Technically, that simple pie chart you can one-click using Microsoft Excel is a data visualization. It's really just a general term that applies to any graphic that explains the significance of a new insight or data set visually rather than simply numerically. The term 'data visualization' doesn't necessarily refer to an arcane melding of SQL and PC graphics modeling. And for small to midsize businesses (SMBs), the road to this new visualization vernacular needs to start with some free tools so they can touch, learn, and understand this new discipline before they have to invest in it.īefore we go any further, let's understand what we're talking about here.

While heavy-duty data analysis can still be the purview of hardcore business intelligence (BI) analysts, the ability to visualize large gobs of data in new ways needs to be democratized.

What's needed is a way for everyday business people to build not only pleasing but informative data visualizations that they can present to their leadership and co-workers quickly and easily, or showcase on their company websites, which are supported by web hosting services that can reliably store large data visualization files on their servers.

Data isn't worth much if you can't use it to affect your business decisions and, while spreadsheets have long served as an acceptable, if mediocre, way for rank-and-file business users to present data, the new data deluge is pushing this tool beyond its practical limits. While the paradigm of 'more data is better' might look good from the executive suite, there's a challenge that many front-line business managers are encountering once they dig into this trove of new information: how to turn all of those numbers into something useful. Best Hosted Endpoint Protection and Security Software.

Best data visualization tools free