Data runs companies. But you can have as many numbers as you want: the datasets are meaningless without proper analysis. Some argue that even analysis isn’t enough and you need to have a good visualization of the findings. Most of the analysis is done by algorithms and automated programs, so you only have to worry about how to use the accumulated information. Dashboards are an excellent way, even more of a standard across industries, to showcase developments in your company’s financial, marketing, and other indicators.
We’ll look at six different online dashboard creator solutions to find out, which one suits you the best. Remember, there are no golden rules or one-size-fits-all products. Understanding your business is essential for picking the right tools.
datapine
Used by companies such as Axel Springer, Kreditech and BASF, datapine’s online dashboard creator is a wonderful asset to your company. One of the key factors of this product is the lightning-fast user interface that feels intuitive and responsive even to the quickest thinkers among us. You can use datapine’s tool to connect data from Google Analytics, CSV files, and database. The merging of different data sources results in a more concise business report. This effectively removes the typical middlemen like data analysts and IT professionals because the computer does all the work for you. Many companies have experienced significant reductions in employment costs that way. The datapine software has the BI reporting function, making it easier and faster to share the latest intelligence with your colleagues. Automatic reporting gathers the most important KPIs into a single report and sends it to all those concerned. Plus, many users like the drag-and-drop interface proven to be quite intuitive for daily use.
klipfolio
Some online business dashboards prove to have a major drawback in their services. You want to connect to many-many websites and companies generating data about your company, but the dashboard doesn’t support all of them. Klipfolio is great because you can connect to hundreds of web services, including Buffer, Adobe Analytics, MailChimp, Pipedrive and Ask Nicely. In other words, Klipfolio helps you piece the puzzle together into a coherent picture. Klipfolio features an editor that lets you really go into the details even to such an extent that you are able to choose the line weight on a custom line graph. Contextual menus help you group, aggregate, sort, and filter the data. And if you need to dig even deeper, you can use complex formulas in your quest to solve the biggest data challenges. There are numerous ways to share live dashboard feed. Sharing via Slack or e-mail, using wall-mounted LCD screens in the office, or just sending links are only some of the option available. Use your creativity!
clicData
ClicData allows comfortable dragging & dropping of the indicators to reach the desired result. There’s a decent amount of databases, web services, and systems that ClicData can connect to. The availability isn’t as large as on Klipfolio, but you can find the basics like Google Drive, Twitter, Facebook, Salesforce, MySQL, and Oracle. Setting up live alerts on the dashboard is only a few clicks away. For example, if you want to be notified when the average waiting time in the call centre takes over 3 minutes, then you can set an automatic rule for that. Once there’s a chaos in the call centre, you’ll be notified immediately. Of course, team collaboration is very important in companies that have big marketing, sales, or other departmental teams. ClicData allows you to communicate with your team members or to create teams for each of your department as well as operate numerous sub-departmental teams too.
cyfe
One of the major selling-points for Cyfe is the group of pre-built widgets from many popular services such as iTunes, MailChimp, PayPal, Facebook, and Instagram. You are able to have a look at individual parts of your organization and websites while gaining information about the overall outlook as well. As a very useful service for startups, you can track all of the app downloads, subscriptions, and latest sign-ups. Both sales and marketing aren’t a tough nut to crack for Cyfe. Just integrate data about sales goals, customers, wins/losses, SEO, and social media to gain a bird’s eye view over your KPIs.
appInsights
Formerly known as Leftronic, AppInsights names itself as the business command centre. An ambitious title as you aren’t able to ‘command’ anything, but there’s no doubt that you’ll gain valuable insights from the visualized data. AppInsights connects to many data sources. Among other services, you are able to connect to Zendesk, Twitter, YouTube, Pingdom, and Google AdWords. When it comes to sharing, choose between inviting new users to an already existing AppInsights account or sharing a dashboard unfolding in real-time.
domo
Compare to other services in this list, Domo is playing a bit different game. They do have a business dashboard solution, but it’s more complex and isn’t a direct copy of the car dashboard concept. Domo, too, integrates a multitude of data sources into single pictures, focusing not so much on presentation, but the implications arising from the possibility of influencing real-time decision-making processes. For example, you are able to optimize your decisions by uncovering your ROI metric in real time. Visualizing data and delivering it to relevant teams and departments on every organizational level might prove to be highly beneficial for your business. In fact, companies like DHL, National Geographic and Mastercard are already using it. Domo’s downside concerns the additional training and help manuals that need to be read in order to really benefit from the application. Another thing that sets Domo apart from the competition is the Buzz feature. It’s a collaborative platform that helps teams and whole organizations reach consensus more quickly while adding important data bits to the day-to-day conversations.
