On this day in 2015, Microsoft gave birth to one of the most powerful data analytics platforms of the past decade. In many ways, it has reshaped the data analytics landscape as we know it. Over the years, I’ve had a front-row seat to watch the platform evolve. I’ve worked alongside some wonderful clients and been part of hundreds and hundreds of Power BI projects.
Power BI is easy to use. Hard to master. And even harder to enable across an organization. Organizations have become great at building Power BI reports - yet continue to struggle to drive end-user adoption and enablement.
These words came from the mouth of a VP of Transportation for a refrigerated tucking company based in the Midwest. Fulton Analytics’ team of data experts led a small Data Strategy engagement to navigate some challenging conversations around cultivating a data driven culture in a complex organization.
If you thought data fabric was just another data buzzword - you might want to think again. It appears a modern data fabric is in fact here to stay and will be foundational technology in most organizations’ AI innovations. A data fabric is a fully integrated layer of connected data and processes across a unified ecosystem.
“We are changing our industry. I’m looking at these dashboards every day, uncovering new trends, and critical insights for our Air Medical crew." The Vice President of Strategy of an Air Medical Transpiration company shared these words of appreciation after leveraging a Power BI Air Medical Analytics solution created by the team of consultants at Fulton Analytics.
In recent years, self-service analytics has been at the forefront of data-driven transformation. Data analytics platforms like Microsoft Power BI, Tableau, and Alteryx have enabled business users to take their own data and make data-driven decisions based on these insights. The job market has even evolved as companies prioritize the modern data analytics professional, focusing on data visualization and storytelling to provide insightful analytics and reporting. This is fantastic, of course it is. However, companies are starting to realize this creates new obstacles for data organizations. Here is where we find the true cost of this shift to self-service analytics.
The November Update for Power BI has landed. We are very excited to highlight some of our favorite new features in the November 2020 Power BI Desktop update from Microsoft. This update was full of great new enhancements that you will be able to leverage in your Power BI development and really impress your end users with.
When I outlined these 10 Data Analytics Trends To Watch in 2020 - nobody could have imagined that a global pandemic would virtually shut down the world and disrupt companies’ technology initiatives. Technology by its nature is meant to disrupt. It challenges us to rethink what is possible. I did not envision an economic collapse, a radical shift to a remote workforce, or the loss of health and hobbies. This is uncharted territory for us all. Breathe. Through all of this, the one thing that is clear, is that data analytics and business insights matter more today than ever before. What does the COVID-19 pandemic mean for the data analytics industry and all the professionals in this vertical? In light of these recent events, I want to revisit the 10 data analytic trends I wrote about at the start of the New Year and examine what impact the “new normal” will have on the data analytics industry as a whole.
Fulton Analytics has been great to work with and I see a continued partnership where Fulton Analytics helps us architect the right foundation for our analytics strategy. The IT Director of a Minnesota based manufacturing company shared these words of appreciation after Fulton Analytics deployed a Power BI business analytics solution focused on providing deeper insights across their sales organization. The $50 million dollar, St. Paul based manufacturer was looking for deeper insights into sales and product trends after recently expanding their offerings into cutting edge areas of IoT, RFID, and digital labels.
Technology leaders have trusted Gartner and Forrester as technology visionaries for decades. Last week Microsoft’s Power BI was recognized as the Leader on the Gartner 2020 Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms. For the third consecutive year Power BI has ranked number one in the quadrant - establishing it as the top platform for its completeness of vision and ability to execute. A few months earlier the Forester Wave called out Power BI as the leader in the category: enterprise business intelligence platforms.
Back before Power BI had become the industry’s leading business intelligence platform - it was the saving grace in helping me avoid a Valentine’s Day disaster. Three years ago, I had just finished up a day-long Power BI training at Microsoft. As I got into my car to begin my journey home - I realized it was Valentine’s Day and I had nothing for my wife. I admit I usually put off Valentine’s Day planning to the last minute. However, this year it had completely slipped my mind amidst the chaos of young kids and a chaotic work schedule.
Disrupt or be disrupted. As the data-driven landscape evolves – businesses today are becoming increasingly aware that data driven companies are thriving. 2020 will be the year where true data driven organizations separate themselves from the competition – powered by real-time decision making, advancements in analytical technologies and increasing data literacy among business users. Listed are ten data analytics trends to watch in as we head into 2020.
“The ability to see our data in real-time and drill into product trends has been transformational.” The CEO uttered these words after just a week of using the business analytics solution delivered by Fulton Analytics. For this Minneapolis based consumer goods retail company, speed to insights and analyzing product trends are vital to sustained growth. This niche retailer’s significant year-over-year growth has landed them on the shelves of Target, CVS and Duluth Trading Company.
