Grafana is a versatile open-source platform used for monitoring and visualizing data, with various transformation functions allowing users to manipulate and present data effectively before visualization. The author, an experienced Grafana user and engineering director at Grafana Labs, highlights five key transformations: "Group by" for creating bar charts, "Organize fields by name" for renaming, hiding, and reordering columns, "Filter data by value" for refining data with conditions, "Sort by" for arranging data in a desired order, and "Partition by values" for splitting datasets into multiple series. Additionally, Grafana now includes a feature for calculating any percentile, enhancing data analysis capabilities. The platform supports over 30 transformation functions, offering expansive customization for data visualization and analysis. Grafana Cloud provides an accessible entry point with a free tier for users to explore its features.