Self-Service Data Analytics and Governance for Managers

CHAPTER 6Self-Service Data Analytics Capabilities in Action with Alteryx

In each of the previous chapters, we have referenced self-service data analytics tools and touted their benefits at every turn. We have mentioned the capabilities they offer to better understand past events and their drivers, to uncover relationships between attributes, and to structure manual processing steps into automated, stable, auditable, and repeatable workflows. In contrast to core systems development, which requires annual investment planning, prioritization, and the involvement of the oversubscribed IT function, process owners can circumvent the backlog, roll up their sleeves, and accomplish much the same end results, armed only with detailed process knowledge and a willingness to embrace the tools.

Alteryx has emerged as a leading analytics platform, which is becoming a must-have for finance, accounting, and operations professionals who seek to accelerate digital transformation and to automate routine processes with analytic process automation (APA). In areas of the organization where spreadsheet processing outside of systems is the norm, Alteryx offers flexible low-code/no-code capabilities to interrogate vast datasets to answer business questions and unlock value from data. Perhaps just as important to managers in medium- to large-size organizations are the features that can be enlisted to replace manual processing steps as done today in spreadsheets in transparent, documented, and auditable ...