The old ways of spreadsheet wrangling, complex data prep with formulas and models have given way to the ease of asking questions and getting relevant, insightful answers in a matter of minutes.
Per an MIT Sloan Management Review and IBM Institute for Business Value study, almost 40% of respondents had a limited understanding of how to use analytic tools for better data driven decisions, while 80% of the time is spent on data preparation.
Making decisions rapidly is no longer a goal–it’s critical. Reducing the time to action requires an efficiency to draw compelling conclusions without reliance on too many people and the need to solicit multiple disparate data sources and tools. We have all seen the rise in the challenges to control and to better understand everything that impacts our business quickly and effectively.
Self-service is increasingly becoming the norm as business users are tasked and incented to quickly find answers on their own.
Thus, while Watson Analytics brings the power of intelligent data discovery to business professionals, it now brings a new data refinement to the way we prepare and assemble, and profile our data without the added complexity.
The top 3 aspects that you can now expect in Watson Analytics data refinement are:
- secure access to data sources both on premise and on the cloud for deeper and broader insights
- the ability to join data from multiple tables into one data set to meet your specific analytical needs
- understanding the quality of your data for more precise and better value driven decision making
What does data refinement do for business professionals using Watson Analytics?
Data refinement brings a new capability to your Watson Analytics experience by providing broader data source support through access to dozens of data sources from one place for quicker insights. It allows you to easily access your secure on premise data for confident analytics including trusted governed data supported by IT, leveraged by you.
If you want to join tables together from your data source so that you can analyze data from similar fields, Watson Analytics allows you to do this with no assistance required and with ease, allowing you to begin to see deeper into your business and make decisions based on your data.
All of this allows you to move beyond single source data analytics in 3 ways:
- You can shape your data in a way that makes sense to you. Create a new dataset by joining together multiple data sources, and your selection of tables.
- You can simplify your data by removing clutter, and unnecessary confusion. Filter specific data points to efficiently focus on key areas of your analysis.
- You can understand the quality of your data using a simple interface. On screen metrics about your data are available for more precise and better value driven decision making.
Whether you are new to Watson Analytics or are experiencing the benefits of Watson Analytics’ smart data discovery already, find out how you can begin to use the new data refinement capability by contacting NewIntelligence today!
For a limited time, get a free Watson Analytics Professional license included when you purchase the latest version of Cognos Analytics from NewIntelligence.
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