Envision This

Computerworld - If you're a client of Deltek Systems Inc. and your account is in arrears, be aware that when the company managers and directors meet, your name shows up on a computer screen in big red letters.
This sounds primitive, but like many businesses, Deltek, a McLean, Va.-based professional services automation company, is just scratching the surface when it comes to data visualization. The technology, rooted in scientific applications, is now being merged with statistical analysis software. The goal is to replace reports and tables with powerful, eye-catching images that convey important statistical data to even casual users.
Users of the technology rave about its ability to help businesspeople quickly grasp huge quantities of data, and experts say data visualization will quickly be merged into standard data analysis tools. But users complain that visualization products still have a ways to go where ease of use is concerned.
Until recently, most corporate information technology managers viewed data visualization technology as a toy for scientists or as a nice business tool that couldn't find mainstream traction. But experts say that's finally changing, for three reasons.
First, computer power has finally caught up with the technology. "A few years ago, you needed a $20,000 Silicon Graphics workstation to use visualization," says Don Campbell, Ottawa-based Cognos Inc.'s vice president of information delivery products. But that isn't the case anymore; new tools can run on desktops in a typical corporate environment, he says.
Second, the demand for business data is fearsome - and it's growing all the time. Even the most hard-core bean counters, born in Lotus 1-2-3 and raised on Excel, must work hard to pull the significant or potentially threatening numbers from spreadsheets. Data visualization makes those numbers impossible to miss and easy to grasp by everyone.
"These types of tools can help you more quickly adjust your mind and pinpoint information without having to interpret it," says Bob Moran, an analyst at Boston-based Aberdeen Group Inc. "It helps you see relationships by looking at a chart."
This is a vital point. Experts say data visualization software's ability to accentuate the relationships among data points is one of its major benefits. Moreover, e-commerce has put a premium on real-time data. In some sectors, it's critical to keep an eye on your own site traffic and your competitors' in order to see who's winning, what promotions are working, where the traffic's coming from and so on.
Data visualization makes this possible. Rather than having to wait for reports or compare sterile columns of numbers, it's