We are living in a data-driven and data-centric world that’s only going to produce more and more data with time. This new data is collected in an unstructured manner and processed into a structured form as per the requirement of a company. Later, meaningful insights are extracted from this data for decision-making purposes. All this process helps a company to grow in this competitive market. But, who is in charge of all this process? Everything is done by a Data Analytics professional or a Data Scientist.
How is Data Analytics Benefitting Businesses?
Data analytics are driving the growth of businesses from the beginning of a startup, promoting robust growth, and turning them into large, formidable companies. Rutgers highlights the importance of data analytics, noting that “Tech professionals at big organizations like Google, Facebook, and Tesla, have leveraged the potential of data analytics to expand into new markets, build strategies and strong relations with customers, and optimize processes such as marketing management and supply chain.”
Big data and data analytics are two buzz words of this year and are too costly to be overlooked by any business. Companies generate large volumes of data every day, and to process that data is to understand the current state of a business and its future goals. If a company wants to break into new markets, tracking data analytics will provide ease and insight for it to grow in every aspect.
The top 5 data analytics companies globally are briefly discussed below, with an emphasis on their recent developments and acquisitions:
1. SAP – German Based Company
SAP SE is a German multinational software company specializing in enterprise software. Since its establishment in 1972 by ex-IBM employees, the company grew in light of its enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. Lately, the company has been breaking into new markets, embracing new technologies, with its most recent SAP S/4HANA ERP platform showing cloud capabilities. SAP’s data analytics solutions comprise sales, human resources, marketing, finance, and operations. The company reported its 2018 revenue as USD 26.73 billion.
In 2018, SAP acquired an experience management company Qualtrics that also specializes in data analytics and subscription software solutions. The acquisition is helping SAP break into new sectors and supplement its data analytics business. In 2016, the company acquired data analytics company Altiscale that provides high-performance Big Data-As-A-Service (BDaaS) solutions and other operational services. This is considered a significant acquisition for SAP since it enables the company and its customers to make broader use of big data across data platforms, technologies, and applications.
2. Salesforce – U.S. Based Company
Salesforce is a U.S.-based multinational tech company specializing in cloud software for enterprise solutions, particularly customer relationship management (CRM). The company’s CRM solution, Salesforce Customer 360, is used by some of the most renowned companies in the world, such as T-Mobile and Unilever. Salesforce’s analysis offering is known as Einstein Analytics, which is a set of AI-powered advanced analytics that allows customers to explore all the data quickly and easily. The platform employs AI to augment analytics and make predictions for the future.
In August 2019, Salesforce completed the acquisition of data analytics platform Tableau for a staggering USD 15.7 billion, allowing both the companies to better serve their customers, and also deliver powerful AI-driven insights across all types of data and use cases. The company reported its 2019 revenue as USD 13.28 billion, employing more than 35,000 individuals worldwide.
3. Tableau – U.S. Based Company
A subsidiary of Salesforce, the U.S.-based Tableau has the reputation of being one of the best data visualization and analytics companies in the world that can make data more meaningful. The latest version of the software, Tableau 2020.1, has the capabilities of showcasing data on vector maps, which are mainly scalable. In FY2019, Tableau reported its revenues as amounting to USD 902.0 million, marking a 41% increase over the previous year.
4. Microsoft – U.S. Based Company
The U.S.-based multinational technology company develops, manufactures, licenses, supports, and sells software, electronics, PCs, and related services. Valued over USD 1 trillion and reporting over USD 125 billion in revenues in FY2019, the company’s portfolio includes a wide range of products, including the data analytics platform, Power BI. The platform — used by companies like Adobe, HP, and Rolls-Royce — allows for the visualization of data with an emphasis on collaboration and speed of analysis.
Over the years, Microsoft has acquired several small- and large-scale companies, including its 2015 acquisition of open-source analytics company Revolution Analytics, to support its analytics services. In July 2019, the company acquired a startup named BlueTalon that will enhance Microsoft’s abilities to empower businesses across industries to transform while ensuring the right use of data digitally.
5. Qlik – Swedish Software Company
Qlik is a Swedish software company that provides an end-to-end platform with data analytics, data integration, business intelligence (BI), and conversational analytics capabilities. The company’s QlikView analytics software offers a faster, end-to-end data integration and analytics solutions, and the expertise needed to build a data-driven enterprise.
Credit: Data Science Central By: StraitsResearch
