big-data-bi-analytics
SOGETI IRELAND BLOG
BI & ANALYTICS

A Picture Paints a Thousand Words

With the emergence of mega-trends such as Big Data and the Internet of Things, data has become increasingly prolific and even more complex. Viewing and more importantly analysing this data can be a challenge. Visualisation enables more tangible data which in turn presents data that is more comprehensive and ultimately more valuable.

How often are you sent a spreadsheet with important information which you need to decipher?  Or maybe you generate spreadsheets of information?  After a while you get to use Excel's features to Filter, Sort and Remove Duplicates?  How many "power users" use pivot tables successfully? 

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With Big Data, Internet connected sensors (IoT) and Wearables, how can anyone possibly comprehend what the data is "saying"?  There is just too much to understand in Excel rows after rows. The days of the average spreadsheet are numbered. We need to understand the data we are generating, faster, and to highlight the good and bad quicker. Data needs to tell a story which is easily consumable and can be referenced against other data, to tell us more.

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Why is this important?  When you look at your spreadsheet, you can tell (not easily), "What just happened?".  Organisations who are matured in analytics ask "Why did that happen?".  The most mature organisations ask "What is likely to happen?".  If you can ask the last two questions of your data, you have an advantage over your competition.

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On your analytics journey, the first step will be to visualise your data.  This is the most important step and will be the step that gives you the biggest and most immediate return in value. Visualisation reduces data to a simple story about your business.  With newer visualisation tools, such as Microsoft PowerBI and QlikView, users have access to decision support and data discovery.

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Developers can create powerful applications which give users access to this data but a visualisation specialists will help the developer to create the story.  Visualisation specialists understand how to generate the story by knowing when you need a Bar Chart and when to use a Pie Chart. Visualisation specialists will understand the best requirement for Geographical Mapping of Data and when mapping just looks cool but tells you nothing. A visualisation specialist will also create a user experience which will attract users to the application and away from the spreadsheet.

Are you going to support your business by giving them access to easily understandable data?

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