[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on” da_disable_devices=”off|off|off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
Carly Fiorina once said, \u201cThe goal is to transform data into information, and information into insight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Explanation: the real power of data is how it\u2019s used to create meaningful information that leads to practical actions and decisions. And one of the best ways to achieve this is to use data aggregation.<\/p>\n
What is data aggregation, and what tools should you use to aggregate data?<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
Key takeaways:<\/b><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n Data aggregation is the process of collecting and combining data from multiple sources to create a summary or a more comprehensive dataset.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n Let\u2019s use a simple example to understand how data aggregation works.<\/p>\n Imagine you want to know the number of apples 100 people in your neighborhood have. You can go to each person\u2019s house and count all the apples one by one. But this is not productive; you still have 99 people to visit.<\/p>\n What\u2019s the best solution?<\/p>\n You ask each person to count their apples alone (before you visit them) and give you the total<\/i> number. Then, you add up all those totals to get one big number that represents all the apples in the entire neighborhood.<\/p>\n Data aggregation works the same way. It gathers information from many websites, databases, or other data sources and then combines it into a single report or dataset. Businesses, researchers, or anyone else can analyze this report and make important decisions.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_id=”data-aggregation-vs-data-mining” _builder_version=”4.22.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n Data aggregation and data mining are often confused with one another. However, there is a distinct difference between the two. Data aggregation involves collecting data from multiple sources and combining it into a single dataset, while data mining refers to the process of analyzing large datasets to identify patterns or correlations. Therefore, data aggregation is the first step in data mining \u2014 the collected data must first be aggregated before it can be mined for insights.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n In a company, different departments like sales, marketing, and customer service often work in their own silos. Each of them collects data relevant to their specific operations.<\/p>\n While each department generates important data, analyzing these data sets separately can be difficult. It\u2019s also difficult to get a complete picture of the business’s overall health.<\/p>\n This is where data aggregation comes in. When the company combines this data, they can see the number of products sold, how marketing helped them sell these products, and what customers think about the products.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n Companies do market research to understand what customers want and how they behave and find new trends. To do this, they gather information from many places. This information can include<\/p>\n However, chances are the company will have one customer survey report, competitor report, sales report, and so on. Just imagine the nightmare trying to analyze each of them. If you aggregate the data, you\u2019ll create one single report that combines this information.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n Hospitals and clinics collect patient data from electronic health records, lab tests, and imaging reports. With data<\/a> aggregation, they can get a view of a patient\u2019s health and better diagnose and treat patients.<\/p>\n It also helps in research, like tracking the spread of diseases or the effectiveness of treatments.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n Companies often collect data from many departments, such as sales, marketing, and customer service. When they aggregate this data, they can know the overall business performance.<\/p>\n For example, combining sales data from different regions helps a company understand which areas are performing best and where improvements are needed.<\/p>\n If those figures already sit in one Excel workbook, you can aggregate data in Excel<\/a> with the AGGREGATE function or Power Query.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.22.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n Here are a few more data aggregation examples from everyday business:<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.22.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n Most data aggregation methods come down to a handful of operations that turn many rows into one summary value:<\/p>\n In a spreadsheet, these are the SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, MIN, and MAX functions, with a pivot table or the QUERY function to group the rows. In a database, they’re the aggregate functions you use with GROUP BY in SQL.<\/p>\n Whichever method you use, the process usually has three steps:<\/p>\n\n
What is data aggregation?<\/b><\/h2>\n
How does data aggregation work?<\/b><\/h3>\n
Data aggregation vs. data mining<\/h2>\n
4 use cases of data aggregation<\/b><\/h2>\n
1. Business analytics<\/b><\/h3>\n
\n
2. Market research<\/b><\/h3>\n
\n
3. Healthcare<\/b><\/h3>\n
4. Financial reporting<\/b><\/h3>\n
Examples of data aggregation<\/h2>\n
\n
Data aggregation methods<\/h2>\n
\n
The data aggregation process<\/h3>\n
\n