Tag: General

What is Self Service Analytics Platform

As the name suggests, self-service analytics platforms are tools that help you do data analysis and modeling without coding knowledge. If you are planning to invest in such a platform you should give thorough consideration to the following 11 qualities to avoid future disappointments. It is important to do background research, since, the users are expected to help themselves with these platforms.

Why are Self Service Analytics Platforms Becoming Popular

People are coming up with awesome data products owing to the revolutionary developments in the Internet of Things, and data-based decision making. As a consequence, the competition in the domain is increased at an unprecedented rate. The data products lose their market value if they are not launched in time. There is a large chunk of data available in public domain. It can be utilized by anyone to make a data product. Hence, there is a sense of urgency in launching products like never before. Here the Self Service Analytics Platform comes into the picture as they not only cut down on hiring a dedicated engineer but also drastically reduce the turnaround time for modeling. This is the main reason why Self Service Analytics Platforms are gaining popularity.

Why Should You be Choosy about Analytics Platform Providers

As stated earlier, you need to help yourself with the platform. Therefore, you need to be a bit choosy about the provider to make the right choice to avoid any regrets later. The following 11 qualities will guide you to choose the right provider.

Top 11 Qualities of Self Service Analytics Platform Providers

# 1: They Understand Your Business

A right service provider has a sound understanding of the ‘ask’ that you have. As a beginner you will only have an imaginary picture of what your product is going to be like. You need to communicate your thoughts to the platform provider effectively. When you and the platform provider understand each other’s language then exchange of these ideas becomes a breeze. It is possible only of the platform provider understands your business.

#2: They don’t consume the entire space on your harddisk

There are some Self Service Data Analytics Platforms that can easily consume 100s of GBs of space on your computer. You definitely don’t want to lose out on the speed of your system just to avoid the coding. An ideal platform provider is the one who not only saves on your coding effort but also helps you to be more efficient and agile. A cloud based platform overcomes the requirement of huge storage space very easily.

#3: They have quick calculation time

If you spend millions on a analytics platform provider that takes 2-3 days to make its calculation then it is obviously not going to serve your purpose. Hence go for an analytics platform that gives out quick results.

#4: They don’t sell what you don’t need

We all have been in situation when we reach out to a service provider to buy XX but the service provider insists on buying a package that contains XX as one of the features. In the end, you get what you want but you also end up spending more. Things are even worst, if you also don’t know how to make the best use of the additional features you paid for. Underutilization of the resources is also a waste. Therefore, it is wise to choose a service provider who can sell you only what you need.

#5: They have a user-friendly interface

User-friendly interface is a must have for a ‘Self Service Analytics Platform’ as you need to serve yourself. An interface that can be customized as per your need is an added advantage. Hence while choosing your platform ensure that the navigation across the platform is intuitive.

#6: They are ready to answer your service request

These days users are applying data analytics to versatile problems. All problems have different data-pretreatment needs and visualization needs. In such a scenario, you need to look for a data analytics platform provider who pays heed to service request. Rigid providers who follow ‘one size fits all’ approach may not be fit for you in such an instance.

#7: They provide a platform that offers more functionalities than Excel or Google Worksheet

If your project is just about creating dashboard to visualize line plots, histograms and box plots. You are better off doing that work with excel or google worksheet. Why spend on something that your organization already has?

#8: They don’t charge you a bomb for maintenance of the Analytics Platform

Some analytics platform providers can quote you an astonishingly convincing price, only for you to realize several hidden costs later. To avoid this problem it is best to get things clear in your first meeting. A reasonable maintenance should be one of the deciding criteria for the provider.

#9: They don’t provide a database management solution in the name of Analytics Platform

Although database management solutions play an important role before beginning the data analysis, they may not be a necessity for you especially if you don’t plan to extract data from a specified resource. It is always good to have clarity if your problem is a data engineering problem or a data analytics problem.

#10: They provide onboarding training on their analytics platform

The sustainability of new technology adoption invariably depends on the effectiveness of onboarding training. Hence a provider who is ready support you for the onboarding training should be your first choice.

#11: They are not just data analytics platform providers but your data analytics partners

Yes, it is a self-help platform, but that doesn’t mean the platform provider gives you the cold shoulder when discussing your challenges. A flexible data analytics platform provider ready to partner with you to overcome the challenges and help you win the race should be a priority.

Conclusion

Choosing the right Self Service Analytics Platform provider is one big project in itself. The platform efficiency and flexibility of the platform service provider are game-changer for any data product. At Let’s Excel Analytics Solutions LLP, we work really hard to fulfill our clients’ ask on all the 11 qualities mentioned above.

Curious to know more?

Introduction

Today everybody is interested to know about the safety and efficacy of the Covid19 vaccines. People want to know more about several vaccine options and the best vaccine that will protect them against Covid19. To answer these and many other questions, in this article, we describe basic science and working Principle behind the Covid19 vaccines.

What is a Vaccine?

Vaccine is a biological product that stimulates an immune response to a specific disease upon inoculation. This process by which a person becomes immune to disease through vaccination (inoculation) is referred to as immunization.

Vaccines: Are They Really Effective?

Data speaks louder than words! According to World Health Organisation (WHO), vaccines prevent more than 20 life-threatening diseases and save 2-3 million deaths every year from diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, influenza, and measles.

Poliomyelitis, one of the most feared epidemics ever encountered by humans, is eliminated from most countries. WHO declared India a polio-free country in March 2014. This achievement is believed to have been spurred by the extensive pulse polio (vaccination) campaign.

How Efficacious Are COVID-19 Vaccines?

The efficacy of a vaccine is determined in a double-blind randomized controlled trial. It involves randomly assigning participant volunteers to either a treatment or control (placebo) groups; neither the participant nor the experimenter knows who is receiving what treatment. Both the treatment groups live their normal life and are monitored for COVID-19 symptoms over a specified period of time. The efficacy of a vaccine is calculated using the following formula.

v- cases among vaccinated
p- cases among placebo
N- number of placebo
n- number of vaccinated

For example, 43,000 volunteers were enrolled in Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine trials, who were distributed equally between the treatment and placebo groups; 170 in placebo and only 8 in the treatment group developed COVID-19 over the next several months. This corresponds to the vaccine efficacy of 95%.

So, what does 95% efficacy indicate? It doesn’t mean that only 5% of vaccinated people would develop COVID-19 but the vaccinated people are 95% less likely to develop COVID-19 upon exposure.

Though the efficacy of all the vaccines are calculated using the above formula but the trials were performed under different circumstances. Scientists argue that the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccine trials were performed during the period when the number of daily cases were significantly low. In contrast, Johnson & Johnson vaccine trials were conducted during the time when there were highest number of daily cases. The probability of the participant volunteers to contract virus was higher in Johnson & Johnson trials. Moreover, the virus strain (B.1.1.7) in Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna trials is known to be less virulent than the variants (B.1.351 and P.2) present during Johnson & Johnson trials. Also the opportunity of a volunteer to get exposed to the COVID-19 is also highly variable.

There’s a myth around COVID-19 vaccine that vaccination averts all the possibilities of contracting the virus. No! That’s not right! There’s a possibility of infection even after vaccination but the vaccine trains our immune system how to deal with the virus. Consequently, the patient might experience mild to moderate symptoms but significantly reduces the chances of hospitalisation and deaths.

Is there any other way to determine which vaccine is the most efficacious? Yes! For that matter, all the vaccines have to be studied together in a double blind randomised clinical trial. But that’s not the need of the hour.

Are Covid19 Vaccines Safe Enough?

Most COVID-19 vaccines are very safe. It is perfectly normal to have mild side effects after vaccination. The common side effects include pain, redness and swelling. Other side effects are tiredness, headache, muscle pain, nausea, fever, and chills. These side-effects are short-term and are attributable to the mechanism of action of the vaccines.

However, it is important to mention that four cases of serious adverse reactions ( blood clotting with low platelets count) were reported in Norway after vaccination with AstraZeneca vaccine. Two of them died due to blood haemorrhage and other two were hospitalised. Similar adverse reactions were reported in Denmark, Italy and United Kingdom. However, European Medical Association (EMA’s) safety committee concluded that the unusual blood clot with low platelets count are very rare side effects of the vaccine. Only 1 out of 100,000 cases have chances of developing blood clotting reactions which is many folds low as compared to the COVID-19 related deaths.

Will Covid19 Vaccines Demonstrate Same Effectiveness Despite Mutations in the Virus?

As the data continues to be collected on the new variants of the COVID-19, most of the vaccines are reported to provide protection against virus because these vaccines elicit a broad immune response involving a range of antibodies and cells. Researchers claim that most of the vaccines are designed based on the spike protein that is less likely to be mutated. Conversely, as long as the  spike protein is not mutating, the vaccines would continue providing protection against COVID-19.

Conclusion

Herd immunity requires a large enough population to be vaccinated to prevent widespread transmission of COVID-19. The rate at which the population is vaccinated is going to play a crucial role in ending the deaths and emergency hospitalizations. It is important to reiterate that vaccines are very safe and mild short-term side effects are the common ones.

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