Apply the tools and techniques of text analytics with ease and add value to your company by understanding its key approaches and the business reality behind them.

"Learning SAP Business Objects Dashboards" is your definitive guide to mastering the creation of professional, interactive dashboards tailored for both desktop and mobile use. Whether you are starting with basics or looking to enhance your existing BI skill set, this book offers step-by-step guidance to build customizing and visually appealing dashboards using SAP Business Objects. What this Book will help me do Gain proficiency in using SAP BO Dashboard Designer to create compelling BI dashboards. Learn how to integrate data seamlessly into SAP dashboards for dynamic insights. Master the art of building interactive and responsive dashboards suitable for various devices. Explore advanced visualization techniques including maps, selectors, and styling. Understand how to ensure data security and successfully deploy your dashboards. Author(s) Taha Mahmoud is an experienced Business Intelligence consultant specializing in SAP technologies. With years of experience in crafting custom BI solutions, Taha brings a practical and approachable teaching style to the complex realm of dashboard design. His goal in writing this book is to impart practical skills to learners so they can confidently excel in their BI careers. Who is it for? This book is ideal for business analysts, BI developers, and data visualization enthusiasts aiming to learn or improve their SAP Business Objects dashboard skills. It requires basic knowledge of MS Excel and an analytical mindset. If you're tasked with presenting data in clear, impactful visuals or making interactive dashboards for your organization, this book is for you.

Here's the net takeaway: Businesses want insights from data they can translate into meaningful actions and real results. Software vendors are beginning to deliver a new generation of advanced analytics packages that address business issues directly. In this O'Reilly report, Mike Barlow reveals how this new user-friendly software is helping businesses go beyond data analysis and straight to decision-making—without requiring data science expertise or truckloads of cash. How has advanced analytics progressed from lab project to commercial product so quickly? Through interviews with data analysts, you'll understand the role that machine learning plays in specialized analytics packages, and how this software alone can make decisions based on what's likely to happen next. When you have these capabilities, you’ve reached "the last mile of analytics."

Social Data Analytics is the first practical guide for professionals who want to employ social data for analytics and business intelligence (BI). This book provides a comprehensive overview of the technologies and platforms and shows you how to access and analyze the data. You'll explore the five major types of social data and learn from cases and platform examples to help you make the most of sentiment, behavioral, social graph, location, and rich media data. A four-step approach to the social BI process will help you access, evaluate, collaborate, and share social data with ease. You'll learn everything you need to know to monitor social media and get an overview of the leading vendors in a crowded space of BI applications. By the end of this book, you will be well prepared for your organization’s next social data analytics project. Provides foundational understanding of new and emerging technologies—social data, collaboration, big data, advanced analytics Includes case studies and practical examples of success and failures Will prepare you to lead projects and advance initiatives that will benefit you and your organization

Learn everything you need to know to start using business analytics and integrating it throughout your organization. brings together a complete, integrated package of knowledge for newcomers to the subject. The authors present an up-to-date view of what business analytics is, why it is so valuable, and most importantly, how it is used. They combine essential conceptual content with clear explanations of the tools, techniques, and methodologies actually used to implement modern business analytics initiatives. Business Analytics Principles, Concepts, and Applications with SAS They offer a proven step-wise approach to designing an analytics program, and successfully integrating it into your organization, so it effectively provides intelligence for competitive advantage in decision making. Using step-by-step examples, the authors identify common challenges that can be addressed by business analytics, illustrate each type of analytics (descriptive, prescriptive, and predictive), and guide users in undertaking their own projects. Illustrating the real-world use of statistical, information systems, and management science methodologies, these examples help readers successfully apply the methods they are learning. Unlike most competitive guides, this text demonstrates the use of SAS software, permitting instructors to spend less time teaching software and more time focusing on business analytics itself. will be a valuable resource for all beginning-to-intermediate level business analysts and business analytics managers; for MBA/Masters' degree students in the field; and for advanced undergraduates majoring in statistics, applied mathematics, or engineering/operations research. Business Analytics Principles, Concepts, and Applications with SAS

Grasp how mobile, big data, and analytics are combining to change business processes Right Experience, Right Results: Improving Profits, Margin, and Engagement with Mobile and Big Data illustrates how businesses can use mobility, big data, and analytics to enhance or change business processes, improve margins through better insight, transform customer experiences, empower employees with real-time, actionable insight, and more. The book depicts how companies can create competitive differentiation using mobile, cloud computing big data, and analytics to improve commerce, customer service, and communications with employees and consumers. In the past, the technologies used to deliver personalized and contextual services were either unavailable, unaffordable, or reserved solely for the consumer market. Today, however, the next wave of computing—mobile, cloud computing. big data, and analytics—has provided the foundation for businesses to create adaptive, personalized applications and services. Delivered point-of-need, these smarter services allow enterprise products and services to meet the burgeoning demand for always-connected, accurate, and real-time information. Right Experience, Right Results: Improving Profits, Margin, and Engagement with Mobile and Big Data is your guide to the new way of doing things. The book includes: Real world examples that illustrate how companies across various industries are creating better business processes by integrating new technologies A three step action plan for getting started and overcoming obstacles An electronic checklist with numerous actions that help get you up and running with incorporating mobile, big data, and analytics A guide to drawing insight from mobile, social, and other sources to create richer experiences If you're a CEO, chief marketing officer, marketing director, or business manager, Right Experience, Right Results gives you everything you need to harness technology to breathe new life into your business.

Dive into the world of SAP BusinessObjects Universe creation with this comprehensive guide. This book explains how to leverage the SAP Information Design Tool to design and maintain Universes effectively. Whether you're a beginner starting out or an experienced developer transitioning to new tools, you'll find practical insights and guided tutorials to enhance your abilities. What this Book will help me do Understand the fundamental concepts of SAP BusinessObjects Universes and how they facilitate Business Intelligence. Gain expertise in using the SAP Information Design Tool effectively for creating and managing Universes. Learn to build a solid and scalable Data Foundation layer tailored to your organization's needs. Explore methods to ensure the security of Universes using the Security Profile Editor. Master the skills to test, troubleshoot, and refine Universes for reliable reporting outcomes. Author(s) Taha Mahmoud is an experienced SAP consultant specializing in Business Intelligence. With a strong background in SAP BusinessObjects solutions, Taha brings years of hands-on expertise to teaching and technical writing. He focuses on creating precise and practical content to empower readers to solve real-world challenges. Who is it for? This book is tailored for SAP BusinessObjects Universe developers of all skill levels. Beginners will gain structured guidance on how to start and advance in Universe design. Experienced developers will find great value in mapping their knowledge to the newer tools and techniques. If you are responsible for business reporting or strive to optimize your organization's BI infrastructure, this resource is ideal for you.

Doing data science is difficult. Projects are typically very dynamic with requirements that change as data understanding grows. The data itself arrives piecemeal, is added to, replaced, contains undiscovered flaws and comes from a variety of sources. Teams also have mixed skill sets and tooling is often limited. Despite these disruptions, a data science team must get off the ground fast and begin demonstrating value with traceable, tested work products. This is when you need Guerrilla Analytics. In this book, you will learn about: The Guerrilla Analytics Principles: simple rules of thumb for maintaining data provenance across the entire analytics life cycle from data extraction, through analysis to reporting. Reproducible, traceable analytics: how to design and implement work products that are reproducible, testable and stand up to external scrutiny. Practice tips and war stories: 90 practice tips and 16 war stories based on real-world project challenges encountered in consulting, pre-sales and research. Preparing for battle: how to set up your team's analytics environment in terms of tooling, skill sets, workflows and conventions. Data gymnastics: over a dozen analytics patterns that your team will encounter again and again in projects The Guerrilla Analytics Principles: simple rules of thumb for maintaining data provenance across the entire analytics life cycle from data extraction, through analysis to reporting Reproducible, traceable analytics: how to design and implement work products that are reproducible, testable and stand up to external scrutiny Practice tips and war stories: 90 practice tips and 16 war stories based on real-world project challenges encountered in consulting, pre-sales and research Preparing for battle: how to set up your team's analytics environment in terms of tooling, skill sets, workflows and conventions Data gymnastics: over a dozen analytics patterns that your team will encounter again and again in projects

Building an analysis ecosystem for a smarter approach to intelligence Keith Carter's Actionable Intelligence: A Guide to Delivering Business Results with Big Data Fast! is the comprehensive guide to achieving the dream that business intelligence practitioners have been chasing since the concept itself came into being. Written by an IT visionary with extensive global supply chain experience and insight, this book describes what happens when team members have accurate, reliable, usable, and timely information at their fingertips. With a focus on leveraging big data, the book provides expert guidance on developing an analytical ecosystem to effectively manage, use the internal and external information to deliver business results. This book is written by an author who's been in the trenches for people who are in the trenches. It's for practitioners in the real world, who know delivering results is easier said than done - fraught with failure, and difficult politics. A landscape where reason and passion are needed to make a real difference. This book lays out the appropriate way to establish a culture of fact-based decision making, innovation, forward looking measurements, and appropriate high-speed governance. Readers will enable their organization to: Answer strategic questions faster Reduce data acquisition time and increase analysis time to improve outcomes Shift the focus to positive results rather than past failures Expand opportunities by more effectively and thoughtfully leveraging information Big data makes big promises, but it cannot deliver without the right recipe of people, processes and technology in place. It's about choosing the right people, giving them the right tools, and taking a thoughtful—rather than formulaic--approach. Actionable Intelligence provides expert guidance toward envisioning, budgeting, implementing, and delivering real benefits.

The SAP BusinessObjects Reporting Cookbook is a detailed guide designed to teach you the essential and advanced skills for creating and enhancing reports using SAP BusinessObjects. You will uncover hands-on recipes to build, customize, and optimize reports efficiently. With this book, you will enhance your abilities in leveraging Business Intelligence for meaningful report creation. What this Book will help me do Master the use of SAP BusinessObjects tools for advanced report creation. Learn how to personalize and customize reports to meet organizational requirements. Understand the application of filters and input controls to refine data views. Gain proficiency in creating variables and formulas for advanced calculations. Develop the ability to manage, organize, and distribute reports effectively in a BI environment. Author(s) Yoav Yohav is a seasoned expert in Business Intelligence with extensive experience in SAP BusinessObjects. He has spent years designing reporting solutions for a variety of industries and possesses deep knowledge of report customization techniques. Passionate about empowering professionals, Yoav shares practical insights and clear guidance to help readers excel. Who is it for? This book is perfect for business analysts, BI developers, and IT professionals looking to enhance their SAP BusinessObjects skills. If you have a foundational understanding of Business Intelligence and data concepts, this book will expand your expertise. It suits those aiming to master report creation and customization. Ideal for both beginners and professionals who wish to deepen their knowledge.

By implementing a comprehensive data analytics program, utility companies can meet the continually evolving challenges of modern grids that are operationally efficient, while reconciling the demands of greenhouse gas legislation and establishing a meaningful return on investment from smart grid deployments. Readable and accessible, Big Data Analytics Strategies for the Smart Grid addresses the needs of applying big data technologies and approaches, including Big Data cybersecurity, to the critical infrastructure that makes up the electrical utility grid. It supplies industry stakeholders with an in-depth understanding of the engineering, business, and customer domains within the power delivery market. The book explores the unique needs of electrical utility grids, including operational technology, IT, storage, processing, and how to transform grid assets for the benefit of both the utility business and energy consumers. It not only provides specific examples that illustrate how analytics work and how they are best applied, but also describes how to avoid potential problems and pitfalls. Discussing security and data privacy, it explores the role of the utility in protecting their customers’ right to privacy while still engaging in forward-looking business practices. The book includes discussions of: SAS for asset management tools The AutoGrid approach to commercial analytics Space-Time Insight’s work at the California ISO (CAISO) This book is an ideal resource for mid- to upper-level utility executives who need to understand the business value of smart grid data analytics. It explains critical concepts in a manner that will better position executives to make the right decisions about building their analytics programs. At the same time, the book provides sufficient technical depth that it is useful for data analytics professionals who need to better understand the nuances of the engineering and business challenges unique to the utilities industry.

A practical guide to leveraging your data to spur innovation and growth Your business generates reams of data, but what do you do with it? Reporting is only the beginning. Your data holds the key to innovation and growth - you just need the proper analytics. In Big Data, Big Innovation: Enabling Competitive Differentiation Through Business Analytics, author Evan Stubbs explores the potential gold hiding in your un-mined data. As Chief Analytics Officer for SAS Australia/New Zealand, Stubbs brings an industry insider's perspective to guide you through pattern recognition, analysis, and implementation. Big Data, Big Innovation: Enabling Competitive Differentiation Through Business Analytics details a groundbreaking approach to ensuring your company's upward trajectory. Use this guide to leverage your customer information, financial reports, performance metrics, and more to build a rock-solid foundation for future growth. Build an effective analytics team, and empower them with the right tools Learn how big data drives both evolutionary and revolutionary innovation, and who should be responsible Identify data collection and analysis opportunities and implement action plans Design the platform that suits your company's current and future needs Quantify performance with statistics, programming, and research for a more complete picture of operations Effective management means combining data, people, and analytics to create a synergistic force for innovation and growth. If you want your company to move forward with confidence, Big Data, Big Innovation: Enabling Competitive Differentiation Through Business Analytics can show you how to use what you already have and acquire what you need to succeed.

Don't squander your most valuable resource! Collectively, your workers are your company's most important and most valuable asset. To make the most of this asset, nothing beats quantitative performance and investment measurement. Learning and Development is an 80 billion-dollar industry, and every valuable employee represents a sizable investment on the part of your company. To keep your business moving forward, effective management of human capital is crucial. It generates plenty of data, and deep analysis of this data helps you provide feedback and make adjustments to capitalize on the combined knowledge, skills, and creativity of your workers. Developing Human Capital: Using Analytics to Plan and Optimize Your Learning and Development Investments provides a guidebook for collecting, organizing, and analyzing the data surrounding human capital so you can make the most of your employees' potential. Use predictive analysis to optimize human capital investments Learn effective study design and alignment Get the tools you need for measurement, surveys, and analysis Decide what to measure and how to measure it Outline your company's current and future analytics technology needs Map data sources, and overcome barriers to data collection Authors Gene Pease, Bonnie Beresford, and Lew Walker provide case studies in which major companies applied human capital analytics to guide people decisions, and expand upon the role of analytics in Learning and Development. Developing Human Capital: Using Analytics to Plan and Optimize Your Learning and Development Investments is an essential guide to 21st century human resources and management practices, and can keep you from squandering your company's most valuable resource.

Key decisions determine the success of big data strategy Dynamic Customer Strategy: Big Profits from Big Data is a comprehensive guide to exploiting big data for both business-to-consumer and business-to-business marketing. This complete guide provides a process for rigorous decision making in navigating the data-driven industry shift, informing marketing practice, and aiding businesses in early adoption. Using data from a five-year study to illustrate important concepts and scenarios along the way, the author speaks directly to marketing and operations professionals who may not necessarily be big data savvy. With expert insight and clear analysis, the book helps eliminate paralysis-by-analysis and optimize decision making for marketing performance. Nearly seventy-five percent of marketers plan to adopt a big data analytics solution within two years, but many are likely to fail. Despite intensive planning, generous spending, and the best intentions, these initiatives will not succeed without a manager at the helm who is capable of handling the nuances of big data projects. This requires a new way of marketing, and a new approach to data. It means applying new models and metrics to brand new consumer behaviors. Dynamic Customer Strategy clarifies the situation, and highlights the key decisions that have the greatest impact on a company's big data plan. Topics include: Applying the elements of Dynamic Customer Strategy Acquiring, mining, and analyzing data Metrics and models for big data utilization Shifting perspective from model to customer Big data is a tremendous opportunity for marketers and may just be the only factor that will allow marketers to keep pace with the changing consumer and thus keep brands relevant at a time of unprecedented choice. But like any tool, it must be wielded with skill and precision. Dynamic Customer Strategy: Big Profits from Big Data helps marketers shape a strategy that works.

" Power Query for Power BI and Excel is a book for people who are tired of copying and pasting data into Excel worksheets. Power Query, part of the Microsoft Power BI suite, is a tool that automates the process of getting data into Excel and will save you hours of dull, repetitive, and error-prone work! Power Query makes it easy to extract data from many different data sources, filter that data, aggregate it, clean it and perform calculations on it, finally loading that data into either your worksheet or directly into the new Excel 2013 Data Model used by Power Pivot. This concise, practical book provides a complete guide to Power Query and how to use it to solve all of your Excel data-loading problems. Power Query for Power BI and Excel goes well beyond the surface of what Power Query can do. The book goes deep into the underlying M language, showing you how to do amazing things that aren't going to be possible from just the GUI interface that is covered in most other books. You'll have full command of the GUI, and you'll be able to drop into the M language to go beyond what the GUI provides. The depth in this book makes it a must-have item for anyone who is pushing Power BI and Excel to their limits in the pursuit of business intelligence from data analysis. " Teaches the basics of using Power Query to load data into Excel Helps you solve common, data-related problems with Power Query Shows how to write your own solutions in the powerful M language

Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Business Intelligence Development Beginner's Guide introduces you to Microsoft's BI tools and systems. You'll gain hands-on experience building solutions that handle data warehousing, reporting, and predictive analytics. With step-by-step tutorials, you'll be equipped to transform data into actionable insights. What this Book will help me do Understand and implement multidimensional data models using SSAS and MDX. Write and use DAX queries and leverage SSAS tabular models effectively. Improve and maintain data integrity using MDS and DQS tools. Design and develop polished, insightful dashboards and reports using PerformancePoint, Power View, and SSRS. Explore advanced data analysis features, such as Power Query, Power Map, and basic data mining techniques. Author(s) Abolfazl Radgoudarzi and Reza Rad are experienced practitioners and educators in the field of business intelligence. They specialize in SQL Server BI technologies and have extensive careers helping organizations harness data for decision-making. Their approach combines clear explanations with practical examples, ensuring readers can effectively apply what they learn. Who is it for? This book is ideal for database developers, system analysts, and IT professionals looking to build strong foundations in Microsoft SQL Server's BI technologies. Beginners in business intelligence or data management will find the topics accessible. Intermediate practitioners will expand their ability to build complete BI solutions. It's designed for anyone eager to develop skills in data modeling, analysis, and visualization.

Use computational intelligence to drive more value from business analytics, overcome real-world uncertainties and complexities, and make better decisions. Drawing on his pioneering experience as an instructor and researcher, Dr. Les Sztandera thoroughly illuminates today's key computational intelligence tools, knowledge, and strategies for analysis, exploration, and knowledge generation. Sztandera demystifies artificial neural networks, genetic algorithms, and fuzzy systems, and guides you through using them to model, discover, and interpret new patterns that can't be found through statistical methods alone. Packed with relevant case studies and examples, this guide demonstrates: Customer segmentation for direct marketing Customer profiling for relationship management Efficient mailing campaigns Customer retention Identification of cross-selling opportunities Credit score analysis Detection of fraudulent behavior and transactions Hedge fund strategies, and more Szandera shows how computational intelligence can inform the design and integration of services, architecture, brand identity, and product portfolio across the entire enterprise. He also shows how to complement computational intelligence with visualization, explorative interfaces and advanced reporting, thereby empowering business users and enterprise stakeholders to take full advantage of it. For analytics professionals, managers, and students.

Big Data Analytics will assist managers in providing an overview of the drivers for introducing big data technology into the organization and for understanding the types of business problems best suited to big data analytics solutions, understanding the value drivers and benefits, strategic planning, developing a pilot, and eventually planning to integrate back into production within the enterprise. Guides the reader in assessing the opportunities and value proposition Overview of big data hardware and software architectures Presents a variety of technologies and how they fit into the big data ecosystem

Implementing Analytics demystifies the concept, technology and application of analytics and breaks its implementation down to repeatable and manageable steps, making it possible for widespread adoption across all functions of an organization. Implementing Analytics simplifies and helps democratize a very specialized discipline to foster business efficiency and innovation without investing in multi-million dollar technology and manpower. A technology agnostic methodology that breaks down complex tasks like model design and tuning and emphasizes business decisions rather than the technology behind analytics. Simplifies the understanding of analytics from a technical and functional perspective and shows a wide array of problems that can be tackled using existing technology Provides a detailed step by step approach to identify opportunities, extract requirements, design variables and build and test models. It further explains the business decision strategies to use analytics models and provides an overview for governance and tuning Helps formalize analytics projects from staffing, technology and implementation perspectives Emphasizes machine learning and data mining over statistics and shows how the role of a Data Scientist can be broken down and still deliver the value by building a robust development process

Competition is becoming more intense and decision makers are encountering increasing complexity, rapid change, and higher levels of risk. In many situations, the solution is more and better computerized decision support, especially analytics and business intelligence. Today managers need to learn about and understand computerized decision support. If a business is to succeed, managers must know much more about information technology solutions. This second edition of a powerful introductory book is targeted at busy managers and MBA students who need to grasp the basics of computerized decision support, including the following: What are analytics? What is a decision support system? How can managers identify opportunities to create innovative computerized support? Inside, the author addresses these questions and some 60 more fundamental questions that are key to understanding the rapidly changing realm of computerized decision support. In a short period of time, you’ll “get up to speed” on decision support, analytics, and business intelligence.

Unique insights to implement big data analytics and reap big returns to your bottom line Focusing on the business and financial value of big data analytics, respected technology journalist Frank J. Ohlhorst shares his insights on the newly emerging field of big data analytics in Big Data AnalyticsM. This breakthrough book demonstrates the importance of analytics, defines the processes, highlights the tangible and intangible values and discusses how you can turn a business liability into actionable material that can be used to redefine markets, improve profits and identify new business opportunities. Reveals big data analytics as the next wave for businesses looking for competitive advantage Takes an in-depth look at the financial value of big data analytics Offers tools and best practices for working with big data Once the domain of large on-line retailers such as eBay and Amazon, big data is now accessible by businesses of all sizes and across industries. From how to mine the data your company collects, to the data that is available on the outside, Big Data Analytics shows how you can leverage big data into a key component in your business's growth strategy.

Open Source BI solutions have many advantages over traditional proprietary software, from offering lower initial costs to more flexible support and integration options; but, until now, there has been no comprehensive guide to the complete offerings of the OS BI market. Writing for IT managers and business analysts without bias toward any BI suite, industry insider Lyndsay Wise covers the benefits and challenges of all available open source BI systems and tools, enabling readers to identify the solutions and technologies that best meet their business needs. Wise compares and contrasts types of OS BI and proprietary tools on the market, including Pentaho, Jaspersoft, RapidMiner, SpagoBI, BIRT, and many more. Real-world case studies and project templates clarify the steps involved in implementing open source BI, saving new users the time and trouble of developing their own solutions from scratch. For business managers who are hard pressed to indentify the best BI solutions and software for their companies, this book provides a practical guide to evaluating the ROI of open source versus traditional BI deployments. The only book to provide complete coverage of all open source BI systems and tools specifically for business managers, without bias toward any OS BI suite A practical, step-by-step guide to implementing OS BI solutions that maximize ROI Comprehensive coverage of all open source systems and tools, including architectures, data integration, support, optimization, data mining, data warehousing, and interoperability Case studies and project templates enable readers to evaluate the benefits and tradeoffs of all OS BI options without having to spend time developing their own solutions from scratch

This primer enables professionals with technical expertise to collaborate with their business-side colleagues. Emphasizing brevity and clarity, it gives technical staff answers to their most pressing questions about economics, finance, marketing, strategic decision-making, accounting, management, and related subjects. It does not offer condensed 1st year MBA courses; instead, it presents streamlined concepts and insights that are easy enough to be accessible and challenging enough to hold one's interest. Its examples from pharma, IT, aircraft/navigation, and other industries highlight problems that technical professionals face daily. Written by "one of them," its credibility makes it more useful than Internet resources. Because it concentrates on pragmatic (as opposed to academic) approaches to business, it empowers technical staff to stay with the conversation--and take it to a higher level. Bertrand C. Liang, MD, PhD, MBA, is Managing Director of LCC Ventures and Executive Director of Pfenex, Inc. He is trained in molecular biology and genetics (PhD) and is a clinician (MD) with subspecialty training in neurology and oncology, and serves as a Visiting University Professor at Liaoning He University, Shenyang, China. Creates frameworks and builds concepts enabling technical staff to work with their business colleagues Delivers content for pragmatic, immediate use, not condensed presentations of subjects from first year MBA curriculum Extends readers' grasp by posting additional resources at a freely-available website

The definitive reference for building actionable business intelligence—completely revised for SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0. Unleash the full potential of business intelligence with fact-based decisions, aligned to business goals, using reports and dashboards that lead from insight to action. SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0: The Complete Reference offers completely updated coverage of the latest BI platform. Find out how to work with the new Information Design Tool to create universes that access multiple data sources and SAP BW. See how to translate complex business questions into highly efficient Web Intelligence queries and publish your results to the BI Launchpad. Learn how to create dashboards from data sourced through a universe or spreadsheet. The most important concepts for universe designers, report and dashboard authors, and business analysts are fully explained and illustrated by screenshots, diagrams, and step-by-step instructions. Establish and evolve BI goals Maximize your BI investments by offering the right module to the right user Create robust universes with the Information Design Tool, leveraging multiple data sources, derived tables, aggregate awareness, and parameters Develop a security plan that is scalable and flexible Design Web Intelligence reports from basic to advanced Create sophisticated calculations and advanced formatting to highlight critical business trends Build powerful dashboards to embed in PowerPoint or the BI Launchpad Use Explorer to visually navigate large data sets and uncover patterns

This title includes additional digital media when purchased in print format. For this digital book edition, media content may NOT be included. Contact the publisher's customer service directly for assistance. A hands-on guide to the use of quantitative methods and software for making successful business decisions The appropriate use of quantitative methods lies at the core of successful decisions made by managers, researchers, and students in the field of business. Providing a framework for the development of sound judgment and the ability to utilize quantitative and qualitative approaches, Data Driven Business Decisions introduces readers to the important role that data plays in understanding business outcomes, addressing four general areas that managers need to know about: data handling and Microsoft Excel, uncertainty, the relationship between inputs and outputs, and complex decisions with trade-offs and uncertainty. Grounded in the author's own classroom approach to business statistics, the book reveals how to use data to understand the drivers of business outcomes, which in turn allows for data-driven business decisions. A basic, non-mathematical foundation in statistics is provided, outlining for readers the tools needed to link data with business decisions; account for uncertainty in the actions of others and in patterns revealed by data; handle data in Excel; translate their analysis into simple business terms; and present results in simple tables and charts. The author discusses key data analytic frameworks, such as decision trees and multiple regression, and also explores additional topics, including:

Use of the Excel functions Solver and Goal Seek Partial correlation and auto-correlation Interactions and proportional variation in regression models Seasonal adjustment and what it reveals Basic portfolio theory as an introduction to correlations

Chapters are introduced with case studies that integrate simple ideas into the larger business context, and are followed by further details, raw data, and motivating insights. Algebraic notation is used only when necessary, and throughout the book, the author utilizes real-world examples from diverse areas such as market surveys, finance, economics, and business ethics. Excel add-ins StatproGo and TreePlan are showcased to demonstrate execution of the techniques, and a related website features extensive programming instructions as well as insights, data sets, and solutions to problems included in the material. The enclosed CD contains the complete book in electronic format, including all presented data, supplemental material on the discussed case files, and links to exercises and solutions. Data Driven Business Decisions is an excellent book for MBA quantitative analysis courses or undergraduate general statistics courses. It also serves as a valuable reference for practicing MBAs and practitioners in the fields of statistics, business, and finance.