Are pie-charts evil or just misunderstood ?

OK - I admit it: when I see a pie-chart in business analytics, my blood pressure rises and, yes, I am apt to tell the analyst exactly what I think of the monstrous, hard to read, waste of space and ink they created.

I am most definitely NOT the first person to suggest that pie-charts are over used and close to useless.  Google 'Pie Charts are Evil' and see for yourself.  This is an area where career analysts tend to agree, yet, in practice, pie-charts are very, very heavily (ab)used.  In the hope that I can influence even a handful of people to create fewer of these eyesores I'm adding my voice to the argument.

Analytic tools "so easy a 10 year-old can use it"


If you search the web you'll find lots of analytic tools to support your business: tools to help with forecasting, inventory optimization, risk analysis, simulation for production lines and warehouses, production scheduling, supply-chain network design, vehicle loading, price-sensitivity modeling and planogram building - and that is very, very far from being an exhaustive list.

Some of these tools are bought as a service that includes expertise to prepare your data, do the modeling work for you and configure the system to meet your needs. These tools will be much more expensive than the 'roll your own' variety and the more frequently that expertise is required, the more you will pay.