Five steps to creating a visualised data company

However, there are a number of challenges businesses must address to make this a reality; both in upskilling staff to expand the impact of data analytics across the enterprise, as well as transforming the ways that current staff operate.

Here are five steps to becoming a visualisation-led company.

1)    Upskill the team

Previously, many staff may have been put off working with data visualisation technology as they tend to envisage it to be unwieldy or difficult to use. However, the capabilities of dashboards and data visualisation technology are swiftly improving. This, in turn, makes it easier than ever for your team to develop the understanding needed to use them.

When complemented with the proper training, people of all skill levels can sort and rearrange data, filter it to focus on the information that’s most interesting, and format it to highlight trends or inconsistencies specific to their work. It also empowers users to interact with the information in an individualised way.

2)    Streamline systems

At the other end of the spectrum, some organisations struggle to ensure that their staff, who already have the tools to optimise systems through data visualisation, are doing this in a streamlined way.

They tend to find that small pockets of staff often rely on tools which provide quick and easy access to data visualisation functionality; unfortunately however, these tools also tend to lack control. This in turn can result in the growth of data silos and hinder scalability—a key challenge for any organisation striving to become an Intelligent Enterprise.

Here, both individual users and the organisation need to find solutions that will enable them to use these different tools and data sources to work well together. One of the best solutions is to use one platform with connectors through to other tools—for example, MicroStrategy’s 10.11 platform, which recently introduced the availability of new connectors for Qlik, Tableau, and Power BI.

User preferences and behaviour can be difficult to change, so this enables them, in a controlled, flexible environment, to leverage trusted data within various data discovery tools.

Enabling staff across your enterprise to take data visualisation by the reins will increase your ability to see success in the following key areas.

3)      Act on key trends

Through the effective use of data visualisation technology, organisations can use key insights to guide operations. In particular, with the ability to filter and layer data in their visualisations, enterprises can quickly identify patterns and trends, spot instances where restructuring is needed, and make informed business decisions accordingly.

4)    Boost efficiency

With interactive graphs, the information in front of users becomes intuitive. Without clear representations and compelling visuals, the time needed to understand company data can be significant. But with a contextual view of each area of business, users can have a better handle on the information at hand and gain the ability to move more quickly from one project to the next.

5)    Improve outcomes

With dashboards designed to facilitate teamwork and collaboration, the impact of data visualisations is maximised. Allowing colleagues to comment and tag one another with questions or feedback makes the result more cohesive and impactful.

Being able to visualise data in a meaningful way, and opening this skill up to the whole business, will unlock unlimited potential for the entire enterprise.