Applied Data Mining for Forecasting Using SAS

Delve into your data for the key to success Data mining is quickly becoming integral to creating value and business momentum. The ability to detect unseen patterns hidden in the numbers exhaustively generated by day-to-day operations allows savvy decision-makers to exploit every tool at their disposal in the pursuit of better business. By creating models and testing whether patterns hold up, it is possible to discover new intelligence that could change your business's entire paradigm for a more successful outcome. Data Mining for Dummies shows you why it doesn't take a data scientist to gain this advantage, and empowers average business people to start shaping a process relevant to their business's needs. In this book, you'll learn the hows and whys of mining to the depths of your data, and how to make the case for heavier investment into data mining capabilities. The book explains the details of the knowledge discovery process including: Model creation, validity testing, and interpretation Effective communication of findings Available tools, both paid and open-source Data selection, transformation, and evaluation Data Mining for Dummies takes you step-by-step through a real-world data-mining project using open-source tools that allow you to get immediate hands-on experience working with large amounts of data. You'll gain the confidence you need to start making data mining practices a routine part of your successful business. If you're serious about doing everything you can to push your company to the top, Data Mining for Dummies is your ticket to effective data mining.

The leading introductory book on data mining, fully updated and revised! When Berry and Linoff wrote the first edition of Data Mining Techniques in the late 1990s, data mining was just starting to move out of the lab and into the office and has since grown to become an indispensable tool of modern business. This new edition—more than 50% new and revised— is a significant update from the previous one, and shows you how to harness the newest data mining methods and techniques to solve common business problems. The duo of unparalleled authors share invaluable advice for improving response rates to direct marketing campaigns, identifying new customer segments, and estimating credit risk. In addition, they cover more advanced topics such as preparing data for analysis and creating the necessary infrastructure for data mining at your company. Features significant updates since the previous edition and updates you on best practices for using data mining methods and techniques for solving common business problems Covers a new data mining technique in every chapter along with clear, concise explanations on how to apply each technique immediately Touches on core data mining techniques, including decision trees, neural networks, collaborative filtering, association rules, link analysis, survival analysis, and more Provides best practices for performing data mining using simple tools such as Excel Data Mining Techniques, Third Edition covers a new data mining technique with each successive chapter and then demonstrates how you can apply that technique for improved marketing, sales, and customer support to get immediate results.

Packed with more than forty percent new and updated material, this edition shows business managers, marketing analysts, and data mining specialists how to harness fundamental data mining methods and techniques to solve common types of business problems Each chapter covers a new data mining technique, and then shows readers how to apply the technique for improved marketing, sales, and customer support The authors build on their reputation for concise, clear, and practical explanations of complex concepts, making this book the perfect introduction to data mining More advanced chapters cover such topics as how to prepare data for analysis and how to create the necessary infrastructure for data mining Covers core data mining techniques, including decision trees, neural networks, collaborative filtering, association rules, link analysis, clustering, and survival analysis

With big data analytics comes big insights into profitability Big data is big business. But having the data and the computational power to process it isn't nearly enough to produce meaningful results. Big Data, Data Mining, and Machine Learning: Value Creation for Business Leaders and Practitioners is a complete resource for technology and marketing executives looking to cut through the hype and produce real results that hit the bottom line. Providing an engaging, thorough overview of the current state of big data analytics and the growing trend toward high performance computing architectures, the book is a detail-driven look into how big data analytics can be leveraged to foster positive change and drive efficiency. With continued exponential growth in data and ever more competitive markets, businesses must adapt quickly to gain every competitive advantage available. Big data analytics can serve as the linchpin for initiatives that drive business, but only if the underlying technology and analysis is fully understood and appreciated by engaged stakeholders. This book provides a view into the topic that executives, managers, and practitioners require, and includes: A complete overview of big data and its notable characteristics Details on high performance computing architectures for analytics, massively parallel processing (MPP), and in-memory databases Comprehensive coverage of data mining, text analytics, and machine learning algorithms A discussion of explanatory and predictive modeling, and how they can be applied to decision-making processes Big Data, Data Mining, and Machine Learning provides technology and marketing executives with the complete resource that has been notably absent from the veritable libraries of published books on the topic. Take control of your organization's big data analytics to produce real results with a resource that is comprehensive in scope and light on hyperbole.

Excel at predicting sales and forecasting trends using Microsoft Excel! If you're a sales or marketing professional, you know that forecasting sales is one of the biggest challenges you face on the job. Unlike other books on the subject, Excel Sales Forecasting For Dummies, 2nd Edition leaves arcane business school terms and complex algebraic equations at the door, focusing instead on what you can do right now to utilize the world's most popular spreadsheet program to produce forecasts you can rely on. Loaded with confidence boosters for anyone who succumbs to sweaty palms when sales predictions are mentioned, this trusted guide show you how to use the many tools Excel provides to arrange your past data, set up lists and pivot tables, use moving averages, and so much more. Before you know it, you'll become a forecaster par excellence—even if numbers aren't your jam. Choose the right forecasting method Find relationships in your data Predict seasonal sales Filter lists or turn them into charts Consider this guide your crystal ball—and start predicting the future with confidence and ease!

A practical guide to data mining using SQL and Excel Data Analysis Using SQL and Excel, 2nd Edition shows you how to leverage the two most popular tools for data query and analysis—SQL and Excel—to perform sophisticated data analysis without the need for complex and expensive data mining tools. Written by a leading expert on business data mining, this book shows you how to extract useful business information from relational databases. You'll learn the fundamental techniques before moving into the «where» and «why» of each analysis, and then learn how to design and perform these analyses using SQL and Excel. Examples include SQL and Excel code, and the appendix shows how non-standard constructs are implemented in other major databases, including Oracle and IBM DB2/UDB. The companion website includes datasets and Excel spreadsheets, and the book provides hints, warnings, and technical asides to help you every step of the way. Data Analysis Using SQL and Excel, 2nd Edition shows you how to perform a wide range of sophisticated analyses using these simple tools, sparing you the significant expense of proprietary data mining tools like SAS. Understand core analytic techniques that work with SQL and Excel Ensure your analytic approach gets you the results you need Design and perform your analysis using SQL and Excel Data Analysis Using SQL and Excel, 2nd Edition shows you how to best use the tools you already know to achieve expert results.

Understand how to use the new features of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 for data mining by using the tools in Data Mining with Microsoft SQL Server 2008, which will show you how to use the SQL Server Data Mining Toolset with Office 2007 to mine and analyze data. Explore each of the major data mining algorithms, including naive bayes, decision trees, time series, clustering, association rules, and neural networks. Learn more about topics like mining OLAP databases, data mining with SQL Server Integration Services 2008, and using Microsoft data mining to solve business analysis problems.

Analytics can make government work better—this book shows you how A Practical Guide to Analytics for Governments provides demonstrations of real-world analytics applications for legislators, policy-makers, and support staff at the federal, state, and local levels. Big data and analytics are transforming industries across the board, and government can reap many of those same benefits by applying analytics to processes and programs already in place. From healthcare delivery and child well-being, to crime and program fraud, analytics can—in fact, already does—transform the way government works. This book shows you how analytics can be implemented in your own milieu: What is the downstream impact of new legislation? How can we make programs more efficient? Is it possible to predict policy outcomes without analytics? How do I get started building analytics into my government organization? The answers are all here, with accessible explanations and useful advice from an expert in the field. Analytics allows you to mine your data to create a holistic picture of your constituents; this model helps you tailor programs, fine-tune legislation, and serve the populace more effectively. This book walks you through analytics as applied to government, and shows you how to reap Big data's benefits at whatever level necessary. Learn how analytics is already transforming government service delivery Delve into the digital healthcare revolution Use analytics to improve education, juvenile justice, and other child-focused areas Apply analytics to transportation, criminal justice, fraud, and much more Legislators and policy makers have plenty of great ideas—but how do they put those ideas into play? Analytics can play a crucial role in getting the job done well. A Practical Guide to Analytics for Governments provides advice, perspective, and real-world guidance for public servants everywhere.

Harness the power of social media to predict customer behavior and improve sales Social media is the biggest source of Big Data. Because of this, 90% of Fortune 500 companies are investing in Big Data initiatives that will help them predict consumer behavior to produce better sales results. Written by Dr. Gabor Szabo, a Senior Data Scientist at Twitter, and Dr. Oscar Boykin, a Software Engineer at Twitter, Social Media Data Mining and Analytics shows analysts how to use sophisticated techniques to mine social media data, obtaining the information they need to generate amazing results for their businesses. Social Media Data Mining and Analytics isn't just another book on the business case for social media. Rather, this book provides hands-on examples for applying state-of-the-art tools and technologies to mine social media – examples include Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Wikipedia, Reddit, Flickr, Web hyperlinks, and other rich data sources. In it, you will learn: The four key characteristics of online services-users, social networks, actions, and content The full data discovery lifecycle-data extraction, storage, analysis, and visualization How to work with code and extract data to create solutions How to use Big Data to make accurate customer predictions Szabo and Boykin wrote this book to provide businesses with the competitive advantage they need to harness the rich data that is available from social media platforms.

Untangle the steps to mine crypto, including new coins and services The cryptocurrency market moves quickly and miners and investors need the latest information to stay ahead of the game. This edition of Cryptocurrency Mining For Dummies has the insight you need to get started with mining. You'll learn what goes into building a mining rig that can complete cryptocurrency transactions and reap the rewards in the form of new coin. You also discover how to join existing mining programs. Whatever your crypto goals, Dummies will make it easy for you to understand, engage in, and invest in mining. You'll even get an up-to-date primer on the evolving legal situation and an idea of what to expect in the future of crypto. Understand the basics of mining cryptocurrency and get started with your own mining operation Explore the latest cryptocurrencies and mining services so you can mine your own or invest wisely Get involved in crypto mining with the hardware you already have, or build a new, powerful mining machine Become an expert on the latest mining trends so you can identify new ways to profit in the crypto space With this book, you've got insider advice on choosing which cryptos to mine, riding out market fluctuations, creating pool accounts, and more. There's no time like the present to get started with crypto mining.