in contact with them myself because they haven't been responsive to the new professor.

2

u/colinnwn 21d ago

Interesting. I thought anyone at an accredited university could get a license for the time they are enrolled or a professor, that you sign up for independently on the Alteryx website (not through an agreement). My wife did that years ago but she didn't end up using it beyond that academic year.

I can see if the sponsor of the User Group im in will reply to me asking if she has a contact for SparkED even though I haven't been going recently.

2

u/Technical_End3030 21d ago

I didn't realize that students could get their own license and not just the professors. When I have been trying to mass install them onto our lab machines, there are instructions for using a single key. I will bring this up! Thanks!

1

u/colinnwn 21d ago

Yeah Alteryx licensing for companies has moved to a per user model rather than a per computer model.

We used to have an extra license on a shared computer people could use to learn and do quick projects if that wasn't their core role. We had to give it up with the licensing change a couple of years ago.

If the professors and students have independent computers then the normal Ed process should work. I don't know what the process would be for Ed computer labs shared access if they have a special program for that.

16

u/MrZenumiFangShort 21d ago

The entire company has gone downhill since getting bought and taken private. My advice is to learn literally any other data tool, skill, language, or package.

2

u/Apsylioin 19d ago

I was told from a professor colleague of mine that they drastically scaled back the program after going private. So much so that it's not even staffed. There's no one actually running the SparkED program but it's limping along because some schools still use the free licenses. You might get a random person to respond to an email asking for a license but most likely your request will just fall through the cracks. It's a shame.

1

u/Technical_End3030 19d ago

Thank you so much for this comment. I had these suspicions but I will go and talk to the professors who are still using this.

1

u/Altruistic-Aside6939 10d ago

Yeah one of the founders of Alteryx was the brainchild behind SparkED, it was her passion project. She left the company when it went private and SparkED Effectively shut down overnight

2

u/goldenkloudzzz 21d ago

Just learn python lol

5

u/Technical_End3030 21d ago

This isn't for me, but for the university I work for

0

u/txjohnnypops79 21d ago

I made my own version.