Perform powerful transformations with your YouPrep

For years, data preparation was the missing link of business analytics. 

Getting raw data ready for analytics included complex operations that only experts could manage. This meant business users were completely dependent on said experts: they were unable to simply use the data they needed in order to draw important conclusions and take action. This dependency created bottlenecks and kept businesses from becoming completely data driven. It slowed down the process of business analytics and dissuaded users from turning to data whenever they needed. 

Here at Toucan, we know that an end-to-end business analytics platform should include a data preparation feature. Our goal is making business users completely independent when it comes to their data. This is exactly why we’ve packed the YouPrep feature in our Toucan 2.0 platform.  Let us walk you through its main functionalities.

No-code data preparation 

Let’s talk about the biggest gatekeeping factor in the world of tech: the ability to code. Non-expert users who haven’t learnt that precious skill often find themselves left out of the analytics process. And it’s not enough to have learned the basics of HTML: if you don’t master Ruby, Python, or SQL you’re helpless when it comes to querying and analyzing data. This means business executives and managers who are experts in their fields are unable to leverage the power of data to take action. With YouPrep, this ends today. 

We’ve made the most common data-prep operations available with no code: it’s easier than ever to simply select the rows and columns you want to work on and apply some of the most common functions: filter, aggregate, compute, rank… Oops! Something went wrong? No problem! Our users are not data analysts and making small mistakes is normal when you explore your data. This is why we’ve included an easy “rollback” function allowing you to undo whatever operations you’ve just requested. 

It’s about time data prep was made available to non-technical users!

Blend data from different sources

One of the most exhilarating phenomena in the world of analytics today is the ability to access data from widely different data sources: historical stored data, in-real-time streaming data… The diversity alone is interesting enough, but the magic really happens when you start mixing these various types of data together: only by cross-analyzing the data can you unveil important trends that would’ve otherwise gone unnoticed and get a full picture of your business. The problem is: joining data is often complex, so non-technical users assume they can’t do it. They miss out on important conclusions that can help make them more efficient. 

We’ve called our data preparation YouPrep because “you” can do it yourself (and so can anyone, even non-experts).  The U also stands for Universal: we promise you an instant and hurdle-free connection to any and all data sources, and to allow you to work with this data and prepare it no matter the type, whether it comes from static Excel sheets or from the cloud. You’ll be able to join different types of data together, whether stored or streaming. 

Make transformations on the fly

On the topic of live data, it’s increasingly important to be able to query and work with live data without having to stock them. A common problem with analytics solutions is that you are forced to stock data before you can treat it. This is not the case with YouPrep: it allows you to work on streaming data on the fly, as if it was stocked. 

And that’s not all: the live connectivity in Toucan is also bidirectional, allowing writeback. You can directly make changes to the original data from Toucan. But worry not: the changes you apply through Toucan are “filters” that can be added to the original data, and it’s easy to rollback when needed.

Head here for more information about YouPrep.