What is Looker BI?

Looker is a business intelligence and data visualization platform that uses a unique architecture to provide users with powerful and flexible data exploration capabilities.

The architecture is composed of several key components:

• The Looker application, which is a web-based interface that users interact with to explore and analyze data.
• The Looker database, which is a relational database that stores the metadata and data model for the Looker application.
• The Looker back-end, which is a collection of servers and processes that handle the processing and querying of data.
• The Looker data connectors, which allow Looker to connect to various data sources, such as databases, data warehouses, and cloud services, and retrieve data for analysis.
• The Looker caching layer, is used to improve performance by caching frequently accessed data.

This architecture allows Looker to provide a seamless, intuitive, and highly performant data exploration experience to its users.

Benefits and Insights

Why use Looker?

Key differentiators & advantages of Looker BI

• Real-Time Data: Keep up to date on the most recent numbers through real-time updates to dashboards and other visualizations.
• Local Database: Uses an organization’s proprietary database to collect data — no need to rely on parallel data pipelines or data extracts.
• Self-Service BI: Explore data through the self-serve function and then refine the automatically generated visualizations. Create custom dashboards to reflect specific KPIs based on the business’ specific needs.
• Virtual Schema: Create live connections to over 35 SQL databases through a code-based virtual query-time schema. Keeps data visualizations secure and up-to-date.
• Embedded Analytics: Embeddable through SSO, it can deploy into third-party solutions like a CRM or ERP as an embedded iframe or through Javascript. Empowers other software solutions with BI capabilities including reliable data, self-service analytics, actionable insights and intuitive dashboards.

Industry Expertise

Some of Looker’s industry specialties are healthcare, the financial sector, technology, software, food and beverage, personnel management, retail, e-commerce and media.

Why Do Companies Purchase Looker BI?

Companies often experience two main problems with data and analytics: Data bottlenecks, when only a handful of technical staff have access to, or understanding of, the data Everyone else needs to make requests or submit tickets to the team, and wait in a queue for turnaround.

This is tedious and frustrating for all parties Data chaos, when individuals or teams create their own calculations or definitions of the data and can’t agree on what’s actually happening This creates a culture of perceiving data as unreliable and unhelpful This can hinder effective business decision-making and strategizing Looker solves both problems with a combination of self-service data and governance.

Examples :-

A few examples of how companies can deliver data experiences, and shift their focus from traditional reporting tools to modern platforms that integrate data into business operations.

• A media company could bring all their channels’ data together to get a unified view of their customers.
• A technology startup could analyze event and device data next to customer transactions to improve the end-user experience.
• A human resources software company could allow customers to access Looker reports within the product, so customers can understand their staffing needs and trends.
• A financial services company could embed usage data in their CRM, so sales representatives have more context on hand during customer calls.
• A sales engagement platform could build a customer health tracker that notifies the success team when health is low, and even populates emails within their platform so employees only need to hit “Send” to reengage with that customer.
• A gaming company could build a fully automated bot that optimizes their ad spend by automatically adjusting bids based on real-time market performance. An entertainment company could send data collected and structured by Looker to BigQuery ML to execute machine-learning models and make predictions.
• A collaboration software company could use the data collected and structured by Looker to power the backend of their SaaS experience.

Looker BI Developer

A Looker developer is a professional who specializes in developing and customizing the Looker business intelligence and data visualization platform. They are responsible for creating and maintaining data models and visualizations, developing custom plugins and integrations, and implementing custom logic and calculations in Looker.

Looker developers use LookML, Looker’s proprietary modeling language, to create and manage data models in Looker. LookML is a simple, easy-to-learn language that allows developers to define the structure of their data and create the relationships between different data tables.

They will also work closely with data analysts, data engineers and business users to understand their data and analysis needs and design a Looker solution that meets those needs. They will also be responsible for providing training and support to end-users of the platform.

To be a Looker developer, one should have a strong understanding of SQL and database concepts, as well as experience with web development and JavaScript. Knowledge of LookML, Looker’s proprietary modeling language, is also important.

In short, a Looker developer is an expert in creating and customizing Looker projects, and providing support and guidance to users in order to get the most out of Looker’s features and capabilities.

Looker Specialist

A Looker specialist is a professional who has expertise in implementing and using the Looker business intelligence and data visualization platform. They are responsible for configuring and maintaining the Looker application, connecting it to various data sources, and designing and implementing data models and visualizations that allow users to explore and analyze data.

A Looker specialist should have a strong understanding of data warehousing, data modeling, and SQL and experience with business intelligence and data visualization tools along with knowledge of LookML, Looker’s proprietary modeling language, which is used to create and manage data models in Looker.

The specialist will work closely with data analysts, data engineers and business users to understand their data and analysis needs and design a Looker solution that meets those needs. They will also be responsible for providing training and support to end-users of the platform.

In short, a Looker specialist is an expert in creating and managing Looker projects, and providing support and guidance to users in order to get the most out of Looker’s features and capabilities.

Looker Architect

The role of an architect in Looker refers to the person responsible for designing and implementing the overall architecture of a Looker solution. This includes selecting and configuring the appropriate hardware and software components, integrating Looker with other systems and data sources, and designing the data models and visualizations that will be used in the Looker application.

Roles of an Architect

The architect also plays a key role in the deployment, management and scaling of Looker, as well as ensuring that data security and governance standards are met.

The architect may also work closely with other stakeholders such as data analysts, data engineers, and business users to understand their data and analysis needs and design a Looker solution that meets those needs.

The Looker architect should have a strong understanding of data warehousing, data modeling, and SQL and experience with business intelligence and data visualization tools. Knowledge of LookML, Looker’s proprietary modeling language, is also important.

Take a look at the Looker Product, Also Reach out to us here if you are interested to evaluate if Looker is right for you.

About Me:-
My name is Om Prakash Singh – welcome to my blog!
I am a data analytics consultant with a specialty in Looker. With years of experience in the field, I have developed a strong understanding of data analysis and visualization, and have a passion for helping organizations make informed decisions through data-driven insights. My expertise lies in utilizing Looker, a leading data platform, to help businesses turn their data into actionable insights, streamline their data processes, and drive growth. I am dedicated to sharing my knowledge and experience with others through this blog, and I hope you will find the content informative and valuable. Whether you’re a seasoned data professional or just starting out, I believe there is something here for everyone. Thank you for stopping by and I look forward to connecting with you!
Reach out to us here if you are interested to evaluate if Looker is right for you or any other BI solution.