Google aims at Excel with new Big Data Features

Summary

Google Data Studio has enhanced its capabilities to handle big data, now supporting up to 50,000 rows in tables and offering new connectors, which positions it as a strong alternative to popular BI tools and Excel for data analysis.

Abstract

Google has significantly updated Data Studio, its Self Service BI tool, to better compete with Microsoft Power BI and other BI solutions. The tool now supports up to 100 dimensions and metrics, a substantial increase from its previous limit, and can display up to 50,000 rows in tables, a tenfold increase from the previous 5,000-row limit. These enhancements, along with the ability to scroll horizontally, make Data Studio more capable of handling large datasets and legacy reporting tools. The introduction of new connectors and the ability to perform more data source joins further expand Data Studio's utility. These improvements are particularly relevant for professionals in finance, controlling, and internal audit who are accustomed to working with extensive Excel spreadsheets. The new features not only make Data Studio a viable alternative to Excel and other BI tools but also offer potential cost savings and improved data security for organizations by reducing the need for multiple reporting solutions and data transfers.

Opinions

The author views the previous 5,000-row limit in Data Studio tables as a significant drawback that was often criticized by professionals who work with large Excel datasets.
The author believes that the new capabilities of Data Studio, including the increased number of rows and columns that can be displayed, position it as a relatively good alternative to more established BI tools such as MS Power BI, Qlik, and even Excel.
The author suggests that the enhancements to Data Studio could lead to a reduction in the use of Excel for data analysis, particularly among those in controlling departments who have been resistant to digitalization and self-service BI tools.
The author implies that CIOs, CDOs, and CISOs will be pleased with the updates, as they can lead to cost savings and improved data quality and security by consolidating reporting solutions within the Google Stack.
The author indicates that the previous limitations of Data Studio were a barrier to its adoption in place of legacy reporting tools, but the new features may change this perception.

How to work with more Data Rows in Google Data Studio

Not long ago, I wrote about how Google attacks Power BI with new features in their Self Service BI tool Data Studio — you can find it here. It was one of my most clicked articles, so it seems to be an interesting topic among many data enthusiasts.

Connect Data Studio to GCP, AWS and many other Platforms and Databases— Image by Author

After that, Google has updated Data Studio during the last months, especially with new other connectors. Also, another great news was that Data Studio can now display up to 100 dimensions and metrics, before that it was significantly less. This makes Data Studio much more powerful for me. Find the news here.

Also it was from now on possible to scroll horizontal. Thus, even large data sets can now be displayed in Data Studio. This could ensure that companies can map even more legacy reporting tools in Data Studio.

Scrolling Feature in Data Studio — Image by Author

And now to the actually “Big News”: You can now display up to 50,000 rows in tables in your reports. Previously, tables could display a maximum of 5,000 rows [1].

In my career, this was in fact often an argument against Google Data Studio and often one heard from colleagues in areas such as internal audit, controlling or finance that this was quite weak, that only so little data could be displayed at once. You have to know that people from these areas usually work with huge Excel spreadsheets. And in my eyes, Excel is often a reason why digitalization offensives or self-service BI tools have not quite reached the Excel nerds in Controlling (no offense intended — there are also good reasons).

But now with the new capabilities to display more data (more rows and columns), the many new connectors and some other important features, such as the possibility of more joins to data sources, Data Studio can be a relatively good alternative to more popular BI tools such as MS Power BI, Qlik or even Excel, in my opinion.

Google Data Analytics Tools — Source: ConceptDraw [2]

CIOs, CDOs and CISOs will be equally happy, because now costs could be saved, because the product range and the associated administration is reduced. Companies can replace existing reporting solutions and tools with a Google Stack, which often improves interfaces and data quality. Also, data may no longer have to be transferred to other platforms, which means fewer points of attack. In addition, old dashboards and reporting solutions that were not considered replaceable and were still created in Excel can now be realized with Data Studio.

Google aims at Excel with new Big Data Features

How to work with more Data Rows in Google Data Studio

Sources and Further Readings