Data Visualization and Dashboards with Excel and Cognos

This course covers some of the first steps in the development of data visualizations using spreadsheets and dashboards. Begin the process of telling a story with your data by creating the many types of charts that are available in spreadsheets like Excel. Explore the different tools of a spreadsheet, such as the important pivot function and the ability to create dashboards and learn how each one has its own unique property to transform your data. Continue to gain valuable experience by becoming familiar with the popular analytics tool – IBM Cognos Analytics – to create interactive dashboards. By completing this course, you will have a basic understanding of using spreadsheets as a data visualization tool. You will gain the ability to effectively create data visualizations, such as charts or graphs, and will begin to see how they play a key role in communicating your data analysis findings. All of this can be accomplished by learning the basics of data analysis with Excel and IBM Cognos Analytics, without having to write any code.

By the end of this course you will be able to describe common dashboarding tools used by a data analyst, design and create a dashboard in a cloud platform, and begin to elevate your confidence level in creating intermediate level data visualizations. Throughout this course you will encounter numerous hands-on labs and a final project. With each lab, gain hands-on experience with creating basic and advanced charts, then continue through the course and begin creating dashboards with spreadsheets and IBM Cognos Analytics. You will then end this course by creating a set of data visualizations with IBM Cognos Analytics and creating an interactive dashboard that can be shared with peers, professional communities or prospective employers. This course does not require any prior data analysis, or computer science experience. All you need to get started is basic computer literacy, high school level math, access to a modern web browser such as Chrome or Firefox, the ability to create a Microsoft account to access Excel for the Web, and a basic understanding of Excel spreadsheets.