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An Overview of Data Analysis Tools to Start the Journey of Exploration

Frank Alfieri

The Digital Revolution spawned by the PC and digital communications is driving a new ecosystem of businesses forward. They are capitalizing on this rich new resource we call “data” to provide services via analysis and reporting. The deluge of information is disrupting all business verticals.

The Main Categories

If you have not heard about data yet, you will. Chances are you have already opted into providing loads of data about yourself and your usage patterns of everything by clicking the little check box next to “You agree to the Terms and Conditions…” The new wave of data driven enterprise needs quick insights from user data to develop competitive strategy. Data is the oil, and data analysis tools are the engine.From e-commerce to the IoT (Internet of Things), data is being produced at an incredible rate and volume; and it will only get faster. Data from static devices that can be connected, wearable technologies, and anything that can send a signal to a satellite will test the limits of data exploration technologies.

Whether you are a small business owner, the operator of a mid market enterprise, or a part time geek, there are some really cool informative tools to start your journey of exploration, or at least begin understanding how data and the relationships that may be garnered from them allow the advancement of business, society, and scientific projects. If you are looking to engage with a data analytics consulting firm for project management or data implementation project, then exploring these sites will give you a good base for the industry ecosystem dynamics and jargon.

My objective is not to go into depth for each product, but to give you a general descriptive of what we believe the value of each of them is and provide the links of where you may find them. It was not easy keeping it to four main categories (and the Crown Jewel) since the data analysis space is becoming more and more detailed as data gets more and more complex and fast moving. Some are freely available, others are in BETA, and some others have free trials available for download and exploration. If you are interested in getting to know the data analysis, exploration, visualization space, this would be a good place to start.

Data Visualization for Corporate Enterprise Integration

The data visualization space seems to be one of the most lucrative and competitive. A space that is competing for the attention of Fortune 500s with hefty budgets looking to harmonize disparate data across their enterprise into one holistic view for C-Suite reporting and fast insights to formulate business decisions. They want to democratize data across the enterprise to make it accessible to all levels of management for quick reporting. Some of the software vendors offer standalone iterations that you can use without the data hosting options or trial versions that you can download for perusal. Click on the company names to follow the link to their respective websites:

  1. Tableau – has a “Public” version for home use
  2. DataWatch – provides real time data viz from streaming data
  3. Microstrategy – comprehensive analytics platform
  4. Qlikview – may require some scripting
  5. Si.Sense – business intelligence for data wizards

Data Cleansing, Modeling, Analysis, Exploration

For the creative data artists to use the Data Visualization tools mentioned above to provide state of the art “Business Health” snapshots to C-Suite executives, there must be some hard core background efforts involved. If the data feeding the visualizations is skewed, the reports will not allow for optimized decision making and effective strategy implementation. Although the space for this element of data was normally and for the longest time reserved by Microsoft Excel, there are a multitude of options available. Without getting into hard core programming skills for scripting in Python and R languages that require a heavy and often expensive human resource investment, these tools either standalone or in sync, could provide a viable option. Click name to follow to website links:

  1. Open Refine – free open source tool for messy data sets
  2. KNIME – open source data analytics
  3. Rapid Miner – code free advanced analytics platform
  4. Easy.Data.Mining. – Windows based free download analytics
  5. Sprinkbok – self service data prep solution
  6. WEKA – Java based algorithmic platform for data mining
  7. Apache Mahoot – scalable machine learning algorithm platform
  8. jHepWork – advanced scientific computations for research projects
  9. Orange – requires coding or Python scripting
  10. Google Fusion Tables – self service data analysis and viz
  11. NodeXL – open source for MS Excel

Business Intelligence – Cloud Based Advanced Analytics

For small and medium enterprise that don’t have the large corporate budgets to hire “Big Four” consultant firms, or make huge financial investments for the Data Visualization giants mentioned above to host their solutions, this would be the space to investigate. The companies in this space cater to SMEs that need data analysis to be more competitive and also have some internal human resources to invest the time necessary to learn and apply this SaaS (Software as a Service). The services are usually user driven and defined and offered as a subscription based service. The main benefit is the lower cost and the ability to feed your analytics solution with a multitude of data sources, from POS (point of sale) to openly available weather data and anything else you can get your hands on.

  1. Pentaho – open source data integration
  2. Yellowfin – data intelligence dashboards with mobile optimization
  3. DataPine – data viz for SME
  4. BigML – data driven predictive analytics
  5. Canopy Labs – customer data optimization for marketing
  6. Alteryx – data blending and advanced analytics
  7. ZoomData – Big Data exploration, analysis and visualization
  8. Lavastorm Analytics – business intelligence for agile business
  9. Lattice – predictive analysis for marketing & sales
  10. Megalytic – analytics reporting for marketing
  11. WORK[etc] – all-in-one based CRM software
  12. Sociolus – competitor analytics for Social

Statistical Analysis

This is the least sexy in all the data analytics toolbox. It’s not pretty to look at, has technical jargon and semantics that could make an F1 engineer role their eyes, and will create discomfort for even the most seasoned C-Suite executive. Data nerds were born here, and truth of the matter is without this segment, the data visualization tools and SaaS providers have no base with which to work. Although not sexy, this (and more since I am no expert here) is the base of all analytical exploration, development and evolution. The algorithms and machine intelligence working in the background that produce the beautiful visualizations start here. It usually includes computing symbols that may look archaic and syntax that make hieroglyphics look like baby talk. So let’s take a look and click on links for more info and web sites:

  1. Programming Languages – R, Python, Java, etc.
  2. PSPP – free replacement for SPSS, billions of variables
  3. Rattle – graphical UX for data mining using R
  4. Neural Tool – Excel add-in for Neural Networks
  5. SQL Server with Excel Data Mining add-in
  6. Numenta GROK – machine intelligence platform

The Crown Jewel

The most recent addition to the arsenal of free exploration tools that I have found online is IBMs Watson BETA version. This really feels like you are literally stepping into the set of “The Big Bang Theory” with mythical physicist Sheldon Cooper. The interface is clean and welcoming. “Load a dataset” is the most complex prompt you will encounter. Although I have not toyed or experimented with it much yet, I am sure it will be fun for all those who want immediate insights from data without the semantics of writing code. You can find the interface portal here:

Say Hello to Watson IBM

and watch the intro video here:

IBM Watson : How it Works

Final Thoughts

The summary brought to you in this post has been acquired over months of self taught learning and interest in this new medium of information gathering and reporting that we call data. I will be adding to the list of technologies across all spectrums as they are discovered and researched. Just one fundamental reminder to ponder before starting any data related project for small, medium or large enterprise:

Establish the Question you Want to Answer and Why

Without this fundamental basis for exploration your efforts will be futile. Find out what you want to answer and why. Only then can you begin to collect, collate, and analyze data for insights. Build the right team, use the right tools, and develop the right questions, and you will be well on your way to capitalizing on the new Digital Data Revolution. With some creativity and the right numbers, anything is possible.

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