A couple of weeks ago, an Associate
Partner of ours pointed out that Tableau had launched a COVID-19 Tacker and
Resource Hub, and asked - if we could do
something with Einstein Analytics to maybe add a unique perspective?
We quickly noticed that there were
no other trackers employing forecasting features; and with that, a simple
observation gave birth to a project to contribute and add value to the existing
ongoing efforts.
An obvious requirement was a portal
to publish updates and analyze data, but on top of that, we would implement the
possibility of data exploration at the click of a button or tap of the screen.
The instantly mobile and desktop Dashboards could allow for anyone to conduct a
deeper analysis and gain a better understanding of the occurrences in the world
around them with a simple tap or click.
Moreover, with the addition of basic
trends and the Timeseries analysis
feature, people could track the speed that
the (confirmed) cases spread in the long run. Not only would we be able to
forecast spread, but also potential fatalities. In effectively understanding
this data, however, the most significant value that the dashboard brought to
the table - is the ability to forecast what awaits us, in this critical time
where uncertainty represents such a crippling factor. When officials force
people to stay at home; the big apple is put on lock down; and the unknown is
shutting down the market, showing the actual number of confirmed cases in
relation to the population could help to understand the value of the measures
taken.
The impact of COVID-19 is global. We
feel that ability to socialize insights in a time where isolation and social
distancing are the norm, will bring us closer to driving a positive impact at a
commensurate scale. With this goal in mind, Einstein Analytics shows itself as the
perfect platform to leverage by allowing us to:
- Quickly setup a Dashboard
- Drag and Drop Maps
- Easily Import External Data
- Rely on High Fidelity Visuals
- Share with Communities
- Keep Data Up-to-Date with a simple API
- Calculate trends with the ease of Timeseries
- Enable Binding / Dynamic Filtering Out-of-the-Box
Within minutes, the first version of
the dashboard was up and running.
Solutions like Tableau and Einstein
allow visually stunning, intuitive and dynamic dashboards to be set up quickly;
whereas with other solutions you may need to bring in a skilled designer and
programmers to build out the dashboard from scratch. With these other
solutions, you would still need a developer or skilled analyst to manually
write a series of queries; and in some more traditional cases, you would need
an apt developer to parse and properly tie data to the visualization. In
Einstein Analytics, you can drag and drop visualizations onto the canvas, and
simply click to add sources, filters, and dimensions. What would traditionally
require many hours and a full-blown and dynamic team, can be built better and
faster by a single resource.
