DataMaster Part 1

After completing the DataMaster program, you will be able to:

• Obtain and process disparate sources of data into a format suitable for your analysis work.
• Understand and apply techniques to clean data for effective modeling.
• Analyze, explore and model your data.
• Recognize where key data might be missing and use creative means to find or generate the data that is needed.
• Uncover valuable insight from data using statistical methods and exploratory analysis.
• Communicate data-based findings in visually compelling ways.

DataMasters work on projects that:

• Draw on data available from varied internal, external and cross-domain sources.
• Address difficult problems that have not been solved with conventional tools and wisdom.
• Take complex information and make it easy to understand and communicate.
• May not have a clearly defined outcome by approaching it with an exploration oriented mindset.

Over the course of five days, you will study the following topics:

Methodology

Part 1 Agenda

• Analytics Introduction
• The Business Analytics Hypothesis
• Analytical Methodologies
• Statistics Review
• Case Study Introduction
• Obtain and Scrub Your Data
• Exploratory Data Analysis
• Data Visualization
• Linear Regression
  Time Series Forecasting
• Dashboard Creation
• Clustering
• Big Data!
• Case Study Work

DataMaster follows a guided introduction process along with the completion of an analytics case study.

Excel Solver: Find optimal solutions with Solver
Microsoft Excel includes an optimization tool called Solver. This free tool enables the DataMaster to find optimal solutions for many business problems. Working through a methodical approach, DataMasters will determine the decision to be made, the constraints on that decision and the overall measure of performance. They will return to their employer able to analyze data to maximize profits, minimize overtime, optimize schedules and address other business issues.

Excel Analysis ToolPak: Perform complex statistical analysis
The Analysis ToolPak is a free add-in program that adds extra financial, statistical and engineering functions to Excel spreadsheets. The Analysis ToolPak in Excel provides the DataMaster with tools to perform ANOVA, correlation analysis, regression, t-tests and much more. DataMaster students will work with a case study using various tools to deep dive into the data to better understand relationships and data modeling techniques.

Power BI: See your company’s data in new ways with Power BI
Microsoft’s Power BI is a free cloud-based business analytics service. Microsoft’s leading analytics tool allows you to ask a question and generate a visualization for better and deeper understanding. It is incredibly powerful and easy to use and many find it an impressive alternative to the much more expensive options. The DataMaster student will use Power BI to quickly analyze data and create dashboards and other stunning visualizations to bring data to life.