Business intelligence software provider Arcadia Data Inc. is making it easier to query data sets with a new Google-like search tool released today that provides quick insights in the form of easy-to-consume data visualizations.

Arcadia Data’s business intelligence platform works directly on unstructured and semistructured data that’s stored in massive “data lakes,” which are centralized repositories of data stored in their original format.

The platform provides easily digestible insights for business workers, but the problem it’s now trying to address is how to get to those insights in the first place. Apparently, querying data is not nearly as easy as it seems, since users have to specify which data set to be queried and then choose explicit fields to analyze in order to get their answers. Of course, this can be tricky for anyone who isn’t well-versed in how databases store their information.

Arcadia Data’s new search feature means users no longer need to worry about such things. Instead, they can just enter a query using natural language and get the answers they need via an extensive set of data visualizations delivered through their web browser. So, for example, a user can just type in questions such as “What are sales by state in 2018 compared to 2017?” or “Show me the trend in storage device failure rates,” and the system will provide the answers they need.

Additional features include guided questions, similar to the way Google LLC’s search engine prompts users with suggestions when they begin to type a query. Arcadia Data also provides “ranked answers” by scoring questions against all data sets in the system, listing the results according to which it thinks are most relevant.

“We’ve all grown accustomed to the simplicity and power of internet searches,” said Priyank Patel, Arcadia Data’s chief product officer and cofounder. “Now, Arcadia Enterprise gives the capability of search to organizations tackling big data analytics and empowers their users with access to all of their data in a consumer-friendly, search-based fashion.”

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