The Pros and Cons of Data Discovery

Traditional Business Intelligence tools have been around for years. But many organizations have found them too expensive, inflexible and labor intensive. Now Data Discovery tools are popping up. They are touted as an end user, self-service option for business data. Sounds good, right?

But can it replace traditional BI? Does it mean you have to buy, learn and support another tool? Can it really be that easy?

What they don’t tell you about Data Discovery tools

Data Discovery tools require a data analyst to build each query for the end user (just like traditional BI tools). The self-service occurs only after a sizable investment in gathering and normalizing the foundational data — demanding time, money and talent to be effective.

Data Discovery tools can be pricey especially if you buy the tool AND hire the data gurus to enable them. Also, some vendors charge a per seat license which can add up fast.

You’ll have yet another data silo that perpetuates one-off activities. So the same question may not yield the same answer across tools. This generates work on the back end (as well as the front end) to sort out the numbers that don’t match and resolve the discrepancies.

Fortunately, Polaris has the answer

Polaris has blended the tools so you get best of both — easily…effectively…holistically.

• Traditional BI benefits you get with Polaris
  • A comprehensive understanding of your hospital’s performance
  • Personalized, context-aware information (e.g. my unit’s actual to budget that rolls up to the department level)
  • Same question yields the same answer
• Data Discovery benefits you get with Polaris
  • Fast answers to specific questions
  • Freedom for data savvy users to explore
  • Insight into business patterns and/or ‘dirty’ data issues

Here’s an example of information brought to light by Polaris

From requirements to results quickly and easily

Polaris not only offers a seamless engine; we have accelerated the process by wrapping it in a service that gets you from start to finish in record time. You get daily assistance from our team of experts who:

• Gather data from multiple source systems
• Normalize the data
• Create customer reports to your specifications (e.g. dashboards, grids, scorecards, graphs, etc.)
• Keep you current as your data and needs change

Don’t go it alone…let us guide you to better information

So if you believe that business analytics are too critical and complex for a DYI approach then Polaris is a great solution for you. Don’t wait. Give us a call today and we’ll show you how you can take your analytics to a new level.