Analyzing data

5 important data analysis and presentation tools within Microsoft Excel

As we all know, Microsoft Excel 2013 is a powerful software that most businesses use to analyse and store data. Why is it so popular? This is because Excel allows data to be conveniently stored in the same location, allows users to view and manipulate data, and also create charts and graphs. Below are 5 important data analysis and presentation tools that data analysts all around the world use to show data to upper management and decision makers.

  1. PowerPivot

For most versions of Microsoft Excel 2013, PowerPivot is pre-included. PowerPivot allows the user to create PivotTables and PivotCharts. PivotTables are used to summarize large amounts of data to enable the user to focus on the important information. PivotCharts are used to represent data from PivotTables as charts instead of tables.. Data can be extracted from an Excel spreadsheet or from external sources like Microsoft Access, Microsoft SQL Server.

  1. Power Map

Power Map is a free Microsoft Excel Add-In that requires a download from Microsoft’s download centre. The relevant page for the Add-In is Power Map Preview for Microsoft Excel 2013. After downloading, you install it in Microsoft Excel by going to File → Options → Add-Ins → Manage → COM Add-Ins → Go → Check the box to enable Power Map for Excel → OK.

The main purpose of Power Map is to display locational-based data on a geographically correct map. Power Map uses Bing Maps to display the map data, where users have a choice between having the map on a sphere or a plane. The benefits of showcasing such data on a map is so as to improve data visualization for end users and decision makers.

  1. Power View

For most versions of Microsoft Excel 2013, Power View is already pre-included. To install Power View, you go to File → Options → Add-Ins → Manage → COM Add-Ins → Go → Check the box to enable Power View for Excel Add-In. With Power View, you can make interactive charts and maps to represent data to be analyzed. These interactive charts and maps are user-friendly as users can tweak them to change the results.

  1. Power Query

Firstly, download the file Microsoft Power Query for Excel 2013 . The installation process of Power Query is similar to that of Power Map. Power Query Add-In used to be known as data explorer and it allows data to be brought in from many sources such as the internet, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Oracle, MySQL and more. For example, if you would like to extract data from the internet, you can use Power Query to do an online search for data.  After you have chosen a data set, click move to move the data into your worksheet. Next, you should click on the button Edit Query to be able to format the data to your liking. Once you are done with this step, you may continue to use other excel features like creating graphs or charts to present your data.

  1. Dashboards

Dashboards are an overview of data, which commonly consists of summarized charts, graphs and maps. Dashboards are based on the most recent data, meaning that it is more convenient than waiting for the fortnightly report to show the performance of your business. Dashboards make it easier for managers and decision makers to comprehend data, and tell if a certain segment or product of their business is not performing well, so that they can make amends as early as possible. Additionally, you can add in filters to be able to change a Dashboard on the fly to suit the needs of different users.