To be able to discuss analytics in a structured and comprehensive way, we have developed a simple framework that describes the main components and responsibilities in an analytics solution. We have given it an equally simple name: the Five-Layer model.

Figure 1.1: The Five-Layer model

The first and lowest layer, Connect, is the starting point of analytics: if you want to analyze data, those data must come from somewhere. They could reside in Excel sheets, text files, large business databases, or somewhere on the Internet.

These raw data aren't typically in the right format to be able to analyze, especially when they come from different sources. Therefore, you need to Prepare your data. Preparation can take many forms, like imposing certain data types, transforming data, building data history, or matching data based on key attributes.

Creating nice and clean datasets in the Connect and Prepare layers can take...