Visualization Can Help Businesses Tame the Big Data Jungle

Data is a living, breathing thing, but far too often, we treat like it something stagnant or frozen in time. The shift to digitized business processes and models is quickly changing that viewpoint, though, as more users and companies demand constant access to real-time data.

CDW Technical Architect Hardeep Singh points out in a recent post on the CDW Blog that most businesses are tethered to outdated concept of data gathering.

For many routine business scenarios, [Microsoft] Excel is the tool used to convert flat tables into pivot tables and charts in order to make sense out of the data and help make some business decisions. But by the time it reaches your target audience, it is outdated most of the time. Getting the data into a readable format is one thing. The more important part is delivering it to your target audience in timely manner and viewable on their choice of platform (PC, tablet or smartphone).

To get to this point where data is accessible in real time and in formats that make it mobile- and desktop-friendly, companies need to start understanding how to translate their datasets beyond Excel.

That means getting comfortable with JSON, Web APIs and OData services, Singh says.;