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6 Steps to Faster DataBlending Using YourData Warehouse

Self-Service Data Blendingand AnalyticsDynamic market conditions require companies to be agile and decision makingto be quick—meaning the days of waiting for a centralized IT staff or datascientists to prepare data for insights are far gone.Connect to all the data types andlocations where insight may resideSelf-service data blending allows line-of-business analysts to access, cleanse,and join data quickly and easily, and deliver insights faster.With self-service data blending and analytics, line-of-business analysts can: Connect to all data where insight may reside regardless of location—spreadsheets, local databases, corporate databases, cloud applications, socialmedia, and moreBlend your data without having to relyon IT, SQL coding or data scientists Prepare data by removing redundant or unnecessary data, and apply rules to fillin data that is missing or incorrect Blend multiple data sources quickly and easily without coding or IT involvement Deliver faster and deeper insights such as predictive and spatial analysis Share the results easily as static reports, or for data discovery in visualizationsoftware such as Tableau or QlikPerform advanced analytics andshare the results with businessdecision makers6 Steps to Faster Data Blending Using Your Data Warehouse

What is in-database data blending?With the emergence of data from social media, cloud applications andsensors, analysts have a higher volume of data to deal with than everbefore, making Big Data even more unwieldy.When dealing with extremely large datasets, it’s best to limit movement ofthe data to mitigate network bottlenecks and processing latency. After all,why move a massive data file from a data warehouse to your desktop whenall you want are a few pieces of data from it?In-database data blending allows you to push the processing steps into thedatabase and retrieve only the data you need, rather than pulling the entiredataset to the processing location (typically, your desktop).With in-database data blending and analytics you can:In-database blending:AlteryxAnalytic ProcessRESULTSDataWarehouseBlend, Prepare, Clean Avoid the need for IT or specialized analytics staff to write SQL code orother query languages for blending and preparing data Leverage existing Big Data platform investments and ecosystems Utilize the in-database processing power of the data warehouse to answernew questions faster6 Steps to Faster Data Blending Using Your Data Warehouse

Recipe for In-Database Data BlendingIngredients you needIdentify all of your data sources A copy of Alteryxalteryx.com/download2Determine the best place to work with your data A list of the data sources youwant to blend3Connect to your data4Cleanse, filter and transform your data5Join data from multiple sources6Stream data from the data warehouse1 Access to each database orsource you are going to use A rough specification of thedataset you need A clear understanding of theanalysis you want to deliverSeeSee base-processingsolutions/data-blending6 Steps to Faster Data Blending Using Your Data Warehouse

1Identify all of your data sourcesAn ever-increasing volume and variety of data is being stored ina range of locations—local hard drives, data warehouses, and thecloud—making it difficult to aggregate data in one location.Alteryx gives you the ability to access and blend data types from anysource, without size limitations, and all within a single view:Tip: Work with IT to ensure youhave the right credentials toaccess your data sources anddatabases.   Bring in data from spreadsheets, databases, andother common file formats   Access data from corporate data warehouses, thirdparty data providers, and cloud-based storage suchas Amazon S3 or Redshift   Incorporate cloud-based data from Salesforce,Marketo, Google Analytics and more   Connect to social media feeds such as Twitter andFoursquare to include customer sentimentAmazon S3 Download toolTwitter toolSalesforce Input toolMarketo Input toolGoogle Analytics tool6 Steps to Faster Data Blending Using Your Data Warehouse

2Determine the best place towork with your dataWhen working with data stored in data warehouses such as Oracle, SQLServer, Amazon Redshift, Cloudera Impala, Spark and Teradata, you havetwo options:Tip: If you’re not working withlarge datasets, you can easilystream data, or a data table,out of a database with theData Stream Out tool.1. Move an entire dataset from the data warehouse into Alteryx forblending with other data, or2. Push the processing from Alteryx into the data warehouse tosegregate just the data you need.When working with extremely large datasets, you will find significantlyimproved performance with the second option because you’re limitingmovement of vast amounts of data.The intuitive Alteryx interface allows you to quickly connect to yourdata at the source. In addition, the flexibility of Alteryx provides bidirectional functionality, enabling you to easily push data into thedatabase, or pull data out.6 Steps to Faster Data Blending Using Your Data Warehouse

3Connect to your dataThe intuitive Alteryx interface allows you to quickly connect to yourdata regardless of location, size or format. When working with largedatasets, the in-database tools in Alteryx make it easy to connect tothe data you need, or easily pull a subset of that data.   Use the Connect In-DB tool to establish a connection directlyinside the data warehouse.Connect In-DB tool:Connect to a variety of datadirectly in databases such asAWS, Cloudera, Oracle, andSQL ServerSample In-DB tool:Work with a subset of datawithin your database if youdon’t need all of it   If you are working with very large datasets and don’t need allentries, use the Sample In-DB tool to limit the amount of datarecords, optimizing runtime and throughput.   Use the Input tool to connect to other external datasets and usethe Data Stream In tool to push the data into the database.Input toolData Stream In toolPush external datasets into your database to blendand analyze data in one location6 Steps to Faster Data Blending Using Your Data Warehouse

4Cleanse, filter and transformyour dataAlteryx makes it easy to cleanse and filter large volumes ofdata by pushing the data preparation steps to where largedatasets reside.Filter In-DB tool:Filter the data by a specificproduct, brand or serviceSelect In-DB tool:Eliminate unnecessaryfields, or rename key fieldsFormula In-DB tool:Understand the likelihoodof a purchaseSummarize In-DB tool:Summarize the data by keygroups such as “country”   The Filter In-DB tool enables you to query records and returnthose records that meet the specified criteria, such as location,brand, or product SKU, or to filter out null values.   The Select In-DB tool allows you to select the fields that containthe information you need, plus rename and re-sequence fields,modify data types, and add field descriptions.   The Formula In-DB tool, a powerful processor of data, allows youto perform a broad variety of calculations and/or operations tocreate new data fields or update existing fields.   The Summarize In-DB tool can group, sum, count distinct fields,and more.6 Steps to Faster Data Blending Using Your Data Warehouse

5Join data from multiple sourcesAlteryx provides analysts with an intuitive workflow for data blendingthat leads to deeper insights within hours, not the weeks typical oftraditional approaches. This is all done in a single workflow, with noprogramming required.   Use the Data Stream In tool to import external files into your datawarehouse for in-database blending and analysis.   Use the Join In-DB tool to combine datasets based on commonfields or record position. In the joined output, each row containsthe data from both inputs.Input tool:Promotional dataData Stream In tool:Bring your promotional data into yourdatabase for in-database analyticsTip:The Join in-DB and UnionIn-DB tools merge datasetsdifferently. The Join In-DB tool combinesdata streams based oncommon fields. The Union In-DB toolcombines each stream ofdata into a single stream andcan be used when bringing inmultiple data streams.Join In-DB tool:Combine data streamsbased on common fieldsConnect In-DB tool:Connect to customer purchase data table in-database6 Steps to Faster Data Blending Using Your Data Warehouse

6Stream data from the datawarehouseOnce you’ve joined and prepared your data, Alteryx makes it easy tostream it from the data warehouse to feed your downstream analyticworkflow.Once it is in Alteryx it acts just like any other data source, andallows you to perform typical data blending and advanced analyticsfunctions in Alteryx, including predictive analysis, spatial analysis orexporting for visualization in Qlik or Tableau.Tip: Use Alteryx Server toschedule updates to thefiles, ensuring analysts areworking with up-to-datetransactional information. Output data in a wide varietyof flat file and relationaldatabase formats.   Stream data from your data warehouse into Alteryx using theData Stream Out tool.   Limit the replication of datasets by using the Write In-DB tool tocreate or update a table directly in the database for future use.Data Stream Out tool:Use the Data Stream Out tool to feeddownstream analytic processWrite In-DB tool:Use the In-DB stream tool to create orupdate a table directly in the database6 Steps to Faster Data Blending Using Your Data Warehouse

Alteryx Supports Ambit Energy’sCustomer Strategy with Faster DataBlending and Predictive InsightsAmbit Energy uses Alteryx to quickly and easily blend large datasets within adatabase, and build predictive models to improve customer engagement, allwithout IT or data scientist involvement.Deeper InsightsAccessed, cleansed, and appended millions of customer records, productcombinations, and all variable attributes to better understand existing customerprofiles, and predict future behaviors and probability of attrition.Hours vs. WeeksReduced time to prepare customer behavior data and create predictive insightsin hours instead of weeks by pushing data blending processes down into thedatabase and leveraging the predictive tools in Alteryx, resulting in a flexible andnimble analytic team that delivers insights faster.Intuitive WorkflowCreated a collaborative analytic workflow that allowed the entire analytic logicto be easily understood by the line-of-business users, removing the black box ofanalytics and ensuring that the delivered analytics provided actionable insights toimprove customer engagement.“The simple drag-and-dropinterface of Alteryx empowersmy team to perform indatabase data blending andbuild predictive modelswithout requiring them tospend hours coding, enablingus to deliver faster and deeperinsights that impact ourbottom line.”– Lloyd TokerudDirector of Analytics at Ambit Energy6 Steps to Faster Data Blending Using Your Data Warehouse

Why should you use Alteryx fordata blending and analytics?An ever-increasing volume and variety of data is being stored byanalysts in a range of locations—local hard drives, data warehouses,and the cloud—making it difficult to aggregate data in one location.But, it doesn’t have to be.With Alteryx, you can:“Our analysts are doing lesslow-value work and morehigh-value, satisfying work,which keeps them energizedand produces a greater returnon investment of time for thecompany.”– Tom SturgeonAccess and blend data from wherever insight resides:Excel spreadsheets, corporate databases, cloud-basedapplications, and much moreDirector of Business Analytics, IT Business,Schneider Electric USBlend multiple data sources quickly and easily using anintuitive workflow that doesn’t require IT or codingDeliver faster and deeper insights through advancedanalytics such as predictive and spatial analysis6 Steps to Faster Data Blending Using Your Data Warehouse