The Data Mining Process: Problem Identification

Abstract

With CRM becoming more of a business practice for most organizations today, data mining is often viewed as the analytical technology component required for achieving a given solution. Does this describe the true nature of data mining? Many people consider data mining as a technological component and think that purchasing the right software and hardware is the key to effective data mining. Other schools of thought regard the use of statistics and/or computer programming together with machine-learning algorithms as the essential component of data mining. Yet, these preconceived notions miss the mark because they focus on specific components in the overall data mining process. Data mining is a step-by-step process requiring humans to interact with technology in order to produce the best business solution for a given process. So what is this data mining process?