As the field of data analytics evolves, the range of available data analysis software grows. In our previous post, we looked at the job descriptions of a data analyst, the required skills, job prospects, salary, and how to become a data analyst. In this article, we highlight the top 15 best data analysis software and tools every data analyst must master to be efficient in the job.
Top 15 Best Data Analysis Software and Tools in 2024
1. R Programming
R is the leading data analytics tool and is widely used for statistics and data modeling. It has 11,556 packages and allows you to browse the packages by category. Compiles and runs on a wide variety of platforms viz -UNIX, Windows, and macOS.
2. KNIME
KNIME is an open-source, reporting, and integrated analytics tool that allows you to analyze and model data through visual programming. It integrates various components for data mining and machine learning via its modular data pipelining concept. KNIME was developed in 2004 by a team of software engineers at the University of Konstanz.
3. Apache Spark
Apache Spark is a fast large-scale data processing engine that executes applications in Hadoop clusters. Spark is built on data science and its concept makes data science effortless. Spark also includes a library – MLlib, that provides a progressive set of machine algorithms for repetitive data science techniques.
4. SAS
SAS was developed by the SAS Institute in the 1960s and has evolved ever since. Its main use today is for profiling customers, reporting, data mining, and predictive modeling. It offers modules for specific uses such as anti-money laundering and analytics for the Internet of Things.
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Python is an object-oriented scripting language that was developed by Guido van Rossum in the late 1980s. It is easy to learn as it is very similar to JavaScript, Ruby, and PHP. Also, Python has excellent machine-learning libraries including Scikitlearn, Theano, Tensorflow, and Keras.
6. Microsoft Excel
Excel is the world’s best-known spreadsheet software. Built-in features include pivot tables and form-creation tools. It also has a variety of other functions that streamline data manipulation. With many plug-ins available, you can easily bypass Excel’s shortcomings.
7. Jupyter Notebook
Jupyter Notebook allows you to create interactive documents. These combine live code, equations, visualizations, and narrative text. It runs in the browser and supports over 40 languages, including Python and R. It also integrates with big data analysis tools, like Apache Spark.
8. Microsoft Power BI
Microsoft’s Power BI is a relative newcomer to the market of data analytics tools. It allows users to create interactive visual reports and dashboards, with a minimal learning curve. The main limitation is the low data limit (around 2GB), although it does come with a free version.
9. Tableau
Tableau is one of the best commercial data analysis tools available. The suite handles large amounts of data better than many other BI tools, and it is straightforward to use. It has a visual drag-and-drop interface (another definite advantage over many other data analysts’ tools).
10. LookML
Looker offers a BI and data analytics platform built on LookML, the company’s proprietary modeling language. Embedded analytics in Powered by Looker utilize modern databases and an agile modeling layer. Organizations can use Looker’s full RESTful API or the schedule feature to deliver reports by email or webhook.
11. Oracle Analytics Cloud
Oracle offers a wide range of BI and analytics tools that can be deployed on-prem or in the Oracle Cloud. The company provides traditional BI capabilities inside its Business Intelligence 12c solution. Oracle Data Visualization allows users to automatically visualize data as drag-and-drop attributes, charts, and graphs.
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12. Qlik
The company’s flagship offering, Qlik Sense, enables organizations to combine all their data sources into a single view. The Qlik Analytics Platform allows users to develop, extend and embed visual analytics in existing applications. Users can build and embed Qlik as simple mashups or integrate within existing platforms.
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13. SAP
SAP is one of the best data analysis software and tools around. It offers a broad range of BI and analytics tools in both enterprise and business-user-driven editions. The company’s flagship BI portfolio is delivered via on-prem and cloud deployments atop the SAP HANA Cloud. SAP also offers a suite of traditional BI capabilities for dashboards and reporting.
14. Amazon QuickSight
Amazon QuickSight is a serverless and embeddable business intelligence service for the cloud with built-in machine learning. The product lets you create and publish interactive BI dashboards that can be queried using natural language. It can automatically scale to thousands of users without any infrastructure.
15. Board
BOARD combines business intelligence, performance management, and predictive analytics into one platform. Any change to data, data models, security profiles, or business rules is immediately propagated to every application. The company also offers BOARD Cloud, a SaaS version of the platform, backed by Microsoft Azure.
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