Data

Analytics
Basics
A Beginner’s Guide
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Introduction 01

An overview of data analytics 02

The applications of data analytics 03

Real-world use cases of data analytics 05

A glossary of data analytics terms 07

Begin your journey in data analytics 10

Where do I start? 12
AN OVERVIEW OF
DATA ANALYTICS
In today’s digital environment, a wide The basics of data analytics revolve
variety of sources - be it documents, around the collection, refining, and
electronic media, social platforms, structuring of bulk data into a well-
organizations, or individuals - generate defined analytical model, using
massive amounts of unstructured or different programming languages such
raw data. as Python, R, Scala, or SQL.

Systematically analyzing the data, Data analysts leverage the results

and extracting actionable insights gained from analytical models
from it, is in recent times imperative to identify groupings, trends, or
for modern enterprises to strengthen relationships between various data
their decision-making capabilities types, which help organizations make
and maintain competitiveness. This is informed decisions and meet business
where data analytics comes in. targets.

Data analytics involves multiple

processes and applications that
observe, transform, cleanse, and
model data to derive meaningful
information from
large datasets.

The professionals tasked with

collecting, analyzing, cleansing, and
profiling data are data analysts. They
are also responsible for testing and
developing analytical models centered
on the data obtained and analyzed.

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THE APPLICATIONS
OF DATA ANALYTICS
The major industries that are implementing advanced analytical technologies
include -

Retail
The retail sector most likely sees the maximum application of
cutting-edge data analytics techniques. With the industry steadily
shifting to a digital ecosystem, an increasing number of retailers
are using data analytics to understand consumer behavioral
patterns, which helps the designing of customized services
that enhance the buying experience. From engineering product
recommendations to forecasting demand, and crisis control,
global retail brands are deploying analytics for almost everything.

Healthcare
The dramatic advent of innovative technologies is transforming
the healthcare industry worldwide. Data analytics is playing
a vital role in helping healthcare professionals find medical
breakthroughs, deliver hyper-personalized treatment, and
improve the patient’s quality of life. The medical industry relies
on data analytics not to increase profits, but rather to improve
the standard of healthcare by proactively identifying diseases and
reducing risk factors.

Media and Entertainment

An early adopter of data analytics technologies, the digital
entertainment and media industry implements analytical tools and
techniques for predicting viewer interests, personalizing content
delivery, optimizing media streams, targeting advertisements, and
gaining useful insights from audience reviews.

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Banking
After retail, the banking sector makes the most active use of data
analytics. Analytical modeling allows banks to track down credit
card misuse, detect fraudulent activities, and eliminate system
loopholes. Besides empowering banks to create personalized
products, other data analytics applications in the financial sector
include risk management, performance monitoring, and improved
compliance reporting.

Transportation
Over the past few years, data analytics has been crucial for
reforms in the transport industry. Using a variety of historical
trends, technical data, and real-time information, data analytics
helps the transport industry effectively manage assets, predict
traffic congestion, and focus on everyday occurrences while
minimizing operating costs.

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REAL-WORLD USE
CASES OF DATA
ANALYTICS
As digital technologies advance at a rapid pace, all organizations are getting
fast access to a wealth of data. However, possessing enormous amounts of
data makes no sense if businesses do not analyze the information to gain key
insights. Here’s how successful brands are using data analytics to address a
diverse range of business-critical needs.

American multinational food, snack, Amazon Fresh, a subsidiary of

and beverage corporation PepsiCo the global e-commerce company
leverages data analytics to manage Amazon.com, is an excellent instance
its supply chain efficiently. of how data analytics can drive
product development and innovation.
The company aims to ensure
that its retail store shelves never run Amazon implements data analytics
out of products. to gain the expertise it needs to
create and achieve greater value for
The organization’s clients submit its grocery delivery service brand—
reports that contain Point of Sale Amazon Fresh.
(POS) and warehouse inventory
data, which PepsiCo uses to forecast By putting an emphasis on data
and reconcile the shipment and analytics, Amazon reviews how
production needs. consumers buy their products and
how the supplier interacts with them.
In this way, the firm ensures that its
retailers get correct quantities of The results procured from
PepsiCo products on time. analytical reasoning help Amazon
make changes wherever and
whenever needed.

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Singapore-based multinational Intercontinental beverage
banking organization, United corporation, Coca-Cola, deploys
Overseas Bank, applies big data data analytics for driving customer
analytics to manage its risks. retention.

The financial institution, in the The 130-year-old company, in 2015,

recent past, conducted a test of its launched a data-driven customer
risk management system using big loyalty program to bolster its
data analytics. digital strategy.

UOB found that the new risk While consumers made the most of
management system significantly the rewards, Coca-Cola collected
reduced the time needed to calculate crucial personal information for
the total value of assets at risk. data analytics, which helped the
organization improve customer
Previously, it took approximately 18 h, interactions.
but after implementing data analytics,
calculating risks is now a matter of Data analytics not only empowered
few minutes. the super-brand to keep its
customers, but it also enabled the
company to upsell its new products
while boosting the consumption of
existing product lines.

Netflix, Inc., an American technology

company and media services
provider, is a brilliant example of
how brands can use data analytics in
targeted advertising.

With well over 100 million subscribers,

Netflix collects vast amounts of data,
which they analyze to determine what
a subscriber is more interested in.

The world’s #1 internet entertainment

service, Netflix, achieves this through
data analytics, which provides them
with smart insights based on a
subscriber’s past search data.

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A GLOSSARY OF
DATA ANALYTICS
TERMS
To become a part of the data analytics industry, it is important to
be familiar with the key terminologies related to the field. Here is a
list of terms and jargons that surround data analytics.

Data Science
An interdisciplinary application, data science uses various
processes, scientific methods, and algorithms to derive insights
and knowledge from an array of structured and unstructured
data. Researchers link this field to big data analytics, data mining,
and machine learning.

Data Mining
Data mining refers to the methods and techniques used for
identifying patterns within big datasets. It leverages database
systems, statistics, and machine learning to detect trends and
patterns.

Hadoop
The Hadoop framework incorporates a set of open-source
software tools that allow distributed computing across several
computer clusters. It enables data professionals to solve various
problems involving large datasets. Apache Hadoop facilitates
scaling up from a single server to hundreds of machines, where
each machine offers local storage and computation.

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Predictive Modelling
Predictive modeling uses statistical analysis for predicting
outcomes using data models. The models can predict whatever
organizations want, from corporate earnings to technological
advances, television ratings, or sports results.

MapReduce
Software for distributed processing of datasets, MapReduce
algorithms for data analytics comprises a ‘map method’ for
filtering, and a ‘reduce procedure’ for summary operation.

NoSQL Database
NoSQL databases provide storage and retrieving mechanisms
for data, modeled in a way different from tabular relations seen
in relational database applications. These databases have been
around since the 1960s, but at the start of the 21st century, Web
2.0 companies coined the name “NoSQL”.

Python
A high-level, interpreted, general-purpose computer language
developed by Guido van Rossum, Python incorporates a design
philosophy that focuses on readable-code with significant use of
whitespace.

R
A free-to-use software environment, data professionals use the
R programming language for computational statistics. Data
miners, data analysts, and statisticians use R for data analysis and
statistical software development.

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Recommendation Engine
A recommendation engine, also called a recommendation system,
recommends products, services, and content to end consumers,
based on data analytics. The recommendations rely on several
factors, including customer behavioral patterns, or user search
history.

Spark
Apache Spark is a general-purpose, open-source, cluster-
computing software framework. The widely-adopted computer
program, which integrates modules for SQL, graph processing,
machine learning, and streaming, offers a solid programming
interface for cluster computers with inherent fault tolerance and
data parallelism.

Structured Data
Structured data refers to “clean” data, organized as tables or
charts containing columns, rows, or multidimensional arrays. The
easy-to-understand, readily available structured data, expedites
analytical, and data mining processes.

Unstructured Data
Unstructured data is unorganized, raw information, not arranged
or structured in a defined format, such as tables or charts.
Raw data is heavy, incomplete, inconsistent, or inaccurate, until
analysts cleanse and refine the unstructured information to draw
meaningful insights.

Visualization
Visualization is the visual representation of datasets in the form of
lists, graphs, charts, or maps. The display of data in a graphical or
pictorial format makes recognizing patterns and gaining
insights easier.

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BEGIN YOUR
JOURNEY IN
DATA ANALYTICS
In this section, we’ll talk about how you can launch your career in
data analysis.

The Skills You’ll Need

A career in the field of data analytics requires you to master the
following skills:

Programming
An aspirant must have a comprehensive knowledge of
programming languages, including R, Python, and SQL. Other
useful languages include Java, Oracle, SAS, MATLAB, Tensorflow,
Scala, and Julia.

Math
Those in data analyst roles must be strong in basic math skills,
specifically statistics. That’s because they are faced with many
day-to-day situations when these skills comes in handy, for
example, when dealing with small datasets, which are best tackled
with the statistical capabilities of Microsoft Excel.

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Data Processing Platforms
Data analysts need to be familiar with big data processing
platforms like Hadoop and Apache Spark in order to handle large
datasets. The working knowledge and understanding of these
frameworks allow data analysts to query data across multiple
devices, and scrub, model, and interpret it to gain more in-depth
insight into data patterns and identify relationships and trends.

Visualization
Along with extracting insights out of datasets, it is equally
important to be able to present them clearly, particularly for
stakeholders. For this reason, a data analyst must know how
to produce graphical representations of the findings using
visualization tools, such as Tableau.

Machine Learning
Being at the heart of any large-scale data analysis, automation
is a crucial part of this field. This requires a data analyst to have
considerable machine learning skills to be able to create, apply,
and train the most fitting models and algorithms to datasets to
find solutions for specific problems.

Besides, a data analyst must also possess:

Skills to interpret, analyze, and model data

Problem-solving skills

Interpersonal skills

Communication skills

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WHERE DO I START?
You should start by making the most of online resources and books that are
available for free. There are some exciting stuff on the Internet that can help you
build a solid foundation.

These days, employers are not emphasizing on formal education to fill talent
gaps, however, having an academic degree in computer science, mathematics,
or statistics will help you climb up the career ladder quickly.

The easiest way to establish yourself as a data analyst is to get certified by a

top-rated institution, such as Simplilearn, which is one of the world’s leading
certification providers.

This data analytics handbook suggests Simplilearn because of the wide variety
of courses it offers. From Data Analytics Course for Beginners to Data Analyst
Master’s program in collaboration with IBM, and Post Graduate Program in
Data Analytics, Simplilearn positions itself uniquely to cater to the needs of
every aspiring data analyst. Begin Now!

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