Analyzing Business Data with Excel

Book excerpt: As one of the most widely used desktop applications ever created, Excel is familiar to just about everyone with a computer and a keyboard. Yet most of us don't know the full extent of what Excel can do, mostly because of its recent growth in power, versatility, and complexity. The truth is that there are many ways Excel can help make your job easier-beyond calculating sums and averages in a standard spreadsheet. Analyzing Business Data with Excel shows you how to solve real-world business problems by taking Excel's data analysis features to the max. Rather than focusing on individual Excel functions and features, the book keys directly on the needs of business users. Most of the chapters start with a business problem or question, and then show you how to create pointed spreadsheets that address common data analysis issues. Aimed primarily at experienced Excel users, the book doesn't spend much time on the basics. After introducing some necessary general tools, it quickly moves into more specific problem areas, such as the following: Statistics Pivot tables Workload forecasting Modeling Measuring quality Monitoring complex systems Queuing Optimizing Importing data If you feel as though you're getting shortchanged by your overall application of Excel, Analyzing Business Data with Excel is just the antidote. It addresses the growing Excel data analysis market head on. Accountants, managers, analysts, engineers, and supervisors-one and all-will learn how to turn Excel functionality into actual solutions for the business problems that confront them.