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Data Products and Spreadsheets: The Perfect Pair for Self-Service Analytics

Unlocking valuable insights from raw data is essential for businesses looking to stay competitive in a data-driven world. But how can organizations make data more accessible and usable for everyday business users? Enter data products—packaged, curated data sets designed to solve specific business problems. When combined with the power and flexibility of spreadsheets, data products enable users to perform the last mile of analysis without needing heavy technical expertise, putting valuable insights into the hands of those who need them most.


What Are Data Products?


Data products are structured and purpose-built data assets that turn raw data into something actionable. They are created with a clear goal in mind—whether that’s to inform decision-making, improve processes, or provide insights into customer behavior. Data products are carefully curated, cleaned, and organized, allowing non-technical users to interact with the data seamlessly.


Examples of data products include:


• A dataset tracking customer orders for segmentation and cohort analysis.

• A product sales data set that provides a clear view of performance across various regions.

• A data feed that enables marketing teams to explore audience insights and apply filters for specific campaigns.


These products are designed for immediate use, allowing users to dive into the data with confidence and generate value without relying on data scientists or engineers.


Why Spreadsheets Are the Ideal Interface for Data Products


Spreadsheets have remained a vital tool in the data analysis toolbox for years, and for good reason. Here’s why they’re the perfect platform for working with data products:


Familiarity: Almost every business user knows how to navigate a spreadsheet. This familiarity makes spreadsheets a natural interface for interacting with data products, lowering the barrier to entry and empowering more people to use data effectively.

Flexibility: Spreadsheets allow for a wide range of data manipulation—from filtering and sorting to running advanced calculations. Users can quickly create pivot tables, generate charts, and dive deep into the data without needing to code or build custom reports.

Last-Mile Analysis: Spreadsheets provide the flexibility for users to perform the final mile of analysis. Once the data product is available, users can adjust filters, apply calculations, and explore the data in detail to uncover insights that are too specific for standard reports or dashboards.

Portability and Collaboration: Data in spreadsheets can easily be shared, embedded in presentations, or exported for further analysis. Real-time collaboration features enable teams to work together on the same data product, leading to faster decision-making.


Spreadsheets as the Gateway to Self-Service Analytics


Self-service analytics has become a crucial part of modern business intelligence, allowing non-technical users to interact with data on their own terms. Spreadsheets are a key component of this movement, as they offer a familiar, intuitive way to access, explore, and analyze data products.


When a data product is delivered in a spreadsheet format, users are able to:


Explore the Data: Business users can dive deep into the data product, filtering and sorting based on specific criteria, running custom calculations, and generating insights.

Answer Their Own Questions: Instead of relying on data teams to generate reports or run queries, users can use spreadsheets to ask their own questions and uncover insights in real time.

Collaborate Across Teams: With cloud-based spreadsheets, teams can work together on data products, ensuring alignment across departments while enabling everyone to contribute to the analysis process.


Real-Life Examples of Data Products in Spreadsheets

Let’s take a look at a few examples of how data products can be used effectively in a spreadsheet environment:


Real-World Examples of Data Products and Spreadsheets

Data products are versatile and can take many forms, depending on the business need. When paired with spreadsheets, they allow non-technical users to unlock powerful insights quickly and efficiently. Here are two real-world examples of how data products and spreadsheets work together:


Inventory Management and Optimization:

A retail company uses data products to monitor and analyze inventory levels across multiple locations. The data product includes real-time updates on stock levels, supplier delivery schedules, and sales forecasts. By integrating this data into a spreadsheet, store managers can easily filter and analyze which products are low on stock, identify trends in overstocked items, and make informed decisions about reordering and promotions. The flexibility of spreadsheets allows managers to customize their analysis, generating insights tailored to their specific store’s needs, without needing a specialized analytics tool.


Employee Productivity and Performance Tracking:

An HR department at a large organization needs to track employee performance and productivity metrics across different departments. A data product pulls together metrics from various sources, such as project management tools, time tracking systems, and employee surveys. By delivering this data into a spreadsheet, HR professionals can sort, filter, and pivot the data to identify patterns in employee productivity, highlight high-performing teams, or flag departments that may need additional support or resources. The ease of use provided by spreadsheets allows HR teams to create customized performance reports without relying on an external analytics team.


These examples illustrate how pairing data products with spreadsheets allows businesses to make the most of their data, providing flexibility and ease of use while delivering actionable insights.


In Conclusion


Combining data products with the flexibility of spreadsheets offers a powerful solution for self-service analytics. By enabling non-technical users to interact with curated data directly, businesses can streamline decision-making and empower teams to generate insights quickly.


Whether it’s for inventory management or performance tracking, this approach simplifies data product delivery and allows users to perform the final mile of analysis on their own terms.


Ultimately, pairing data products with spreadsheets makes data more accessible, actionable, and valuable across the organization.

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