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Unit 8: Usages, Benefits and Success of Business Analytics and Data Visualization

Do look internally for analytic talent: Large companies often have areas within their Notes
firms with mature analytics users. We say cross-pollinate and take advantage of the skills
you’ve already built up in addition to looking outside. With so much demand for analytics
talent, you need to keep your people challenged and engaged so they stick with you.
Giving them a new internal opportunity is a great way to do that.

Task Conduct a research and analyze the application areas of business analytics.
8.3.2 Success Factors of Data Visualization

Demand for data visualization tools is rising sharply, partly as a result of more companies
seeking to gain valuable business insights through “big data” analytics initiatives. But achieving
success with data visualization often requires fresh thinking about how to present information
to business users, especially in big-data environments, according to data management analysts.
Data visualization — which enables users to create graphical and often interactive representations
of data sets big and small — can contribute greatly to improvements in corporate business
intelligence (BI) efforts and organizational productivity.

Informed decision making is the foundation upon which successful businesses are built. As a
decision maker for your business, you need access to highly visual business intelligence tools
that can help you make the right decisions quickly. As your organization grows, so does the
amount of collected information. If this data is delivered to you in spreadsheets or tabular
reports, it becomes more and more challenging to find the patterns, trends and correlations
necessary to perform your job well.
Effective data visualization is an important tool in the decision making process. It allows business
decision makers to quickly examine large amounts of data, expose trends and issues efficiently,
exchange ideas with key players, and influence the decisions that will ultimately lead to success.

The practice of representing information visually is nothing new. Scientists, students, and analysts
have been using data visualization for centuries to track everything from astrological phenomena
to stock prices. Only recently, with the adoption of more sophisticated BI technology in the
corporate world and the ever-increasing practice of data collection and data mining activities,
has data visualization in the form of dashboards been used as an important presentation tool in
business analysis. As a result, the use of dashboards in making quick and accurate business
decisions has become an essential requirement for remaining competitive.
Common Forms of Data Visualization

Basic Charts: The most recognizable and utilized form of data visualization is the basic
chart. Line, bar, area and pie charts represent the most common types of this form. The
first function of a good chart is to allow decision makers to examine the data and reduce
the time required to extract key information.

Status Indicators: In addition to basic charts that visualize a set or sets of data, status
indicators are also a commonly used visualization to indicate the business condition of a
particular measure or unit of data. These indicators can take on many forms, including
gauges, traffic lights or symbols. Status indicators become even more effective when they
incorporate contextual metrics, such as targets and thresholds, because they can provide
quick feedback as to whether a specific measure is good or bad, high or low, below or
above target.

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