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Why use a washing machine versus washing clothes by hand? why ride in a carriage versus a horse-drawn carriage? why use a modern smartphone versus an old phone? why use a computer versus typing?
The answers seem obvious. But it's also obvious that Excel is extremely manual, tedious and unhelpful for analyzing data and you're still using it aren't you? Join us as we dive into the day-to-day life of an analyst and discover how it changes the way they analyze and optimize their time, using only spreadsheets or an advanced analysis tool like Alteryx:
Your "more deluded self" starts the day thinking "Can't all the data sources get along?". Your job is to dig and find nuggets of gold in that maelstrom of data, and while it may seem somewhat comforting, the truth is that it can become the most frustrating job in the world. You start by opening data sets. And more data sets. Each set may come from a different source or program, especially if the data comes from different departments (if you've managed to get past the gatekeepers in each of them). This is where the mess starts. Accepting data in multiple formats is not particularly easy in spreadsheets. To build a data set that you can work with, you have some manipulations to do.
Similarly, as you manipulate those datasets, you're getting concerns like, "Am I adding duplicate or unnecessary information? Will I lose something between files in different formats? Will I have to omit important information because it's not compatible with my dataset?" Analysts everywhere must deal with data silos, where information is trapped in unusable formats and isolated departments. And they dream of data nirvana: smooth, seamless data normalization, where all data is logically and consistently organized.
What if this nirvana really existed?
There is an easier way to build and normalize a dataset, even if you work with incompatible file formats, database connections or cloud data stores. In fact, the possibilities of data types you can include in your work are almost endless. You simply need a starting point where all formats are welcome and no data is left behind. At Alteryx, that starting point is called your canvas. It's visual, it's simple and it can change your life. Just drag and drop a data entry tool onto your canvas, find the data set you're trying to import and select. If you've ever wasted the better part of a sunny day trying to get your Excel to accept a data source, you'll love the way Alteryx does things. Different file formats or file structures? Alteryx won't even blink. You can access data locally from Excel, Access, XML, SAS, SPSS or MapInfo, as well as data stored in databases or HDFS. Alteryx also has direct connectors to cloud systems such as Amazon S3, Twitter, Foursquare, Marketo, Salesforce and Microsoft SharePoint, as well as other Big Data environments such as Amazon Redshift, Impala and Spark.
The mundane work of cleaning data is where you spend most of your time as an analyst. But when you get to the most interesting part, you know, the "analysis," you're out of gas and out of time. In spreadsheets, cleaning is a highly manual process. Analysis, creating columns, deleting rows, removing blanks, and so on, can take up a ton of time and completely exhaust you. Believe us, we know. But there's a bigger problem to consider. All that cutting and pasting and renaming not only takes a crazy amount of time, but it's also an invitation to make mistakes.
Calculation errors, mental errors and duplicate records in these early stages can send your analysis in the wrong direction or even force you to start over. Data integrity should be your biggest concern in the cleaning stage. You want to have confidence in the accuracy and consistency of the data, no matter where you move it or how you change its format, and ensure that its meaning is not inadvertently altered as you sort through it.
Rethink the Manual Approach
Instead of a series of mind-numbing, soul-crushing clicks, what if data cleansing was a comprehensive function accomplished by high-level tools? What if instead of a thousand actions, you took just one or two? Using Alteryx will drastically change how much time you spend cleaning data. We're not going to lie, it's a breakthrough. You can create new columns, delete rows and columns, and change data types with a single step in Alteryx, one step that is instantly applied across your entire data set. You can also let Alteryx take control and automatically interpret your data, assigning appropriate types and sizes to the content. And the history of what you did is always there, so you never have to start over if you make a mistake. (Seriously). This sophisticated approach to data cleansing virtually eliminates manual processes and human error, freeing your time for more important things.
This is where things start to get interesting, or scary, depending on how confident you feel about combining and aggregating data from separate spreadsheets. Joining data sets always means altering your source material. If you're lucky, you get through this stage without accidentally damaging your data set. If not, you're back to square one. As with most steps in processing data in spreadsheets, the actions required to join data sets are incredibly tedious. Is it just us, or is repeating "VLOOKUP" continuously a recipe for insanity? The problem with merging data the old-fashioned way is that spreadsheets are not agnostic. Spreadsheet programs recognize only their preferred format, and they can't get out of that format without direct input from you via manual tools like VLOOKUP or INDEX MATCH.
There's a Better Way to Mix
What if your program could simply blend the data for you so you didn't have to waste time worrying about formatting? What if it could keep track of everything that was done so you could always go back and undo? A profoundly simple set of tools in Alteryx (Join, Find and Replace and Join) gives you all the blending functionality of your previous spreadsheet program but with a shiny new set of creative capabilities you didn't even know you needed. You can track and retrace your steps to any point in your workflow at any time, and follow them back to your starting point if necessary.
Combine multiple spreadsheets based on field name while maintaining the position of each column. Or change the order of the columns if you wish. Join two data streams with a common field by performing an internal or external "Join". In fact, join the data in any way you wish. By letting Alteryx do most of the work, you can move directly to exploring your dataset more deeply. In spreadsheets, the odds of error skyrocket.
Ever forget a filter? We get it. To discover the deeper meaning of data, you need to look at it through your own carefully chosen parameters. To do this in spreadsheets, you filter, sort and pivot to transpose and rearrange the data exactly as you want. Those are not necessarily difficult tasks, but they still need to be done manually. Also, once you start slicing and dicing, it can be hard to remember exactly what you did. You can use the track dependents feature to track your actions, but again, that tool is manual and error-prone.
The process of transforming data into spreadsheets can be frustrating and time consuming for you personally, but the bigger concern is that hidden data fields and forgotten filters can cost your company a lot of money. When you finish an analysis, how sure are you that nothing was lost along the way? Would you bet your job on it?
The 21st Century is Calling
By performing common data transformation functions with highly intelligent tools, you can reduce errors - and risk - as you move through the most exciting part of your job. The Sort, Transpose and Tabular tools in Alteryx let you organize and pivot your data in many different directions automatically, allowing you to see the big picture quickly. And by using these tools in workflows, you can always go back to your starting point and keep your steps in mind. Being able to explain your methodology and change views on the fly is priceless. How would we compare transforming data into spreadsheets with transforming data into workflows? We wouldn't. It's like comparing a 1950s rotary phone to a shiny new smartphone that can do a thousand different things. When it comes to establishing an advanced strategy for data methodology, workflows are the difference between a siloed organization and one with a true analytics culture.
Frustrated with the formulas? That's logical. Let's do some calculations, shall we? Spreadsheets are designed to calculate logical formulas using IF statements, which are fairly easy to set up. But applying those formulas all over the place is something completely different. When you apply formulas, you retain a lot of information in your memory about what you're doing and how you got there. Cutting and pasting formulas starts to feel a little iffy. Where did you put that set of rows you thought you didn't want, again? Did you apply that formula where it was supposed to go? Wait, did you hide some cells? What happened to everything on your clipboard? Was it important?
Better to Set and Forget
Setting up a formula once, with a single tool, and applying it exactly where you want it, is a much better solution than manually applying formulas all over the place and trying to remember what you did. The Formula Tool in Alteryx is a powerful processor; with a single action, you can add a field to an input table or create or update data fields based on an expression or data relationship. If something is added, subtracted or modified, your workflow shows what, when and where, so there is always an option to go back and reconsider. In Alteryx, data, logic and execution exist in separate layers. This means you can take the time to plan your logic before you execute it, and no data will be damaged once you do. If anything changes or new records are added, your logic will be applied automatically, so you can be confident in your results. Another worry removed from the list. It's incredibly liberating.
Are you writing as fast as you think? The descriptive and predictive power of data lies in aggregation; it's where the secrets are revealed. But summarizing data in spreadsheets requires the use of pivot tables, so you're still in single-focus mode as you uncover key insights and deliver your results. Viewing data through a single perspective compromises your agility and accuracy in the final analysis phase and prevents you from being able to answer every difficult question your boss imagines. And then there's the technical difficulty of working with extremely large data sets. Sometimes, your system can't handle the load when you need to change your parameters, shift positions or rethink your assumptions, and that's when the spinning wheel of spreadsheet death appears on the screen.
Manually summarizing data will always be limited by the speed of your fingers, the capabilities of your spreadsheet solution and the power of your computer system. And your output allows you to see only a slice of results at a time, not the whole pie. If you're impatient with these limitations when you get to the top of your analysis, who would blame you? When the manual steps of data processing are slower than your brainwaves, you can lose a lot of valuable insights.
Free Your Mind
What you need is a powerful summary tool that can deliver multiple results and views automatically, allowing you to explore outliers, find patterns and ask deeper questions as fast as you can think them up. The Summary Tool in Alteryx processes data instantly at every step of your data journey so you can see many views at once, accelerating your time to impact. The Summary Tool in Alteryx processes data instantly at every step of your data journey so you can see many views at once, speeding up your time to impact. No more building pivot tables! Group your data and perform any number of calculations in any field you want, including more advanced functions not found in spreadsheets, such as financial, numerical, spatial and behavioral analysis.
Now, at last, you can deliver deep, nuanced insights that you trust, on time and on target. Will you continue to use Excel?