If you are exploring the world of data visualization and wondering whether Looker is the right tool for your business, this blog can help you decide if it is the right fit. In this blog, we will dive into the benefits of Looker and its key features.
What is Looker?
Looker is a business intelligence solution and big data analytics platform that helps you explore, analyze, and share real-time business analytics easily. The Looker platform helps your data make an impression with flexible, interactive, and dynamic dashboards.
Leverage the power of the Looker Platform by connecting to any SQL database directly and tailor your data to derive insights that power better decisions.
Why Choose Looker?
- Browser based
Looker is completely browser based, eliminating the need for a desktop application. - Integrated multiload platform
Connect, analyze, and visualize data across Google Cloud, Azure, AWS, on-premises databases, or SaaS applications with equal ease and with the reliability and trust of Google Cloud. - Common data model
Operationalize BI for everyone with a single source of truth (modelled using LookML), thereby eliminating multiple versions of the same metric across the organization, allowing for true self-service capabilities. - Embedded Analytics
Looker makes it easy to embed dashboards, visuals, and interactive analytics to any webpage or portal. Robust APIs, SDKs, and a library of popular integrations put you in control. - Augmented analytics
Augmented BI from Looker offers leading-edge artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced analytics capabilities built into the Google Cloud Platform. - Tailored data applications
Customized visuals, collaborative dashboards, single source of truth, pricing model based on a number of factors including- total users, types of users, database connections, and scale of deployment; plus, top-of-the-line customer support.
Looks & Dashboards
Looks: Looks are the single visualizations that you can create in the explore section of Looker and use them to understand and analyse your data. You can share these Looks and reuse them in multiple other dashboard implementations.
Dashboards: Dashboards allow you to place multiple tables or graphs or looks on one page so that you can get a quick view of the related content. You can also make dashboards interactive so that users can filter them down to the specific data they are interested in.
You can choose from a library for everything from sunbursts to stopwatches. Also, build your own visualization and add it to your Looker workflow.
Key Features
- Develop & Collaborate
Deployment processes and version control are built in, and you can duplicate and/or modify Looks developed by others. These Looks can also be reused across Dashboards. Share the dashboards easily, using a URL or export directly to Google Drive, Dropbox, and S3. You can also publish reports as PDFs and schedule email delivery of dashboards, visualizations, or their underlying data in a flat file. - Data governance
Looker is not solely a reporting and dashboarding tool. Before you can start developing visualizations, you must first define a semantic model using Looker’s native LookML scripting, which will translate the business definitions into SQL. This is essential to ensure a single source of truth and avoid a scenario where each business unit defines a metric differently, all while using the same underlying data. Although it might require more work upfront, you will avoid conflict of data. - Security
Looker supports two-factor authentication, integrates with LDAP, and SSO (supporting SAML, OneLogin, and Google Apps). Looker’s access controls provide three levels of data governance:- Model level—limits the models users have access to, which also controls database connections.
- Group level—limits the content users have access to.
- Role level—sets specific feature functionality and data an individual has access to.
- Embedded & Augmented Analytics
Design custom user experiences and build it with an API, use machine learning to drive real-time predictions and recommendations, integrate your app ecosystem with third-party services to maintain control of your data through the analytics power of Looker.
Below are some of the key reporting features available, while creating visualizations in Looker.
Also, Looker offers pricing customized to suit your business needs, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
Take a look at the Looker Roadmap, Visual BI is a registered consulting partner with Looker. Reach out to us here if you are interested to evaluate if Looker is right for you.
Our Innovation Lab fulfills all Enterprise needs by offering a ready infrastructure with access to cutting-edge innovations from Looker and other industry-leading technology. Talk to our BI experts to know more.
