Whenever people review the role of business analysts, one thing they do consider is the tools and techniques they employ for performing their data analytics. The key performance indicator for the success of a business is measured by its approach to data. If the business is using data driven approach, then it means that they are utilizing their business data efficiently by performing some data analytics and predictive analytic softwares and deriving meaningful information in the forms of charts and reports. These reports and insights help them identify key areas in operations to improve and increase their worth in the market. Almost all available business intelligence and reporting tools have features to aggregate, organize and assemble data from different data sources across the organization and make it accessible for the data analysts to delve in and generate reports that would highlight the aspects of business that was left unnoticed before. They try to answer important questions about the business performance following their data trail from the previous years. They identify the common mistakes that might be affecting the business performance and what steps can the management take to maneuver the business in the right direction. All this become one notch easier when the data reporting and analytic software is embedded in the existing business workflow environment. The popularity of embedded data analytic software emerges from a great number of benefits over the traditional software some of which are familiarity and ease of use not to mention added security. These features are making business analysts move towards embedded solutions whenever possible to tap the best analytic experience and increase work productivity of their business. “Analytics software is uniquely leveraged. Most software can optimize existing processes, but analytics (done right) should generate insights that bring to life whole new initiatives. It should change you do, not just how you do it.” - what Matin Movassate, Founder and CEO at Heap Analytics What is embedded data analytics? Embedded data analytics moves away from traditional data analytics and allows user to create and run reports and perform data analytics from within the existing business software. The data analysis and reporting features are directly embedded into the software and works within the umbrella of the existing business work environment. This give added flexibility and familiarity to the users to work from their familiar environment and they can start working with minimal training and support. When working in a business scenario, data and reports are part of their daily work schedule. It makes sense to add these functionalities into the already running business software instead of using stand alone or plug in softwares that might have a completely different look and feel and the user is not familiar with the interface. In this scenario, an embedded data analytic and reporting solution is most suited as it can get the data reporting and analysis features integrated directly into the running system. Features of embedded analytic tools Embedded analytic software solutions usually have all features as that of traditional softwares but some common features that stand out and attract data analysts to make it their choice are listed here. Going through this list would give data analysts an idea of what features to look for when they go software hunting for their business needs. Compelling data visualizations At the base of all data analysis and reporting softwares is the feature to present data in the form of meaningful visuals and infographics that can help data analysts track the record of the business in different areas and identify areas of focus that need attention of the management, which in turn can use these data figures to make decisions about the business products and other entities. “Visualization gives you answers to questions you didn’t know you had.” – Ben Schneiderman Creative data dashboards One important feature that is very useful when data analysts want to monitor and compare multiple reports at the same time is the ability to create customized dashboards. These dashboards are very helpful in monitoring time critical data that may be changing rapidly and needs constant attention. Data dashboards lets users add and remove reports as required and manipulate the reports layout and positioning according to their own personalized choice. This gives added comfort to the data analysts for performing the data analytics. Varied data report layouts Most embedded data analytic and reporting software offer a variety or report layouts for data analysts to choose the most appropriate report format to present the report. Sometimes the report format would change based on the type and format of data its presenting so the data report formats are flexible and have variety to accommodate different types of data requirements. Multiple deployment options Embedded data reporting solution may have options for cloud based deployment in which case your data will be hosted remotely and report running and other overheads are handled on a remote site. This takes the burden off the shoulder of businesses to give them a chance to expand their business without increasing their budget to upgrade their hosting platform or hardware servers. Minimal staff training The cost and time for staff training after making an addition to business software can be reduced to a minimal by using an embedded data analytic and reporting software. The users are already familiar with the existing business software and do not feel the pressure of yet another software training in this case. Minimum training can get end users started on the reporting tool and they can learn as they explore. Data modelling and insights Embedded reporting and data analytic tools now come with the feature to create and maintain different data models and experiment with available data modelling techniques to research and fine the best data model for their needs for getting data reports and insights faster. Data querying Data querying is another feature that can help business analysts with predictive analysis and what if analysis to the business data. Certain questions are identified that are critical to business operations and better performance. Data analysis is performed to answer these questions and identify trends and patterns in the previous years. This helps the management to take long term and short term decisions and modify their business strategies to find out what is working best and help increase their business growth. What do business analysts need? Business analysts need to be able to perform data analysis and reports in a way that increases work productivity within the organization and utilize their capitals and assets to improve business sales and increase their product worth in the market. To achieve this end, business analysts prefer embedded data analytic and reporting solution because it will give them the following advantage over the traditional standalone softwares: Increased productivity due to informed decisions taken on the base of data insights embedded into core application and business processes. Improved user experience as they work in a familiar business environment. Maintenance and upgrade options are also easier to implement and adopt by users. Embedded data analytic software offers increased data security as the software works within the umbrella of existing software and same security protocols are adopted. Reduced cost of implementation is there because the software is directly embedded into the business software and backend is usually managed through cloud server. Examples of best embedded data analytics and reporting tool Finally, here is a list of example softwares that provide best features of embedded data analytics and reporting tools. Dotnet report builder With customization and convenience at the top of their agenda, dotnet report builder lets end user design and generate completely customized and powerful analytics and reports. This .net reporting tool is full of power packed features that help data analysts perform their task with efficiency and convenience. The solution is embedded directly into business application and runs from within their framework. Izenda Izenda offers an embedded business intelligence software solution for its customers. It embeds natively into the business software and offers the business analysts powerful features to analyze data through meaningful insights and reports. The reports are customizable and can be created using the drag and drop interface. SAP crystal reports SAP Crystal report is an embedded data reporting software that can be integrated in any business application to run reports and provide data analytic features. It monetizes data and generates useful insights to help business analysts make decisions that impact business growth. Zoho analytic Zoho analytics offers a range of data reporting and analytic capabilities. The users can work with data by generating customized reports and meaningful insights that can help data analysts with data driven business analysis. The embedded analytic features of charts, widgets and other report layouts make it an attractive tool in the market for embedded data analytics and reports.
