“Smarter Data for a Greener Future”

Tag: Data Efficiency

  • Dashboard data decision making is about asking the right questions

    Effective dashboard data decision making starts not with visuals, but with questions.

    Dashboard data decision making. Learn how to align dashboard metrics and answer shared dashboard questions

    There was a client I worked with where every team was flying their own plane. Product had a dashboard. Marketing had a dashboard. Ops had a dashboard. Each one was built on whatever tool the team liked best: Tableau, Looker, Power BI, even Google Sheets tricked out with charts and colors. And each dashboard was technically doing its job.

    But none of them agreed with each other.

    Why teams struggle to align dashboard metrics

    One team would flag a metric as up. Another would say the same metric was flatlining. People would spend entire meetings arguing about numbers instead of acting on them. Why? Because they weren’t pulling from the same data. Every dashboard had its own flavor of the truth.

    And here’s the kicker: the teams didn’t think the dashboards were broken. They thought the other teams’ dashboards were broken.

    This is what happens when dashboards are built around tools instead of decisions. When every team builds their own version of reality based on what feels easy, or familiar, or cool.

    Asking the right questions for dashboard data decision making

    We had to start from the bottom. Not with a prettier dashboard, but with shared questions. What decisions do we all need to make? Do we actually trust our metrics? What data sources are real, and which ones are stitched together with duct tape and prayer?

    Once we aligned on that, the rest got simpler. We consolidated tools. Built one system everyone could access. Designed the dashboard backwards, from decision to insight to data. Not the other way around.

    Fixing your mindset around dashboard data

    It wasn’t just a visual fix. It was a mindset shift. Dashboards stopped being places to defend your team’s story and started being a shared source of clarity.

    So if your dashboard feels off, maybe it’s not the design. Maybe it’s the questions.

    Start with this: What decision are you actually trying to make?

    Because until you answer that, no dashboard, no matter how pretty, is going to help you.

    For more on structuring dashboards around decision goals, check out this excellent guide on Medium, which walks through defining your dashboard’s purpose, targeting end users, choosing metrics that matter, and refining visuals to support actual decisions.

    Need help aligning your dashboard for real decisions?

    We help teams turn scattered data into shared insight, starting with the right questions. If your dashboards are causing more confusion than clarity, let’s talk. Contact us for a strategy session and start building dashboards that drive action, not arguments.

  • Carbon cloud footprint: The hidden cost of cloud data

    Have you ever thought about your cloud storage’s impact on the environment? Like most people, I never considered the storage of my data or the negative consequences thereof. The cloud was an ephemeral entity that absorbed my data into lightweight nothingness. It turns out I was very wrong. As my tech prowess grew, so did my awareness of the true weight of the cloud. The good news is that it doesn’t take much to reduce your monthly costs and the carbon cloud footprint all at the same time.

    Carbon cloud footprint hidden costs

    How data inefficiency can quickly impact your bottom line and your carbon cloud footprint

    Let me give you a common example I see. You have a company with 100 employees and use Google Drive for file sharing. You deal with a lot of marketing, which means you have video files averaging 200mb. Employees worry about causing harm to the original file, so they make a copy. This copy is only used for small edits or formatting. Now you have the same file on 10 drives. That means the weight of just one file has ballooned to consume 2 gigabytes of space! Play this out over 100s of files, over multiple months, and pretty soon your company has terabytes of redundant storage.

    This small inefficiency might seem trivial at first glance, but consider this:

    Cloud data storage costs

    The Google Cloud platform cost of 1TB of data is $20 per month. As your redundant storage expands, so does the cost. This can translate to 100s or 1000s of dollars every year, unnecessarily.

    Electricity usage and environmental impact of cloud storage

    Cloud storage isn’t environmentally free. Data centers consume vast amounts of energy. One gigabyte of data produces approximately 3 kg of CO₂ and 5-7 kWh of electricity per year. That’s like fully charging your cell phone 600 times! This significant carbon cloud footprint contributes to global warming and environmental degradation. Digital storage isn’t going anywhere. Now is the time to focus on minimizing the impact.

    AI and processing impact on your carbon footprint

    The scanning of entire storage sets with AI is happening daily. Every redundancy adds computational time. The increased processing contributes to energy consumption, CO2 emissions, and monthly costs. With the rise of AI, there’s never been a more important time to have lean data practices.

    To put this even more in perspective, most SMBs store thousands of gigabytes of data without realizing the energy and financial cost. 10 TB of redundant data is equivalent to powering 5 average US homes for a year all while emitting ~20 metric tons of CO2! Increasing your data efficiency means reducing costs and lowering your carbon cloud footprint.

    What can you do about your inefficient cloud storage?

    Most small and medium-sized businesses don’t realize their storage impact. The overlooked redundancies cost you time and resources. They can even go against your core values. These unnoticed issues can hinder growth, productivity, and competitiveness in the market.

    Evergreen Analytics Partners offers solutions and insights geared toward SMBs. Our bespoke systems focus on your objectives and goals. We want to help you cut expenses, use less electricity, and reduce your carbon footprint. Our methods are realistic, immediate, actionable, and designed for efficiency.

    More ways to reduce your cloud carbon footprint

    For a deeper look at practical enterprise strategies, this guide from TechAhead outlines actionable ways to cut cloud-related emissions, ranging from workload optimization to architecture redesign.

    Additionally, our ground-breaking technology, Petrichor, is in its second beta phase. Designed to identify and manage data inefficiencies, it’s one way we can combat the rise of heavy data. We’re looking for SMBs that want to be proactive with their storage. While in beta, you can try this novel software for free. Early users can impact Petrichor’s development and gain from its potent insights.

    Ready to improve your data efficiency?

    Evergreen Analytics Partners is here to assist SMBs. We will be your partner in sustainability initiatives. At the same time, we can cut expenses and streamline your data management procedures. Arrange your customized data audit or find out more about our consulting services. Get in touch with us today.

    Your data doesn’t have to cost the Earth, or your bottom line.