Thursday 27 June 2013

How To Make The Most of Your Data

Effective use of data mining tools require a great interface. No matter what data mining system you use, you'll need to work through an interface to get the information you need. In choosing a data mining tool, the reliability, ease of use and flexibility of data outputs should be key components in your decision. Essentially, you're in need of a business intelligence solution that includes data mining tools for accurate output of data in an easy-to-understand format. Understanding what data mining is will help you decide if its necessary for your business.

Data mining is the process of extracting patterns from large data sets by combining methods of statistics and "if then, then that" artificial intelligence with a database. So, firstly, if you have large databases, in multiple places, and you need to be able to sift through that data to find relevant information for your day to day operation, then yes, you need a data mining tool.

Data mining tools are typically found within business intelligence software but require some intrinsic customization to make the data sorting applicable to your unique work environment. For example, many large police departments have opted to use business intelligence solutions simply because they have massive amounts of data to sort through during any given day. Those sources of data can be from related government agencies for child welfare or fraud benefits crime cases. In addition, that data could also come from historical history of activities in a local area, records of attendees to those events, crimes based out of those events and so on. Imagine the multitude of data to sort through in order to make a judgment on which direction to investigate to solve a single crime. It's virtually impossible without the use of data mining technology.

Data mining tools to have the capability to handle all types of input and output data such as text, video feed, sound feed, email, text messages, other computer systems, and your website. Depending on your needs and your company operations, you have to determine what data will come into the tool and how the information will be crunched, sorted, filter and how it will be presented. In addition, serious consideration must be in place to prevent erroneous data. Bad data in is bad data out. For example, validity checks such as 10 digit phone numbers and birth years are within a certain reasonable range are verified before being accepted into the data system. Once the data has been verified and crunched via the data mining tool according to your specifications, the business intelligence software will help determine how that data is represented. Without being able to understand data, it holds no value to the consumer. Therefore, visual representation of data is a modern approach to the old fashioned, lines of excel spreadsheets.

Data can be mapped, graphed or superimposed over a supporting image. Back to the example for law enforcement officers. A map of past crimes that occurred during daylight hours can be superimposed over a map of crimes that occurred at night. For any officer, who is not experienced in any data mining techniques, would immediately be able to see if the same type crimes travel depending on day or night. In addition, visually predicted areas of crime based on data analysis from the business intelligence software would highlight where additional resources are needed to deter crime before it even happens. For small to large police departments, this availability of data crunched down into usable information is what takes the guess work out crime fighting.

Carefully consider how much time, personnel and cost is involved in sorting through relevant and irrelevant data in order to get the information that is valuable for your organization. If you're still doing things the old fashioned way of gut feeling and simple spreadsheets, you might want to consider upgrading your technology to a business intelligence solution suite. Even though the initial investment might be somewhat costly, the long term advantages include faster and better data results that can take the guesswork out of day to day operations.

Beyond Insight Inc [http://www.beyondinsightinc.com] is a business intelligence solutions company that is dedicated to truly empowering organizations of any size with capabilities and tools to perform optimally. By leveraging comprehensive and powerful business intelligence solutions, Beyond Insight Inc provides the perfect blend of people, processes and technology.


Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Make-The-Most-of-Your-Data&id=6198886

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