Every CEO and business leader wants to find a strategy that provides their enterprise with a competitive advantage over its rivals. In today’s business landscape, data is an organization’s most important commodity. The quantity of information available to a company is constantly increasing from the proliferation of mobile devices, social media sites, and Internet of Things (IoT) implementations. This increase shows no signs of slowing down.
Simply storing the data can be challenging. Obtaining value from it can feel like trying to set the world record in solving the Rubik’s Cube puzzle. Those of you who have struggled with this task must ask yourself how can someone finish in under five seconds when you still haven’t ever even finished it once? Are they a genius whose intellect is exponentially greater than yours? While we don’t want to generalize concerning the mental capacities of database professionals, it’s a safe bet to say that they’re pretty smart. So why the issues with this popular puzzle?
The simple answer is that there is both a trick and well-practiced routine that speed-cubers use to astound the masses. Their intelligence is displayed in the willingness to avail themselves of these devices in the pursuit of enhanced performance. They are not approaching the puzzle in a haphazard manner that depends on the demonstration of inherent brainpower. That would be counter-productive.
This is the type of thinking that can be extremely useful when addressing the problem of extracting value from the avalanche of data at the disposal of many organizations. Using the information for analytics can be equated to availing yourself of the cube-solving techniques that have proven successful in the past. Employing visualization to augment the discoveries uncovered in the analysis of the data is like the trick that separates averages puzzle solvers from world record holders. You need to know the trick to stay competitive with the champions.
Why Visualization Matters
Data analysis has been performed for as long as humans formed societies. Our ancestors studied the migration paths of animals and the stars in the night sky to make predictions about where they would obtain their next meal. Businesses have always paid attention to trends and feedback from customers to hone the quality of their selections and attract new clients. When the data under review is generated from foot traffic or easily observed physical phenomena, analyzing it does not pose a problem. In fact, it has become part of human nature to make predictions based on the analysis of the visual information at hand.
Today’s organizations are presented with the challenge of processing quantities of data that overwhelm the practices and tactics which previously produced viable results. They need a trick just as badly as the rookie Rubik’s solvers do to remain competitive. Visualization is that trick and here are the ways it can help your business stand out from the pack.
Visualizing data leads to faster action due to the way our brains process information. Adages such as “a picture is worth a thousand words” or “every picture tells a story” are not idle phrases. They represent the way that visualization informs the way humans interact with the world around them. It’s one of the reasons that maps are more instructive than exhaustive and detailed written directions.
This concept translates to the process of communicating business-related information to an enterprise’s decision-makers and stakeholders. It is often the case that the individuals who control the corporate budget are not familiar with some of the technical aspects that need to inform their decisions. The ability to display complex information in a visual format makes it easier to understand the underlying connections that upper-management needs to make changes to the way business is conducted.
Interactive data visualization takes this to another level by allowing users to manipulate information in creative ways to explore how the changes will impact their business. Dramatic differences in the visualization can result from minor changes in the initial input. These demonstrate the fragile nature upon which business assumptions are made and can lead to deep insights that produce new competitive strategies.
Ensuring Success with the Right Tool
Aqua Data Studio is a comprehensive database IDE that supports over 30 different platforms for enhanced usability and increased productivity throughout your environment. It streamlines the development process by using a unified user interface to administer all of its supported databases, eliminating the hassle of moving between similar but different GUIs in multi-platform environments.
In addition to making your database team more productive, Aqua Data Studio also makes your enterprise’s data more valuable with its visualization capabilities. It offers a rich set of visualization features that will enable your organization to make the most of its information resources and discover new ways to stay competitive in their field. Would you rather idly spin the cube in the hopes of solving the puzzle or learn the trick that lets you dominate the competition? We all know the answer to that one!