This article will explain what is Data Visualization as well as a selection of 6 tools we trust in order to make your own data rocks!
Humankind has produced as much information in two days that it had done in two million years.
This phenomenon, resulting from the convergence of digital technologies and telecommunication networks, has given birth to a new era, that of Big Data. This name is a witness of the information mutation and the issues coming with it to manage it.
Thus, the development and the control of information technology tools that allow a facilitated reading and understanding of data, is now a strategic issue for companies, administrative services, and individuals. Some tools that are assembled together under the name of Data Visualization or Data Viz have however been developed with this perspective and currently revolutionize the Big Data platforms. At the edge of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, a silent revolution leads business intelligence decisions.
Data Visualization or Data Viz: A tool to Understand Data
There are several depositaries of raw digital data, namely, data which have not been subject to any processing and which, as it is, are difficult to read by an uninitiated person. Data Visualization, sometimes shortened as “data viz”, is a solution for the visualisation of these data. Simply put, data visualization is the science of representing data in a visually comprehensible form, without limit of tables, graphs of any type, maps, or even chronologies.
Issued from the data science platform, these solutions are many and offer different features according to your needs :
Toucan Toco: What If the Data Were Recounted to Us?
Toucan Toco takes its name from the French startup which created it in 2014. Based on the principle of data storytelling, data visualization is designed in association with an editorial approach with the aim of facilitating the understanding of data and its interpretation. In order to do that, Toucan Toco bases its method on data selection and hierarchy, which makes taking decisions easier by creating a story with your data.
Matlo or the Democratization of the Indicators of DataViz
Matlo is a data analysis platform based on data visualization and specialised in business intelligence. It is the perfect tool for companies who need to take quick decisions based on data analysis. Also, there is no specific technical expertise needed. All the data can be viewed through an overview, which can be updated in real time from anywhere due to cloud import and storage. The solution involves different features allowing to select data and even try to offer the most appropriate maps and graphs to represent it.
Tableau: A classic Method of Data Visualization
Tableau is a data visualization software of American origin meant to help users to detect and understand their data, without involving experts. Consequently, it participates in users autonomy. You can create your own analysis and represent it. Moreover, it allows the transformation of raw data into usable information, and also allows its interactive presentation. Here, the style is particularly taken care of and the data type subject to analysis is extensive. SQL or Hadoop data, Excel calculation sheets, all types of internal data of the company can be compared with each other, as well as other data coming from the internet. The user can also easily share these analyses on the internet. In short, Tableau retains a comprehensive approach of data visualization with the aim of facilitating decisions.
Datahero: Data Visualization in the Cloud
Datahero is a software which is part of the democratization trend of data visualization tools. In addition to the transformation of raw data into usable information, Datahero allows the analysis of data from several data sources hosted in the cloud or on internal servers. However, this solution offers several creative choices in graphic materials and instrument panels, as well as their sharing and accessibility to unskilled users.
Qlik: The Culture of Difference
Qlik is a company which created several data visualization solutions. QlikView and QlikSense are among the most well-known software. Business intelligence and data viz are the core of their business. The company stands out from its competitors by exploring data in a global and non-linear manner, which the company calls “Associative Difference”. Deep learning is here associated with human intuition to optimize Big Data platforms.
Power BI: the Power of Business Intelligence
Power BI is a Microsoft data visualization tool, available on various Data Science platforms. It allows to transform data into reports or tables. Selection of data through modelling allowed by Power BI Desktop, creation of interactive visuals in any place via the cloud or locally, Power BI implements it all to guide decision making.
These different tools are among the most used in the market. Some companies of international scale have opted for one of them. Facing the flow and the quantity of data daily increasing, it is certain that the data visualization tools have good days ahead of them. It is today accepted that data is the new black gold. In the Big Data era, data visualization tools are to data what refining is to petrol – it transforms what could be seen as meaningless data into information of high commercial and decision-making value.
