Spotlight on Omni
Issue #2 of Next Gen BI
First posted 13 Feb 2024
In this edition of Next Gen BI, we turn our spotlight on Omni, crafted by the brilliant minds formerly of Looker and Stitch. My affection for Omni is profound, akin to discovering a new passion. Omni masterfully marries the comfort and versatility of spreadsheet analysis, reminiscent of Excel, with the advanced capabilities of a modern semantic layer, like LookML, all wrapped in a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface. Whilst retaining its place as a solution that works with what some have coined “the modern data stack”.
This narrative doesn’t delve into Omni's functionalities item by item or stack it against its competitors technically. Rather, I encourage you to explore their engineering through their weekly demos available online here. In this post, you'll gain insight into their distinctive approach to Business Intelligence (BI), a strategy so novel it sets them apart in a crowded marketplace. This is particularly evident in their method of delivering insights directly to those who need them most, thereby making a significant impact on the bottom line. For those who prefer visual content, a video walk-through of Omni can be found at the bottom of this post.
Bridging the gap for individuals actioning insights without requiring them to be data wizards
Reflecting on my initial encounter with Omni, when it was a mere six months into its journey, I admit to being skeptical. My early impressions mistakenly pigeonholed it as another tool targeting data professionals, overlooking the end user's needs. Fast forward to 2024, and I stand corrected, impressed by Omni’s solution to a pervasive challenge in data utilization: bridging the gap for individuals actioning insights without requiring them to be data wizards.
Omni introduces users to a workbook environment seamlessly integrated with a shared semantic model, enabling queries without SQL expertise or an understanding of data relationships. Sounds like most other modern BI tooling. This is where Omni diverges, offering end users the autonomy to model data within this environment using either spreadsheet formulas or SQL. This functionality remains within the workbook, ensuring the shared model's integrity, yet offers a pathway for "promotion" should the insights prove beneficial on a broader scale. This approach democratizes data, reducing barriers for end users and enabling a collaborative refinement of the semantic model.
This approach democratizes data, reducing barriers for end users and enabling a collaborative refinement of the semantic model
The concept of data democratization is no longer aspirational but achievable, blurring the lines between analytics professionals and those whose roles are informed by data insights.
Introducing spreadsheet formulas to solve "what-if" scenarios alongside the semantic model, enables users to customize data analyses to their unique requirements. You don’t need to model data to run ad hoc analysis, but you can promote concepts to the semantic model if you want to keep them.
It's a revelation that spreadsheets, a tool ubiquitous and universally understood, remain central even as we venture into the realm of native cloud tooling. This understanding underscores the fact that the true measure of a data professional’s success is not diminished when analyses migrate from dashboards to a spreadsheet. It is, instead, a testament to the diverse ways insights can be sought and the enduring comfort found in familiar workflows.
The genius of Omni lies in its simplicity—a simplicity that belies the complexity of its implementation. By integrating spreadsheet-like calculations and pivots with a semantic model, within a drag-and-drop analytics interface, you’d be forgiven if you thought this was counterintuitive. The idea is so simple it makes you wonder why no one has succeeded in this before. That’s because in practice it's very hard to deliver in a product.
For a visual demonstration of how Omni facilitates this workflow, see the video at the bottom of this post:
Omni doesn't seek to rewrite the BI script but to refine it
Omni stands as a testament to the evolving landscape of BI, addressing key factors of “the BI Holy Grail” such as individual relevance, return on investment, and adaptability to business changes—elements crucial for substantive bottom-line impact. Beyond workflow enhancements, Omni's performance is bolstered by a requerying engine (Powered by DuckDB), optimizing data cube operations while sparing warehouse compute resources and expediting query responses.
Critics questioning Omni's distinctiveness in a sea of BI tools miss the broader vision. Similar skepticism greeted Figma upon its debut against Adobe XD; however, Figma's nuanced improvements captured the market's heart. Omni doesn't seek to rewrite the BI script but to refine it, addressing longstanding workflow inefficiencies to markedly enhance user experience.
Viewing Omni as an evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, product captures its essence. Its rapid deployment capabilities, solid foundational architecture, and responsiveness to customer feedback underscore its potential for future innovation and customer-centric development. The team's agility, evidenced by feature releases during customer trials, speaks volumes about their commitment to delivering value.
Omni’s foray into leveraging generative AI for formula creation within its interface is a subtle yet significant nod towards embracing GenAI enhancing user experience without upending established workflows.
Which will bring me to the next post in this series, a company which has thrown out the traditional drag and drop interface and instead has gone for a language-based solution, as they put it “Language based solution forces clarity”. A more “revolutionary” approach over “evolutionary” I have contacted such teams already successfully selling their product this way which I intend to cover, all with different approaches. Be sure to subscribe to see.
For those intrigued by Omni's potential see their website here, or for a more personal exchange, feel free to contact me directly via the links below.
Contact me or Add me on LinkedIn
What is Omni video walkthrough
The Omni Teams own demo can be found here
This article is my own thoughts, this is not a paid advertisement.