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Data Mining
There is so much information stored in the computers that run business processes in every
company, large and small. But is this information used effectively? What could businesses learn
if they collected all the information in one place and analyzed trends and patterns? They might
learn a lot that could save them money. And that's where data mining comes in.
What is data mining?
This
course web page in the business school at UCLA defines data mining as the "process of
analyzing data from different perspectives and summarizing it into useful information -
information that can be used to increase revenue, cuts costs, or both."
What do you do as a data miner?
You would help to develop processes for integrating
data from a variety of databases, making sure that the databases can "talk" to each other.
You would assist business decision makers in developing queries to analyze the data and
develop reports so that the decision makers could look at the data in useful formats.
What kind of training do you need?
You need a strong background in database design
and administration and a good understanding of businesses processes. Companies are often
looking for people with experience or background in statistics. For sample job descriptions
look at: kdnuggets.com
For more information about data mining in general take a look at:
http://www.thearling.com/
The articles linked below deal with specific issues in data mining:
- http://www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/story/0,10801,93824,00.html
- http://www.computerworld.com/databasetopics/data/story/0,10801,93539,00.html
- http://www.computerworld.com/softwaretopics/crm/story/0,10801,93914,00.html
- http://www.computerworld.com/databasetopics/data/story/0,10801,93940,00.html
- http://www.computerworld.com/databasetopics/data/story/0,10801,93895,00.html
- http://www.computerworld.com/databasetopics/data/story/0,10801,93910,00.html
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