Making business intelligence work: Start-to-finish guidance for managers This book offers a true enterprise view of business intelligence. IBM expert Mike Biere shows managers how to create a coherent BI plan that reflects the needs of users throughout the organization-and then implement that plan successfully. Biere explains how to objectively assess the business case for BI, and identifies proven solutions for the obstacles that lead many BI projects to fail. Coverage includes: Setting appropriate expectations and goals for your BI project Understanding how the key components of a complete BI solution fit together Designing effective BI solutions-including content management, handling unstructured data, and end-user segmentation Providing effective support for BI end users Introducing Corporate Performance Management (CPM): an executive's view of BI Previewing tomorrow's "next wave" in BI solutions Comprehensive checklists for planning your BI project

Data warehouses in the 1990s were for the privileged few business analysts. Business Intelligence is now being democratized by being shared with the rank and file employee demanding higher levels of RDBMS scalability and ease of use, being delivered through Web portals. To support this emerging e-Business Intelligence world, the challenges that face the enterprises for their centralized data warehouse RDBMS technology are scalability, performance, availability and smart manageability. This IBM Redbooks publication focuses on the innovative technical functionalities of DB2 UDB ESE V8.1 and discusses: This book positions the new functionalities, so you can understand and evaluate their applicability in your own enterprise data warehouse environment, and get started prioritizing and implementing them. Please note that the additional material referenced in the text is not available from IBM.

"If you are looking for a complete treatment of business intelligence, then go no further than this book. Larissa T. Moss and Shaku Atre have covered all the bases in a cohesive and logical order, making it easy for the reader to follow their line of thought. From early design to ETL to physical database design, the book ties together all the components of business intelligence." --Bill Inmon, Inmon Enterprises is a visual guide to developing an effective business intelligence (BI) decision-support application. This book outlines a methodology that takes into account the complexity of developing applications in an integrated BI environment. The authors walk readers through every step of the process--from strategic planning to the selection of new technologies and the evaluation of application releases. The book also serves as a single-source guide to the best practices of BI projects. Business Intelligence Roadmap Part I steers readers through the six stages of a BI project: justification, planning, business analysis, design, construction, and deployment. Each chapter describes one of sixteen development steps and the major activities, deliverables, roles, and responsibilities. All technical material is clearly expressed in tables, graphs, and diagrams. Part II provides five matrices that serve as references for the development process charted in Part I. Management tools, such as graphs illustrating the timing and coordination of activities, are included throughout the book. The authors conclude by crystallizing their many years of experience in a list of dos, don'ts, tips, and rules of thumb. The accompanying CD-ROM includes a complete, customizable work breakdown structure. Both the book and the methodology it describes are designed to adapt to the specific needs of individual stakeholders and organizations. The book directs business representatives, business sponsors, project managers, and technicians to the chapters that address their distinct responsibilities. The framework of the book allows organizations to begin at any step and enables projects to be scheduled and managed in a variety of ways. is a clear and comprehensive guide to negotiating the complexities inherent in the development of valuable business intelligence decision-support applications Business Intelligence Roadmap

This book presents the approaches and practices for the construction of software systems using Select Perspective. It details the key workflows for a contemporary approach to supplying, managing, and consuming software assets to deliver business IT systems. This book provides a comprehensive development lifecycle (Select Perspective) for component and web service based IT solutions, that supports parallel development activities, to reduce time-to-market. It introduces the Select Perspective as a Supply, Manage, Consume software development process. It provides a real world project experience and examples. Technology: Unlike other development processes, Select Perspective is focused on a small number of key deliverables within an organizational framework of suppliers and consumers, of solution driven components. Audience: For CIOs, IT Directors, Project Managers, and solution developers. Level Intermediate. Hedley Apperly is Vice President, Product Marketing and Development with Aonix Hedley has graduate and post-graduate qualifications in production engineering, business computing and strategic marketing. His 19 years experience in IT, have focused on the design and development of relational, object-oriented and component-bases systems. He is also a committee member of the British Computer Societies (BCS), Object-Oriented Programming and Systems (OOPS) specialist group. As well as his involvement Component Based Development for Enterprise Systems, published by Cambridge University Press, Hedley co-authored Component Based Software Engineering; Putting the Pieces Together, published by Addison Wesley. Ralph Hofman works in Manager Services (Benelux) at Aonix. Ralph studied computer science at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. He started as a freelance consultant for different companies and specialized in methods and tools for system development. Ralph initiated component-based development as a way of working within a major international Bank. He joined Aonix in 2000, where he is responsible for the consultancy and services in the Benelux. Steve Latchem is Director of International Services with Aonix. Steve has been within the IT industry for over 18 years, holding positions in large consultancy groups and IT Departments ranging from business analyst to object oriented consultant, architect and project manager. Steve now directs the global professional services group at Aonix. Steve collaborated on AntiPatterns: Refactoring Software & Projects in Crisis and co-authored Component Based Software Engineering; Putting the Pieces Together, published by Addison Wesley. Barry Maybank is Principal Consultant with Aonix . Barry has been within the IT industry for over 17 years, holding positions in consultancy groups, IT Product Companies and Engineering companies with roles ranging from software engineer to architect. Barry McGibbon is Associate Consultant with Aonix. Barry has worked in the IT industry for over 35 years, holding very senior management positions with leading computing services providers. He has been involved in component-based development initiatives for significant enterprises in the UK and Europe. As well as a frequent contributor to major journals, he is author of Managing Your Move To Object Technology: Guidelines & Strategies for a Smooth Transition published by SIGS Books Inc. He is also Technical Chair for Europe's largest CBD/OO conference and a series editor for Cambridge University Press. David Piper is a Principal Consultant with Aonix. David has been working in the IT industry for over 20 years holding positions in manufacturing, financial services and IT consultancy with roles ranging from analyst to quality assurance manager and project manager. Chris Simons is a Senior Consultant with Aonix. Christopher has been within the IT industry for over 12 years, holding positions in real-time, defense, retail, public sector and finance domains, with roles ranging from software engineer, lead analyst to technical architect. He has also taught object-orientation and development process at various universities as a visiting lecturer.

Real R&D options are among the earliest modelled real options, with now ten primary practical uses: general R&D planning, planning R&D in stages, evaluating test information, new product development timing, operations, abandonment, risk sharing, market funding, industry strategy and regulation. This book was partly motivated by requests to identify and develop real option models for R&D in telecommunications, petroleum technology and biotechnology. Nine new models cover information and implementation costs, analytical solutions for mean reverting, or fat tailed revenues, endogenous learning and exogenous and experiential shocks, American sequential options, and innovator advantages. Four new applications include forward start development options, exploration options, innovation with information costs, and innovator's real values with changing market share. R&D directors and researchers will find several uses for these models: · general R&D planning · evaluating test information · new product development timing · risk sharing · industry strategy and regulation A practical guide to how organizations can use Real Option techniques to effectively value research and development by companies Provides a rigorous theoretical underpinning of the use of Real Option techniques *Real Options applications are orientated around the economies of North America, Europe and Asia, for an international perspective

An understanding of random processes is crucial to many engineering fields-including communication theory, computer vision, and digital signal processing in electrical and computer engineering, and vibrational theory and stress analysis in mechanical engineering. The filtering, estimation, and detection of random processes in noisy environments are critical tasks necessary in the analysis and design of new communications systems and useful signal processing algorithms. Random Processes: Filtering, Estimation, and Detection clearly explains the basics of probability and random processes and details modern detection and estimation theory to accomplish these tasks. In this book, Lonnie Ludeman, an award-winning authority in digital signal processing, joins the fundamentals of random processes with the standard techniques of linear and nonlinear systems analysis and hypothesis testing to give signal estimation techniques, specify optimum estimation procedures, provide optimum decision rules for classification purposes, and describe performance evaluation definitions and procedures for the resulting methods. The text covers four main, interrelated topics: Probability and characterizations of random variables and random processes Linear and nonlinear systems with random excitations Optimum estimation theory including both the Wiener and Kalman Filters Detection theory for both discrete and continuous time measurements Lucid, thorough, and well-stocked with numerous examples and practice problems that emphasize the concepts discussed, Random Processes: Filtering, Estimation, and Detection is an understandable and useful text ideal as both a self-study guide for professionals in the field and as a core text for graduate students.

Master process control hands on, through practical examples and MATLAB® simulations This is the first complete introduction to process control that fully integrates software tools—enabling professionals and students to master critical techniques hands on, through computer simulations based on the popular MATLAB environment. Process Control: Modeling, Design, and Simulation teaches the field's most important techniques, behaviors, and control problems through practical examples, supplemented by extensive exercises—with detailed derivations, relevant software files, and additional techniques available on a companion Web site. Coverage includes: Fundamentals of process control and instrumentation, including objectives, variables, and block diagrams Methodologies for developing dynamic models of chemical processes Dynamic behavior of linear systems: state space models, transfer function-based models, and more Feedback control; proportional, integral, and derivative (PID) controllers; and closed-loop stability analysis Frequency response analysis techniques for evaluating the robustness of control systems Improving control loop performance: internal model control (IMC), automatic tuning, gain scheduling, and enhancements to improve disturbance rejection Split-range, selective, and override strategies for switching among inputs or outputs Control loop interactions and multivariable controllers An introduction to model predictive control (MPC) Bequette walks step by step through the development of control instrumentation diagrams for an entire chemical process, reviewing common control strategies for individual unit operations, then discussing strategies for integrated systems. The book also includes 16 learning modules demonstrating how to use MATLAB and SIMULINK to solve several key control problems, ranging from robustness analyses to biochemical reactors, biomedical problems to multivariable control.

Today data mining is no longer thought of as a set of stand-alone techniques, far from the business applications, and used only by data mining specialists or statisticians. Integrating data mining with mainstream applications is becoming an important issue for e-business applications. To support this move to applications, data mining is now an extension of the relational databases that database administrators or IT developers use. They use data mining as they would use any other standard relational function that they manipulate. This IBM Redbooks publication positions the new DB2 data mining functions: Part 1 of this book helps business analysts and implementers to understand and position these new DB2 data mining functions. Part 2 provides examples for implementers on how to easily and quickly integrate the data mining functions in business applications to enhance them. And part 3 helps database administrators and IT developers to configure these functions once to prepare them for use and integration in any application. Please note that the additional material referenced in the text is not available from IBM.

Mining the Web: Discovering Knowledge from Hypertext Data is the first book devoted entirely to techniques for producing knowledge from the vast body of unstructured Web data. Building on an initial survey of infrastructural issues—including Web crawling and indexing—Chakrabarti examines low-level machine learning techniques as they relate specifically to the challenges of Web mining. He then devotes the final part of the book to applications that unite infrastructure and analysis to bring machine learning to bear on systematically acquired and stored data. Here the focus is on results: the strengths and weaknesses of these applications, along with their potential as foundations for further progress. From Chakrabarti's work—painstaking, critical, and forward-looking—readers will gain the theoretical and practical understanding they need to contribute to the Web mining effort. * A comprehensive, critical exploration of statistics-based attempts to make sense of Web Mining. * Details the special challenges associated with analyzing unstructured and semi-structured data. * Looks at how classical Information Retrieval techniques have been modified for use with Web data. * Focuses on today's dominant learning methods: clustering and classification, hyperlink analysis, and supervised and semi-supervised learning. * Analyzes current applications for resource discovery and social network analysis. * An excellent way to introduce students to especially vital applications of data mining and machine learning technology.

This IBM Redbooks publication deals with exploiting DB2 UDB’s materialized views (also known as ASTs/MQTs), statistics, analytic, and OLAP functions in e-business applications to achieve superior performance and scalability. This book is aimed at a target audience of DB2 UDB application developers, database administrators (DBAs), and independent software vendors (ISVs). We provide an overview of DB2 UDB’s materialized views implementation, as well as guidelines for creating and tuning them for optimal performance. We introduce key statistics, analytic, and OLAP functions, and describe their corresponding implementation in DB2 UDB with usage examples. Finally, we describe typical business level queries that can be answered using DB2 UDB’s statistics, analytic, and OLAP functions. These business queries are categorized by industry, and describe the steps involved in resolving the query, with sample SQL and visualization of results.

Link business intelligence to the Web! Technologies, integration, and applications. Internet-enabled business intelligence: from planning to profit In-depth coverage of integration and key enabling technologies, including Java and XML Advanced analysis and profiling: understand customers better, and respond faster Clickstrean analysis: understanding how customers use your site Linking data warehouses to CRM and other enterprise/value chain systems This is the first start-to-finish guide to planning, deploying, and profiting from Internet-enabled data warehouses. Leading business intelligence specialist William Giovinazzo covers every enabling technology, every analysis approach, and every key challenge you'll face in linking business intelligence to the Web. From infrastructure integration to state-of-the-art profiling and wireless applications, Giovinazzo shows how everything fits together—and exactly how to use Web-enabled data warehouses to deliver powerful ROI in your business. How the Internet enhances your business intelligence infrastructure Leveraging key enabling technologies: Java, XML, XSL, and more Breakthrough analysis techniques: understand customers better, and respond faster! Integrating data warehouses with CRM and other enterprise and inter-enterprise systems Establishing common warehouse metadata Drawing on the clickstreams generated by your Web and e-commerce sites Personalization techniques that work

Constant, continuing, and cataclysmic change is causing a major crisis within business organizations today. Faced with constantly advancing technology, unpredictable market shifts, intense global competition, and an increasingly independent "free agent" workforce, the only way for an organization to adapt and succeed is to build a "culture of inclusion" that nurtures and draws on the talents of a diverse workforce. Easy to say but hard to do; most organizations are mired in industrial revolution, static-world business models administered by monocultural, bordering-on-oppressive, "command and control" hierarchies. Organizations at risk include Fortune 500 giants, entrepreneurial start-ups, manufacturing and retail operations, government agencies, not-for-profits, educational institutions, and others. Most organizational change efforts-whether labeled as diversity efforts, re-engineering, right-sizing, or total-quality-management-are a waste of time, money, and human effort. Most produce more cynicism than results, and they can poison the waters for future change efforts. The Inclusion Breakthrough cuts a path through this potential minefield, offering a proven methodology for strategic organizational change, including models for diagnosing, planning, and implementing inclusion-focused, culture-change strategies tailored to each organization's individual needs. It also describes the key competencies for leading and sustaining a culture of inclusion. Offering real-world results of "before and after" surveys, including anecdotal and statistical reports of organizational change achieved using the methodologies described, The Inclusion Breakthrough presents an overview of current workplace conditions, attitudes, and policies based on interviews, surveys, and focus groups encompassing thousands of people in major organizations. The Inclusion Breakthrough demonstrates why the bottom line must be the central focus of any change strategy-and more importantly, how to carry that strategy out successfully.

This clear and comprehensive guide provides everything you need for powerful linear model analysis. Using a tutorial approach and plenty of examples, authors Ramon Littell, Walter Stroup, and Rudolf Freund lead you through methods related to analysis of variance with fixed and random effects. You will learn to use the appropriate SAS procedure for most experiment designs (including completely random, randomized blocks, and split plot) as well as factorial treatment designs and repeated measures. SAS for Linear Models, Fourth Edition, also includes analysis of covariance, multivariate linear models, and generalized linear models for non-normal data. Find inside: regression models; balanced ANOVA with both fixed- and random-effects models; unbalanced data with both fixed- and random-effects models; covariance models; generalized linear models; multivariate models; and repeated measures. New in this edition: MIXED and GENMOD procedures, updated examples, new software-related features, and other new material.

This book is part of the SAS Press program.

The Boost Graph Library (BGL) is the first C++ library to apply the principles of generic programming to the construction of the advanced data structures and algorithms used in graph computations. Problems in such diverse areas as Internet packet routing, molecular biology, scientific computing, and telephone network design can be solved by using graph theory. This book presents an in-depth description of the BGL and provides working examples designed to illustrate the application of BGL to these real-world problems. Written by the BGL developers, gives you all the information you need to take advantage of this powerful new library. Part I is a complete user guide that begins by introducing graph concepts, terminology, and generic graph algorithms. This guide also takes the reader on a tour through the major features of the BGL; all motivated with example problems. Part II is a comprehensive reference manual that provides complete documentation of all BGL concepts, algorithms, and classes. The Boost Graph Library: User Guide and Reference Manual Readers will find coverage of: Graph terminology and concepts Generic programming techniques in C++ Shortest-path algorithms for Internet routing Network planning problems using the minimum-spanning tree algorithms BGL algorithms with implicitly defined graphs BGL Interfaces to other graph libraries BGL concepts and algorithms BGL classes–graph, auxiliary, and adaptor Groundbreaking in its scope, this book offers the key to unlocking the power of the BGL for the C++ programmer looking to extend the reach of generic programming beyond the Standard Template Library.

Bringing the power of virtual instrumentation to the biomedical community. Applications across diverse medical specialties Detailed design guides for LabVIEW and BioBench applications Hands-on problem-solving throughout the book Laboratory, clinical, and healthcare applications Numerous VI's with source code, plus several demos, are available on the book's web site Virtual instrumentation allows medical researchers and practitioners to combine the traditional diagnostic tools with advanced technologies such as databases, Active X, and the Internet. In both laboratory and clinical environments, users can interact with a wealth of disparate systems, facilitating better, faster, and more informed decision making. Virtual Bio-Instrumentation: Biomedical, Clinical, and Healthcare Applications in LabVIEW is the first book of its kind to apply VI technology to the biomedical field. Hands-on problems throughout the book demonstrate immediate practical uses Examples cover a variety of medical specialties Detailed design instructions give the inside view of LabVIEW and BioBench applications Both students and practicing professionals will appreciate the practical applications offered for modeling fundamental physiology, advanced systems analysis, medical device development and testing, and even hospital management and clinical engineering scenarios.

Working with longitudinal data introduces a unique set of challenges. Once you've mastered the art of performing calculations within a single observation of a data set, you're faced with the task of performing calculations or making comparisons between observations. It's easy to look backward in data sets, but how do you look forward and across observations? Ron Cody provides straightforward answers to these and other questions. Longitudinal Data and SAS details useful techniques for conducting operations between observations in a SAS data set. For quick reference, the book is conveniently organized to cover tools, including an introduction to powerful SAS programming techniques for longitudinal data; case studies, including a variety of illuminating examples that use Ron's techniques; and macros, including detailed descriptions of helpful longitudinal data macros. Beginning to intermediate SAS users will appreciate this book's informative, easy-to-comprehend style. And users who frequently process longitudinal data will learn to make the most of their analyses by following Ron's methodologies.

This book is part of the SAS Press program.

Because most people don't have the luxury of sitting down uninterrupted for hours at a time to learn Visio, this 10-Minute Guide focuses on the most often used features, covering them in lessons designed to take 10 minutes or less to complete. In addition, this guide teaches the user how to use Visio without relying on technical jargon, by providing straightforward, easy-to-follow explanations and lists of numbered steps that tell the user which keys to press and which options to select.

Bioinformatics--the application of computational and analytical methods to biological problems--is a rapidly evolving scientific discipline. Genome sequencing projects are producing vast amounts of biological data for many different organisms, and, increasingly, storing these data in public databases. Such biological databases are growing exponentially, along with the biological literature. It's impossible for even the most zealous researcher to stay on top of necessary information in the field without the aid of computer-based tools. Bioinformatics is all about building these tools. Developing Bioinformatics Computer Skills is for scientists and students who are learning computational approaches to biology for the first time, as well as for experienced biology researchers who are just starting to use computers to handle their data. The book covers the Unix file system, building tools and databases for bioinformatics, computational approaches to biological problems, an introduction to Perl for bioinformatics, data mining, and data visualization. Written in a clear, engaging style, Developing Bioinformatics Computer Skills will help biologists develop a structured approach to biological data as well as the tools they'll need to analyze the data.

Step-by-step guide to creating compelling, memorable presentations A chart that once took ten hours to prepare can now be produced by anyone with ten minutes and a computer keyboard. What hasn't changed, however, are the basics behind creating a powerful visual - what to say, why to say it, and how to say it for the most impact. In Say It With Charts, Fourth Edition --the latest, cutting-edge edition of his best-selling presentation guide -- Gene Zelazny reveals time-tested tips for preparing effective presentations. Then, this presentation guru shows you how to combine those tips with today's hottest technologies for sharper, stronger visuals. Look to this comprehensive presentation encyclopedia for information on: * How to prepare different types of charts -- pie, bar, column, line, or dot -- and when to use each * Lettering size, color choice, appropriate chart types, and more * Techniques for producing dramatic eVisuals using animation, scanned images, sound, video, and links to pertinent websites

The complete, easy-to-understand guide to IT—now and in the future! Computers, networks, and pervasive computing Hardware, operating systems, and software How networks work: LANs, WANs, and the Internet E-business, the Web, and security The guide for ANYONE who needs to understand the key technologies driving today's economy and high tech industries! You can't afford not to understand the information revolution that's sweeping the world-but who's got time for all the acronyms and hype most technology books give you? The Essential Guide to Computing demystifies the digital society we live in with an intelligent, thorough, and up-to-date explanation of computer, networking, and Internet technologies. It's perfect for smart professionals who want to get up to speed, but don't have computer science or engineering degrees! You'll find up-to-the-minute coverage on all of today's hottest technologies including: The evolution of computing: from the room-sized "monoliths" of the 1950s to today's global Internet Preview of the next revolution: "pervasive computing" Computer hardware: microprocessors, memory, storage, I/O, displays, and architecture Windows, Macintosh, UNIX/Linux, DOS, NetWare, Palm: what operating systems do, and how they compare Programming languages: from machine language to advanced object-oriented technologies Key software applications: databases, spreadsheets, word processing, voice recognition, and beyond Microsoft and the software industry: where they stand, where they're headed How networks work: LANs, WANs, packet switching, hardware, media, and more The Internet, e-commerce, and security Enterprise applications: data warehousing, Web-centered development, and groupware Whether you're a consumer, investor, marketer, or executive, this is your start-to-finish briefing on the information technologies that have changed the world-and the coming technologies that will transform it yet again!