Unit 2

Business Intelligence Users

Super/ Power Users

Super users have a strong understanding of both the business and technology to access and
analyze transactional data. They have full privileges to explore and analyze the data with the
BI applications available to them. These are experienced sophisticated analysts who want to
use complex tools and techniques to analyze data and whose results will inform decision –
making processes.

Functional/ Business users

These users need to perform detailed research and analysis, which requires access to
transactional data. In addition to the privileges of a casual user, functional users have the ability
to develop their own ad hoc queries and perform OLAP analysis. These users rely on domain
– specific reporting and analyses prepared by power users, but who also rely on their own ad
hoc queries and desire access to raw data for drilling down, direct interaction with analytics
servers, extractions, and then further manipulation, perhaps using desktop utility tools.

Casual Users
Casual users require the next level of detail from the information that is provided to viewers.
In addition to the privileges of a viewer, casual users have the ability to refresh report
information and the ability to enter desired information parameters for the purposes of
performing high-level research and analysis.
Casual users may represents more than one area of the business, and rely on rolled – up entries
from across functions or operational areas summarized from predesigned reports presented via
scorecards or dashboards. Data aggregators or information providers, which are business that
collect industry – or society wide data and enhance and reorganize that data as a way of
providing value – added services to customers and subscribers. Some example include database
marketing services, financial and credit information services, real estate business information
services audience measurement services, market research providers, and national statistical
agencies, among others.

Operational analytics users

These users indirectly rely on the results of analytics embedded within operational applications
to help team in decision making. Examples include call center representatives whose scripts
are adjusted interactively in relation to customer profiles, predicted behavioral tendencies and
ad placement, or users of retail shelf management systems that adjust stock levels based on
demand across multiple regions.
Extended enterprise users
These users comprising external parties, customers, regulators, external business analysts,
partners, suppliers, or anyone with a need for reported information for factional decision
making. An extended enterprise is a loosely coupled, self-organizing network of firms that
combine their economic output to provide products and services offerings to the market. The
extended enterprise includes the contributors to the solutions and recipients who use the
solutions.

IT users
These users are mostly involved in the development aspects of BI, and whose use of BI is more
for supporting the needs of other information consumers.

Each of these user types has different expectations for his or her interactive experience, and
each is framed within the context of the driving factors for delivery of actionable knowledge
and the types of actions each would take based on the presented results for non – IT and non –
aggregator users. The upshot is that there are many different modes of presentations that are
relevant user types. The next sections provide an overview of the typical methods employed
for delivery and presentation.

Users Example Actionable Type of Action Example usage

Type users knowledge Exceptions

Power Data scientist Behaviour Behaviour Unencumbered access to

users Research Patterns Patterns statistical data ability to slice and
analytics “data statistical anomalies dice dimensional data,
mines” anomalies analytical results, integrated data
analytical predictive modes mining models, ad hoc
results, queries, accepts to
predictive analytical patterns and
modes Programming models.
Business Operations Operational Further drill Periodically Updated
Users managers, reports, Down standard
division behaviour that communication Reports notifications and
managers derivatives with front line alerts, presentations of
from employees, currents status
expectations recommendations Within monitored
within to senior Business function ad hoc
business management queries
function
Casual Senior Deviation from Alert business Monitoring of
users managers expected managers and Continuously updated
behaviour users for further reports and manners
order activity, investigation across different
pessimization and resolution
 across business business functions
function notifications and alerts
Operational Line or One going One going Ongoing operational
analytics production operational operational Statuses
users managers staff statuses statuses anomalies
workers anomalies anomalies behaviour
behaviour behaviour
Extended Extended Current status of Purchase or sale Secure
enterprise enterprise integrations of assets presentation via
users users with the business revising portfolio the web
payment

Standards Reports
Standard reports usually have a fixed format, are parameter-driven and, in their simplest form,
are prerun. These are the predefined reports where the content of the report is fixed and the
user selects the preconditions, such as the period, actuality and company to generate the report
for. These reports are mainly generated from the Company or Group menus in batch and
typically delivered on a scheduled basis through a standard (web) interface.
Standard reports provide a core set of information about what's going on in a particular business
area — sounds dull, but these reports are the backbone of BI applications. Examples from
different industries include YTD Sales vs. Forecast by Sales Rep, and Direct Mail Response
Rates by Promotion by Product.
The standard reporting system consists of several technology components. You must have a
tool for the report designer — either someone in IT or a skilled business user — to define
reports. You need management services for report storage, execution and security. Finally, your
reporting system should have a navigation portal that helps users find the report they want.

The most “generic” approach to presentation of information reflects a relatively basic two–
dimensional alignment of information, characterized within a grid of rows and columns. The
columns typically articulate the item or characteristics being measurement while the rows will
generally correspond to the division and hierarchies for which those measures are provided.
The intersection of each row and column provides the specific measure for the column’s
characteristics for the row’s item.
For example, let’s example a sample report provided by the US Census Bureau. In this
example, there are two measures (in the columns) the estimated of owner occupied housing
units with a mortgage, and the margin of error associated with the measure. There are four
groups of items being measured;
 The number of owner – occupied housing units with a mortgage ’
 Value of the houses
 Mortgage status
 Household income for the previous 12 months
Within some of these groups, these are further hierarchical breakdowns, such as the dollar
groupings for value, or the categories for mortgage status. These are relatively generic
categories/ hierarchies, and this is reflected in the fact that these are indeed “canned” (or static)
reports that have been already prepared for presentation. The presumption is that the static
nature of standard reports will drive the need for alternative methods for additional insight. In
order words, standard reports present analytical results unless any of the reported numbers are
perceived to be beyond the bounds of expectations. And in either case, the standard report only
provides a view into what was intended to be shared, but is limited in providing answers to
specific business questions.

Fig: Standard Report Example

Interactive Analysis and Ad hoc Querying

Businesses are collecting more data than ever, but if you don’t know how to effectively
interpret it, data is just facts and statistics. The value in data doesn’t come from collecting it,
but in how you make it actionable to drive business strategy. In order to make better-informed
decisions, your business needs to be able to effectively analyze data, and that data needs to be
comprehensible for as many decision-makers as possible.
Interactive analytics is a way to make real-time data more intelligible for non-technical users
through the use of tools that visualize and crunch the data, enabling users to quickly and easily
run complex queries and interpret them to gain the valuable insights that factor into critical
business decisions.

BI users looking for additional details regarding information delivered in standard reports may
not opt to drill into the data, either with broader visibility into the existing data or with a finer
level of granularity. Both are intended to go beyond the relatively strict format of the standard
report, even if they open up different views into the data. The first option involves taking data
formatted into a standard report and downloading it into a framework that allows you to slice
and dice the existing data more freely. One example involves data from the report into a desktop
spread sheet tool that provides organizations around hierarchies.
This precursor to dimensional analysis provides some level of interactive analysis, and is often
manifested as a pivot table. These pivot tables enable broader flexibility in grouping data within
ordered hierarchies, development of static graphs and charts, or just perusing the data from
different angles.
The second option is more powerful in enabling finer granularity by allowing more
sophisticated users to execute their own queries into the analytical data platform. Users with
an understanding of the data warehouse’s data inventory and who have some skill at
understanding help users describe the data they’d like to review. These tools reformulate those
requests in SQL queries that are executed directly. The result sets are also suitable for loading
into desktop tools for further organization and analysis, as well as forming the basis for static
charts and graphs. However, there are some caveats when allowing users to formulate and
execute ad hoc queries here are some.
Ad Hoc Query
Ad hoc query refers to user-defined searches that are used to gain insight into a given data set
without requiring any predefined dashboards, drill paths, and coding. By leveraging these types
of queries, users can access specific information when and where they need it.

What is an ad hoc query?

An ad hoc query in SQL Server is a single query not included in a stored procedure and not
parameterized or prepared. Depending on the server settings, SQL Server can parameterize
some statements initially written as ad hoc queries. Ad hoc doesn’t mean dynamic.
Here’s a simple ad hoc query example in SQL Server:

SELECT LastName, FirstName

FROM Person.Person;

SQL Server will parameterize this simple query:

SELECT LastName, FirstName

FROM Person.Person
WHERE BusinessEntityID = 7;

Performance: Writing efficient queries is a skill, and many queries involve joints across
multiple tables that can bring a system’s performances to knees. The users would be expected
to be highly before letting many implies they their own queries.
Semantic consistency: Allowing users to write their own queries implies they know and
understand the meanings of the data elements they have selected to include in their result sets.
However, without comprehensive, standardized business term glossaries and metadata
repositories, users may see data element names and impulse their definitions, potentially
assigning meanings that are different than what was intended by the data creators These
discrepancies may impact believability of the results.

Repeatability: The ad hoc process involves a sequence consisting of multiple iterations of the
*two – phased query and review of the result set process. The operational process allows the
analyst to effectively follow a thread or train of thought, but without a means for capturing the
thought process driving the sequences, it is difficult to capture the intuition that drives the
ultimate result. In other words, the sequence may yield some results, but it may be difficult to
replicate that process a second or third time.
Standard reports can provide knowledge to a broad spectrum of consumers, even if those
consumers must have contextual knowledge to identify the key indicators and take action. Ad
hoc queries enable grater drill – down and potential for insight. However, given the growth of
data into the petabytes coupled with the complexity and performances impacts of ad hoc
queries, standard reporting is rapidly yielding to more organized methods for delivering results,
through parameterized reporting, dimensional analysis, and notification, alerts exception
reporting.
Examples of ad hoc queries
Ad hoc queries are an important tool for any data analyst or business intelligence professional.
1. Comparing Data Sets
Ad hoc queries can also be used to quickly compare data sets to find correlations or differences
between them. For example, if you wanted to compare sales of two different products at
different stores, an ad hoc query could be used to quickly find the results.
2. Identifying Trends
Ad hoc queries can be used to identify trends within a data set or between different sets of data.
This could help answer questions such as what is the average age of people in a certain zip
code, or how have sales of a particular product changed over time?
3. Generating Reports
Ad hoc queries can also be used to generate reports, such as a customer list or a summary report
on sales over a certain period. This is especially useful when dealing with large amounts of
data that would otherwise take too long to process manually.

4. Spotting Anomalies
Ad hoc queries can be used to quickly identify any anomalies or inconsistencies in the data that
may not be immediately obvious, such as unusually high or low values for certain variables.
5. Updating Reports
Ad hoc queries can also be used to update reports or dashboards on the fly, keeping them up-
to-date with the latest data. This could help in cases where there are frequent changes to the
data set being analyzed, such as sales figures for a particular product over time. This would
enable the analyst to quickly update their reports without having to manually re-run the query
each time.

Benefits of ad hoc queries

Ad hoc queries give users the ability to ask questions and receive answers in real time. This
creates opportunities for businesses to gain valuable insights and make decisions quickly,
giving them an edge over their competitors. The most valuable combination of this ad hoc
analysis capability is with a self-service experience. In doing so, not only can analytically
skilled users quickly ask questions, any user can ask questions of their data, extending the
benefit of ad hoc queries beyond data teams throughout an organization.
Here are 5 benefits of ad hoc queries:
Increased data exploration
Ad hoc queries provide a flexible environment that allows users to ask questions in a variety
of different ways. This gives users the ability to explore data on their own, quickly adapt their
queries to meet the changing needs of their business, and take action on those changing needs.
Improved accuracy
Ad hoc queries can help businesses get more precise answers by allowing them to continue to
ask follow up questions to identify potential issues of data quality, focus on specific data
parameters, access the most updated data, and obtain more detailed information than traditional
query systems.
Faster execution
Ad hoc queries are typically faster than traditional query systems, especially modern analytics
tools built purposefully to handle data at cloud volumes. This can help businesses get their
answers quicker, allowing for more efficient decision-making processes.
Better ROI from data investments
Ad hoc queries make it easier for users to ask questions and receive answers in real time; as
mentioned, the best make it possible for every kind of user to do so. This helps drive a better
user experience, which leads to better adoption, and ultimately, enhanced ROI (Return on
investment) when compared to traditional query systems.
Cost savings
Ad hoc queries can help businesses save money, as they require less technical resources to
answer questions. When paired with a self service business intelligence layer, business users
can ask their own questions and get answers from the data themselves, meaning technical teams
can break free from endlessly tweaking reports and focus on more strategic data initiatives.

Parameterized Reports and Self-Service Reporting

A parameterized report is a report that accepts input values that are used when the report is
processed. With a parameterized report, you can vary the output of a report based on the values
that are set at run-time. Reporting Services supports two kinds of parameters: query parameters
and report parameters. These canned or prebuilt reports provide customizable settings such as
sorts, filters, parameters, conditional formatting, and styling options. Business users cannot edit
these reports' definitions, but they can manipulate their settings to affect the output.
 Query parameters are used to select or filter data during data processing. If a query
parameter is specified, a value must be provided either by the user or by default
properties to complete the SELECT statement or stored procedure that retrieves data
for a report.
 Report parameters are used during report processing to show a different aspect of the
data. A report parameter is usually used to filter a large set of records, but it can have
other uses depending on the queries and expressions in the report.
Report parameters differ from query parameters in that they are defined in a report and
processed by the report server, while query parameters are defined as a part of the dataset query
and processed on the database server

Self-service reporting is a type of business intelligence that allows everyday users to access
and analyse data without relying on IT or other technical resources. It empowers non-technical
users to answer their own data questions, find insights, create data visualizations, and turn that
all into customized reports that meet their specific needs.
Unlike traditional reporting, which can take days to deliver insights, self service reporting
dramatically reduces the time and energy required to produce a report. In today's business
environment, the ability to provide real-time insights is nonnegotiable. By having up-to-date
information at their fingertips, companies can make more informed decisions, avoid
unnecessary risk, and be better equipped to tackle various challenges. Additionally,
organizations can reduce operational costs by eliminating the need for manual data entry and
analysis.

Parameterized reports are critical to self-service BI, even though business users are unlikely
to build them on their own. By including parameters in canned reports, IT can provide business
users with more flexible report libraries. Users don't need report-writing or editing skills to
select a value from a drop-down menu or fill in a field, nor do they need help from IT. In this
way, parameterized reports broaden the means by which business users may help themselves
in the moment.
After monitoring the types of ad hoc queries performed, it because apparent in many scenarios
that users within similar categories were executing very similar queries. The problem was that
despite the similarity of the queries, each was being executed in isolation, with each
contributing to degradation of overall performance.
However, knowledge of the similarly of query patterns allows the system managers to optimize
the environment to help reduce system load but reorganizing the data to make it more amenable
to the similar queries, pre-processing some aspects of those queries, or caching parts of the data
to reduce memory access and network latency.

Pre-computed of even via form – based drop downs. In other words, the queries are generally
static, and differ only by defined set of parameter values. Satisfying these parameterized reports
bridges. The parameterized approach is particularly beneficial in operational scenarios in which
similar queries and drill – downs are done over and performances by location the queries are
always the same, they just differ by the location parameter.
 The data discovery process by presenting a palette of data sets that the user can
access and use.
 The data access methods by masking or virtualizing access to the data to be queried.
 The documentation of the “make – up” of the report via collaborative means so
that the results, and more importantly, the process for generating the results, can be
shared with other analysts.
 The development of the presentation layer, whether that is simple row/ column
reports, or using more sophisticated visualization techniques (as we will explore in
the next few sections).

Another benefit of self – services BI is that it is intended to reduce or eliminate the IT

bottleneck. In many environments, the IT department is responsible for developing reports and
as the BI program gains more acceptance, there will be greater demand for IT resources for
report development. This becomes a bottleneck when the time for responding to a request
exceeds the window of opportunity for exploiting the actionable performs within its first week
of release so that adjustment and tweaks can be made; if it takes three weeks for the report to
be readied, it is already too late to take action.

Dimensional analysis

Multidimensional analysis: The ability of system to interpret the same data in more than one
form. In actual the data is the same, just the view to interpret the data changes. It is a complex
process, and expert’s analyst is used to conduct this process. Using OLAP (Online Analytic
Processing) system, the analysis time reduces and the efficiency of data analysis increases.
OLAP- provide tools for users to examine/filter dimensional data. It organises data in
multidimensional structures.
Let’s understand it with a simple example.
Number of sales of bike by a single automobile company in several years is single dimensional
data (longitudinal data).
Number of sales of bike by several automobile companies in single year is single dimensional
data (cross-sectional data).
But the Number of sales of bikes by several automobile companies in several years is a
multidimensional data.
Now, you can understand the first two lines of this section very effectively, the data in all three
cases is same. We are considering the sales of bike only, but in every case, the view by which
we analysis data changes.
Let’s take an example of Soda Sales: As shown in Fig. below Major companies selling 4
different flavours of soda Cola, Cherry, Grape and Lemon-Lime and they are interested to
know what’s happening in major market Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne and Berlin. They want to
begin by analysing sales as shown in first 2 fig. as below by different perspectives for last 2
quarters. As you can see the Total sales is the same $32,000 for all the perspectives but we are
observing it from different categories like time, geography and products, these categories are
called the Dimensions. But there is not much to analyse, but what if we combine all the three
categories with a 4th Dimension i.e. cells data as in third table, we have a better view, and we
can analyse better. This process of interacting with different dimensions is called “Slicing and
Dicing” always reveals new information and is very effective.

Fig: Sales of Cola for Cologne for Q3

Multidimensional Analysis and online analytical processing (OLAP) add a layer on top of the
pivot table approaches used within desktop spreadsheet tools. The multidimensional analysis
provided by OLAP tools helps analysis “slice and dice”relationships between different
variables within different levels of their own hierarchies.

The use of the word “by”suggests a pivot around which the data can be viewed, allowing us
to look at items sold, grouped by item classification and then grouped by time periods, then by
regions or the other way around, grouped by regions then by time periods. OLAP lets the
analyst drill up and down along the hierarchies in the different dimensions to uncover
dependent relationships that are hidden within the hierarchies.
Since OLAP queries are generally organized around partial aggregations along the different
dimensions, the data can be organized along the different dimension in queries that “slice”
or “dice” the data. “Slicing” fixes the region (Northeast) and reviewing items sales
grouped by classification and or more dimensions, such as selecting a collection of item
classifications and then presenting those selected items by time period and locations.

Any of the dimensions can be drilled through (also referred to a drill – down) by navigating
along the different levels of a dimension’s hierarchy.
For example, once a region is selected (Northeast), sales by item by time period can be
reviewed at the next level down in the regional hierarchy (such as by each of the states in the
Northeast region) OLAP environments presents the data aligned along selected dimensions.
The presentations layer often provides a palette from which dimensions can be selected for
visualizations and those dimensions can be pivoted around each other. The data can be
presented in the same grid format as the standard report, or can be visualized using graphical
components. The slicing, dicing, and drill through provided by the OLAP presentations
provides much greater flexibility for the power user performing data to identify anomalous
behaviour or to look for potential patterns may also benefit through the use OLAP environment.

Some other examples which include reviewing items sales by time period by region” (in
which there are different types of items, different time period durations, and different. For
example, a national call centre manager might review average hold times by regional call
centre. As long as the average hold time is between 30 and 60 seconds, the averages remain
within the acceptable level of service. However, once an average hold time for any regions
exceeds 60 seconds, the call centre manager will need to reach out to the regional call centre
manager to investigate why the hold times are longer than expected. Of course, you can
envision many similar scenarios in which the action needs to trigger only when certain
variables hit specific values. And in each of these cases, reviewing the entire reports is overkill
– the business user only need to know the specific variables’ value, and only when that value
would need to trigger an action; otherwise the variables’ value can be ignored.

Alert messaging (or Alert Notification) is machine-to-person communication that is

important or time-sensitive. An alert may be a calendar reminder or a notification of a new
message.
In the above example of national call centre manager, when action needs to be taken, then
instead of presenting an entire report, alerts or notifications can be an alternative method for
delivering actionable knowledge. This method is nicely suited to operational environments in
which notifications can be delivered via different methods. Some examples include email,
instant messages, direct messages delivered through (potentially internal) social networking
sites, smart phones, other mobile devices, radio, banks or visual consoles). In these situations,
the notifications method can embody the context; for example, a flashing amber lights provides
the medium for notification as well as the message. This approach not only simplifies the
delivery of the critical piece of information, it reduces the effort for inspecting the critical
values and there by enable actions.
While working in a company, these rule-based notifications and alerts tell you, in real-time,
when something is happening, good or bad, instead of constantly monitoring your dashboard.
You're in charge 24/7 and you Never miss a notification because they'll go to the apps you use
every day.

Visualization
Data visualization is part of many business-intelligence tools and key to advanced analytics. It
helps people make sense of all the information, or data, generated today. With data
visualization, information is represented in graphical form, as a pie chart, graph, or another
type of visual presentation.
Data visualization is the practice of converting raw information (text, numbers, or symbols)
into a graphic format. The data is visualized with a clear purpose: to show logical correlations
between units, and define inclinations, tendencies, and patterns. Depending on the type of
logical connection and the data itself, visualization can be done in a suitable format. So, it’s
dead simple, any analytical report contains examples of data interpretations like pie charts,
comparison bars, demographic maps, and much more.

As you can see where data visualization actually takes place in the whole process. Most modern
BI interfaces have a wide number of options concerning the choice of how to use data for
visuals. In most cases, there is a command dashboard with a drag-and-drop interface.

In most cases, visuals are created manually via corresponding software, whether it’s
PowerPoint or Photoshop. But, its core usage remains in the field of analytics. For that reason,
data visualization or dataviz became a standard way to introduce information for users through
the BI interface (data representation tool).
The methods discussed so far have largely focused on the means of delivery of the analytical
results, but less on the presentation. Yet our conclusion at the end of the previous section
suggested that presentations methods for specific pieces of information might be better in
conveying a message or triggering the action and then comparing analytical results.
There are many different types of visualizations modes for data:

Common types of data visualizations

Turning information into an image is not an objective. On a higher level, the data is easier to
grasp when it’s represented as a visual. But, on a lower level, a visual is a tool to convey the
connections between different units.
Each type of visual corresponds precisely to the idea of what data it can interpret, and what
type of connection (relationship, comparison, composition, or distribution) it shows better.
Let’s look at the most common types of visualizations you encounter in business intelligence
and data analytics in general.
Charts and Graphs
Charts and graphs are typically the first tools considered when discussing data visualization.
A line chart can tell the overall story of data trends over time faster than a narrative or numbers.
But lines aren’t the only graphical tools in the data analytics and BI reporting toolbox. Here are
some other charts and graphs that are used in data visualization:

Bar chart
A bar chart is one of the basic ways to compare data units to each other or performance among
different categories. Because of its simple graphic form, a bar chart is often used in BI as an
interactive page element.
Bar charts are versatile enough to be modified and show more complex data models. The bars
can be structured in clusters or be stacked, to depict distribution across market segments, or
subcategories of items. The same goes for horizontal bar charts, fitting more for long data labels
to be placed on the bars.
When to use: comparing objects, numeric information. Use horizontal charts to fit long data
labels. Place stacks in bars to break each object into segments for a more detailed comparison.

Pie chart
One more common type of chart we see
everywhere, is a pie chart.
This type of chart is used in any marketing
or sales department, because it makes it easy
to demonstrate the composition of objects or
unit-to-unit comparison.
When to use: composition of an object,
comparing parts to the whole object.
Line Graph
This type of visual utilizes a horizontal axis and a vertical axis to depict the value of a unit over
time.
Line graphs can also be combined with bar charts to represent data from multiple dimensions.
When to use: object value on the timeline, depicting tendencies in behaviour over time.

Box plot
At first glance, a box plot looks pretty complicated. But if we look closer at the example, it
becomes evident that it depicts quarters in a horizontal fashion.
Our main elements here are minimum, maximum, and the median placed in between the first
and third quartile. What a box shows is the distribution of objects, and their deviation from the
median.
When to use: distribution of the complex object, deviation from the median value.
Scatter plot
This type of visualization is built on X and Y axes. Between them, there are dots placed around,
defining objects. The position of a dot on the graph denotes which qualities it has.
As in the case of line
graphs, dots placed
between the axes are
noticed in a split second.
The only limitation of this
type of visualization is the
number of axes.
When to use: showing
distribution of objects,
defining the quality of
each object on the graph.

Radar or spider chart

This type of chart is basically a line chart drawn in radial fashion. It has a spiderweb form that
is created by multiple axes and variables.
Its purpose is the
same as for a line
chart. But because of
the number of axes,
you can compare
units from various
angles and show the
inclinations
graphically.
When to use:
describing data
qualities, comparing
multiple objects to
each other through
different dimensions.
Dot map or density map
Superimposing a visualization over the map works for data’s geographical domain. Density
maps are built with the help of dots placed on the map, marking the location of each unit.
A dot can define a single
unit (e.g. marketplace) or
denote a number of objects
in a certain area. Such a
format makes density easy
to notice but may provide
zero value if precise
numbers are required.
When to use: depicting
distribution or density of
objects.

Funnel charts
These are perfect for showing
narrowing correlations
between different groups of
items. In most cases, funnels
will utilize both geometric
form and colour coding to
differentiate items.
When to use: depicting
processual stages with the
narrowing percentage of
value/objects

In choosing the type of visualization, make sure you clearly understand the following points:
1. Specifics of your data set: domain of knowledge or department in your company
2. Audience: people you want to present the information to
3. Connection logic: comparison of objects, distribution, relationship, process
description, etc.
4. Output: simply, the reason for showing this information to somebody
Popular data visualization tools:
Looker:- A data analytics platform offering connection both to web-based and SQL data
sources.
Zoho Analytics:- This business intelligence product comes as a part of the Zoho analytical
platform.
Tableau:- This provider has the whole ecosystem for business intelligence with various
products. Tableau offers not only a data visualization tool itself, but also data preparation
instrument for transforming, cleaning, and mapping information without code knowledge.
QlikView:- Qlik is another BI provider that offers a lot of flexibility to teams willing to build
customized software. QlikView is a freemium version of their product, which can be upgraded
to Qlik Sense.
Microsoft Power BI:- It is free software, but there are some pitfalls. You can obtain full
functionality without paying a dollar, but all the produced reports will be published to the
Microsoft Gallery. So basically, all your reports will be publicly visible.
Google Data Studio:- Perhaps, this one is the most accessible option for any user that wants
to create visualized reports.

Widgets
These widgets provide a means to display data in picture or graph form. You can incorporate
visualization widgets directly in the display output of applications you write, or incorporate
them in applications created with Application Builder.
A widget displays the results of a dataset, allowing you to visualize data in different ways than
traditional reports displayed as grids or graphs do.
Widgets are sophisticated visualization techniques that can combine with rich interactivity to
enable users to understand their data more effectively. Dossier-style documents (is a display of
related sets of data on one screen) can display a variety of widget types, such as Gauge, Heat
Map, and Stacked Area widgets. Although each type of widget looks different and is used in a
unique way, the main purpose of all widgets remains the same: to provide a visual and
interactive look into your data.
To analyze data, many type of widget are available:
 Bubble Grid widget: Displays bubbles of different colors and sizes representing the
values of two metrics. It can help identify important trends or anomalies in data, relative
to the total contribution of accompanying data.
Analyzing Data in a Bubble Grid widget
In the widget, metric values are plotted as bubbles of different colors and sizes; the
colors and sizes of the bubbles represent the values of two distinct metrics on the
widget. Each bubble is generated at the intersection of two different attribute elements.
 For example, in the widget below, a single bubble depicts the profit and revenue for
books (an element of the Category attribute) in the South region (an element of the
Region attribute). The Revenue metric value determines the size of the bubble, while
the Profit metric value determines the color. When you hover the cursor over a bubble,
a tooltip is displayed. Notice that in the tooltip shown below, data for a third metric,
Profit Margin, is shown. The Profit Margin data does not affect the size or color of the
bubbles, but is provided for additional information.

The Bubble Grid widget is most beneficial when it is used to perform analyses
involving key business ratios, such as the number of customers in a store vs. the revenue
generated per customer.

 Cylinder widget: A simple status indicator that displays a vertical cylinder with fluid in
it. The level of the fluid within the cylinder is a visual representation of a single metric
value. This is a Flash-based widget, which displays
in Flash Mode.
Analyzing Data in a Cylinder Widget

In the image, the liquid level in the cylinder

represents the amount of revenue generated (the
Revenue metric).
 A Cylinder widget is usually combined
with an interactive selector so you can
choose an attribute element. The metric
value for the selected element displays in
the cylinder.

For example, select Southwest from the

Region selector to update the Cylinder
widget with Southwest's revenue value,
as shown below.

 Data Cloud widget: A list of attribute elements displayed in various sizes to depict the
differences in metric values between the elements. The varying sizes allow you to
quickly identify the most significant, positive, or negative contributions.
Analyzing Data in a Data Cloud Widget

A Data Cloud widget displays attribute elements in various sizes to depict the
differences in metric values among the elements. This type of widget is similar to a
Heat Map widget because they both allow you to quickly identify the most significant
positive or negative contributions.

A Data Cloud widget is basically a list of attribute elements. The font size of each
attribute element corresponds to the value of a metric; a bigger font for an element
indicates a larger metric value.

In the example below, the sizes of the Subcategory attribute elements in the data cloud
are determined by the Revenue metric. The amount of revenue generated by each type
of book determines the attribute elements' sizes. You can hover over each attribute
element (in the example, a subcategory) to view its metric values. In this case, the Profit
metric is displayed in the resulting tooltip for informational purposes, although the
Profit metric does not affect the element's font size.

 Date Selection widget: A calendar selector that allows you to select which dates you
want to see data about in a document or dossier-style document. You are able to see all
of the dates of each month in the widget, which allows you to be able to select dates
more easily.
Selecting Dates in a Date Selection Widget
 For example, the Date
Selection widget is useful
if you are working with a
document that displays
data from the fourth
quarter of 2010, but you
want to view data from a
date before that. Select the
date that you want to see,
and the data for that date
will display on the
document, as shown
below:

You can view data for one or more days in the following ways:

 To view data for a specific day, click that date in the calendar.
 To view data for a range of dates, hold the SHIFT key as you select the start and
end dates of the range.
 To view data for a set of non-consecutive dates, hold the CTRL key as you
select each date.

The data for the selected date(s) displays on the document.

 Gauge widget: A simple status indicator that displays a needle that moves within a
range of numbers displayed on its outside edges. An example of a gauge is a car's
speedometer.
Analyzing Data in a Gauge Widget

A Gauge widget is a simple status indicator that displays a needle that moves within
a range of numbers displayed around its outer edge. A real-world example of a gauge
is a car's speedometer. This type of widget is designed to display the value of a single
metric. The needle within the gauge is a visual representation of that single metric
value.

In the image, the

location of the
needle in the gauge
represents the
amount of revenue
generated (the
Revenue metric).

A Gauge widget is
usually combined
with an interactive
selector so you can
 choose an attribute element, and the metric value for that element is displayed in the
gauge. For example, you can select the Southwest region from a selector or report to
have the Gauge widget display Southwest's revenue.

There are many widgets available and some more are as below:
 Fish Eye Selector widget: An interactive selector that magnifies an item when you
hover the cursor over it. It allows you to choose from a list of attribute elements,
metrics, or images without having to see all of the elements, metrics, or images. Any
item that you hover over or select remains magnified, while the remaining items are
minimized and hidden from view. This can be especially helpful when you have to
browse through a lengthy list.
 Funnel widget: A variation of a stacked bar graph that displays data that adds up to
100%. It allows you to visualize the percent contribution of a metric to the whole with
the help of a Funnel chart.
 Graph Matrix widget: A group of area graphs that display actual values and line graphs
that display forecasted values. It allows you to quickly analyze various trends across
several metric dimensions.
 Heat Map widget: A combination of colored rectangles, each representing an attribute
element, that allow you to quickly grasp the state and impact of a large number of
variables at the same time.
 Image Layout widget: An image overlaid with colored areas or bubble markers. For
example, the layout of a store can be displayed, with each aisle shown as a separate
region. Each aisle is automatically colored based on the number of visits that it receives.
 Map widget: Locations displayed as image markers or bubble markers on a map, along
with additional data for those locations, such as attribute and metric data.
 Media widget: Video, audio, images, or website content. One of the primary purposes
of the Media widget is to present supplemental information about the data on a dossier-
style document. It can also be used for instructional content or HTML content from a
website.
 Network widget: A visual representation of data about individual items and the
relationships between them. Business attributes are represented by circular nodes, while
the lines between the nodes (called edges) represent relationships between the
attributes.
 Waterfall widget: A group of clustered bars displayed from left to right. It highlights
the increments and decrements of the values of metrics over time. The widget can help
identify what is contributing to fluctuations in the metric values and can be used for
"what-if" analyses.
Scorecards and Dashboards
Tracking your organization’s progress and monitoring KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) is a
key aspect of your business intelligence tools. There are multiple ways to track your success
metrics based on your needs and the time frame you’re seeking to monitor.
Dashboard
Dashboards offer a broad way to track strategic goals and measure a company’s overall
efficiency. It provide some degree of flexibility to the user in crafting the presentation that is
most relevant to the way he/she operates.
Dashboards are central hubs for multiple reports that provide easy access to various datasets
simultaneously. Unlike scorecards, dashboards are used as a monitoring tool in real-time. Data
is constantly updated, giving organizations an opportunity to track their operational
performance in real time. As opposed to progress, dashboards measure performance, tracking
metrics without comparing them to target values.
Dashboards are used
daily in organizations
as they offer a more
operational view of
success than
scorecards’ focus on
strategic goals. Data
available in
dashboards is used to
provide a foundation
for better decision
making and more
efficient day-to-day
management of
teams, resources, and
expenses. For most
organizations,
dashboards present a
high-level idea of an
organization’s overall
performance.

More importantly, dashboards help organizations view their historic data as a function of
current performance. For example, companies can see their revenues over the past 12 months
or measure their month-to-month sales growth on an ongoing basis. Some traditional dashboard
examples include marketing boards that can monitor campaigns and strategies end-to-end, or
medical dashboards that track hospital operations centrally.
Scorecards,
Scorecard on the other hand, provide a quick and concise way to measure KPIs and give a
clear indication of how well organizations are working to achieve their targets.
A scorecard usually presents the value of key performances indicators as well as indicators
reflecting whether those KPI values are acceptable or not. The scorecard presentation may also
be enhanced with historical trends and indications if the KPIs have been improving or not over
time. Scorecards are often updated on a periodic basis (e.g., daily or hourly).
Scorecards offer organizations a snapshot of their current performance when compared to their
goals. They are useful tools for organizations which need to manage performance and make
strategic decisions better based on the distance between current performance and the goal. As
such, scorecards present a more static view of an organization at a point in time rather than a
dynamic hub to monitor success.
Scorecards are most commonly used to track KPIs, as they focus on both the current status of
the metric being tracked and the target value. However, scorecards aren’t live, so data is not
updated in real-time. Instead, scorecards serve to monitor strategic goals relative to KPIs and
to make decisions on a larger scale.
These decisions can include tracking the progress of a set strategy, measuring the efficiency of
particular teams or departments towards meeting goals or even identifying problems and how
they can be resolved. Scorecards are generally periodic measures, usually updated at set
intervals such as weekly or monthly.
Below, you can see an example of what choosing metrics for a marketing scorecard looks like
in Databox. The process is very simple, you just have to choose a specific data source and pick
out the metrics you are most interested in.
-

Characteristic Scorecard Dashboard

Definition A framework that analyzes the A business tool that
current strategies and compares provides a visual
them with the target value overview of KPIs in real-
time
Purpose Performance Management Performance Monitoring
Parameters KPI (Metric & Target) Performance Metric
MEASUREMENT TOOL Metrics and target values Metrics
GOAL PERIOD Long-term [strategic] goals Short-term [operational]
goals
UPDATE FEATURES Periodically in real-time
(Daily/Weekly/Monthly/Quarterly)
MEASURES Progress Performance
Decision Influences Companies' Policies Daily Operations
Nature Of Decisions Strategic Tactical
Supported By Top Management Individual Managers
Provides Trends & Changes In Business Snapshot Of Business
Activity Over Period Of Time Performance
Nature Of Data Summarized/Consolidated Real Time Data Obtained

Dashboard VS Scorecard – Which One Do You Need?

When choosing which reporting tool to use, the decision between scorecards and dashboards
is not necessarily mutually exclusive. Using both at the right times can give your organization
a much clearer picture of its health and your progress toward reaching your operational and
strategic goals.
Scorecards are ideal when you’re looking for a concise view of a specific area. If you need to
determine how well marketing KPIs are being met, or how a specific team is handling their
tasks, a scorecard can illuminate how close or far they are from their goals. This can be useful
when you’re attempting to identify areas for improvement or ways to make specific tasks more
efficient.
Dashboards are advantageous when you need a bird’s-eye view of your organization’s
operations. Because they can hold multiple reports and datasets in a single hub, dashboards are
highly useful when reviewing your success daily. Instead of specifically tracking progress
toward goals, however, dashboards offer a more holistic view of data. That is, they present data
without its target value, delivering a better historic view of progress which is ideal for making
day-to-day operational decisions designed to improve your organizational processes.
Most importantly, your dashboards and scorecards don’t have to be separate entities. Many
dashboards present scorecards as a periodic way to measure success, and they can also track
KPIs. Scorecards can also be included in dashboards, offering an individual location to view
multiple KPIs and their accompanying progress.
Choosing the right reporting tools for your organization does not have to be an either-or choice.
By combining the best parts of both scorecards and dashboards, you can get the most out of
your data and constantly refine decision-making.

Geographic Visualization
Geovisualization or “Geographic Visualization” concerns the visual representations of
geospatial data and the use of cartographic techniques to support visual analytics.
Geovisualization (short for geographic visualization), refers to a set of tools and techniques
supporting the analysis of geospatial Data (latitude & longitude ) through the use of
interactive visualization.
Like the related fields of scientific visualization and information visualization, geovisualization
emphasizes information transmission. Geovisualization communicates geospatial information
in ways that, combined with human understanding, allow data exploration and decision-making
processes.
In aspects of location intelligence and spatial analytics, and the results of that type of analysis
can be presented within the context of a map. Instead of using the standard graphical widgets
described in a previous section, aggregate values and totals can be attributed to a visual
representation of a map. For example, population statistics for each country in the European
Union can be superimposed on top of a map of Europe. These maps can satisfy the desire to
drill down; interactive selection or clicking on one segment of the map can be zoom in from a
geographic standpoint. In addition, spatial analysis results can be layered within the mapping
interface.
For example, in an insurance management application, hazard zones can be superimposed on
top of regions potentially affected by weather events to help guide determination of heightened
risk areas the company’s customer base. Another example employs the heat map concept to
geographic regions using and colors to present a collection of variable values. Often dashboards
will link more than one visualization component to others, and this can be easily applied to
geographic visualization. For example a dimensional analysis presentation (such as pivot table)
for a geographic hierarchy can be presented in one frame while the aggregated values are
displayed within a map. Realigning the dimensions in the grid will automatically update the
map, and drilling through regions
To summarize, geovisualization is an interesting and useful field of research for different
reasons:
1) can reduce the time to search information, and support decision-making;
2) can enhance the recognition of patterns, relations, trends and critical points etc.;
3) can give a global vision of a situation, a phenomenon, etc.;
4) enables the use of human visual memory and the capability of perceptual processing of
data;
5) permits a better interaction between user and the information system;
6) and can possibly lead to the discovery of new bunches of knowledge.

Applications of Geo Visualizations

• Wildland fire fighting - Sandbox
• Forestry – Common GIS and Visualization Toolkit
• Archaeology -
• Environmental studies
• Urban planning
Geovisualization tools
Mapbox - creating beautiful web and mobile maps (satellite images, geocoding or
directions). Mapbox Studio is like Photoshop, for maps. It gives designers control over
everything from colors and fonts, to 3D features and camera angles, to the pitch of the map
as a car enters a turn.
CARTO – CartoDB, best platform for complex and dynamic geospatial data visualization
and analysis.
CARTO is the world's leading Location Intelligence platform, enabling organizations to
use spatial data and analysis for more efficient delivery routes, better behavioural
marketing, strategic store placements, and much more.

ArcGIS Online - Easy to use, cloud based environment. ArcGIS Online is a complete
mapping and analysis solution. You can use it on its own or expand your work using other
ArcGIS products.
Heat map. This is graph that tiles a two – dimensional space using tiles of different sizes
and colors. A heat map is good for displaying many simultaneous values yet highlighting
specific ones based on their values. As an example, a heat map can display the number of
times each particular link on a web page was clicked, and can highlight the times of
greatest activity.

Fig: Wellbeing Heatmap - Health Tourism

Spider or radar chart. A spider chart displays a series of variable values across a
collection of dimensions. Each dimension is represented as an axis emanating from the
centre with specific gradations. A set of observations can be mapped as points (and
connected with lines). Different observations can be graphed using different colors. An
example using a spider chart looks at a number of different characteristics of products
(price, height, width, weight, mean time between failure) and relative success allowing the
analyst to quickly compare different products and look for correlation of the variable
values.
Spark line. Spark line are small line
graphs without axes or coordinates.
Many spark line can be used in
relative comparison regarding trends.
As an example, the trends of different
stock price histories for similar
companies can be compared to
determine of there are industry trends
relating to stock price.

There are many other types of visual “widgets” that can be used for presentation of
information.
Integrated Analytics

Integrated analytics mean fusing your data insights solution into everyday workflows and
applications, helping employees and customers make smarter decisions. An integrated
analytics platform provides an end-to-end solution for delivering business intelligence from
multiple data sources.
Business intelligence can be delivered from multiple data sources using an integrated analytics
platform. With this system, users can see up-to-the-minute data, forecast revenue, predict
trends, and evaluate marketing strategies.
Smart companies recognize the importance of making decisions based on insights from their
data, so they incorporate data analytics into the daily workflow of their employees. In addition,
integrated analytics are used to synthesize these data insights into products and apps that are
targeted at customers (also known as embedded analytics), increasing stickiness and generating
new revenue.
The ability to track how fast a person runs a mile is fine. However, what about an application
that is able to tell the user how they performed compared to everyone else running the same
route, or their time compared with others based on their gender, age, and weight? It is this
feature that will keep users returning to the app if only to keep attempting to achieve a first-
place rating.
Some characteristics of business process that are nicely suited to integrated analytics include:
 The business process has distinct performances objectives
 The business process involves decision points by one or more actors
 The process’s performances can be impaired by absence of information
 The process’s performances can be impaired by ill – informed decisions.
 The process’ can be improved with well – informed decision making
 Participants do not need to be “tech – savvy” to be informed
Yet in order to make integrated analytics work, the implements must make sure that all the
information necessary can be delivered to the appropriate person with the right time frame to
facilitate the best decisions.
Integrated Analytics Platform
An integrated analytics platform is an integrated solution that brings together performance
management, analytics and business intelligence tools in a single package. It provides an end-
to-end solution for delivering business intelligence from multiple fronts and gives the user a
clear visual representation of data as well as providing services such as revenue calculation,
forecasting and developing marketing strategy models and algorithms all on the same system,
allowing for interoperability.

Benefits and Importance of Integrated Analytics

Actionable insights are difficult to uncover when viewing charts or Excel spreadsheets. In
data analysis, insights are not obvious, such as the following: “Target these markets to solve
your shipping issues! An analyst's job is to reveal these insights through the slicing and dicing
of data and digging deep into it for those insights. Integrated analytics provides these insights
to those of us who are not professional data scientists in an easy-to-understand format.
Integrating analytics ensures that employees at all levels have access to the same information
and performance indicators. This allows everyone to keep track of relevant projects,
campaigns, and initiatives, making sure that metrics are consistent and everyone is on the same
page. An important aspect of this strategy is that the information is integrated into everyday
business applications, where employees already conduct their work. By integrating analytics
with existing workflows, organizations can gain insights, improve access to information, and
make better decisions.
Through integrated analytics, teamwork and collaboration can be improved. It is too
common for people in an office environment to work in silos, without considering the
objectives of the other departments, especially when they are working remotely. Integrating
data visualizations with integrated analytics can help each individual track how their work
contributes to the organization's goals, zoom out periodically, and look at the broader
perspective.
Let’s look at who, exactly, in your organization can benefit the most from using integrated
analytics and some of the methods that can make your department “most likely to succeed.”
Sales Department. Digitally transformed companies will likely have transformed their sales
funnels as well. A variety of touch points can be used to collect data from customers across
multiple channels. By using analytics, organizations can identify why potential customers are
dropping out and how to optimize the journey. Integrated analytics platforms like Toucan are
particularly useful here. With Guided analytics, you will be able to explore data more deeply
at any point by highlighting anomalies and points of interest. You don't need any technical
skills!
C-suite. Executives know that advanced analytics will help them sharpen their competitive
edge in the marketplace when used to inform their business strategies. In addition, it can
increase efficiency, reduce excess costs, and boost in-house productivity.
Human Resources. The number of HR teams using integrated analytics has increased
dramatically over the past two years. To keep their companies stronger and increase employee
engagement, they utilize a wide array of data from surveys, recruitment platforms, and benefits
statistics.
Other departments. IT, marketing, finance, and more, can also benefit from analytics
integration. In order to drive value, you can use BI tools like Toucan to eliminate the need for
an extended deployment process for seamlessly integrated analytics.

Considerations: Optimizing the Presentation for the Right Message

We have covered the range of presentation from the traditional grid style report all the way to
fancy visualization, all intended to help convey the results of analyses that should trigger
actions to benefit the business. However, the wide palette of available graphs, charts,
indicators, dials, knobs, and such can, at times, detract from the content when the presentation
overwhelms the values that are being presented. Here are some quick guidelines to keep in
mind when laying out a BI dashboard.
Choose the right visualization graphic: Don’t let the shiny graphics fool you into using a
visual component that does not properly convey the indent result. For example, line charts are
good for depicting historical trends of the same variable over time but bar charts may not be as
good a choice.

Manage your “real estate”: The available screen space limits what can be displayed at one
time, and this is what is referred to as screen “real estate”. When optimizing the presentation
for the right message, consider the following considerations; the main context, consistency,
simplicity of the message, and engagement.

Maintain context: You must recognize that the presentation of value is subjected to variant
interpretations when there is no external context defining its meaning. For example, presenting
a value on a dial – gauge conveys the variable’s magnitude, but not whether that value is good,
bad, or indifferent. Adjusting the dial gauge with a red zone (to indicate a bad value) and a
green zone (to indicate a good value) provides the context of the displayed magnitude.

Be Consistent: When the power of self – service dashboard development is placed in the hands
of many data consumers, their own biases will lead to an explosion of variant ways of
representing the same or similar ideas. The result is that what makes sense to one grows with
wider dissemination. Consistent representations and presentations (and corresponding
selection of standard visualization graphics) will help to ensure consistent interpretations.
Keep it simple: Don’t flood the presentation with fancy – looking graphics that don’t add to
the decision making process. Often the simpler the presentation, the more easily the content is
conveyed.
Engage: Engage the user community and agree on standards practices, and a guide book for
developing visualization parameters for delivery and presentation.