Data Discovery

Data Discovery
• Data discovery is a term used to describe the process for collecting data
from various sources by detecting patterns and outliers with the help of
guided advanced analytics and visual navigation of data, thus enabling
consolidation of all business information.
• Data discovery is the process of uncovering relevant data insights and
getting those insights to the business users who need them.
 Data Discovery
• Deriving value from data in a modern business environment is crucial for
any company’s success. The ability to discover as well as analyze patterns
and trends within data sets enables businesses to provide themselves with
a competitive edge, meet business goals, ensure success, and remain
relevant in the digital era.
 Data Discovery
• Data discovery requires skills in understanding data relationships and data
modeling as well as in using data analysis and guided advanced analytics
functions to reveal insights.
 Data Discovery
• This level of discovery can be described and categorized by:
• Data preparation
• Visual analysis
• Guided advanced analytics
 Data Preparation
• Data preparation is the process of cleaning, reformatting and modeling
your data in order to get it into shape for analytics or other evaluation
purposes. Properly cleaning and wrangling data will probably be the most
time-consuming portion of the data scientist’s workload, but it is essential
to error-free analysis and richer data insights
 Data preparation steps

• There are many paths you can take to arrive at your end goal of properly prepped data, depending on your
particular situation and set-up. Here is an overview of the phases of a typical data preparation process:
• Define: Nail down your business requirements and end goals, including all the questions that you want your data
to answer.

• Identify: Collect the relevant data sources required to answer the business questions. A complete data catalog can
make this step easier.

• Transform: Wrangle the raw data into a format more suited for analytical processing

• Model: Define the relationship between data entities

• Load: Convert the data into a data mart, data warehouse or analytical database
• Verify: Check the accuracy of your results against known metrics
 Why is Data Preparation Important?

• The preparation of data dictates the types of analysis and reporting that
can be performed from the front-end of the data analytics solution. Data
preparation for analytics makes it easier for end users to get answers to
their business questions in a straightforward fashion. Furthermore,
effective data modeling and ETL processes could have a major impact on
the overall performance of the BI solution.
 Benefits of data prep

• A thorough data preparation process can give your organization

advantages Before you use your data for analysis or plug it into
dashboards and visualizations, it must be clean and free of errors. 
Preparing data for analysis will help you avoid mistakes, which will save
you time down the line.
• These errors will be much more difficult to catch and fix after the data has
been transferred out of its original format. Using properly cleaned and
formatted data in your cloud applications will ensure top-quality reporting
and analysis. And this will help you get to your game-changing business
insights.
 Cloud data preparation

• In addition to being good business practice, preparing data for analysis can be
an integral part of the cloud migration process. Performing your organization’s
data prep in the cloud means it won’t require staff resources for technical
installations, and all your organization’s departments can access it, leading to
better collaborations.
• The adaptability that cloud storage offers means your data preparation can scale
up as your business grows. It also means that someone else is looking out for
bug fixes and cool new program features, so your data will always be ready to
benefit from new innovations on the market
 Data Discovery: Why Is It So Popular?

• Data is considered an invaluable commodity and “currency” for

businesses.
• It helps companies derive trusted insights that they can apply to their
competitive advantage. 
• Data improves the decision-making process, powers growth strategies,
significantly boosts the customer experience, and enables organizations to
drive innovation with their business models
 Are Data Discovery Tools Available In The Market?

• There are tools that currently exist in the form of business intelligence software – platforms that have
been specifically designed to improve traditional BI capabilities
• These tools should:
• Be simple to implement: People do not need statistical degrees or an analytical background to use it.
• Be adaptable: Anyone can gain insights from data across all departments without relying on IT
experts for information.
• Be quick: You can understand exactly what you need to improve your decision-making abilities
without waiting to get the information that you need.
• Easily work with massive amounts of data: Visual discovery is helping expand traditional 
business intelligence and improve efficiency.
What Software And Attributes Should I Look For?

• Here are the attributes that you should look for in a data discovery software:
• They zero in on business users, offering an environment that is free of code.
• They enable businesses to obtain a variety of data sources.
• They supply data preparation and modeling capabilities, like combining data from disparate sources.
• They provide easy-to-understand depictions of data via online data visualizations.
• They can enable visualizations that are interactive for the user.
• They support statistical analysis through guided advanced analytics attributes that are ready immediately upon
implementation.
• They provide various choices to facilitate insight sharing among peers.
• Analysis, analytics, and data preparation are streamlined and integrated.
• To develop a real modern business environment within your organization,
you must implement the discovery of data so that you can remain relevant,
successful, and facilitate a data-driven culture. If you fail to do so, you
won’t be able to keep up with the demands of the digital world. If you
can’t learn how to get the most from your data, your business will fall
behind.
Smart Data Discovery Or Augmented Intelligence

• Organizations are adopting the use of data discovery tools that are helping
improve their decision-making capabilities. We’re now seeing the concept
evolve into what’s called smart data discovery, or Augmented
Intelligence.
• Augmented Intelligence improves business intelligence by using machine
learning algorithms, data alerts, and artificial intelligence capabilities to
automatically find trends and likenesses in data. This greatly improves the
speed at which decisions can be made and makes it easier to obtain your
information-driven insights
 Augmented Intelligence: Augmented Analytics And Augmented Data
Preparation

• Augmented Analytics uses machine learning algorithms and natural language

processing to automate the insights that you receive from your data. Essentially,
it simplifies the process of arriving at your insights by automating data
preparation and further facilitating data sharing across the enterprise. It speeds
up the process of deriving value from your data.
• Augmented Data Preparation grants people within a business access to more
purposeful data so that they can test all assumptions and approaches to
information-based decision making with more confidence and ease. It promotes 
data quality management and governance and allows for data transparency.
 How To Discover Your Data?

• a) Identify your pain points

• The first step to company-wide data enlightenment comes in the form of discovering your pain
points, or the obstacles that prevent you from becoming a smarter, more intelligent business entity. 
• Here are a few examples:
• Access to large sets of information within your organization is somewhat limited and sluggish.
• A wealth of data from varied sources makes it seemingly impossible to gather, understand, and
apply non-traditional information effectively.
• The complexity of your current systems and platforms means that users spend too much time
curating, understanding, and reporting data and less time using it to drive progress and innovation.
• b) Mix diverse data sources for deeper insights
• As you know by now, data comes from a variety of sources, both structured and
unstructured. By gathering data from your existing structured and unstructured, or
diverse, data sources and looking at them in a different way, you stand to discover
fresh insights that will drive the business forward.
• By integrating your data from various diverse sources and gathering it with key
members of your business in a collaborative environment, you will be able to blend
these metrics and insights to piece together a puzzle of knowledge that will unlock
the door to advanced organizational success.
• c) Develop a data discovery model
• What is a data discovery model? Fundamentally, a this kind of model is a strategic approach
to using your data. They typically involve the collection, curation, and analysis of data as
well as the data-driven actions an organization takes upon the discovery of new insights that
prove essential to the development of the business. Choosing the best report tool for the job
is also a big factor.
• The “modeling” of these varied systems and processes often involves the use of diagrams,
symbolic references, and textual information to represent the way the data flows through the
business. Examples of discovery models in terms of approach include entity relationship
diagrams, data mapping specifications, data matrices, and data flow diagrams, 
• d) Tell stories with your data
• One of the most effective ways of ensuring your organization is an
entirely data-driven entity by being able to create an easy-to-follow,
inspirational narrative with your data – one that everyone within the
organization can get on board with, regardless of their technical
competency.
• If you’re able to tell a story and paint a picture with your data, you will
ensure it is accessible throughout the organization, helping you build a far
more cohesive and prosperous company as a result.
 Data Discovery Tools
• These discovery tools provide visual presentations including geographical
maps, charts, graphs, and color-coded elements to catalyze the data
discovery process as well as the uncovering of patterns or trends within
the data, not only in past and predictive sense but also in real-time. 
• This organized, streamlined, and visual data typically comes in the form
of real time dashboards, reports, charts, and tables in one centralized,
easy-to-navigate location.
• Datapine
• SAS BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
• CLEAR ANALYTICS
• DOMO
• METRIC INSIGHTS
• ZOHO ANALYTICS
•  IBM COGNOS ANALYTICS
• DATAPINE – A PROFESIONAL VISUAL ANALYTICS SOFTWARE