The buzz around the watercooler is how data is the next 'new thing'. Data itself is not new, it is the advances in business intelligence technology and how data is being used to drive performance within businesses.

Data analytics is seen as the technical process of creating a different – or additional - lens to see the world through. The output should be more insightful information that can easily be communicated within and outside the business.

Speaking at a CA Catalyst Webinar on Data Analytics and Data Visualisation for Insights, Impact and Growth, Lance Rubin, a financial modelling expert with Model Citizn, said there is a lot of data created within businesses and a lot of information available, but people still don't understand the unit economics around items such as which products are profitable or the lifetime value of a customer.

Extracting data is the easy part of the equation, understanding it and creating value from the information is challenging. "To really understand what is happening within a business is hard when there is a lot of data," he said.

The key is translating the data to make it meaningful. Technology will reveal high level data around performance, and profit, revenue and gross margin, but the insights that will transform a business requires deeper digging.

Want to learn more about how data analytics and visualisation can drive business performance, best practices and hear case studies of real-life solutions? Download the webinar now.