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How data visualisation adds value to your business

By Deidre Fryer, Academy Manager for ERP provider Syspro
Johannesburg, 20 Oct 2016
The amount of data being created each year continues to grow at an exponential rate, with trillions of gigabytes being generated, says SYSPRO Academy's Deirdre Fryer.
The amount of data being created each year continues to grow at an exponential rate, with trillions of gigabytes being generated, says SYSPRO Academy's Deirdre Fryer.

Opinions vary around the usefulness of data visualisation in making informed and strategic business decisions. If the data visualisation adds value and insights it can be very useful to businesses. But if not, it is just colourful ''noise''.

I have had some "wow" moments with this where the visualisation dashboard has given deep insights and strategic connections and created new and effective strategies.

But let us take a step back and look at the rationale behind data visualisation.

There can be no question the amount of data being created each year continues to grow at an exponential rate, with trillions of gigabytes being generated. Yet, for all the data that's being created by people, machines, Internet-enabled devices, and other sources, data doesn't provide executives and other decision-makers with valuable insights on its own. The data must be gathered, made interpretable, and then analysed and acted on to provide any meaningful strategic value.

Data visualisation tools and techniques offer executives and other knowledge workers new approaches to dramatically improve their ability to grasp information hiding in their data. There is much evidence that the human brain can process and react faster to images compared to text content.

This means data presented in a visual form can be a valuable strategic business tool as people respond to it positively and absorb key information and performance indicators in new and constructive ways.

Data visualisation was sometimes seen as a "new age gimmick" in the past, probably because of shallow and flashy visuals used at the time, but insightful visualisation, including a combination of graphs and Gantt charts (giving a visual representation of planning and tracking) for example, can be a very useful business tool across the organisation.

One of the greatest strengths of data visualisation is how it brings actionable insights to the surface. Unlike one-dimensional tables and charts that can only be viewed statically, data visualisation tools enable users to interact with the data and reveal the patterns within. For example, a well-designed sales data visual comparing sales trends over the past six months will quickly highlight if sales are on the rise or declining.

No matter which form is used, the visuals must focus on the primary areas of the situation at hand and are dependent on the data used. Heat maps are good for areas/region-related data and graphs can provide historical data, but there are a variety of mediums. The trick to data visualisation is using the right medium to get the best result out of the data.

The data visual\dashboard cannot be too busy as it distracts from the task at hand. So the visual must be simple and must focus on the key areas or objectives of the task at hand so as not to lose its value.

Used properly, to reveal key insights into the business, data visualisation adds a wealth of strategic knowledge to plot a prosperous course ahead.

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