Business pukes like me need data so we can run analytics and form some kind of strategic action steps based on what we find. Of course, we have no effing clue how to actually get all that data because it's inside of databases that we don't know how to access. That's the problem that Looker solves. Right now, someone like me would have to go to IT for them to pull some data from our DBs because they're the only ones with SQL knowledge in the whole company. IT gets pissed because it's a menial task that takes them away from the true purpose of their day (server wiring, or something...JK, but seriously) that, really, I should be able to do myself. Instead of the whole thing taking 5 minutes, because I had to write up a spec sheet, walk over to IT, wait on IT to fulfill my request, get the data back, realize there was a mistake or that something was left out, and have to repeat the process, a simple query could take a ton of time.
Of course, as with all crushes, there's that one issue - kinda weird teeth, eyes that are too close, etc. After talking this over with people who analyze tons of data for a living, it came to my attention that human error messes up the cleanliness of the data. So, even though I can pull all the data, there might be problems with the way in which it was entered. Those problems, like a user entering their name wrong, can be quite painful. However, given that we operate in a web setting with radio buttons, scroll lists, and other pre-populated data fields, those problems can be limited.
In any case, I think Looker is a B-E-A-S-T M-O-D-E improvement in process. Should help a lot of people discover a lot more about their companies and build out smarter strategy. The next level is the actual analytical layer - a lot of people have no idea for stats and don't get how to derive insights from the data even thought their CVs might say they do because they have to. Automating that stuff would be crazy, and I'd love to be a part of it.
