Big Data and the ever-growing access we have to more information is the driving force behind artificial intelligence and the wave of technological change sweeping across all industries.![Best Data Visualization Software Best Data Visualization Software](/uploads/1/2/4/8/124867083/927574819.jpg)
![Best Data Visualization Software Best Data Visualization Software](/uploads/1/2/4/8/124867083/927574819.jpg)
But all the data in the world is useless – in fact it can become a liability – if you can’t understand it. Data visualization is about how to present your data, to the right people, at the right time, in order to enable them to gain insights most effectively.
Plotly is an online tool for making and sharing graphs, and it's built in part with d3.js. You can upload data like Excel spreadsheets and CSVs or you can send data to plotly with Python, Julia, R, MATLAB, Arduino.
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Luckily visualization solutions are evolving as rapidly as the rest of the tech stack. Charts, videos, infographics and at the cutting edge even virtual reality and augmented reality (VR & AR) presentations offer increasingly engaging and intuitive channels of communication.
Here’s my run-down of some of the best, most popular or most innovative data visualization tools available today. These are all paid-for (although they all offer free trials or personal-use licences). Look out for another post soon on completely free and open source alternatives.
Tableau
Tableau is often regarded as the grand master of data visualization software and for good reason. Tableau has a very large customer base of 57,000+ accounts across many industries due to its simplicity of use and ability to produce interactive visualizations far beyond those provided by general BI solutions. It is particularly well suited to handling the huge and very fast-changing datasets which are used in Big Data operations, including artificial intelligence and machine learning applications, thanks to integration with a large number of advanced database solutions including Hadoop, Amazon AWS, My SQL, SAP and Teradata. Extensive research and testing has gone into enabling Tableau to create graphics and visualizations as efficiently as possible, and to make them easy for humans to understand.
Qlikview
Qlik with their Qlikview tool is the other major player in this space and Tableau’s biggest competitor. The vendor has over 40,000 customer accounts across over 100 countries, and those that use it frequently cite its highly customizable setup and wide feature range as a key advantage. This however can mean that it takes more time to get to grips with and use it to its full potential. In addition to its data visualization capabilities Qlikview offers powerful business intelligence, analytics and enterprise reporting capabilities and I particularly like the clean and clutter-free user interface. Qlikview is commonly used alongside its sister package, Qliksense, which handles data exploration and discovery. There is also a strong community and there are plenty of third-party resources available online to help new users understand how to integrate it in their projects.
FusionCharts
This is a very widely-used, JavaScript-based charting and visualization package that has established itself as one of the leaders in the paid-for market. It can produce 90 different chart types and integrates with a large number of platforms and frameworks giving a great deal of flexibility. One feature that has helped make FusionCharts very popular is that rather than having to start each new visualization from scratch, users can pick from a range of “live” example templates, simply plugging in their own data sources as needed.
Highcharts
Like FusionCharts this also requires a licence for commercial use, although it can be used freely as a trial, non-commercial or for personal use. Its website claims that it is used by 72 of the world’s 100 largest companies and it is often chosen when a fast and flexible solution must be rolled out, with a minimum need for specialist data visualization training before it can be put to work. A key to its success has been its focus on cross-browser support, meaning anyone can view and run its interactive visualizations, which is not always true with newer platforms.
Best Data Visualization Software Free
Datawrapper
Datawrapper is increasingly becoming a popular choice, particularly among media organizations which frequently use it to create charts and present statistics. It has a simple, clear interface that makes it very easy to upload csv data and create straightforward charts, and also maps, that can quickly be embedded into reports.
Plotly
Plotly enables more complex and sophisticated visualizations, thanks to its integration with analytics-oriented programming languages such as Python, R and Matlab. It is built on top of the open source d3.js visualization libraries for JavaScript, but this commercial package (with a free non-commercial licence available) adds layers of user-friendliness and support as well as inbuilt support for APIs such as Salesforce.
Sisense
Sisense provides a full stack analytics platform but its visualization capabilities provide a simple-to-use drag and drop interface which allow charts and more complex graphics, as well as interactive visualizations, to be created with a minimum of hassle. It enables multiple sources of data to be gathered into one easily accessed repositories where it can be queried through dashboards instantaneously, even across Big Data-sized sets. Dashboards can then be shared across organizations ensuring even non technically-minded staff can find the answers they need to their problems.
I will be updating this list at least on an annual basis so let me know if you know of any other great tool you would include here.
'>Big Data and the ever-growing access we have to more information is the driving force behind artificial intelligence and the wave of technological change sweeping across all industries.
But all the data in the world is useless – in fact it can become a liability – if you can’t understand it. Data visualization is about how to present your data, to the right people, at the right time, in order to enable them to gain insights most effectively.
Luckily visualization solutions are evolving as rapidly as the rest of the tech stack. Charts, videos, infographics and at the cutting edge even virtual reality and augmented reality (VR & AR) presentations offer increasingly engaging and intuitive channels of communication.
Here’s my run-down of some of the best, most popular or most innovative data visualization tools available today. These are all paid-for (although they all offer free trials or personal-use licences). Look out for another post soon on completely free and open source alternatives.
Tableau is often regarded as the grand master of data visualization software and for good reason. Tableau has a very large customer base of 57,000+ accounts across many industries due to its simplicity of use and ability to produce interactive visualizations far beyond those provided by general BI solutions. It is particularly well suited to handling the huge and very fast-changing datasets which are used in Big Data operations, including artificial intelligence and machine learning applications, thanks to integration with a large number of advanced database solutions including Hadoop, Amazon AWS, My SQL, SAP and Teradata. Extensive research and testing has gone into enabling Tableau to create graphics and visualizations as efficiently as possible, and to make them easy for humans to understand.
Qlik with their Qlikview tool is the other major player in this space and Tableau’s biggest competitor. The vendor has over 40,000 customer accounts across over 100 countries, and those that use it frequently cite its highly customizable setup and wide feature range as a key advantage. This however can mean that it takes more time to get to grips with and use it to its full potential. In addition to its data visualization capabilities Qlikview offers powerful business intelligence, analytics and enterprise reporting capabilities and I particularly like the clean and clutter-free user interface. Qlikview is commonly used alongside its sister package, Qliksense, which handles data exploration and discovery. There is also a strong community and there are plenty of third-party resources available online to help new users understand how to integrate it in their projects.
This is a very widely-used, JavaScript-based charting and visualization package that has established itself as one of the leaders in the paid-for market. It can produce 90 different chart types and integrates with a large number of platforms and frameworks giving a great deal of flexibility. One feature that has helped make FusionCharts very popular is that rather than having to start each new visualization from scratch, users can pick from a range of “live” example templates, simply plugging in their own data sources as needed.
Like FusionCharts this also requires a licence for commercial use, although it can be used freely as a trial, non-commercial or for personal use. Its website claims that it is used by 72 of the world’s 100 largest companies and it is often chosen when a fast and flexible solution must be rolled out, with a minimum need for specialist data visualization training before it can be put to work. A key to its success has been its focus on cross-browser support, meaning anyone can view and run its interactive visualizations, which is not always true with newer platforms.
Datawrapper is increasingly becoming a popular choice, particularly among media organizations which frequently use it to create charts and present statistics. It has a simple, clear interface that makes it very easy to upload csv data and create straightforward charts, and also maps, that can quickly be embedded into reports.
Plotly enables more complex and sophisticated visualizations, thanks to its integration with analytics-oriented programming languages such as Python, R and Matlab. It is built on top of the open source d3.js visualization libraries for JavaScript, but this commercial package (with a free non-commercial licence available) adds layers of user-friendliness and support as well as inbuilt support for APIs such as Salesforce.
Sisense provides a full stack analytics platform but its visualization capabilities provide a simple-to-use drag and drop interface which allow charts and more complex graphics, as well as interactive visualizations, to be created with a minimum of hassle. It enables multiple sources of data to be gathered into one easily accessed repositories where it can be queried through dashboards instantaneously, even across Big Data-sized sets. Dashboards can then be shared across organizations ensuring even non technically-minded staff can find the answers they need to their problems.
I will be updating this list at least on an annual basis so let me know if you know of any other great tool you would include here.
Visualization is an essential element of any Big Data and analytics strategy. The most up-to-date, real-time information and advanced analytics solutions are an expensive waste of money if you can’t communicate the results clearly and effectively to the people whose job it is to put them to work.Adobe Stock
Data visualization tools are constantly evolving to the point where they are no longer the sole domain of the formally trained BI analyst or data scientist. Increasingly businesses are understanding the value of putting analytics at the fingertips of all segments of the workforce and today’s tools are a reflection of this.
Here’s an overview of my top 7 paid-for visualization solutions, and for those on a tight budget look for my round-up of free tools coming soon.
Microsoft Power BI
PowerBI is an all-in-one BI and analytics platform provided as-a-service or as a desktop client but it is particularly highly rated for its visualization capabilities. Visualizations are created directly from reports and can be shared with users throughout your organization. As well as a large number of inbuilt visualization styles, new ones are constantly being created by the AppSource community or if you want to get your hands dirty with coding, they can be created from scratch using the Developer Tools and shared with other users. It also includes a natural language interface allowing visualizations of varying complexity to be built from simple search terms. It is consistently rated as one of the easiest to use tools for visual data exploration.
Tableau
Tableau is often considered the gold-standard of data visualization tools and as such it enjoys wide deployment with a reported 57,000 active user accounts. Much of its appeal stems from its flexibility and while it may not be as beginner-friendly as some packages, a vast support network exists in the form of its global community of users, spread across many industries.
In particular, its power means it is well suited to Big Data operations involving fast, constantly changing datasets, and as such it is designed to easily plug into a large range of industry-standard databases such as MySQL, Amazon AWS, Hadoop, SAP and Teradata. Three basic distributions are available – Desktop, Server and cloud-based Online. New additions to the service this year include the Hyper in-memory capabilities designed to greatly speed up analysis of large data sets.
QlikView
QlikView is another very popular option for building and sharing visualizations based on any data used by an organization. Qlik has worked hard in recent years to make its product more accessible and easy to use regardless of technical ability when it comes to working with data. This doesn’t mean it sacrifices power or features, however, with insightful visualizations being achievable in minutes, which can be shared instantly with anyone thanks to its device-agnostic infrastructure. Often it is used alongside the provider’s QlikSense platform to provide end-to-end analytics and reporting. It also has advanced security features which allows different levels of access to data to be set according to the needs of individual users.
Sisense
Sisense is another end-to-end analytics solution with a powerful suite of visualization tools. It features an intuitive drag-and-drop method of building any sort of visualization from simple charts to complex, interactive infographics and dashboards. This year it has added machine learning components which simplify the process of crunching through Big Data to unearth the most relevant insights, and making connections that would go unnoticed by even the most highly-trained human eyes. Its aim is to make data understandable to anyone in your organization through fully customizable, interactive visual environments.
FusionCharts
FusionCharts enables the creation of richly interactive JavaScript-based charts, with the advantage that they can be easily and quickly embedded anywhere where JavaScript can be run. A key advantage here is that as they run in native Javascript they will look and function identically across whatever devices they are displayed on. It offers a large number of templates which users can simply feed their own data sources into, with the company claiming that a complete beginner will be able to create their first charts and graphics within 15 minutes of sitting down with the software. 90 chart types are available from the start, from simple line and pie charts to more sophisticated heat map, zoom line and treemap charts.
Plot.ly
Another visualization-focused analytics tool which is widely popular across a large number of commercial and industrial uses. Plot.ly is known for its ability to create more technical and complex interactive charts and visualizations due to its plug-and-play relationship with analytical programming languages including R, Matlab and Python. Plot.ly’s foundation are the open source D3.js Javascript visualization libraries but it adds an advanced and intuitive graphical user interface as well as connectivity with a number of proprietary CRM systems including the ubiquitous Salesforce. Visualizations can be created through the online interface or with any of the supported programming languages by accessing its libraries directly. Anything you create from simple charts to fully interactive visualizations based on real-time Big Data can be simply embedded into websites or reports through HTML or iFrames.
Carto
Carto is specifically focused on creating graphics which take the form of maps, and as such has a number of features that make it a great choice for this particular form of data visualization. It uses a wizard-driven interface which means it doesn’t take long to start mapping your data thanks to a graphical, web-based drag-and-drop environment. Its software-as-a-service (SaaS) model means that it is both affordable for small organizations but also scales as your needs for graphical reporting of location-based intelligence grows.
'>Visualization is an essential element of any Big Data and analytics strategy. The most up-to-date, real-time information and advanced analytics solutions are an expensive waste of money if you can’t communicate the results clearly and effectively to the people whose job it is to put them to work.
Data visualization tools are constantly evolving to the point where they are no longer the sole domain of the formally trained BI analyst or data scientist. Increasingly businesses are understanding the value of putting analytics at the fingertips of all segments of the workforce and today’s tools are a reflection of this.
Here’s an overview of my top 7 paid-for visualization solutions, and for those on a tight budget look for my round-up of free tools coming soon.
Microsoft Power BI
PowerBI is an all-in-one BI and analytics platform provided as-a-service or as a desktop client but it is particularly highly rated for its visualization capabilities. Visualizations are created directly from reports and can be shared with users throughout your organization. As well as a large number of inbuilt visualization styles, new ones are constantly being created by the AppSource community or if you want to get your hands dirty with coding, they can be created from scratch using the Developer Tools and shared with other users. It also includes a natural language interface allowing visualizations of varying complexity to be built from simple search terms. It is consistently rated as one of the easiest to use tools for visual data exploration.
Tableau
Tableau is often considered the gold-standard of data visualization tools and as such it enjoys wide deployment with a reported 57,000 active user accounts. Much of its appeal stems from its flexibility and while it may not be as beginner-friendly as some packages, a vast support network exists in the form of its global community of users, spread across many industries.
Data Visualization Software Reviews
In particular, its power means it is well suited to Big Data operations involving fast, constantly changing datasets, and as such it is designed to easily plug into a large range of industry-standard databases such as MySQL, Amazon AWS, Hadoop, SAP and Teradata. Three basic distributions are available – Desktop, Server and cloud-based Online. New additions to the service this year include the Hyper in-memory capabilities designed to greatly speed up analysis of large data sets.
QlikView
QlikView is another very popular option for building and sharing visualizations based on any data used by an organization. Qlik has worked hard in recent years to make its product more accessible and easy to use regardless of technical ability when it comes to working with data. This doesn’t mean it sacrifices power or features, however, with insightful visualizations being achievable in minutes, which can be shared instantly with anyone thanks to its device-agnostic infrastructure. Often it is used alongside the provider’s QlikSense platform to provide end-to-end analytics and reporting. It also has advanced security features which allows different levels of access to data to be set according to the needs of individual users.
Sisense
Sisense is another end-to-end analytics solution with a powerful suite of visualization tools. It features an intuitive drag-and-drop method of building any sort of visualization from simple charts to complex, interactive infographics and dashboards. This year it has added machine learning components which simplify the process of crunching through Big Data to unearth the most relevant insights, and making connections that would go unnoticed by even the most highly-trained human eyes. Its aim is to make data understandable to anyone in your organization through fully customizable, interactive visual environments.
FusionCharts
FusionCharts enables the creation of richly interactive JavaScript-based charts, with the advantage that they can be easily and quickly embedded anywhere where JavaScript can be run. A key advantage here is that as they run in native Javascript they will look and function identically across whatever devices they are displayed on. It offers a large number of templates which users can simply feed their own data sources into, with the company claiming that a complete beginner will be able to create their first charts and graphics within 15 minutes of sitting down with the software. 90 chart types are available from the start, from simple line and pie charts to more sophisticated heat map, zoom line and treemap charts.
Plot.ly
Another visualization-focused analytics tool which is widely popular across a large number of commercial and industrial uses. Plot.ly is known for its ability to create more technical and complex interactive charts and visualizations due to its plug-and-play relationship with analytical programming languages including R, Matlab and Python. Plot.ly’s foundation are the open source D3.js Javascript visualization libraries but it adds an advanced and intuitive graphical user interface as well as connectivity with a number of proprietary CRM systems including the ubiquitous Salesforce. Visualizations can be created through the online interface or with any of the supported programming languages by accessing its libraries directly. Anything you create from simple charts to fully interactive visualizations based on real-time Big Data can be simply embedded into websites or reports through HTML or iFrames.
Carto
Carto is specifically focused on creating graphics which take the form of maps, and as such has a number of features that make it a great choice for this particular form of data visualization. It uses a wizard-driven interface which means it doesn’t take long to start mapping your data thanks to a graphical, web-based drag-and-drop environment. Its software-as-a-service (SaaS) model means that it is both affordable for small organizations but also scales as your needs for graphical reporting of location-based intelligence grows.