Briefs

CONTACT: Eric A. King (936) 321-2177 (888) 742-2454 toll free (281) 754-4014 fax press@the-modeling-agency.com www.the-modeling-agency.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TDWI EXTENDS ONSITE COURSE OFFERINGS WITH PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS AND DATA MINING FROM THE MODELING AGENCY

April 5, 2004 HOUSTON, TEXAS � The Data Warehousing Institute has expanded its curriculum of data warehousing and business intelligence courses with three new offerings in data mining and predictive analytics from The Modeling Agency (TMA). These new onsite courses will enable attendees to learn how experts uncover valuable information and profits hidden within data while avoiding elusive and costly pitfalls throughout the data mining process. Participants will enjoy a balanced, broad, and non-promotional perspective of predictive analytics.

"Predictive Analytics" offers a strategic, broad-brushed introduction to methods, tools, and applications for managers and project leaders. "Data Mining: Techniques, Tools and Tactics" presents a tactical drill-down of the data mining process, techniques and resources for practitioners. The "Data Mining Application Workshop" is a staged series of hands-on exercises in a lab setting to step through the data mining process first-hand and put the "Techniques, Tools and Tactics" course material into action. The courses may be attended individually or as a progression.

The rapid emergence of electronic data processing and collection methods has lead some to call recent times as the "Information Age." However, it may be more accurately termed as "The Age of the Data Glut." Most businesses either posses a large database or have access to one. These databases contain so much data that it becomes very difficult to understand what that data is telling us.

There is hardly a transaction that does not generate a computer record somewhere. All this data has meaning with respect to making better business decisions or understanding customer needs and preferences. But how do you discover those needs and preferences in a database that contains gigabits of seemingly incomprehensible numbers and facts? Data mining does just that.

Traditionally, organizations use data tactically - to manage operations. For competitive edge, leading organizations use data strategically - to expand the business, to improve profitability, to reduce costs, and to market more effectively. The mining of data for predictive indicators creates information assets that an organization can leverage to achieve these strategic objectives.

Predictive analytics is a new component in an enterprise's decision support system (DSS) architecture. It complements and interlocks with other DSS capabilities such as query and reporting, on-line analytical processing (OLAP), data visualization, and traditional statistical analysis. These other DSS technologies are generally retrospective.

The predictive aspect of data mining may be defined as "the data-driven discovery and modeling of hidden patterns in large volumes of data." Predictive analytics differs from the retrospective technologies above because it produces models -- models that capture and represent hidden patterns and interactions in the data. Via data mining, a user can discover patterns and build models automatically, without knowing exactly what s/he's looking for.

The resulting models are both descriptive and prospective. They address why things happened and what is likely to happen next. A user can pose "what-if" questions to a data-mining model that cannot be queried directly from the database or warehouse. Examples include: "What is the expected lifetime value of every customer account," "Which customers are likely to open a money market account," or "Will this customer cancel our service if we introduce fees?"

Organizations that invest in TDWI�s new onsite courses will:

• Make anticipatory business decisions based on information hidden within vast amounts of data
• Develop a strong vocabulary and understanding of data mining terminology
• Communicate with confidence across teams involved in analytics
• Plan and manage data mining projects effectively from the start
• Experience vendor-neutral exposure to tools and techniques that will save months of planning and product surveying
• Examine which methods and tools are most effective
• Avoid pitfalls in data preparation, modeling, and results interpretation
• Receive resources and actionable plans to substantially reduce project preparation time, costs and risks

Full details on each of the three courses may be referenced at TDWI�s Onsite Course Program web page at: www.dw-institute.com/education/courses/index.asp

The Data Warehousing Institute (TDWI), a division of 101communications, is the premier provider of in-depth, high-quality education and research in the business intelligence and data warehousing industry. TDWI is dedicated to educating business and information technology professionals about the strategies, techniques, and tools required to successfully design, build, and maintain business intelligence and data warehousing solutions. It also fosters the advancement of business intelligence and data warehousing research and contributes to knowledge transfer and professional development of its Members. TDWI sponsors and promotes a worldwide Membership program, annual educational conferences, regional educational seminars, onsite courses, solution provider partnerships, awards programs for the best practices and industry leadership, resourceful publications, an in-depth research program, and a comprehensive web site: www.dw-institute.com.

The Modeling Agency (TMA) is a structured, redundant network of senior-level data mining consultants, offering vendor-neutral public training courses, consulting and solutions in predictive modeling. TMA offers guidance and results in business analytics for those who are data-rich, yet information-poor. A thorough description of TMA's background, experience and offerings may be referenced at TMA's web site: www.the-modeling-agency.com

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