Preface
There are many good books in the market on Data Analytics. So, why should anyone write another
book on this topic? I have been teaching courses in business intelligence and data mining for a few
years. More recently, I have been teaching this course to combined classes of MBA and Computer
Science students. Existing textbooks seem too long, too technical, and too complex for use by
students. This book fills a need for an accessible book on this topic. My goal was to write a
conversational book that feels easy and informative. This is an accessible book that covers everything
important, with concrete examples, and invites the reader to join this field.
The book has developed from my own class notes. It reflects my decades of IT industry experience,
as well as many years of academic teaching experience. The chapters are organized for a typical one-
semester graduate course. The book contains caselets from real-world stories at the beginning of
every chapter. There is a running case study across the chapters as exercises.
Many thanks are in order. My father Mr. Ratan Lal Maheshwari encouraged me to put my thoughts in
writing, and make a book out of it. My wife Neerja helped me find the time and motivation to write
this book. My brother Dr. Sunil Maheshwari was the sources of many encouraging conversations
about it. My colleague Dr. Edi Shivaji provided advice during my teaching the Data Analytics
courses. Another colleague Dr. Scott Herriott served as a role model as an author of many textbooks.
Yet another colleague, Dr. Greg Guthrie provided many ideas and ways to disseminate the book. Our
department assistant Ms. Karen Slowick at MUM proof-read the first draft of this book. Ms. Adri-
Mari Vilonel in South Africa helped create an opportunity to use this book for the first time at a
corporate MBA program.
Thanks are also due to to my many students at MUM and elsewhere who proved good partners in my
learning more about this area. Finally, thanks to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for providing a wonderful
university, MUM, where students develop their intellect as well as their consciousness.
Dr. Anil K. Maheshwari
Fairfield, IA.
November 2015
