Business intelligence (BI) has long gone from being an industry buzzword into being an absolute necessity for organizations in almost any field. The ability to understand your company‘s and industries most impactful data points in real time is paramount in keeping up with an ever-changing business landscape.
When you can quickly and effortlessly display that data in an easy-to-understand visual format, access it from anywhere and share it with the people who stand to gain most from its insights “ that’s when you’re cooking with power. As such, data visualizations have become increasingly vital to business intelligence and analytics. They enhance online dashboards and reports by offering a more effective way to tackle decision-making processes. Even so, it’s important to understand what the various top data visualization tools offer, and how they can improve your operations.
Read on for our top six data visualization platforms to consider using in the coming year.
1. Sisense
One of the fastest-rising products on the market, Sisense offers companies an expansive and comprehensive business intelligence suite with some of the most powerful visualization tools available. The company’s platform includes an AI-enhanced analytics engine, natural language querying, and the ability to create individualized and completely customizable dashboards for a variety of needs.
Sisense offers a full suite of visualizations using a simple drag-and-drop interface and with no need for coding experience. More importantly, it’s easy to set up and start using, reducing the need for costly installs and maintenance. Sisense also connects with a broad array of data sources including Amazon Redshift, Google Analytics, and more. Thanks to its flexible Elasticube data structures, Sisense also offers significant scalability for any organizational needs.
2. Domo
Domo is a good fit for many companies in the market for a self-service analytics and visualization solution. The platform’s focus on social collaboration allows users to communicate via messaging, contextual data, and notifications that inform all stakeholders of updates and changes to data sets.
Domo stands out for how easy it makes it access data. The platform has perhaps the largest number of available data set connectors, including the most popular data sources such as Amazon Web Services, Google Analytics, and more than 350 other streams. More importantly, its pre-built solutions for a variety of industries make it a flexible and dynamic tool.
3. Zoho Reports
If you need a light and agile visualization and analytics platform, Zoho‘s web-based interface offers an intriguing solution. The company’s tools are focused on reporting and analytics, and it can provide a variety of insights on short notice, including charts, summary views, and full dashboards.
Zoho is also powerful for visualizations, allowing users to quickly create their own reports with drag-and-drop functionality, as well as the ability to merge data from sources like Google Analytics.
The service is also fully available online, so users can log in from anywhere to access their analytics. It also allows for some more in-depth analytics thanks to its spreadsheet interface, as well as its fully interactive dashboards.
4. Tableau
Tableau is one of the oldest and most well-known self-service visualization and analytics suites on the market, and for good reason. Designed to handle massive, ever-changing data sets such as those created by AI and machine learning applications, the platform also includes quick visualizations and reporting for both mobile and desktop.
Tableau’s platform offers a variety of analytical methods, letting users inspect and manipulate data in a variety of ways and even create their own analysis templates. Moreover, with easy sharing and permissions, organizations can create the right balance of access to data and security. Tableau is a good choice for enterprise-level companies and those with massive data requirements.
5. QlikView
Organizations that require a high degree of customizability and multiple features can benefit greatly from QlikView. The application features an easy-to-use analytics and BI suite that includes enterprise reporting, visualizations, and a streamlined interface that removes much of the clutter some BI tools create.
Often used in conjunction with data discovery tool QlikSense, QlikView features one of the most dedicated communities of users, with a large marketplace of third-party modifications and extensions that can further tailor the platform to different organizations‘ unique needs. Moreover, QlikView allows for unique scripting so organizations can build their own applications as required. With heavily permission access, organizations can also create a more reliable and transparent data analysis suite.
6. Infogram
If your needs skew more to the visualization than analytics side of business intelligence, Infogram offers a simple yet effective solution. The platform is geared toward creating visualizations and ready-made reports and includes the ability to generate infographics, maps, social media visuals, and other charts on demand. Additionally, Infogram includes a variety of ready-made templates for reports and visualizations and lets users send out reports in seconds based on existing data.
With 35 pre-made charts and more than 500 maps to choose from, Infogram is a fit for organizations looking for an easy way to make their data stand out and easier to understand.
Final Remarks
Choosing the right data visualization tool can kick your company’s data analytics into high gear and help you derive significantly better insights from the process. Focus on finding the platform that matches your organization‘s needs, and place a new emphasis on your data to derive better results in the long run.
