Big Data Analytics: Turning Big Data into Big Money

Acknowledgments

Take it from me, writing a book takes time, patience, and motivation in equal measures. At times the challenges can be overwhelming, and it becomes very easy to lose focus. However, analytics, patterns, and uncovering the hidden meaning behind data have always attracted me. When one considers the possibilities offered by comprehensive analytics and the inclusion of what may seem to be unrelated data sets, the effort involved seems almost inconsequential.

The idea for this book came from a brief conversation with John Wiley & Sons editor Timothy Burgard, who contacted me out of the blue with a proposition to build on some articles I had written on Big Data. Tim explained that comprehensive information that could be consumed by C-level executives and those entering the data analytics arena was sorely lacking, and he thought that I was up to the challenge of creating that information. So it was with Tim’s encouragement that I started down the path to create a book on Big Data.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the excellent advice and additional motivation that I received from John Wiley & Sons development editor Stacey Rivera, who was faced with the challenge of keeping me on track and moving me along in the process—a chore that I would not wish on anyone!

Putting together a book like this is a long journey that introduced me to many experts, mentors, and acquaintances who helped me to shape my ideology on how large data sets can be brought together for processing ...