Introduction

Data is being produced at a rate previously unimaginable and businesses are increasingly mining that data using statistical, operations research, and computer programming tools and techniques to inform their business decisions. The ability to understand, analyze and interpret businesses from Big Data has become increasingly more important today. Data analytics is the application of these tools and techniques. This book will introduce students to the fundamental concepts of data analytics that are most relevant to businesses today. Topics covered will include, but not be limited to, data visualization, descriptive analytics, predictive analytics.

Businesses, governments, and individuals create massive collections of data as a by-product of their activity. Increasingly, decision-makers and systems rely on intelligent technology to analyze data systematically in order to improve decision-making. In many cases automating analytical and decision-making processes is necessary because of the volume of data and the speed with which new data are generated. This book will help you to understand data analytics and its role in business and become familiar with various data analytics techniques and tools.

Students who successfully complete this book will be able to:

• Gain an understanding of how business analytics are used to formulate and solve business problems and to support managerial decision-making.
• Identify and translate real-world business problems into business analytics problems.
• Become familiar with data management and data mining techniques to develop, analyze, and report business data.
• Apply descriptive analytics, predictive analytics, and prescriptive analytics tools to analyze real-world business data.