Nowadays, nearly all organisations have to deal with the ever-growing amount of data, and it is necessary for both sustenance and growth, both. Analysis of offline and online data provides the businesses with major insights about customers, markets, sales figures and organisational aspects. However, handling and analysing a massive quantity of data on a daily basis is no cakewalk. That explains why businesses of varying types resort to using BI tools with embedded data analysis and visualisation capabilities. However, it is necessary to compare the BI Solutions to pick the right tool.
What is data visualisation, after all?
Data visualisation refers to the process of presenting a vast amount of data in a visually comprehensible format to target users. This is done using dashboards and using elements like graphs, maps and charts. The BI tools usually come with inbuilt data analysis and visualisation features and elements.
Things to check when you opt for data visualisation tools
You should look for a few things when you choose any data visualisation application.
- Ease of use- The tool has to be easy to learn and use. The documentation has to be robust too.
- Integration- The tool should be compatible with various online services and applications already used by your company.
- Customizability- The applications should be customizable so that you can use them in the way you need.
- Security- The BI and data visualisation tool must have embedded security measures as it will deal with sensitive data.
- Report creation and sharing- The data visualisation tool should come with robust report generation and sharing features.
The top Data visualisation tools used by businesses
There are so many BI tools with inbuilt data visualisation capabilities you can pick from nowadays. There are free as well as licensed data visualisation solutions.
Listed below are the top contenders already used by thousands of businesses globally.
- Microsoft Power BI- Many BI experts think data visualisation development has gained momentum owing to this platform. This web-based BI and data visualisation platform have managed numerous entities to manage, analyse and visualise data with unprecedented ease. It caters to a multitude of users, and MNCs and small ventures use it for their needs. Since it is a Microsoft Product, Power BI supports a wide range of Microsoft applications and online platforms natively. These include Excel, Office 365 and Azure.
However, its third-party application compatibility is very good, which is why several companies prefer using it over competing BI solutions. It supports applications like Zendesk, Marketo etc. Power BUI comes with solid web publishing capabilities, and creating reports and sharing them online can be done in a jiffy. It also has native SQL Server Analysis Services. Its natural language query tool adds to ease of usage.
- Tableau- It is among the widely used BI and data visualisation tools preferred by companies of varying sizes and types across the world. It features more than 65 native data connectors and so getting data from diverse sources is never a problem when you use the tool. It supports data fetching from multiple databases, spreadsheets as well as cloud apps. It also lets users share data between mobile devices and PCs.
Tableau facilitates the creation of a unique data analysis system. Its interactive dashboard and live visual analytics capabilities make things easier for a variety of end-users. Organisations have used Tableau to meet specific user needs in sectors like healthcare, real estate, banking, education and technology. It was acquired by Salesforce in 2019.
- Sisense- It is an agile BI solution powered by an analytics database named ElastiCubes. The latter enables users to fetch data from a number of sources. They can thereafter manipulate, merge and query the data, much like a consolidated data set. They can also utilise its numerous useful filters and analytical tools.
Sisense offers a lot of dashboards too. It is used mostly by small to mid-sized entities. It leverages the latest CPU architecture and supports 64-bit hardware. So, it is able to deliver output faster than competing BI solutions that rely on memory.
- Looker- This is a feature-packed cloud-based BI platform supporting data capture from wide sources. The robust business intelligence platform supports SQL, and using it; users can organise unstructured data easily. Looker makes use of a popular data modelling language. It makes report creation a breeze. It is used mostly for needs like distribution process evaluation, customer behaviour analysis, digital marketing and supply chain analysis.
Looker scores over others owing to its intuitive interface and smooth workflow. There is no need to resort to coding when you use the tool for data visualisation needs. It also has powerful report generation and instant sharing features.
- Zoho Analytics- The Zoho suite of online services is very popular with business users, and from the same stable comes Zoho Analytics. It is a set of business data analytics solutions and comes with embedded features like tabular view components, pivot tables and KPI widgets. Zoho Analytics lets software vendors and app developers integrate and make visualisation and reporting capacities in their applications minus hassles. Customised dashboards are created minus woes, too. The tool is very easy to use and features a drag-and-drop interface.
Of course, there are many other BI and data visualisation tools in the market, such as Domo, Qlikview, Klipfolio. With time, more players will join this bandwagon. You will need to assess a tool on key parameters, and it would be better if you use the demo or trial version before shelling out money for licensing it.
Why businesses use data visualisation tools
Before you buy or subscribe to any BI and Data visualisation tool, it is necessary to know the benefits it can bring your company. Listed below are the benefits businesses get by using such applications and platforms.
- Through Data visualisation, businesses get useful insights into customer preferences. They can figure out the services and products that their target customers like and dislike easily.
- With such tools, businesses can keep tabs on sales figures, region and time-wise. They can identify regions and markets where sales growth is sluggish.
- Using Data visualisation, businesses can track the performance of their employees and departments very well. They can figure out which departments are lagging behind the target, time-wise.
- By utilising Data visualisation, businesses can keep a tab on expenses. In the post-Covid situation, nearly every company is trying to cut down on expenditure, for sure! With this technology, businesses can identify vendors who are incurring extra costs easily. Then they can take suitable corrective steps.
Conclusion
While using a data visualisation tool can be advantageous for your company, you may also think of hiring a veteran data visualisation company. The expertise of such a specialised service provider can be very useful.
