Data analysis can help businesses to identify and resolve issues, identify improvements, and formulate more efficient strategies. From customer data to past marketing data, it can help companies improve their processes, avoid issues, and predict what will come in the future.
It also provides a company with first-hand insights into the strengths and weaknesses of its competitors. This information can be used to develop unique angles for marketing campaigns or to showcase new features or services. Slack, for example, examines feedback to determine which features of their product perform well (or poorly) and then uses that data to improve future releases.
The four main types are diagnostics, descriptive and predictive. For each, the data must be gathered and cleaned, arranged and interpreted prior to it being able to be used to answer business issues or make predictions. Once the data has been analysed and presented to others via charts and graphs to help them comprehend the data.
Companies must be able to convert the increasing amount of data into practical insights. For this reason, many companies are using third-party tools for data analysis such as Databox and DashThis. While these tools cost costs, there are open-source alternatives such as Grafana, Freeboard, and Dashbuilder that are free to use. The most effective tool for you depends on how you intend to use it, but all solutions should provide a clear overview of how to interpret and present your data.