What is Data aggregation? Data is one of the essential commodities for businesses and organizations today. However, its value comes from the way we use that information, and raw data is not always the best way to make the most of that information. Instead, by bringing data together in a more accessible form more suited to analysis, and that summarizing of your data is known as data aggregation. With big data being a necessary approach for so many businesses today, you may find yourself dealing with almost endless amounts of raw data, some of it can be extremely complex too. By distilling this into more easily digestible summaries and collections, you can make better use of the data, extracting the true value of the resource. What Does Data Aggregation Mean? We know what data aggregation does now, but what does it mean? It is easier to understand if we look at how it is done. There are four steps involved in data aggregation, as follows: Data Collection — The initial collection of data is usually from multiple sources, whether that is various CRM reports, or maybe from sensors, APIs, databases and so on. Data Cleaning — Your first action to distill this data into a more usable form is to get rid of any errors, inconsistences, redundancies and duplications, so that the data you are working with is as accurate as possible. Data Integration — This is where you take data from multiple sources and bring them together, aligning the data to form a single, coherent set of data for you to use. Data Presentation — This collected data is now formatted and presented in a clear, easily digested format as aggregated data, ready for you to use. The Importance of Aggregated Data in Data Analytics Businesses today face extensive competition in any industry, and finding an advantage is key to success. Being able to quickly and accurately identify patterns, trends and insights in markets, customers and any other aspect of your business is essential if you want to stay ahead of the competition. It is aggregated data that provides the most effective resource for data analysis today, helping to identify insights that let you make informed choices about operations, growth and market opportunities. For instance, if you were running a fleet management business, then insight into vehicle data such as fuel consumption, mileage, maintenance schedules, and vehicle performance across all vehicles in the fleet will help you find an advantage. This pool of aggregated data can support route optimization, maintenance scheduling and driver instruction for improved fuel efficiency and safety, improving overall fleet management. Yet look at the same data in isolation, with each type of data separate, and would be much more difficult to come to the same conclusions. That is the value of data aggregation. Learn more about how AutoPi transform raw data into actionable insights. Conclusion: Your Next Step in Data Aggregation Data Aggregation is, as we can see, an essential solution for data use today, and having the skills to implement data aggregation can be extremely valuable in our data-dominated world. You can see how it works in more detail in AutoPi's guide on how to export data from API. This comprehensive guide will provide you with step-by-step instructions to harness the power of APIs in data aggregation. Data aggregation is not just data collection, it is refining collected data into a tool that you can use to improve your business.