Business Intelligence Archives - Page 5 of 6

Yashica Chopra
December 06, 2021
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Power BI: How to Implement Advanced Analytics with Data Integration?

SMEs are on the way to becoming data-driven enterprises by investing in data analytics and business intelligence. This move is to empower themselves to make better decisions based on reports generated by advanced data analytics tools. Revamping the business systems and processes by integrating the latest AI, ML software allows enterprises to collect, store, process, and understand the vast amounts of data generated every day. Historical and real-time data from numerous sources is gathered in one place and processed using BI tools such as Power BI to gather valuable and accurate insights. In this blog, we will learn about the need for data integration and how Power BI can be used to implement advanced analytics with data integration. What is Power BI? Power BI is a product of Microsoft used for data analytics and visualization. The layout resembles an advanced version of Excel, belonging to the same company. The main job of power BI is to bring coherence to your data and present it in a visually appealing and compelling manner. It guarantees data accuracy, consistency, and reliability. Though the software belongs to Microsoft, many data analytics and BI consulting firms are Power BI partners and help enterprises integrate the software into the business systems. You can take the assistance of these firms to enhance your business processes and become a data-driven enterprise. What is Data Integration? Data integration is an inherent part of advanced analytics. What will the tools process if there is no data available? But what exactly is data integration? It is the process of bringing together data from various systems and sources within and outside the enterprise. Any data that is considered valuable for the business is collected from across the internet. It is common for one department in the organization to ask permission to access data collected and stored by another department. Data integration makes it easier for employees in all departments to access any data they need to complete their work. The process is automated and streamlined to reduce human error and delays. Advanced analytics is the process of examining data autonomously or semi-autonomously using tools and techniques that are beyond the traditional business intelligence tools. Advanced analytics is used to obtain deeper insights, make accurate predictions, and provide recommendations to the top management. What are the Types of Data Integration? Data integration is not as easy as it sounds. But it is not impossible either. There are different ways in which data integration services can be provided. Let’s take a look at the types of data integration in brief. Data Consolidation It is the process of physically bringing together data from different sources and consolidating it in one place. This reduces the need for excess data storage at multiple locations. Data Visualization It is the process of presenting data in an easy-to-understand and visually appealing manner so that it becomes easier to interpret data based on numerous factors. Data Propagation It is used for real-time data processing where information from one place is copied to another (data sharing). This is usually two-way communication between two systems or departments and is used for large amounts of data. Data Warehousing It is the process of cleaning, formatting, and storing data in data repositories such as in-house servers, colocation centers, or remote cloud storage servers. This is data integration. Data Federation It is a form of data visualization that uses data abstraction to facilitate a unified view of data from multiple sources. This data is analyzed and presented using tools like Power BI. Data federation is used when data consolidation is too expensive for SMEs to invest in. What are the Benefits of Data Integration? If data integration wasn’t beneficial, we would hardly see organizations willing to invest in it, right? So what are the benefits of availing the Power BI consulting services? How does it help enterprises in becoming better than their competitors in the market? SMEs have to work with limited resources that make it rather difficult to compete with multinational enterprises. But data integration helps businesses become efficient in optimizing the resources to get more efficient outputs. When data is seamlessly available across the enterprise, it improves communication and collaboration between different departments. It also leads to better customer services as the support staff has all the details required to deal with customers. Any enterprise armed with data analytics tools is better equipped to deal with competitors in the market. It gives you an edge over others and lets you expand the business to newer markets. When you can rely on reports and insights created by advanced software, you will naturally become a better decision-maker. You have a solid backing to support your decision. There is no need to work with outdated reports or copy a competitor without knowing how a decision will impact the business in the long term. It is not easy to convince employees to adopt new procedures and systems at work. Power BI services from offshore consulting firms help train employees and make them understand the importance of working on advanced analytics. This increases the willingness of employees to adopt new technology and digitally transform the business. Challenges of Data Integration Do you know that about 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are generated every day? The US economy suffers losses of around $3.1 trillion per year due to the poor quality of data. Now is the right time to invest in data integration and advanced analytics. But it doesn’t come without challenges of its own. So how do you find a way to work around these challenges? Power BI development services help you in overcoming the challenges by- Glossary of Data Integration While the actual list is extensive and includes hundreds of terms, we have listed a few terms regularly used by data and BI analysts. Analytics The process of analyzing data to derive meaningful insights and patterns from it. Big Data Vast amounts of data are collected from numerous sources and processed at high speed to get real-time insights. Data Connector A tool that works continuously to replicate data

Yashica Chopra
September 14, 2021
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How to Use Power BI to Extract the True Value of Your Data?

Processing data sets to identify patterns and trends to draw meaningful conclusions is called data analytics. It helps enterprises use real-time and historical data to derive insights that help in decision-making. Data analytics requires the use of modern technology and tools. Business intelligence, reporting, and data visualization are components of data analytics. These together help organizations adopt the data-driven model and streamline the business processes. One of the notable business intelligence tools in the market is Power BI by Microsoft. Several SMEs and large enterprises worldwide use Power BI to connect, model, visualize and share data across the business. You can either hire Power BI professionals or rely on offshore Power BI services provided by consulting companies. Microsoft calls Power BI a powerful to bridge the gap between data and decision-making. It has several features that help you extract the true value of data and understand it to make the apt decisions for your business. Types of Power BI Power BI is a package of several products and services. These can be used individually and together to attain the expected results for the organization. You can understand how Power BI works by reading the beginner guides. Power BI Desktop This is a free self-servicing tool that can connect to 70+ in-house and cloud data sources. It helps analyze data and generate reports. Power BI Service This service is a cloud-based service hosted on Microsoft’s cloud platform to allow employees to access dashboards and reports through different devices (browser, mobile, etc.). Power BI Pro This is a paid cloud-based service with additional features that facilitate collaboration between teams. It allows easy sharing of data reports and can embed the data visuals into Power BI apps. Power BI Premium This is not an application. In fact, it is a service that allows you to share the reports in the cloud with people from outside the enterprise. It brings flexibility and scalability to the app, making it possible for an organization of any volume to adopt Power BI with ease. Power BI Mobile This can be used on smartphones with Android, iOS, and Windows 10 operating systems. Power BI Report Server This is used to access the reports created using the desktop or the Pro version. It is an on-premises report server that allows your employees to access reports from any device and location. It is beneficial if you have limited storage capacity on the cloud or external data centers. Power BI Embedded This is for developers to embed Power BI to other software and application used within the enterprise. Advantages of Using Power BI Power BI is undoubtedly one of the best tools to make the most of your business intelligence capabilities and gain an edge over competitors in the industry. The following are some of the advantages of using Power BI- Features Power BI has rich and user-friendly features that help the process, analyze, and present data in attractive and easy-to-understand formats. Data visuals can be generated independently or in collaborative environments. System Integrations Power BI can be integrated into different apps to produce and share reports throughout the enterprise. The features can be customized to suit the varying needs of each business. Easy Accessibility Since Microsoft Power BI can be used on multiple operating systems and devices, it increases accessibility to data and data analytics. The apps are user-friendly and can be used by employees with little or no training in Power BI. That said, this aspect is limited only to the end-user features. Regular Updates From Microsoft Microsoft doesn’t just release products into the market and leave them. The company constantly improves the features, adds new ones, and makes Power BI even more powerful. Multiple Data Sources Collecting real-time data is now easy with Power BI. Whether it is IoT sensors, social media, media, or any other source, collecting raw data in real-time and using it for analytics is a quick and easy task. The changes in data will be automatically reflected in the reports and on the dashboard. Seamless Integration Power BI consultants can integrate the tool into your business environment with apparent ease. Whether you want to use it through cloud services or on-premises servers, experts will ensure that the process is streamlined and simplified. This allows end-users (employees from different departments) to use Power BI for data and report sharing with any team member. Personalized Dashboards The dashboard is one of the greatest features of Power BI. Apart from allowing employees to get real-time reports and edit them using several features like drag-and-drop, the dashboard can be personalized by each employee. The sales team will need reports of one kind while the accounts team needs another. The elements in the dashboard can be customized (added and removed) to suit the team’s requirements. Secure Data Processing and Reporting Microsoft knows the importance of data security and has provided enough options to set up security levels for data analytics and sharing reports. Employees who generate the reports can set up Row-Level Access filters that allow only certain teams to edit or modify a section of the report. This brings a balance between data sharing and data security. Employees can view the reports, but only those with permission can edit them. Ease of Setup and Use Setting up Power BI is as easy as it can get. There is no need to put the team under extensive training to use the tool. Experts from Power BI consulting companies will handle the initial process, and employees can use the dashboards to use the reports in their day-to-day work. Customization of Power BI App The app can also be customized to make navigation simple, fast, and effective. If your employee has to spend precious time searching for the required data, it doesn’t make sense to use such a powerful tool, right? By customizing the navigation, employees can find data and reports in less time and complete their work. Breakdown of Information The main aim of using Power BI is to understand data. If the data visuals are complex and confusing, how

Isha
July 26, 2021
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A Definitive Guide to Power BI for Beginners

You want to gain competitive advantage from your data analytics but don’t know where to start. Or have you started using Power BI but don’t really know how to optimize its usage in your organization? If yes, then this post is exactly what you’ve been searching for. In this article, I’ll reveal everything you need to know about Power BI. You’ll also get some tips to boost your productivity using Microsoft’s cloud solution. Power BI is one of the newest tools offered by Microsoft, offering several interesting features such as dashboards, reports, analysis etc… With this tool, it’s now possible to manage large amounts of data easily thanks to the ability to visualize them in attractive ways. You can create your very own dashboard or even build a custom report. But before you jump into building those awesome visualizations, there are a few things you should know first. Let’s go through each one of these aspects carefully. What is BI or Business Intelligence? Before digging into what is Power BI and the benefits of using it as a tool, it is important to understand the basics of BI. Business Intelligence or BI is a process that analyses and converts raw data into coherent and actionable information for use in analysis of business operations. Firms that have incorporated BI for making decisions have experienced better performance and productivity. Teams are observed to be delivering up to a ten-fold increase in ROI. If stats are to be believed, the absence of BI in a firm has shown a high percentage of raw data, as much as 99 percent, left unutilized. To sum it up, business intelligence uses tools to take raw data, and then converts it into smart plans, aiding in right decision-making. BI helps organizations and businesses adapt an object-oriented approach by defining KPIs and setting benchmarks to have an aligned direction for achieving goals. Moreover, BI makes it possible to organize and manage the otherwise unmanageable data into controllable streams, while putting it into respective uses. What is Power BI? Analytics is a major concern today considering we live in a data-driven age. It deals with discovering, interpreting, and processing data to reach a conclusion. Albeit data and business analysts have multiple tools to choose from, they always go for something that is convenient to use and provides easy access. Power BI tool from Microsoft is a collection of software services, apps, and connectors that work together to utilize all sources of raw data into coherent, easy-to-process, visually compelling, and interactive insights. Curated by the tech-giant Microsoft, Power BI allows the user the access to resources they need to aggregate, visualize, analyse, and share data. Connecting to a wide range of data resources from a basic Excel sheet to databases, and both cloud-based and on-premise apps, This business intelligence tool gives the user the convenience of sharing intelligible insights of what’s happening in their business. Often used as an umbrella term, Power BI can also refer to either a Windows Desktop application called Power BI Desktop, or mobile Power BI apps on a Windows OS device, as well as for iOS and Android devices. Who can use Power BI? Often it is observed that business intelligence products tend to fall in the user-friendly zone for profiles like business analysts and data scientists. But thanks to its user-friendly and easy-to-process nature, Power BI can be used by a wide range of people in an organization. In fact, one of the major reasons for Power BI to be so widely popular is the point that users irrespective of their technical expertise level or background find it convenient for use. Because of its versatility and useful features, professionals consider Power BI in healthcare industry as a must-have tool. Organizations who do not have an in-house Power BI service, usually outsource it to another firm that has rich experience in data science and related tools. Such is its effect on users and growth of organizations, that there has been a spike in demand for Power BI developers and services in almost all the industries. Businesses wherein creation of data models and reports for analysis is mandatory, may or may not have the skills to operate all the BI tools. In such cases data science consulting firms such as Datatobiz turn out to be extremely supportive, as Power BI is an essential tool for data scientists and analysts to work on. Cumulatively, Power BI works with data in whatever way it is asked to do, so you can use it in any way. A couple of industries that use Power BI regularly are airline, hospitality, healthcare, and retail. Departments irrespective of the industry the firm belongs to, that use this BI tool include finance, marketing, human resources, and IT. Why are organizations or individuals using Power BI? Power BI facilitates intelligent decision-making, eventually reducing the likelihood of failure and mitigating inherent risks. The data that BI processes are available for viewing and interacting 24*7 from anywhere, as long as you have mobile access. The mobility that it provides is considered a star feature against other BI tools where access to viewing is restricted to a particular location only. This convenient feature allows the users to pull, process, and share real-time data anywhere anytime, making Power BI services rise in demand. Data security is a major concern for any organization irrespective of the industry. Power BI lets the user track and control data usage, granting access only to those who are supposed to have it, without having to bother tech support or IT security elements. Power BI also offers the flexibility to save data on cloud storage, thus preventing exposure of sensitive data by blocking risky user activities in real-time. That apart, Power BI is scalable, so it can fit under any organization and is capable of handling changes in size, be it a rapid business expansion or an unexpected downsizing. The beauty of Power BI is its ease of use, even by people who

Yashica Chopra
July 09, 2021
1 Comment

10 Ways the Advanced BI Tools Help in Decision Making

Business intelligence is a data-driven process that transforms raw and unstructured data from across the enterprise into structured data to gather meaningful insights. It is the process of analyzing and presenting data to understand how the business is performing and what needs to be done to improve the business. Before we know how the Advanced BI tools help in Decision Making, here’s the brief of what they actually do: Various tools and software are used to collect, process, analyze, and present data to derive insights. These tools play a crucial role in the decision making process of SMEs. Instead of relying on instinct and outdated data, organizations use real-time insights to understand the current and future market conditions. This allows the management to have more control over their decisions. In this blog, we will learn how advanced BI tools can empower enterprises to make the right decisions for their business. Functionalities of Business Intelligence Business intelligence helps enterprises to collect and store data in a central database that can be accessed by all departments. This ensures that everyone gets the latest information and can collaborate with other departments to increase productivity and sales. The following are the functionalities of BI. Role of Business Intelligence in Enterprises Business intelligence is used in various organizations to- Big names in the global market like Netflix, Adobe, Amazon, Siemens, Cisco, Philips, etc., grabbed prominent places on the list of Transformation 20 for making the best business decisions of 2019. Though the companies have been working on bringing new changes over the years, the major results were seen in 2019. For example, Netflix became the leading online live-streaming platform and the top provider of original content on OTT. Amazon’s Web Services helped reduce the cost of building and maintaining the IT infrastructure for many startups. AWS became a profitable venture in no time. These developments have been possible because the brands changed their business processes to data-driven models and invested heavily in business intelligence. Advantages of Using Business Intelligence Tools Without using the right software and technology, enterprises cannot expect to get the desired results. Adopting and investing in BI tools can change the way businesses look at data. There are many benefits of using Decision Making Platforms in business- Types of BI Tools Business intelligence tools are of different types and serve various purposes in the enterprise. Digital Dashboards It is a real-time interactive dashboard that presents data in an easy-to-understand graphical format. Power BI, Tableau Desktop, Qilk Sense Desktop Personal Edition, etc., are some examples. Advanced Spreadsheets There are open-source and web-based spreadsheets with much more features than MS Excel offers. Reporting and Querying Tools These tools are used to report, sort, filter, and process data based on queries. Some of the Best Business Intelligence Tools for Effective Reporting are Power BI, Sisense FineReport, Oracle Business Intelligence, IBM Cognos Analytics, etc. OLAP Tools Online Analytical Processing tools make it easy to analyze data from multiple sources and present it in multiple ways to include various business perspectives. Data Visualization Software Helps create graphical reports for complex insights and makes it easy to understand and share the key details with other departments in the enterprise. A few popular data visualization tools are Tableau Public, DataWrangler, D3.js, Plotly, and many more. Mobile BI Software Using BI tools on mobile devices so that employees are always armed with the latest reports no matter where they are working. Example: Power BI Pro, Zoho Reports, Amazon QuickSight, etc. Data Warehousing Tools These tools help collect data from various sources to structure and store it in a single location known as the data warehouse. Data Mining Tools Identifying patterns and hidden trends in the large data sets using AI and ML algorithms. Decision Intelligence Using a framework of data analytics, reasoning, and machine learning techniques to make informed decisions. Unified Modeling Language Using a modeling language/ techniques to specify and develop software for the business. Cloud-based/ SaaS BI tools that can be accessed via the cloud and used on the cloud platforms without downloading the software to the on-premises services. Power BI Pro, Zoho Reports, Tableau Online, etc., are a few cloud-based BI tools. Business Process Management Using a set of processes to manage the performance of the business by carefully planning and aligning the goals. Example: MagicDraw, Adobe LifeCycle, Enterprise Architect, ProcessMaker, and many more. How Advanced BI Tools Help in Decision Making There are many ways in which BI tools play a role in helping enterprises make the right business decisions. Whether it is in the sales department, managing resources, hiring eligible candidates, or training the existing ones, BI tools help enterprises have a better and deeper understanding of the intricacies in the business. 1. Generate Reports with Valuable Insights Reports are an inherent part of every business. From inventory to accounts to sales, each department generates reports to present the current business situation in different formats. Business Intelligence Consulting helps enterprises produce detailed reports that share valuable information about the company’s revenue, sales, inventory, past performance, and more. 2. Data Visualization to Understand the Reports Data visualization tools can be used by employees with minimum or no training. The aim of these tools is to present data in a simple and easy manner that can be understood by most people. Employees can add and delete features on the dashboard using the drag-drop option. This lets them see how different factors impact the overall performance of the business, that too without much effort. 3. Increase Benchmarking Standards Setting up benchmarks is not an easy task. It requires large-scale research to study the processes and systems used by the industry leaders and then create an action plan to implement the same in the organization. But BI tools have simplified the process of benchmarking. 4. Unlocking the Power of Unstructured Data This helps in getting in-depth insights from data, which is not possible when enterprises work with only one type of data. Traditional tools are capable of working

Damian Alderson
June 17, 2021
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4 Ways Data Governance Can Improve Business Intelligence

Successfully running a modern business has become inconceivable without an effective Business Intelligence strategy. Developing and implementing proper BI, on the other hand, is hardly done without optimized Data Governance. Data is the very fulcrum of a streamlined workflow, regardless of the industry your company belongs to. Many business leaders have known that Data Governance can improve Business Intelligence. It means that applying an efficient data management solution is a prerequisite to achieving advanced BI levels. According to a Forbes study conducted across numerous global organizations, businesses that deploy robust DG strategies and use them to enhance their BI efforts report breakthrough ROIs when investing in business intelligence. However, developing a powerful Data Governance plan based on consistency, reliability, and flexibility is not exactly a walk in the park. It requires a multi-faceted approach to data storage, tracking, and management, and needs to be tackled with proper attention to detail. It is true for both small businesses and enterprise-level environments. Otherwise, your DG is likely to have certain pitfalls that would render all other aspects ineffective. Before we jump to the ways Data Governance can improve Business Intelligence, let’s take a look at what it actually is. What is Data Governance? Data Governance involves various processes, policies, roles, standards, metrics, and infrastructures that help businesses achieve optimized and effective use of data. Proper information management enables companies to reach their goals and objectives on time while being cost-effective. DG encompasses operational processes and employee responsibilities that allow businesses to achieve high quality and security levels across an entire ecosystem of data and data flow an organization is handling. Effective and tactical Data Governance strategy should ensure that all data management roles are clearly defined across all departments and should provide a clear overview of who takes what action and when, and for what purposes. If your business has dynamic data flows daily, and your communication channels convey pertinent information regarding business analytics and security, creating a functional, consistent, and well-crafted DG strategy should be among your top priorities. Data comes in various forms. For example, it can convey personal information that belongs to your clients. At the same time, it can also include raw performance metrics that your business can use to analyze and glean valuable insight into: – how it can improve its operational processes, – shorten time to market, – recognize business drivers and boost ROI. For instance, if you run a SaaS-based business. Your user base is enormous and diverse; one of your main drivers for having a powerful data governance strategy should be ensuring that client-based information is stored and processed securely. It flows through your company and communication channels. Tracking user behavior and analyzing user data on a granular level will also help you improve your product and drive more revenue. Data retention and proper regulatory compliance handling should also be among your priorities since a single data breach can cause fatal damage to your project. Now let’s go over some of the essential best practice tips suggested by top business intelligence consultancy firms on how to use Data Governance to enhance your Business Intelligence methods. 1. Streamlined Data Governance Enables Timely Business Analytics Every business owner knows that timing is everything. One can have a killer product and service, but if the strategy isn’t impeccably data-driven and timely, likely, their business won’t reach its full potential. Having an effective DG tactic in place can help you improve all aspects of your business workflow and all other operational processes, allowing you to improve data gathering, storing, and processing. This way, you can perform deep data analysis, and optimized ROI will undoubtedly ensue, followed by the enhanced discovery of new business opportunities. This type of advanced business flow can hardly be achieved if each of your teams and departments isn’t getting the right data. The right raw data leads to smart insight, and intelligent insight then leads to improved Business Intelligence. However, suppose your raw data isn’t governed and managed the right way. In that case, the process of timely data analytics is severely hindered, which results in a ripple effect across all your processes and workflows. 2. Proper DG Improves Operational Processes Data is the lifeblood of all operational processes. Data is an asset that needs to be managed so that it is highly accessible, easily usable and reusable, and highly secure. Developing effective data governance can help business owners streamline all operational processes and improve decision-making, so any potential efficiency gaps are easily mitigated. When properly implemented, it can reduce data inconsistencies to a minimum and remove the risk of human error from the equation. 3. Secure Email-based Information to Prevent the Loss of Sensitive Data According to Statista, the US alone saw over 1000 data breach cases with over 150 million records exposed to cybercriminals. Granted, this is lower than back in 2018 when 471 million records got exposed, and these attacks seem to be decreasing lately, but the overarching trend since 2005 is alarming. Minimizing the risk of cyberattacks should start with handling the data management and protection of your emails, as email platforms are the most widely used communication channels that permeate all modern companies. If utilized and implemented correctly, this type of mindset should trigger businesses to deploy top-tier email archiving methods and retention policies so any malware infiltration or data loss is obviated and network breaches are prevented. Additionally, having a tight email retention policy in place allows you to determine DG for email-based data in terms of security, cost-effective retention, and retrieval of data, as well as ensure regulatory compliance. 4. High Data Quality Fuels Business Intelligence In order to make proactive and revenue-driving decisions, businesses need to make sure that their data is of high quality. Subpar data quality results in false insights and can cause huge damages to your cost-effective resource usage. In order to always have quality data at your disposal, your DG plan needs to tackle a continual process of tracking, collecting,

Isha
March 31, 2021
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Comparing Tableau vs Power BI vs Python (Simple Verdict)

Data visualization has gained massive popularity in recent years owing to the demand for data. In a business setup, these business intelligence tools can help analyze all the data and monitor performance to enhance the firm’s growth and employees’ productivity. With the world switching to digital means all together in the year that went by, data is now considered fuel for every small, medium, or big firm. In such a scenario, what sounds better- a spreadsheet that mentions the date, time, sales, and profit OR a colorful, descriptive bar chart interactively explaining all the details? Our vote goes to the latter. Tableau vs Power BI vs Python, it’s the clash. But which tool would be the best to create such visually appealing charts? And, which one would provide the required versatility to the user? These are the questions that would cross anyone’s mind when planning to implement business intelligence in the system. It is well analyzed from the comparison of Tableau vs Power BI vs Python. Let’s find out which of the top data visualization tools will be best suited to your business requirements. What is a Data Visualization Tool? An essential part of any business strategy, data visualization is the process of collecting data and transforming it into a meaningful visualization to support decision-making. These visualizations could be in the form of bar charts, maps, or anything that is visually appealing and interactive. They convey the information to the viewer by simply looking at them, whereas normally one needs to read spreadsheets or text reports to understand the data. Talking of the best data visualization tools used by analysts in various industries according to their specifications and applications, they comprise Tableau, Power BI, and Python. All these software programs help businesses make decisions and questions faster. Brief Overview: Tableau vs Power BI vs Python Tableau A tool that is used by data analysts, scientists, statisticians, and academicians to visualize data and get a clear opinion based on data analysis. It’s regarded as the best solution to transform the unprocessed set of data into an interactive format and doesn’t require the user to excel in any technical skills or coding. As soon as Tableau is launched, one can make use of the built-in data connectors to connect to any database. The data can be easily extracted in its raw form and converted into a comprehensive representation to transform the way people use data for problem-solving. Tableau services have been high in demand ever since its effect has been noticed on the growth of firms. For those firms that do not have an in-house tableau developer, the requirement is outsourced to a data science consulting firm. Power BI Power BI from Microsoft is an exclusive collection of software services, apps, and connectors that are used to convert raw data into visually compelling insights. The tool allows connecting to a wide range of data resources from a basic Excel sheet to databases, and both cloud-based and on-premise apps. Power BI services are mostly used by business analysts and data scientists, but at the same time allow the user base to vary from a beginner to a pro in handling it. Power BI tool is widely recommended by industries where the creation of data models and reports for analysis is mandatory. The airline, healthcare, hospitality, and retail are a few to name. Python Python is a dynamic, interpretive script programming language. Developed sometime during the early 1990s, this language supports major paradigms of today’s software development methods such as structured programming, OOP (object-oriented programming), and AOP (aspect-oriented programming). Due to the availability of powerful value-added packages for a chosen few applications, one can develop high-performance apps through Python. Python program code is transparently translated by an interpreter into an intermediate code, the so-called byte code. Python interpreter is available for all common operating systems such as Mac OS, Windows, Linux, and others. Top tech companies including Google opt for Python as their programming language as their in-house scripting language for the development of web applications. As far as using it as a data visualization tool is concerned, Python offers multiple libraries in graphics that are packed with different features. Some of its top-notch graphing libraries that help in creating live and highly customized plots are Matplotlib, Ggplot, Seaborn, Plotly, and Pandas Visualization. Python is preferred for data analysis of the highest levels, which is why it is also the most sought-after programming language when developing data visualization software. Comparison Parameters 1. Data Sources Both Power BI and Tableau often use Excel files as a source for raw data. While Tableau offers support for multiple data connectors including cloud platforms, online analytical processing, and big data, Power BI is capable of connecting to external sources including MySQL, third-party databases, Microsoft Azure, and online services like Salesforce and Google Analytics. As far as Python is concerned, it’s a bit difficult to make visuals rapidly as compared to the other two. However, if you are to deal with streaming data there’s nothing better than Python. 2. Data Models and Adaptability Tableau allows the creation of simple data models such as a single table or multiple tables with different combinations. It is mostly suited for the quick and easy representation of big data which helps in analyzing and resolving issues. Power BI, on the other hand, has its data models focused on ingestion and building relatively complex models. Python is the best when it comes to handling streaming data. With its big user data, Python can easily help you find a package to parse the data collected by the user, even if it’s an obscure type. 3. Data Discovery The process of data discovery involves detecting patterns and oddities in data by visually navigating or applying guided advanced analytics. Both Tableau and Power BI allow the user to freely explore data without knowing the answer. These business intelligence tools give the user the freedom to spot correlations and trends while digging down to understand what caused

Isha
March 25, 2021
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19 Quick Questions to Ask from Power BI Consultants Before Hiring Them

In an age where data is the determining factor to make decisions, data analytics is crucial for firms to grow. Data analysis involves discovering, interpreting, and processing data to reach a conclusion. Until a few years back, business and data analysts had not many tools to choose from to organize and interpret their data, thereby aiding in decision making. But then Microsoft launched its business intelligence tool in 2013, which combined new features with several add ons of Excel to form a completely new platform with interactive data visuals and interactive reports shared through a personalized dashboard The demand for Power BI developers has increased by many folds in recent years owing to the rate at which firms are adopting business intelligence. This also led to an increase in the number of Power BI service providers who offer remote consulting services. For those industries which do not find the need to apply BI in their daily operations, outsourcing is one of the options. But how would you decide if the outsourced firm offering Power BI consulting services or individuals is the right way choice to get your job done? Microsoft Power BI consultants have different levels of experience which is valuable to firms in respective ways. You need to be familiar with the way they work and their experience before you commit to any finances. To help you get access to the best Power BI services, we have compiled some important questions and expected answers from a Microsoft Power BI consultant. Take a look… Basic: Consultants with 2-3 yrs experience. 1. Why should I use Power BI? As a business intelligence tool, Power BI helps you convert raw data, like that from an Excel sheet, into interactive insights. Companies offering Power BI consulting services for data analytics help you adopt the data-driven model in the enterprise to enable faster and efficient decision-making. The primary reasons for using the Power BI tool are… 2. What would suit my requirements better – an in-house Power BI resource or outsourcing it to a Power BI consulting team? Recruiting an in-house Power BI consultant has its own benefits and disadvantages. To talk of benefits, I would say the response time of the team is better, they can be involved in internal and external projects, and are flexible to adapt to your corporate culture. However, more than anything, when you are hiring a Power BI specialist, the candidate must have specific skills, to be efficient in working with the data visualization tool, and such professionals don’t come for a small salary. Secondly, there will be a time when your business expands. In such a situation you might have to re-engage in recruiting or expanding your team to handle the requirements of the entire organization. Opting for consulting services would be a smart choice in such instances. On the other hand, outsourcing it to a Power BI consulting team that specializes in data science tools and services gives you access to a fully equipped team with experts in every field. This also helps in saving a lot of money and efforts you’d put in otherwise. You can get high-quality results for the lowest cost. The other alternative is outsourcing it to a Power BI services firm. However, it is observed that following an agile methodology works best when you’re outsourcing service for this helps in avoiding delays and disruption of deadlines. If you want to be one of the industry leaders, you’ve got to hire only the best Power BI consulting services. 3. What are the essential applications of Power BI? Power BI is mainly used by industries where data is considered as fuel for daily operations, like Airline, Hospitality, Retail, Healthcare, and so on. It is widely used by data and business analysts to monitor performance, and drive growth in an organization. To summarize some of the top roles that make use of Power BI are… 4. What are the drawbacks of using Power BI for a small or medium firm? One of the major disadvantages of Power BI is that even though it’s easy to use for simply importing data and creating reports, it is complex to master for other functions. Power BI helps increase operational efficiency by allowing you to make data-driven decisions based on custom visuals generated using the personalized dashboard. When the purpose of using this business intelligence tool is much more than creating interactive visualizations from raw data, Power BI is an entire suite with a lot of interrelated functions like Gateways, Report server, Power BI services, etc, which you’ll need to learn. The power platform has a lot to offer if you know how to use it the right way. It can make you one of the industry leaders, given you have the necessary systems to work on data analytics. 5. Name some important components of the Power BI toolkit along with the function they perform. Power Query: This allows you to discover, access, and interpret information from different sources.Power Pivot: A data modeling component.Power View: A presentation tool to create charts, tables, and other compelling visualizations.Power Map: Helps in adding geolocation to your data.Power Q&A: This allows the user to ask questions in plain language and get answers accordingly. 6. What are the types of data Power BI is compatible with? Some of the major data sources used in Power BI Desktop are… Mid-level: Consultants with 4-5 yrs of experience 7. What is grouping? How can my firm benefit from it? A component of Power BI, Power BI Desktop allows you to collect data and organize them into smaller groups. In a firm that has cross-functional teams, grouping can be a way for both teams to view and extract data crucial for either. Just use Ctrl+click to select multiple elements in the visual and right-click to see which of them appear on the group’s window. 8. What is the purpose of the ‘Get data’ icon in Power BI? When users click on the Get-data icon in Power

Yashica Chopra
March 17, 2021
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14 Powerful Reasons to Invest in Tableau Consulting

What are the two things that are crucial for every business? Technology and data. In a world where customization, user preference, targeted campaigns, and tailor-made solutions are the buzzwords, a business cannot survive without using the latest technology to process data and gain in-depth insights. Data analytics and business intelligence are an integral part of every business. And enterprises can no longer afford to rely on age-old methods to process and analyze data. Spending weeks and months on a small amount of data analysis will only result in losses. Enterprises need advanced technology that deals with real-time data and delivers accurate reports in less time. Tableau consulting services is a popular choice that has been helping businesses manage their data effectively and provide automated analytics solutions for their complicated data. Tableau software is a prime business intelligence and data visualization software. It has been an industry leader for more than 7 years. Though there are many other BI software tools, Tableau continues to be a powerful, efficient, and highly useful platform. While it is a fairly easy software, availing of the services of a specialist will help enterprises in managing data analytics effectively and make the most of the platform. But before enterprises invest in Tableau, it is important to understand the need for such software and how it can change the business processes for the better. Reasons to Invest in Tableau Consulting In this post, we are going to read more about the numerous powerful reasons for an enterprise to invest in Tableau consulting services. 1. Work with a Vast Amount of Data A great amount of data is generated every day. And add to the data on the internet, social media platforms, and whatnot. We are in a scenario where we cannot ignore every tiny piece of information. So, where and how can we store all this data? Tableau server offers a centralized database that can hold abundant data. Analysts don’t have to spend hours and days collecting data from various platforms. It’s done by the system and stored in one location. Tableau software doesn’t have any row limit as MS Excel does. We can continue adding data and processing it to generate reports. It is convenient and saves many precious business hours. 2. Interactive Visuals Data visualization is one of the best Tableau consulting services an SME can get. Looking at a never-ending sheet of numbers and codes can drive employees mad. That’s the last thing an enterprise would want, isn’t it? Tableau presents the data in interesting and attractive formats, helping in better visual analytics. Colorful graphs, bars, charts, pies- name it, and we’ll find it in Tableau providing unmatched visual analytics. We can drag and drop the factors we want to consider when creating a report. It provides This visual representation of data makes it easy for the analysts to understand the insights and generate reports for the top management. Making decisions becomes a stress-free event as the top management can clearly see what should be done. 3. User-friendly Interface Many employees are wary of data analytics and business intelligence tools. The main reason is that the interfaces of these platforms are complex, confusing, and outright terrifying for beginners. Tableau differs from other BI tools in this aspect. The software is extremely simple to understand and use. Even beginners with little experience in the field can work on Tableau and generate reports based on their requirements. Specialists, of course, find it child’s play to work with this platform. Enterprises can either use it for simple forecasting purposes or for in-depth analytics. And since it can be integrated with other platforms, Tableau is considered a highly desired BI tool. 4. Mobile-friendly and Automated Tableau Dashboards With more enterprises encouraging employees to bring their devices to work, we have seen employees using multiple devices to manage their work. They work on laptops, tablets, and even mobile phones. But how many BI tools can be accessed from mobile phones? Not too many, right? Tableau software developer loves that it can be easily accessed from smartphones as well. It doesn’t matter where the employee is. There is no more waiting for the analyst to open the laptop and check the dashboard. It can be done from a mobile phone as well. Not only this, Tableau servers automatically update the data on the dashboards. 5. Integrate with Development Languages Won’t it be great to have software that can also manage complex calculations? Why should employees alter between multiple screens and tools to process data? Tableau provides a solution to this as well. The platform can be integrated with development and scripting languages like Python and R. Employees can generate all kinds of reports for the data stored in the database. They can get more insights from raw data by using different data analysis tools and combining them with Tableau for a better output. Remember, we talked about visual impact in the previous points? It’s easy to present even the most complicated reports in a simple and interactive format. 6. Support for Advanced Analytics Similar to languages, Tableau can also be integrated with other analytical tools. This feature is used by a professional Tableau consultant to get scientific data pointers for various aspects of the business. For example, integrating Tableau with marketing tools will help the sales teams to create comprehensive lead-capturing strategies based on the data insights provided by the software. When the sales team reaches out to prospective leads who are more likely to become customers of the business, the team can successfully complete the campaign in less time. Advanced analytics also help enterprises accurately forecast the growth curve of the business and take the necessary steps to keep the process aligned with the goals. 7. Data Segmentation and Reports Data on its own is jumbled and doesn’t make sense. Isn’t that why enterprises spend so much money on data analytics? Now, segmenting data using various filters is a part of the process. How many customers like a

Yashica Chopra
March 02, 2021
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12 Reasons Why Business Intelligence Is Vital for Your Business

Business intelligence is the process of using technology and strategies to analyze large volumes of data and come up with data-driven insights to make better business decisions. Historical data, real-time data, and predictive data are combined to find patterns in market trends and customer preferences. This helps enterprises in staying ahead of competitors and capturing markets to improve sales and profits. Business Intelligence in 2025 is no different. In a world where technology is an inherent part of our lives, not investing in the latest software solutions, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, would be a disadvantage for enterprises. BI can either be in-house or outsourced. However, taking the assistance of a business intelligence services company will provide a broader and more accurate insight into their own business processes and improve their decision-making skills. Make the most of BI Consulting services by adopting business intelligence strategies in a smarter way to enhance business processes and gain a competitive edge over others in the global market. What are the Stages of Business Intelligence? Business intelligence has four stages, which together are called BI processes and are used to manage data in an enterprise. Gathering Data The first stage of business intelligence is to collect the required data from various sources and store it in a centralized location/ database. Existing data and new information from internal and external sources are gathered for cleaning, formatting, and processing. Data can be structured, semi-structured, or unstructured. Information from social media platforms, emails, testimonials, competitors’ websites, feedback surveys, polls, etc., is used for business intelligence purposes. Data Analysis Data analysis is the second and vital stage of BI. The collected data is processed and then converted into actionable insights and predictions in this stage. Raw data is of little use if it cannot be analyzed to help enterprises with decision-making. Data analysis is generally categorized as follows: Spreadsheet Analysis: It uses spreadsheets like MS Excel and Power BI to analyze data. Software-based Analysis: AI-based software like SAP BI, QlikView, etc., are used to collect data automatically and process it to derive insights. Data Visualization: Tools like Tableau are used to process big data and present the insights in graphical and pictorial formats. Generating Reports The information derived from analyzing data should be converted to reports that the employees can easily understand. Though reporting is the third stage of BI, it is considered an extension of data analysis. Data visualization software like Power BI and Tableau is commonly used to generate reports. Monitoring Business intelligence is a continuous process. Monitoring is the last stage of BI, where the entire process is monitored in real-time. This helps identify KPIs and measure results to determine if you are meeting your goals or not. Reasons Why Business Intelligence is Vital for Your Business • Data is all around us – Use it Business intelligence is majorly about how enterprises manage their data to get accurate insights from it. But where does this data come from? It is everywhere around us. However, knowing which data to consider and how to process it is crucial if enterprises want to effectively improve their business processes. From accounts to sales to inventory to customer relationship management and real-time data on the internet and social media, every piece of information has to be collected and moved to the Data Warehouse for processing and analytics. The more data an enterprise can add to the warehouse, the more chances to gain in-depth insights. A predictive report that considers various factors can help the management in making the right decision and grabbing market opportunities before others can. • Tracking KPIs More Often Every enterprise has a set of key performance indicators against which it measures how the business is doing. The analysis was usually done once every quarter to make the required changes to the business strategy and realign the processes with the goals. But is that enough in the current scenario? Maybe not. Survival has become rather important for many businesses due to the pandemic. Enterprises need to compare and analyze the business performance with the KPIs on a weekly or daily basis. A business intelligence consultant can help enterprises achieve sync between what’s required and what’s being delivered. The margin for error needs to be close to zero. Investing in advanced tools such as AI-based software and machine learning algorithms will make it easy for enterprises to run the comparative analysis in less time and adjust the business strategies to the minute level. • Intuitive Data Design Business intelligence is a time-consuming and effort-intensive process. Identifying and processing data hidden in various folders and documents is not as easy as it sounds. That said, it is possible to create an interactive dashboard where the employees can find everything they are looking for. A smarter way to make the most of business intelligence would be to have processed data and insights at your fingertips. One way to make this come out is by having everything on the dashboard. Instead of asking the employees to gather insights from various systems and software tools, bring it all together on one screen. Arrange this data in a neat and user-friendly layout. Let the changes be updated in real-time so that employees will not end up working with outdated data. In today’s world, data from the morning gets outdated by noon. • Having a Smart Strategy in Place This might seem like a no-brainer. After all, which enterprise would be stupid enough to not have a proper strategy? That’s where quite a lot of businesses go wrong. The strategies to run a business and the strategy for business intelligence are not the same. We will need to know why we are investing in BI and what you want from it. Unless we know what kind of reports we want the software to generate, how will we work on data analytics? Imagine spending days processing data and creating reports. And if the top management were to say that the reports are of little or no

Isha
February 26, 2021
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Ultimate Guide to Tableau: 5 Mind-boggling Advantages!

For a modern-day business to flourish, data is proving to be an indispensable factor. It is now considered the new fuel for a company’s growth, making data scientists indispensable. In an article published about a year ago, Forbes magazine talked about how data scientists ended up spending eighty percent of their time just preparing data. After a schedule breakdown, it was concluded that the data scientist spent only one day a week on average, participating in the activities that truly improve profitability. Not anymore though. Firms that have been using business intelligence for data handling and analysis have seen a constant growth of the firm while also observing better productivity for data analysts. How have firms improvised on data handling for growth? Tableau, one of the widely used BI tools has helped firms to gain efficiency and access to better insights for business. Considering the primary motive of any report is to enable stakeholders to make timely and accurate decisions, they must place their trust in the report creator. If data is required to be extracted, prepped, and combined manually, it is bound to consume more time with enough room for manual error. Tableau’s built-in features and preparation tools enable the user to collaborate and blend data while analyzing it in real-time. Because it also requires creating data that can be understood by professionals with or without any technical knowledge, independent tableau services are bespoke in nature, for now. But before we talk about Tableau and its use in 2022, let’s take a look at all you need to know about Tableau… What is Tableau? Tableau is a fast-growing data visualization tool that helps firms in making better decisions. It helps in transforming raw data into an easily understandable format that can be understood by professionals of any level in the organization. Users who are not very technologically sound can also create customized dashboards. This BI tool has gathered interest from users belonging to various sectors such as businesses, researchers, and academicians. Why do firms use Tableau? The major task of Tableau software is to connect and extract the data stored in various places. This data is used in creating interactive visuals. Data visualization helps in better decision-making and the growth of the business. In a situation where data needs to be prepared and combined, it will require a lot of effort if done manually. Tableau’s built-in data connections and tools enable a user to save up on time while boosting productivity. This allows the analyst to focus on what their core objective is – analyze data and formulate insights. To add to the benefits of using Tableau is the fact that it can easily handle a large amount of data. Unlike Excel or other data-handling software, Tableau has no row limit and allows the user to bring in and analyze as many rows of data as needed. Because Tableau is designed for scaling, overly-long processing times can be easily managed, giving the users a platform for more comprehensive visibility without consuming resource time. This is also one of the reasons why tableau consultants suggest bigger firms use the tool, to save up on time, effort, and money. When talking about a report, stakeholders may always go for questions like ‘what does this look like for the customer segment’ or if the trends in the past can be viewed to come to a decision. Data analytics consulting companies who are required to provide tableau services to firms often come across such customers. The reason for them to use Tableau is that it allows stakeholders to interact with and customize the dashboard within the parameters created by the user, in this case- Tableau consulting services. Because of its popularity among a wide number of users, the Tableau community is full of passionate and knowledgeable people dedicated to making the most out of this BI tool. While the competition between Tableau and other BI tools seems fierce, Tableau seems to have garnered the likes of the BI community altogether, for seven years in a row now. How is Tableau Different from Excel? Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet and database tool that offers limited data analytics. Tableau is a proper business intelligence tool used for online analytics, querying, and reporting. It’s a data visualization tool where data analysts can present data in varying formats. The dashboards add/ edit data in real-time to provide the latest information to the analysts. There are a lot more differences between MS Excel and Tableau. Let’s look at them in brief: Excel is used for calculations and manipulating data using formulas. It was first released in 1987 and has various outdated and in-use versions available as a part of the Microsoft office package. Despite the latest updates, Excel is still limited in its usage when working with external data. It requires plug-ins to accept external data. Tableau was released in 2003 and is data visualization software that focuses on the graphical and pictorial representation of data and analytics. Working with data from external sources is super easy with Tableau. MS Excel requires at least a basic understanding of spreadsheets. The users should have technical knowledge and skills to work on advanced features and write custom formulas to analyze data. Tableau is an easy-to-use software that requires little or no knowledge of complex formulas, etc. It is user-friendly and allows users to drag and drop the elements to the dashboard to make changes to the reports/ visualizations. Excel cannot process big data. It is a straightforward tool limited to rows and columns. Tableau was created to overcome this challenge. It works with big data and can present the data in various formats. While Excel is perfect for short-term use and limited data, Tableau is preferred to analyze big data and create visualizations in attractive formats. Tableau’s Product Suite There are five major elements that make Tableau what it is. Tableau’s products always operate in a virtual environment when they are configured with proper underlying operating system and hardware.