How to Build a Data App

The power of Data Apps to transform a business’ operations cannot be understated. Our previous article highlighted various use cases for Data Applications, including improving logistics, personalizing marketing efforts, and even utilizing data to improve a company’s financial health. 

However, companies must examine all information within their IT systems to gain the most from Data Apps and devise a tailored solution to fit their needs. This isn’t easy if you don’t have access to talented app developers who can code you a Data App solution from scratch.  

But nowadays, with the rise of low/no-code tools, companies with no experienced developers on-hand can more easily configure their own Data App solutions.  

In this article, we will explain how businesses can use intuitive tools like Astrato to harness the power of Big Data and accelerate their company’s growth trajectory. 

What are the use cases of a Data App? 

The use cases for Data Apps are so vast and varied that we couldn’t cover every solution known to Business Intelligence (BI) for this article. However, we can run through three more Data Application use cases here:  

Use case #1 – Anomaly detection 

Financial services companies can use Data Applications to detect fraudulent activity and identify statistical anomalies within a company or customers’ accounts. Anomaly detection (and, by extension, Data Application) prevents cyber attacks like DDOS.

Use case #2 – Predictive analytics 

With predictive analytics tools and machine learning (ML), Data Apps can examine large data sets and forecast key user behaviors, such as consumer demand for certain products and services. 

Use case #3: A driverless future 

Autonomous vehicles use a combination of AI and Data Applications to guide users from A to B safely. For example, Data Apps can be used to identify road patterns, signs, hazards, etc., and apply their learnings to help driverless vehicles operate safely. 

The above use cases (and more) operate from Cloud-native platforms. This is because the data sets they utilize are ever-growing and incorporate numerous data points. 

Therefore, one of the first issues companies should keep in mind before experimenting with Data App building is that you need a platform that can grow with your data sources.

Astrato, for instance, is entirely Cloud-native, which offers a safer, faster, and more secure solution for creating Data Applications, making it the ideal fit for brands that want to boost their Data App building capabilities. Astrato interacts with Cloud Data sources, so you won’t need to retrofit your solutions as your company migrates its IT infrastructure to the Cloud.

How do you build a Data App? 

The ins and outs of building a Data App start with a conversation between stakeholders on resourcing the best tools for the job. That is to say, would it work better for your company to develop a tailored app in-house, or is there an out-of-the-box solution on the market that you can configure to suit your needs?  

In most cases, seeking an out-of-the-box solution will be more cost-effective. Add to this, many low/no-code tools for building Data Apps will automatically update their tools’ capabilities as technology advances. So, you can contact the low/no-code solutions support team if you need more advice on refining or extending the data storage capacity of your application.  

Tips for building Data Apps effectively

Define your Data App’s goal

There are four main goals to keep in mind with any Data App project. These include:

Creating a Data App product: In this instance, the goal of building a Data Application is to provide a standalone product that people can use to carry out specific tasks

Utilizing Data Apps to improve an existing product: Similar to creating a Data App as a standalone product, companies can build a Data App to integrate with a current product to enhance its capabilities 

Offering the data itself as a product: You can develop a Data App that can collate a multitude of sources and share the information with interested parties as a product. For example, lead generation services can create Data Apps to share relevant customer information with third parties for a set fee.

Develop a Data App to improve operational efficiency: Data Apps can be used exclusively as an internal tool to maximize operational efficiency 

Define your Data App rules and user permission 

Once you have developed your project’s purpose, it’s time to define how your Data App will gather, validate, and identify errors within your data sets. 

At this stage, ensure that you have set out a clearly defined data governance policy and set up a privacy preference center on your website. 

Design to test and perfect over time 

Your Data App should be designed so development teams can alter your solutions as time passes. 

The process will involve identifying the data points required and how they should be processed to get you your end result. 

Companies with little experience in app building can use process mining tools to gain insights from your data and traffic sources and simulate processes to determine the most effective course of action.

In addition, consider how your app will look and function from an everyday user’s perspective. Create an attractive Data App dashboard that provides an optimal user experience. Test and refine your solution based on feedback until you create an easy-to-use and error-free Data App solution.  

What tools are available to build a Data App?

Astrato is a robust BI platform that can offer a definitive solution for businesses that want to create intuitive Data Applications in the Cloud. 

It can help companies become data-driven by providing a no-code framework that enables users to more easily build powerful and interactive Data Apps.

Astrato can perform live queries directly within your data Cloud without relocating or separating your data into silos. Its user-friendly interface is designed to help your teams develop unique Data Applications quickly and easily without any coding experience.

We pride ourselves on listening to customer feedback to help develop our tool’s functionalities for creating real-time decision engines, workflow management, and user-based data customizations to help your business thrive. 

So, book a demo with us today if you want to learn more about how Astrato can help your business.