Data Mining is the process of extracting knowledge hidden from large volumes of raw data.
Data mining, or knowledge discovery, is the computer-assisted process of digging through and analyzing enormous sets of data and then extracting the meaning of the data. Data mining tools predict behaviors and future trends, allowing businesses to make proactive, knowledge-driven decisions. Data mining tools can answer business questions that traditionally were too time consuming to resolve. They scour databases for hidden patterns, finding predictive information that experts may miss because it lies outside their expectations.
Data mining derives its name from the similarities between searching for valuable information in a large database and mining a mountain for a vein of valuable ore. Both processes require either sifting through an immense amount of material, or intelligently probing it to find where the value resides.
The goal of data mining is to allow a corporation to improve its marketing, sales, and customer support operations through better understanding of its customers. The data mining techniques and tools are equally applicable in fields ranging from law enforcement to radio astronomy, medicine, and industrial process control. The choice of a particular combination of techniques to apply in a particular situation depends on both the nature of the data mining task to be accomplished and the nature of the available data.
The importance of collecting data that reflect your business or scientific activities to achieve competitive advantage is widely recognized now. Powerful systems for collecting data and managing it in large databases are in place in all large and mid-range companies. However, the bottleneck of turning this data into your su ...