Page 106 - DCAP208_Management Support Systems

Unit 7: Business Analytics and Data Visualization

Interactive charts and graphs like the ones shown above make it easier for decision makers Notes
across all organizations to:

Identify areas that need attention or improvement.
Understand what factors influence your customers’ behavior.
Know which products to place where.
Predict sales volumes.

Discover how to increase revenues or reduce expenses.
Common Techniques

There are a few basic concepts that can help you generate the best visuals for displaying your
data:
Understand the data you are trying to visualize, including its size and cardinality (the
uniqueness of data values in a column).
Determine what you are trying to visualize and what kind of information you want to
communicate.

Know your audience and understand how it processes visual information.
Use a visual that conveys the information in the best and simplest form for your audience.
Data visualization is an art and a science unto itself, and there are many graphical techniques
that can be used to help people understand the story their data is telling.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
1. ........................ is the practice of iterative, methodical exploration of an organization’s data
with emphasis on statistical analysis.
2. ........................ is the presentation of data in a pictorial or graphical format.
3. ........................ go beyond the standard charts and graphs used in Excel spreadsheets,
displaying data in more sophisticated ways.
7.2 Online Analytical Processing (OLAP)

Online analytical processing is defined as “The dynamic synthesis, analysis, and consolidation
large volumes of multi-dimensional data.”

Online analytical processing is a method of using multidimensional databases to support quick
reporting, frequently involving trend-analysis. The primary query language for OLAP is called
Multidimensional Expressions (MDX). Its name is derived from the program class known as
online transactional processing (OLTP).

Did u know? Online analytical processing is a technique of data analysis used in the business
intelligence (BI) field.

BI involves using technology to analyze an organization’s internal processes and data to support
its decision making. When using online analytical processing for BI, historic data is often the

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