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It was in 2016 that the world was standing at the breakthrough point of Business Intelligence, with its revolutionary discovery (or should we say evolution) of data visualization. Today, Business Intelligence has come a long way as it has turned the world of data science upside down. Now enterprises, big or small, meticulously collate and compile data to derive relevant insights that can prove life-saving in strategic decisions.

Business owners now seek frontrunners with Power BI certification training, or other such specialized training to help them in data analysis.

Importance of Data Visualization

According to studies, it is proven that our brains are more equipped to analyze and visual breakdown data 60,000 times faster than text. 90% of all information that gets transmitted to the brain is, in fact, visuals. This is precisely why business owners prefer visual data as they hang in longer in our minds than others.

Here are some other ways in which Data Visualization helps –

• Businesses get an interactive, creative way to understand, analyze and learn from data in a never-before way. Thus, data visualization makes them ask the right questions to find the answer hidden right in the graphics somewhere.
• It is a proven and faster way to spot any trend, pattern or relationship in data sets that were difficult to sort previously. Thus, companies can know the attention areas and make things better beforehand.
• Finding business opportunities can become quicker with data visualization as it is relatively easier to predict changes in terms of sales that otherwise got deterred by everyday functions.
• Spotting out factors that work best in favor of audiences’ interests and what doesn’t.
• Its sheer usability makes it smooth to share the analytics with anyone and get their opinion on the same.

Top Data Visualization Tools

Because of its high value to business owners, the field of data visualization solutions is evolving every day. Today, there are ample options to help you with interpreting large data funnels that may include millions of data points. At this time, any designer or professional would need tools to help automate the visualization process for maximum accuracy.

There are many common grounds that these tools share. –

• Usability: Any data visualization tool would require easy to use features for yielding output to any data. If the purpose of these tools isn’t achieved in simplistic ways, then its users may end up in confusion and wasting too much time on it.
• Interpreting high volumes of data: For a data visualization tool, churning vast amounts of data should come quickly. These tools may require handling multiple sets of piling data in a single visualization.
• Data visualization in varied forms: Be it choosing from a different type of charts, graphs or maps, these tools may come equipped with powerful ways of representing data. Sometimes, a graphic may contain both an image and interactive graphs while for some tools, the figures follow specific chart types.
• Pricing Factors: Unlike other tools, data visualization tools justify their high or low prices in terms of better support, features or overall value.

Now that you know all about the functionalities of data visualization tools, here are some of the most popular ones available in the market:

• Tableau
• Power BI
• Infogram
• ChartBlocks
• D3.js
• Google Charts
• FusionCharts
• Charts.js
• Grafana
• Sigma js
• Chartist.js

Power BI and Tableau Explained

Power BI

It is a Business Intelligence and Data Visualization tool that helps in data conversion into visually interactive graphic reports from several sources. Some of its main features include personalized dashboards, navigation panel, Q&A boxes, feedback options, trend indicators and Online Analytical Processing (OLAP). These features may help in the process of complete reporting and visualization of data from several means.

Here are some of the advantages of Power BI –

• Power BI is deep-rooted to the Microsoft stack and therefore leads to quick integration in office 365 and other external sources.
• Since Power BI came from Microsoft Excel, it is apt for technical users and can be useful in making dashboards and reports.
• It’s completely free and therefore ensures the highest value standards, even for start-ups that lack budget but have huge potential.
• It offers fast deployment and hybrid configuration.
• It comes in a SaaS model.
• Easy integrations with Python and R coding.
• The Power Query feature contains useful tips to sort, clean data.

There are also some shortcomings to this tool –

• The sharing of dashboards and reports are limited within one email domain.
• This tool doesn’t account for the data imported from real-time connections.
• Files lesser than 1GB aren’t acceptable.

Tableau

One of the fastest-growing data visualization tools, Tableau is all about breaking down data into vibrant visuals easily. Some of its features include ease of users irrespective of experts or beginners, real-time analysis, notifications for data changes, easy data incorporation, sharing and filtering data and mobile-based dashboards.

Here are some of the advantages of Tableau –

• Apt for making the most of data visualization tools.
• It offers a vast range of user interface layout, sharing and intuitive data exploration techniques.
• More flexible than Power BI in terms of dashboard designing.
• Cost-effective available pieces of training.
• It comes with a data interpreter along with a narration feature.
• It uses Python and R code for optimizing its performance.

Also, there are a few limitations that come with using Tableau –

• It is more expensive than other tools.
• It doesn’t come with natural embed features to other applications.
• It doesn’t feature any AI or Machine Learning capabilities.

In brief,

It can be inferred that it’s a win-win for both the tools. In terms of ease of use and AI-driven capabilities, Power BI can be preferred by users, while Tableau is a clear winner in terms of speed and possibilities. It depends on an organization’s priorities and approach to making the most of these tools.