Clean Your Data Faster for Tableau with AlteryxGet Out of the Gunk

Organizations today are both blessed and cursed by data.

But to get insights, you need to unlock the data you have.

If you are like most analysts, you are spending hours and hours struggling with “dirty data,” data that needs to be joined together, and data that is in the wrong shape for visualization. And each time the data changes, you have to redo your work.

You’re stuck in the “gunk” of preparing data, and you never get out of it to do what you really need to be doing, which is analyzing and visualizing your data and realizing new, deeper insights!

Getting the Right Dataset Takes Too Much Time

1. Data cleansing — Removing and correcting bad data

2. Data joining — Combining the cleansed data sources into a single dataset for analysis

3. Data shaping — Reformatting data into a usable format for visualization in Tableau

SO WHAT’S THE PROBLEM? PREPARING DATA IS:

• Time-consuming

• Must be repeated every time the data changes

• Error-prone

What Is “The Gunk”?You probably recognize the “gunk” as the typical 3 steps you take every day to prepare your data:

Alteryx Helps You “Get Out of the Gunk”Alteryx:

• Provides tools that speed the processes of cleansing, joining, and shaping data

• Automates the process of updating when the dataset changes

• Ensures that data is treated consistently every time it is updated, eliminating errors

• Provides a visual way to see the dataflow, so you can audit the process and fix errors quickly and easily as you create your data blending process

Let’s look at some of the most common areas where data cleansing and integration slows you down—and how Alteryx makes it faster, so you can spend less time in the gunk and more time analyzing and visualizing your data.

Often, datasets are missing values critical for accurate data analysis. Some examples of null values commonly found in datasets include total sales and sales tax calculation, sales price, income, and cost.

In Alteryx, it’s easy to calculate the missing data using other available data in the record. Using the Imputation tool, you can replace nulls with calculated values, such as average, median, or mode, in one easy step.

EXAMPLE #1: DEALING WITH NULL DATA

Speeding Up the Data Cleansing Process

Imputation tool

In every organization, data sources can use different terminology to refer to the same items. This happens frequently with product names, which can change over time and be inconsistent in different data sources.

Another example is shown here, in which business unit codes and descriptions are mixed in the SBU (Standard Business Unit) Code field.

Using the Find and Replace function in Alteryx, you can normalize the descriptions through a lookup process and replace the descriptions with codes to keep the results consistent.

EXAMPLE #2: ENCOUNTERING DATA INCONSISTENCY

Speeding Up the Data Cleansing Process

Find and Replace

Filtering helps trim excess data not needed for analysis, keeping the dataset as small and focused as possible.

Using the Filter tool to remove rows and the Select tool to remove columns, you can create the best dataset for analysis.

What’s more, you can also use filtering to easily deselect Personally Identifiable Information (PII), such as credit card numbers, from a dataset before sharing.

EXAMPLE #3: FILTERING DATA

Speeding Up the Data Cleansing Process

Select toolFilter tool

Typically, data is joined using a common key field. But what do you do when you want to join data that does not have a common field?

Using the fuzzy matching capabilities in Alteryx, you can join records even though the data is not an exact match.

For example, you can use fuzzy matching to join customer records from different systems by matching customer names. Names and nicknames, such as Joe and Joseph, can be identified to provide a match, as can street addresses with full spellings, such as “Boulevard,” and abbreviations, such as “Blvd.”

Speeding Up the Data Joining Process

EXAMPLE #1: HANDLING NO COMMON KEY FIELD SITUATIONS

Fuzzy Match tool

Often, data that really belongs together in a single file is actually stored in different table structures in different databases or applications.

You can use the Select tool to rename the common fields or manually define how the fields line up by using the Union tool to drag and drop fields to reorder them.

EXAMPLE #2: OVERCOMING INCONSISTENT COLUMN FORMATS

Speeding Up the Data Joining Process

Select tool Union tool

Data visualization tools often require the data to have a particular structure. In some cases, entire sections of a dataset must be transposed from columns into rows in order to visualize the data.

Using the Transpose tool in Alteryx, you can easily move data within a dataset into the right format for visualization.

Speeding Up the Data Shaping Process

Transpose tool

EXAMPLE #1: CORRECTING ROW/COLUMN FORMAT

Another common stumbling block is that you must replicate data to associate it for visualization. For example, demographic data for survey respondents must be repeated with each of the respondent’s answers in order for the answers to be resorted and grouped by demographic categories.

The Formula tool in Alteryx can be used to create new fields and parse data from the dataset and replicate it into the new fields.

Speeding Up the Data Shaping Process

Formula tool

EXAMPLE #2: REPLICATING DATA FOR VISUALIZATION

Use Alteryx To Get You Out of the Gunk…Alteryx speeds up the time-consuming, error-prone data preparation process so you can spend less time in the gunk and more time analyzing and visualizing your data in Tableau.

With Alteryx, you can:

• Speed the process of cleansing, joining, and shaping data

• Automatically update when the dataset changes

• Ensure data is treated consistently every time it is updated, eliminating errors

• Visualize the dataflow, so you can audit the process and fix errors quickly and easily as you create your data blending process

With Alteryx and Tableau, your path to better, faster business decisions is clear!

See what Alteryx can do for you:For more information on alteryx and tableau integration, and how it

can help your business. Contact us here:

o: 503-747-2614 x7040

c: 630-685-2883

skype: jmackie-bpmnw

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