Advanced Analytics Made Easy:

How Excel, Power BI, and Analytic Solver are Democratizing Analytics

Daniel Fylstra, PresidentFrontline Systems Inc.

www.solver.com

Analytics, Power BI, and Analytic Solver Building Predictive Analytics Models

◦ Data Visualization, Classification and Prediction Building Prescriptive Analytics Models

◦ Simulation, Optimization, Stochastic Optimization Learning How: Textbooks, Courses Online Sharing Models and Solutions Online

◦ With Office 365 and Power BI

What We’ll Cover Today

Analytics – What’s it All About?

• Descriptive Analytics• Predictive Analytics• Prescriptive Analytics

Descriptive Analytics◦ Quantitative Assessment of Past Business

Results◦ Statistics, Exploratory Data Analysis, Visualization

Predictive Analytics◦ Quantitative Methods to Predict New Outcomes◦ Forecasting, Prediction, Classification, Association

Prescriptive Analytics◦ Quantitative Methods to Make Better Decisions◦ Decision Trees, Monte Carlo Simulation◦ Conventional and Stochastic Optimization

Analytics – What’s It All About?

To Get Business Results, You Must Build a Model◦ Describe Business Situation in Quantitative Terms

Data Mining Models (Machine Learning)◦ What Data Do We Have? What Data Matters?◦ What Do You Want to Predict / Classify?

Simulation Models (Human-Built)◦ What Quantities are Uncertain? How Do They Behave?

Optimization Models (Human-Built)◦ What Quantities are Under Your Control (Decisions)?◦ What are Constraints Limiting What is Possible?

Analytics – What You Need to Do

Learn/Use a Special Modeling Language◦ Lots to Learn – Different Languages for Data

Mining, Simulation, Optimization Modeling Use a General Programming Language

◦ R, Python, C#, VB, C++, Java …◦ Frontline Supports This with SDK Products

Use a Spreadsheet / Microsoft Excel◦ One Familiar Language for All Analytics Models◦ Frontline Supports This, Better Than Anyone

Analytics – How to Build a Model?

Advantage: Easier/Faster to Build Models Advantage: Familiar to Everyone, Easier to ‘Sell’

Models/Results to Management Advantage: One Tool for All Analytic Models –

Unlike Most Modeling Languages Advantage: Universal Database Client – Users can

Easily Get their Data into Excel Perceived Issue: Desktop-Based when Applications

are Increasingly Web-Based Perceived Issue: Not Powerful Enough for

Industrial Size Models and Applications

Using Excel vs. Other Tools

Microsoft Power BI Released February 2014◦ Power Pivot, Power View Included in Excel 2013◦ Power Query, Power Map Downloadable for Free◦ Power BI Sites Extend Office 365: Publish to the Web

Power Pivot: Microsoft SQL Server xVelocity Engine In-Memory with Excel◦ 100 Million Row Datasets in Excel

Power Query: Microsoft SQL Server ETL Technology In-Memory with Excel◦ Pull Data from any Enterprise or Cloud Database

Today’s Excel vs. Obsolete View

Power BI Introduction

Power Pivot + Excel Solver

Power Pivot + Excel Solver

Analytic Solver Software Runs in Excel, on your Server, in Office 365 with Premium Solver App

Our Excel Solver Platform Equals, Often Exceeds the Power of Expensive ‘Enterprise’ Tools◦ High Performance Machine Learning Methods◦ Super-Fast Simulation, Optimization◦ Latest Optimizer Engines (Gurobi, Knitro)◦ Latest Algorithms (Stochastic Decomposition)◦ Exploits Multiple Processor Cores, GPUs, Clusters

Easier to Use, Faster Path to Business Results

Today’s Excel vs. Obsolete View

Analytic Solver Platform

Integrated Analytics Tools: Full-Featured Optimization, Simulation, Decision Trees

Runs on Excel 2013, Excel 2010, Excel 2007 Excel Solver Upgrade: Accepts Solver Models

created in any Excel version (Windows / Mac) Ribbon-based User Interface for All Functions VBA Objects for Programmatic Control No Size Limits for Data Mining, Simulation; with

Plug-in Solvers, No Size Limits for Optimization

Analytic Solver Platform

Easy-to-Use, No-Compromise Analytics in Excel

Analytic Solver Platform

Analytic Solver Platform

XLMiner:Data Mining

Prem Solver: Optimizatio

nRisk Solver: Simulation

Mining of Simulation Results ∙ Optimization with Uncertainty

Forecasting/Data Mining in Excel◦ Explore, Visualize, Transform Your Data: Linked,

Interactive Charts and Graphs◦ Find Hidden Relationships (Clusters) in Data ◦ Build Time Series Forecasting Models in Excel:

Past Data Time Series New Forecast◦ Build Prediction, Classification, Association Models

in Excel: Multiple Input Variables Output

Analytic Solver Platform and its Subsets: Predictive Analytics

Turn Business Data into Business Insights

Fastest Monte Carlo Simulation in Excel◦ Uses Polymorphic Spreadsheet Interpreter◦ Vectorized Evaluation Using Multiple Cores

Powerful Simulation Modeling Features◦ 50 Distributions, 30 Statistics/Risk Measures◦ Latin Hypercube, Quasi Monte Carlo Sampling◦ Rank-Order Correlation of Dissimilar Distributions◦ Distribution Fitting on Inputs and Outputs

Multiple Simulations with Parameters◦ Cases, Sensitivity Analysis, Reports, Charts

Analytic Solver Platform Simulation

Most Powerful for Conventional Optimization◦ Large Scale LP/MIP, Nonlinear, Non-Smooth Models

Comprehensive Stochastic Optimization Support◦ Simulation Optimization, Stochastic Programming,

Robust Optimization Methods Uses Polymorphic Spreadsheet Interpreter

◦ Automatic Model Diagnosis: Linear, Quadratic, Nonlinear◦ Automatic Differentiation of Nonlinear Functions◦ Vectorized, Multi-Core Function Evaluation

Eight Plug-in, Large-Scale Solver Engines

Analytic Solver Platform Optimization

Object-Oriented API in Excel VBA

Making 2.4 Million Optimal Decisions

Textbook Data Mining for Business Intelligence (Wiley, 2nd Ed) Uses XLMiner Throughout

Textbook Practical Time Series Forecasting (Kindle, 2nd Ed) Uses XLMiner Throughout

Websites Offer Aids for Students & Instructors

Learning Data Mining and Forecasting

www.dataminingbook.comwww.forecastingbook.com

Cliff Ragsdale Spreadsheet Modeling 7th EdPowell & Baker Management Science 4th EdCamm et al Essentials of Business Analytics James Evans Business Analytics Use Analytic Solver Platform Throughout

Hundreds of Courses, 50,000+ MBA Students

Learning Optimization and Simulation

Webinar Format, Taught by Dr. Sima Maleki Data Mining Course Offered March – April Optimization Course Offered May – June Simulation Course Offered June – July Using Management Science 4th Edition

Digital Version (VitalSource e-Reader) as Text Video Recordings Available for Our Users Also Available: More than 20 Short Videos

New: Frontline’s Short Courses

Deliver Results Faster, Reduce Your Costs, Get More Clients

Save up to 80% on Development Tools Free Demo Licenses for Clients Personalized Consulting Support

Consultants: How We Can Help

Exposure on Solver.com to Two Million Visitors Annually

Opportunity for Qualified Lead Referral Contact Us or Visit Solver.com to Learn More

Office 365: Uses Excel 2013 and Excel Online◦ Create/Solve Your Model in Desktop Excel◦ Create an End User Worksheet or Visualization◦ Save to Office 365, Use it with Excel Online◦ Update and Re-Solve with Premium Solver App

Power View: Excel Workbooks as Dashboards Power BI: Extends Office 365 for “Self Service

Business Intelligence”◦ 10GB Workbooks, Power Pivot Data Model Updates◦ Refresh from SQL Server Azure, OData Sources◦ Gateway for On-Premise Enterprise Databases

Sharing Models Online with Others

Solver App: Create Excel Solver Models in the Cloud

Solver App in the Office Store

Learn more at solver.com/app

New Premium Solver App: Power in the Cloud

Creates and Solves Models in Excel Workbooks Online, in Office 365 or SharePoint 2013

Accepts Solver Models Created in All Previous Excel Versions (Windows, Mac)

Solves using Solver Server on Windows Azure

Solver App and Premium Solver App

Solver App Premium Solver AppExcel Solver Limits (200 Vars) Premium Solver / Platform LimitsExcel Solver Engines Platform + Select Plug-in EnginesExcel Solver Models Model Diagnosis / TransformationFree for Everyone $49.99 Per Month

SDK Solver Server on Windows Azure

Polymorphic Spreadsheet InterpreterLP/QP

Simplex Solver

SOCP Barrier Solver

GRG Nonlinear

SolverEvolutionary

Solver

8 Large-Scale Solver Engines

Clients: PCs, Browsers, Phones

Monte Carlo Simulation

Solver SDK Web Service Architecture

WSDL API Exposure

Receive XML

Workbooks

Multi-Threaded Solver Job Scheduler

Transmit XML Solution Files

Accept Web Service

Calls

TCP/IP Network

Develop and Test Analytic Models in Excel Desktop or Excel Online

Build Applications in Microsoft Visual Studio With Power BI or Solver SDK, Update your

Excel Model with New Data, and Re-Solve Use our Solver SDK Web Service to Solve

Your Models Anytime, Anywhere Get Results Quickly, Deploy Apps Quickly

Summary: Analytics Models from Excel to Your Server to the Cloud

Frontline Systems, Inc.Incline Village, Nevada, US

Email info@solver.comWeb www.solver.com

Toll-Free (888) 831-0333Tel (775) 831-0300Fax (775) 831-0314

Stay in Touch with UsOur Aim is to Help You Succeed

Analytic Solver Platform and Subsets