Logi Analytics launched a tool that promises to make it easier to design, build and embed interactive dashboards and data visualization within applications.
Company CEO Steven Schneider said Logi Composer helps ease the task of creating data visualizations within the context of a DevOps workflow.
Based on technology Logi Analytics gained via its acquisition of Zoomdata last year, Logi Composer enables DevOps teams to create interactive self-service dashboards for end users as part of a microservices architecture based on Docker containers, he said.
To help achieve that goal, Logi Composer includes support for a range of Smart Data Connectors constructed as a set of microservices to access databases and other things.
Schneider said as applications evolve developers increasingly are being required to embed business intelligence (BI) functionality within their application. However, he noted, most end users don’t want to move data into a separate BI application to analyze trends when they could be surfaced more easily within an application they are already using.
The challenge has been finding a way to provide developers with a set of tools for building self-service visualizations in a modular fashion that makes them easier to build, maintain and update, he said.
Of course, developers have been adding visualizations to applications for years. But most of those visualizations don’t let end users interrogate data—users now expect to be able to manipulate visualizations with a modern application at a much deeper level, said Schneider.
A recent market study published by Dresner Advisory Services finds 62% of respondents consider self-service BI to be either “critical�? or “very important.�? A separate report published by Allied Market Research estimates the market for embedded analytics will generate revenues in excess of $60 billion by 2023.
Data visualization is a critical aspect of every digital business transformation initiative. As organizations look to digitize more processes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for more robust data visualization capabilities within applications has become more acute. Most end users are unable to make sense of massive amounts of data without the aid of visualization tools.
It’s unclear to what impact embedding BI capabilities within applications will have on standalone BI applications. There may always be analysts who want to pull data from multiple application sources to analyze trends. However, the bulk of users are likely to have their BI requirements met within an application that includes connectors to pull in external data when required. Applications that don’t include data visualization capabilities are not likely to be widely employed by users.
Ultimately, embedded data visualization will reduce reliance on both spreadsheets and standalone BI applications. However, like most substantial changes to end user behavior, it may be a while before that cultural shift takes hold.
In the meantime, DevOps teams should expect to see a lot more analytics functionality being embedded within applications. The challenge now is finding a way to streamline the development and deployment of those modules within the context of a larger application development project.
