Data Curious

Table of contents

1. Preface
   1. Why We Wrote This Book
   2. Who This Book Is For
   3. How This Book Is Organized
   4. O’Reilly Online Learning
   5. How to Contact Us
   6. Acknowledgments
      1. Carl Allchin
      2. Sarah Nabelsi
2. 1. The Emerging Data Challenge and Opportunity
   1. Rapidly Evolving Challenges
      1. The Growth in Data Volume and Velocity
      2. New Regulations and Government Mandates
      3. Improving Decision-Making by Democratizing Data
      4. Developing New Products and Propositions
      5. Building a Common Understanding
   2. Challenging Data Issues
      1. Data Fluency
      2. Data Culture
      3. Conflicting Preferences
   3. What Does Data Empowerment Look Like?
      1. People
      2. Processes
      3. Data-Informed Decision-Making
3. 2. Data Knowledge and Skills
   1. What Is Data?
      1. Key Features of Data
      2. Data Types
      3. Data File Structures and Formats
   2. Data as a Resource
      1. Where Data Is Created
      2. Operational versus Analytical Sources
      3. Curating Data Sources
      4. The Blessing and Curse of Data Sources
   3. Data Products
      1. Types of Analytical Output
      2. Data Visualization Best Practices
      3. Data Sets as the Product
      4. Importance of Iteration
   4. Data Skills for Better Decision-Making
      1. What Skills?
      2. Skills for Whom?
   5. Summary
4. 3. The Building Blocks of a Data Analysis System
   1. Data Extraction and Acquisition
      1. Data Extraction
      2. Data Acquisition
   2. Data Storage Logic and Terminology
      1. Types
      2. Location of Data Servers
   3. Data Enrichment and Curation
      1. Data Transformation versus Enrichment
      2. Data Quality and Governance
      3. Curating Data
   4. Data Exploration and Analysis
      1. What Is Data Exploration?
      2. Creating Analytical Outputs
   5. Sharing with Others
      1. Sharing Internally with Departments
      2. Sharing Externally with Partners
      3. Sharing Externally with the Public
   6. Summary
5. 4. Building Your Analytics Platform
   1. Technological Options
      1. Analytic Tools
      2. Data Storage and Management
      3. Data Processes and Pipelines
   2. How to Choose an Analytical Architecture
      1. Assessing Total Cost of Ownership
      2. Speed of Business Change
      3. How Will It Be Used?
      4. Internal Team versus External Support
   3. Deployment
      1. Agile Development
      2. Plan Deployment
      3. Use Analysis Techniques to Monitor Deployment
   4. Develop Through Use
      1. Create Key Reports/Dashboards
      2. Quality versus Quantity
6. 5. Setting Your Team Up for Success
   1. Recruiting
      1. Internal First
      2. External Resources
      3. Setting up Career Pathways
   2. Defining the Right Structure for your Organization
      1. Centralized versus Decentralized
      2. The Hybrid Approach
   3. Establishing and Empowerment
      1. Executive Sponsorship
      2. Data-Informed Culture
      3. Likely Challenges
   4. What’s Next?
      1. Encourage Projects that Create a Data-Informed Organization
      2. Form a Data-Fluent Team
      3. Just Get Started
7. Index
8. About the Authors