On Monday morning, the tech world got shaken up when Salesforce announced they had acquired data visualization software, Tableau for a whopping $15.7 billion. “We are bringing together the world’s #1 CRM with the #1 analytics platform. Tableau helps people see and understand data, and Salesforce helps people engage and understand customers,” co-CEO of Salesforce Marc Benioff said in a statement after the announcement. What started off as strictly a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform, it’s clear that Salesforce is looking to expand their influence to other industries such as data analysis – creating a product that has everything a company needs all in one software.

The idea of diversifying your offerings isn’t exactly new. Look at Amazon; what started off as a bookstore in Jeff Bezos garage has continued to grow to a billion dollar e-commerce company. That wasn’t just by selling books. Oracle had a similar story. Starting off working strictly with databases, Oracle has become an IT powerhouse thanks to smart acquisitions throughout the years.   Now Salesforce is hoping to make this shift with Tableau and recently acquired software Mulesoft, an integration platform that the organization bought for $6.5 billion dollars.

The acquisition came on the heels of Google’s plan to purchase Tableau’s competitor Looker for a cool $2.6 billion. While the purchases may not have been related; one thing is clear. The future is data. Statistics are what drives business decisions. It’s not enough anymore to trust your instincts or have a “hunch”; an idea must be tested out, proven successful through data to mean much of anything.

While Salesforce does have reporting capabilities- it’s nothing compared to Tableau’s software which was created to read and visualize data through charts, dashboards, and graphs. Todd Olson, CEO at Pendo told Forbes that Salesforce, “knew that it needed a visualization tool like Tableau to help its customers do more with all the data that lives in Salesforce.”  Having a tool like Tableau can enable their partners to visualize their growth and revenue to make sense of what is working and what needs to be tweaked to boost sales. It adds value to the Salesforce and sets them apart from their competitors who may not have a such a robust business intelligence platform like Tableau at their finger tips.  It is also worth noting that Tableau has a loyal following. Each year thousands of data scientists and analysts flock to the software’s annual conference for training, workshops and networking with their peers.

Not everyone is on board with Salesforce acquisition of Tableau. While some experts see the value Tableau will bring to Salesforce – others see it as a mistake. One of those experts were Salesforce investors themselves. Benioff admitted, “The investors aren’t crazy about it.” But he added that they will come around. ““Well, the investors will see, just like they’ve always seen, how amazing it is,” he added.

Time will tell if Salesforce made a smart decision by purchasing Tableau. But one thing is for sure; more organizations focus on understanding their data with the intent to increase revenue. Having a data visualization tool accessible will be crucial to their success.  

According to the Harvard Business Review, every company needs a Growth Manager. A growth manager’s job combines data analysis, marketing, and product development to ensure that company is deploying products and campaigns that yield profitable results. It is the growth manager’s job to interpret these results and advise their peers on the successes and failures of a particular campaign in hopes to increase revenue.

What Does a Growth Manager Do?

While a growth manager can sit in product development, they historically sit in the marketing department. The main component of his or her job is to measure campaigns and analyze how successful (or unsuccessful) they were and why. Certain questions that a growth manager grapples with can include What was the return on investment (ROI); How many opportunities and/or leads came from this campaign? Was the public reception better or worse than our other product launches? Why did this campaign fail when it excelled last year? What is responsible for this product’s declining sales? Answering these questions will more than likely lead to one very complicated follow up inquiry…why? In fact, a growth manager’s job isn’t necessarily to solve all of the company’s marketing woes, is to investigate and question with the end goal of setting the company up for success.

We discussed the need of the growth manager to analyze data sets, but a good growth manager will also tie back sales and growth to specific campaigns which can be tedious at best and impossible at worst. Was the sudden influx in snow boots purchases due to the digital marketing campaign ran last month or the recent snow storms?

What Skills Are Necessary to Succeed?

According to a recent LinkedIn search, many employers are looking for growth managers who have experience in (you guessed it) analytics! Because the employee will be responsible for presenting their findings to key executives, a strong background in communications and leadership is preferred. Experience in paid social media and digital marketing are also valued by employers.

What Other Jobs are Similar to This Role?

A LinkedIn Search for a “growth manager” brings up many different job titles that while a bit different, essentially revolve around the idea of analyzing results and developing new ways to increase revenue and engagement. Similar jobs include Marketing Technologist; Paid Social Manager; Growth Hacker; Growth Marketing Analyst; and Growth Strategy Analyst.

What is the Average Salary of a Growth Manager?

The average salary for a growth manager varies greatly depending on the region, state, company and the level of experience a person has. From a search on Glassdoor, the range of salaries are anywhere between $74K and $183K with the average salary roughly being around $120K. A search on Indeed.com varies slightly with the average salary clocking in around $90K per year.

If a business is serious about driving sales and deploying intelligent campaigns that lead to new leads and opportunities, chances are they employ at least one growth manager in their ranks. While a growth manager wears many hats, having knowledge about analytics is crucial to thriving in this role.

Does your company have a low business intelligence (BI) and analytics maturity? According to an article published by Gartner earlier this month, there is an 87% chance that it does. The article entitled, “Organizations Have Low BI and Analytics Maturity”; Gartner investigates why so many companies have a limited BI maturity while including four different approaches to improve it.

In the article, Gartner’s senior director analyst, Melody Chien explained, “Low BI maturity severely constrains analytics leaders who are attempting to modernize BI.” She goes on to say, “It also negatively affects every part of the analytics workflow. As a result, analytics leaders can struggle to accelerate and expand the use of modern BI capabilities and new technologies.”

According to Gartner, your business is considered to have subpar BI maturity if you are still using spreadsheet-based statistics and extracting personal data. While Excel is still ideal for data scientists inquiring about a few lines of data; software such as SQL and R are recommended when analyzing data sets that include thousands of lines of data.

If your business could benefit from more strategic data analysis, Gartner recommends that a company should “develop holistic data and analytics strategies with a clear vision.” This step is especially crucial if a data analytics team takes on projects individually. This may indicate that your data team is siloed from key stakeholders in the IT, Finance, and Sales department. Gartner recommends working with the key stakeholders and developing a process that each analytics project is measured against. This will minimize the risk of inconsistency and ensures all team members are held accountable.

Best practices and essential skills in regards to data analysis is always changing. Gartner encourages businesses to be flexible and open to develop their analytics program whether that means hiring for different roles, purchasing the necessary software and hardware, or anticipating upcoming needs of the team.

Thirdly, a business must create a data governance program. The article explains that a data governance program, “support business objectives and also enable the organization to balance out the opportunities and risks in the digital environment.” While many companies have identified a data governance program as essential, few actually create one within their organization.

The last tip on growing one’s analytics maturity is to “create integrated analytics platforms that can support a broad range of uses.” The article goes on to state that many businesses turn to traditional BI tools that have limited uses. Gartner recommends that a business hoping to ramp up their analytics team use BI tools that include modern technologies. These tools could include Tableau, R programing, and Apache Spark.

Data analysis is a growing field, and businesses must stay on top of the growing trends. Analytics maturity doesn’t happen overnight, but reviewing Gartner’s article, “Organizations Have Low BI and Analytics Maturity” is a great start.

Tableau’s 11^th Annual Conference concluded another successful conference at the end of October in New Orleans. Attendees got to attend data inspired break-out sessions, Tableau training, as well as networking events. One of the main events was the Iron Viz Championship – a competition between three finalists armed with a dataset and tasked with making the best visualization. Did I mention it was all in front of a live audience? I got to talk to 2018’s Iron Viz Champion, Timothy Vermeiren and asked him more about the championship and why he thinks data visualization is so important.

First off congratulations for winning! When you boarded your plane to go to the Tableau Conference did you ever expect to be leaving as 2018’s Iron Viz Champion?

Thank you Danielle! In all honesty, I cannot say I was expecting to leave as the Iron Viz Champion, at all. You see, while we knew who our competitors would be, it was very hard to evaluate how they would perform in the Iron Viz final. In fact, it’s very hard to evaluate for yourself as well, as it’s really unlike anything else. The whole journey has been very exciting though, that’s for sure – getting crowned champion was just the cherry on the cake.

 For the folks who don’t know, can you explain what the Iron Viz Championship is?

The Iron Viz Championship saw the light of day 8 years ago, at the 2011 Tableau Conference in Las Vegas. The idea is simple: first, Tableau organizes 3 so-called “feeder contests” throughout the year preceding the conference. Each feeder contest is based on a broad theme (politics, health, literature …) and can be entered by anyone. Participants will have approximately a month to find a dataset relevant to the subject, which they will then visualize to tell a story they find interesting.

Tableau, along with an external journey of authorities in the field of data visualization, select one winner per feeder, each of who get a ticket to the final at the Tableau Conference. The format of the final is slightly different from the feeders. The three contestants will all get the same dataset up front, are allowed to enrich it with appropriate data, and will then have to build their viz on stage in only 20 minutes. After that show down, they get a few minutes to present their story and analysis to the audience and a jury.

Can you explain your journey to the Iron Viz Championship? Is your career specific to data or is data visualization something you do for fun?

I do work on the field of data visualization and analytics. As a consultant for EMEA Tableau Partner of the Year Biztory, data is part of what we do every day. It’s ubiquitous in our work for clients, and it forms the foundation of the value we create for them.

 In this context, we strive to be the best versions of ourselves every day. There’s different ways to sustain this. To me personally, the competitive aspect of Tableau’s Iron Viz feeder contests is very attractive. We get to do what we do every day, except this time it’s not “boring” sales data. It’s data of your choice, that can be as interesting as you can find, and will potentially lead to a powerful and influential story. And of course, this is a great exercise, as we try to help clients find these powerful stories as well.

 After one or two initial participations, to me, the competition became very important too. I had started something that eventually, I would have to finish, and there was only one way to do that!

What advice do you have for data scientists who want to be an Iron Viz Champion?

Do it! Don’t hesitate, and don’t be intimidated by the competitive aspect! While it was important to me, there’s two things in the Iron Viz feeder competitions that anyone can benefit from. First, it’s great exercise, because you get to do things that you probably would not just throw into a report for your job. And second, the feedback and reactions from the community are priceless. You’ll get valuable advice regardless of the “level” and complexity of your entry, if you ask for it. And that will, again, allow you to learn and become better at what you do!

What has the reception been like from your peers and others in the data community?
I’d say it was… overwhelming, wonderful. Some of my colleagues were in the audience, the ones who could not attend and my family have watched the live stream (in the middle of the night in Europe). They all backed me before and during the competition, despite the fact that I had been “bothering” them with this “Iron Viz thing” for years. When the results were announced, it felt like it was them who had brought me this far.

 As for everyone else in the audience and the data community, I owe them big time as well. On one hand for the feedback and support before and during the final. But also the night of the final. After we were done, the other two finalists and I went out together, attending the legendary “Data Night Out” party of the Tableau Conference. As we roamed around, people were approaching us left and right, asking for photos and asking about the whole experience. It was a lot of fun for the three of us to be treated as “data celebrities” that night.

 How long have you used Tableau for?

I started using Tableau in March of 2014, so it’s almost been 5 years. I guess that’s above average in terms of Tableau. There’s quite a few people who have used it for a much longer time, but there’s a ­lot­ of people who are newer to it.

What about the Tableau software interested you all those years ago? How has it improved since you began using it?

As it so happens, starting to work with Tableau was not my own choice. I was working as a consultant at that time as well, and landed with a client that had just adopted the product. My job was simple: learn Tableau faster than their team of 40 analysts I worked with, while at the same time developing insights for them and coaching that team. I could not have dreamt of a better environment for learning Tableau.

Since then, Tableau has come a long way. Whereas it was still more of an underdog at that time, Tableau has steadily grown to exhibit more and more characteristics of an enterprise tool. Automation, extensibility and governance have played an important role in its development over the last few years. At the same time, I feel like Tableau has been able to keep innovating as they have before, remaining a leader in the field.

 Why do you think these data visualization tools are important to the data community?

Tableau, which focuses on speed to insight and advanced analytics, really benefits the community in that perspective. Anyone can use Tableau to connect to their data and visually explore it, while gaining insights along the way. I believe that they strive in making analytics at scale more accessible to the community and that’s a great thing.

Where do you see the data industry going in the next year…5 years…10 years?

Oh my, I’m really not much of a visionary when it comes to that. I guess I’d say we’ve already seen a general trend shifting from traditional reporting to self-service analytics. Newer fields like data science and machine learnings are finding a way into the business markets too. I imagine that’s where the industry will go too. Tools like Tableau are currently investing in technologies such as NLP (Natural Language Processing) in combination with the aforementioned ones, which should even further reduce our time to insight.

 What’s next for you in the data field and how is winning the Iron Viz Championship going to help you achieve it?

I have to be honest… I’d set myself reaching the Iron Viz final as a goal, but I’d never envisioned I would actually make it or let alone win it. And because of that, I hadn’t really thought about anything after this! I’m very happy doing what I do now, which is helping people self-serve with data to gain insights from day to day. I’ll remain happy if I can keep doing that.

 I have to know…do you get the Tableau Software free for life now that you’re an Iron Viz Champion?

I haven’t asked, but I assumed I would! And in the worst case, I can always try and convince them to give it to me so I can keep spreading the word around data and analytics!

 Congratulations Timothy on this extraordinary feat! Click here to watch the 2018 Iron Viz Championship and see Timothy’s data visualization. You can also connect with Timothy through his LinkedIn profile.

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The digital universe is highly dynamic and changing quickly. After 2010, we entered a new era where social networks, mobile devices and wearable technologies entered into the equation. These are just a few sources that generate large amounts of data. By 2025 there will be hundreds of zettabytes of data. As massive amounts of data continue to be generated, big data technologies are taking shape. There are technologies, tools and data processing methods that aid in the extraction of all kinds of digital insights. The ability to collect, analyze and extract insight from big data sets has implications to all sectors of business. For example, big data can help companies protect their customers from buying items that are not up to the standard. With this in mind, what differences can big data bring to real estate market?

One industry positioned to reap big from big data is real estate. For a long time, this industry has been considered conservative when it comes to adopting or pioneering new technologies. However, most real estate agencies or companies are now embracing innovations. With new technologies such as big data, real estate companies are changing their business model. For instance, big data has made a huge difference in advertising. Due to the availability of information and insight, personalized advertising and marketing is possible. An advertisement can be targeted to an individual by name. In addition, the majority of people looking for homes do it online. These people know exactly what they are looking for. Big data analytics is being leveraged to find out what the site visitors are looking for, the language they speak, their location and other crucial information helpful in targeting advertising and marketing.

Increased insights

Big data analytics offers insight to players in the real estate business. For instance, it empowers real estate agents by providing information about their offerings. Real estate companies can increase their performance and identify aspects of their businesses that need to be fine-tuned. This improves their productivity in ways that would not be possible without data and insight.  

Big data has enabled real estate companies to realize efficiencies in their business processes. With data, agents can know areas that have a high demand and those that face a risk of withdrawal. They can identify issues that need to be addressed and opportunities that the company should take advantage of in the market. This increases profitability and minimizes losses associated with withdrawals.

Data also gives real estate agents a clear picture of their market. More often than not, these agents are given the ability to know more about their customers with regard to the tendencies of certain groups, what they want, what they dislike and the average budget of specific group of customers. With this kind of information at their disposal, real estate agents are able to target specific customers and fulfill most of their desires. Big data enables the real estate companies find out the kind of buyers that should be targeted, purchase priorities of individuals, the changes in pricing and the potential reasons why some leads are not converting as it should be the case.

Today’s real estate agents have a lot of advantages and resources at their disposal compared to the past. With big data and analytics, agents can answer questions that customers ask and address concerns in the market that may be damaging to profits. 

With the rise of big data comes an increase of concern over data privacy. It’s no surprise that apps such as Facebook and Google, monitor your search histories and offer you advertisements based on content you’ve explored on the internet. While the companies who observe your search habits want you to think it’s just a coincidence, a majority of society has smartened up, taking matters into their own hands by limiting the amount of private data that a company can obtain.

If you’re interested in taking back your data, here are five useful app categories you can use to do just that.

VPN

VPNs are important in today’s society. VPN or Virtual private network acts as a private network even if you are browsing a public network. A user logs into their VPN of choice and can send secure data without the threats that a public network can bring. Those who are on a private network should also be interested in a VPN because it not only encrypts your data but hides exactly where and who you are. So which VPN should you chose? “You need to share a reliable no-log VPN so that your data won’t be susceptible to leaks and attacks,” Ariel Hochstadt stated in an interview with Forbes’ contributor Kate O’Flaherty. While there are numerous VPNs to choose from, the VPNs that get the most recognition include;  ExpressVPN, CyberGhost VPN, and NordVPN.

Privacy Assistant

With the need for more data protection inspired companies to create privacy assistants. Like the name suggests the privacy assistants aids users in deleting any unwanted personal information on the internet. Jumbo, an IOS app will delete old tweets from Twitter; browsing histories from your web browser; and data from Alexa. [Root] Privacy Assistant was developed by Carnegie Mellon University and uses machine learning to help users control what data can and cannot be collected by mobile applications. Because the app is part of a study it does collect a small percentage of users’ data under the guise of anonymity.

Messenger

If you want to ensure your messenger app is secure, invest in an encrypted messenger app that you know will keep your information secure. Like VPNs, there are many to choose from but the top  apps that are constantly topping privacy lists include; Signal, Telegram, and Wickr Me.

Browsers

If you use Google.com to browse the internet, be aware that Google stores your data to the point that it knows what you like, where you’ve been, and your internet history. If that doesn’t sound like something you want an internet browser to know about you - consider using an encrypted browser. Like VPN, it will not store your browser history and protect your identity. The most well-known encrypted browser is Tor, but there have been other successful browsers that have popped up recently on the web. Check out DuckDuckGo, Epic Browser, and Brave.

Whether you chose to go with an encrypted browser, a secure messenger, or a VPN- it’s time to take data privacy into your own hands and protect your information from potential threats.