It’s the age of data and the amount of data available with companies today is mind-boggling. Looking at vast excel sheets with enormous data can be daunting for the best of even top management. Also, given the time crunch situation that most top management employees are under all the time, it is highly desirable to get all the necessary information at a glance. This is possible with the help of visual analytics.

Understanding visual analytics

Visual analytics is putting a number of data points together in a pictorial form. This pictorial form could be bar charts, pie charts, line charts or any other pictorial representation of data. While statistical methods give accurate information, understanding them is not a piece of cake for common users and at times even top management. Too much data can befuddle the user and render them unable to take business decisions. This leads to the need for visualization. Visual analytics is thus a visual representation of data. Users can directly interact with the tool to draw insights, interpret data and take decisions.

What is need of  Visual Analytics?

As discussed in the introduction, this is the age of data. This data is increasing exponentially due to the proliferation of the internet and digitalization of businesses across the board. With several data touchpoints like smartphones, websites, and other smart technologies, the amount of data to read and interpret can get frustrating and confusing. Thus, there is a need for a tool that can visually represent data and can help in easily understanding the data as well as taking relevant decisions.

The Visual Analytics Model

When a piece of data is represented visually, it can be understood in several dimensions and through several perspectives. Several different models can be explored by the user and different kinds of information can be culled. The most important thing, though, is to decide what data sets should be considered to get the desired results. The various steps involved include cleaning of data, normalization, grouping and integrating different sources of data. The next step is to assess the modelling technique best suited to solve the problem. With visual analytics, basic modelling techniques are used and they provide statistical indicators through visualizations. These final aids in taking the decisions.

Big data leads to enhanced need

With big data, the amount of data is growing at unprecedented speed. These data sets are even more complex than traditional data sets. Therefore, it is difficult to handle these data sets using traditional techniques. Apart from the volume and speed of data collected, there is a requirement to make data valuable. The data is not collected from a single source but comes from multiple heterogeneous sources and hence, is not necessarily structured. The data has to be true as well as applicable to the problem being solved. All these needs combine to enhance the requirement for visual analytics.

Tools in Visual Analytics

One of the best platforms for data visualization in Tableau. It is simple to use with a highly efficient drag and drop function on its main interface being its key attraction. Its basic version is free to use for students and teachers at institutes which are duly accredited. The advanced features of the tool come at a price.

SAS visual analytics is another great tool and it has been around for a very long time. It is greatly helpful in advanced analytics. The tool is quick in interpreting vast and complex data sets and does so with a great degree of accuracy.

R is another tool for data visualization with its package called Shiny. This package delivers interactive dashboards. With the use of JavaScript, this tool allows for the creation of interfaces which can change dynamically.

Applications of visual analytics

There are several uses of visual analytics in the corporate as well as government space.

• Criminal investigation: Visual analytics is used in the criminal investigation. For example, by creating a visual map of funds transfers across various financial institutions and transfer of funds abroad to specific accounts, criminal investigation agencies can find out the mastermind for various illegal activities such as drug trading, bomb blasts etc.
• Retail industry: Retail industry is huge and hence a number of homogeneous and heterogeneous data touchpoints. The number of bills or invoices can be mind-boggling. With the use of visual analytics, they can easily understand the requirement for inventory, correct product mix, seasonal stock requirements and market-wise stock requirements.
• Financial analysis: Visual analytics helps to understand growth trends, return on investment, revenue sources and the percentage revenue per source and other financial parameters with ease.
• Other applications: Network security, high dimension analysis, subspace analysis, molecular biology etc. are some of the other examples where visual analytics finds the application.

One of the most persuasive tools in an organisation’s arsenal is analytics. It is necessary for every business decision to be grounded in solid data. Analytics can offer you essential insights that assist you in making the best choices to serve your organisation as well as the customers.

For e-commerce businesses, analytics can be the distinction between failure and success. Without the capability of measuring user behaviour and other activities, it is not possible to earn money online. You must use analytics to measure and support all the business activities.

Leveraging Analytics For Advanced Efficiency And Profitability

• It Helps You In Setting Realistic Goals

Setting objectives for your business will include guesswork without the right information. With the help of analytics online certification courses, you will learn to assemble data from historic trends and precious activities. You can have a better, much clearer idea of what your objectives should be right from the beginning. This assures that you do not miss on any opportunity to help your business grow.

• It Assists Decision-making

Organisations that use analytics are more likely to report that their decision-making has improved. By incorporating analytics, you will reduce risks in the organisation. It’ll also make you feel more confident because you will be improving efficiency as well as profits.

• You Can Divide Your Audience

You can categorize your audience into various groups with the help of analytics. This can only be learned with the help of analytics online certification courses offered by various prestigious institutes. One such course is an online business analytics program by IIM Kozhikode. You will be capable of creating better products and make your communication with your audience more personalised. Once you find out what your audience is looking for, you will be in a better position to meet those requirements.

• It Assists You In Creating Mass Personalisation

When you have divided your audience with the help of analytics tools, you can form mass personalisation. You can set up various tools to effectively and automatically personalise email marketing content. You can personalise ad content to aim large groups of people and develop personalisation at the same time.

• You Can Increase Revenue And Lower Costs

Analytics play an essential role in increasing revenue and decreasing business costs. It is pivotal to assure that you are using crucial resources as efficiently as possible. Analytics is helpful in monitoring e-commerce activities, multi funnel channels and ad campaigns.

• You Can Enhance Your Memberships

You can leverage analytics to enhance membership rates on your website. Analytics offers insights that can assist you in optimising your membership campaigns. You can locate what is working and allocate more resources there.

• It Assists You Find Your Perfect Demographic

By using analytics to observe your audience, you can get a lot of insights about the demography of the people you need to target. There are various tools that make it simple to collect data about your audience. Once you have determined your perfect demographic, you can offer tailored solutions as well as the content.

Summing Up!

By now, it is clear that there are various ways you can leverage analytics for enhanced profitability and efficiency which you can master with the help of an online business analytics program from IIM Kozhikode.

More Information:

How to Build a Successful Career in Data Science?

Global Master Certificate In Business Analytics from MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Executive Development Program In Data Science Using Python, R & Excel from XLRI JAMSHEDPUR

Executive Post Graduate Program In Data Science And Machine Learning from UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND