The Superpowers that Create Data Heroes

The moment was iconic.

In the 1989 Batman Movie, Batman (played by Michael Keaton) rescues Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger) from the Joker (Jack Nicholson) using one of his utility belt tools. With a grapple gun, Batman fires cables into nearby walls and zip-lines through a window – the damsel in distress securely in his arms. We then hear the Joker exclaim:

“Where does he get all those wonderful toys?”

If you think about it…those ‘wonderful toys’ are a big part of what makes Batman a superhero: they give him superpowers. (After all, where would Batman be without his ‘batarang’, shark repellant, ultrasonic signaler, and batmobile…to name just a few?)

So . . . in thinking about your role within your company . . .

Why can’t you – as a person who makes ‘do-or-die’ decisions – be a superhero too? Why can’t you get your own superpowers, tools in your own ‘virtual utility belt’ that let you battle the villains who prevent you from making the best possible business decisions?

You can.

Just as Batman has his villains to contend with – the Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler – let’s start by identifying your “Reporting Villains” – those dastardly devils you fight every day in your decision-making efforts.

(We’ll also identify what you can put in your own decision-making utility belt to empower you to come out on-top in this never-ending battle against inadequate reporting . . . )

Reporting Villains vs. Data Hero Utility Belt Tools

• Villain #1: The Data Monster. A deceptive villain, transactional data is a friend to applications like ERP & CRM; but it’s a monster when it comes to reporting. With its unwieldy nature, it defeats even the most strenuous efforts to get strategic and predictive insight.
  • Utility Belt Tool: The Data Warehouse. This tool optimizes ERP and other data sources for reporting & analytics, cleansing and streamlining info while creating smart metrics and KPIs that point towards the ‘best’ decision for every business challenge.

• Villain #2: The Programming Pig. This villain is relentless; no matter whether you’re creating a simple report or customizing a sophisticated one, you’re forced into a programming purgatory where any – and every – reporting request requires advanced technical expertise.
  • Utility Belt Tool: No-code / Low-code / Full-code platform. Using Tableau, Power BI, and/or Excel with SQL and a data warehouse, 80% of all reporting needs (and 100% of all standard reporting needs) require no coding, while advanced customization is available for the most sophisticated requests.

• Villain #3: The Time Eater. This villain appears most often, showing up twice in every reporting request. First – the days, weeks, or months it takes for an analyst to create, test, and deliver the requested report. Second – the hours or days it takes for reports to be run and distributed.
  • Utility Belt Tool: Report Library with Self-Service Analytics. With over 8,000 pre-configured reports, the library cuts development time by over 90% and the analytics engine runs the reports in under 10 seconds and optionally distributes them via email.

• Villain #4: The Truth Hider. The worst villain of all – this devil muddies the results of analytics by allowing multiple reports (& spreadsheets) to each use its own formulas – e.g., ‘gross profit’ – defined differently in multiple reports – effectively hides the true performance of your business.
  • Utility Belt Tool: Centralized Analytics. By storing formulas on a centralized server, critical calculations are standardized across all reports, are maintained in just one place, and ensure that your analytics are in sync – giving you a single version of the truth.

There’s one more thing . . .

Unlike Batman, what you’re fighting is criminally-bad reporting; reporting that can cause you to reach the wrong conclusion or no conclusion at all. Your business can’t afford that; especially when the tools you need are no fantasy – they’re available today!

DataSelf’s BI-based Reporting™ manages data, offers deeper insight, and delivers it on demand. With DataSelf, you can get data superpowers and become your business’ data superhero.

Learn more about DataSelf Reporting with our quick Dashboard Demos…

Read the next article in this series – Villains of Bad Reporting: The Data Monster