Data analysis is hard! Still, we keep at it, because we all know that somewhere in all that data lies the answer to what we need to do next to meet our customers’ demands and become the market success of tomorrow.

Tables, tables, and more tables

Data analysis used to be all tables. Actually, it still is. Almost all the world’s business data is collected into big tables, usually processed in spreadsheet software, where it is collected, sorted, filtered and looked at from all possible angles, with a few diagrams thrown in to make things visually appealing and to hammer down your point.

The more sophisticated use automated or half-automated analysis tools to get through more data quicker. As the amount of data grows into Big Data this becomes a necessity, because neither the traditional software, nor the people using it are able to handle the vast amounts of data available.

Visual analysis

Something that is often overlooked in traditional data analysis are the benefits of visual analysis. This is hardly anything new. The art of visual analysis has been around for decades, with tools such as Spotfire showing the way into the future of constant what-iffing.

Nowadays there are tons of online and offline visualization software packages to let you do just that. You are literally just a few mouse clicks away from converting huge databases and masses of spreadsheets into something that you can actually have a look at from all different angles, without having to care about a single number along the way.