Master the tools that transform the information in spreadsheets, databases, and servers into faster, better business decisions. Packed with expert insights and practical Your Turn exercises, this essential guide shows how to use the data analysis capabilities in Microsoft® Office applications to capture data, analyze trends, identify risks—and seize opportunities. It covers everything from mastering the basics of sorting, filtering, and formatting data to performing sophisticated what-if scenarios, analyzing multidimensional data, and even creating automated data-analysis solutions.

Discover how to turn data into results!

• Help numbers tell the story with compelling, well-designed Excel charts, graphs, and reports
• Use PivotTable® and PivotChart® dynamic views to detect patterns and evaluate trends
• Use Data Analyzer to perform detailed analyses and present information in dynamic pie charts, bar graphs, and other views
• Publish and analyze data over the Web using Office Web Components
• Learn techniques to interpret—and exchange—XML data
• Analyze large databases using the OLAP features in Microsoft Excel
• Write code to automate data analysis and reporting solutions
  
• Implement a database maintenance plan that helps keep data accurate, accessible, and secure

Get tools and sample files on CD, including:

• Add-ins for Microsoft Access and Excel, including Report Manager, XML Spreadsheet, and OLAP CubeCellValue
• Dozens of sample PivotTables and PivotCharts to experiment with
• Office XP Web Component Toolpack
• Multimedia Data Analyzer tutorial
• Fully searchable eBook
• More code, databases, and extras to put your data to work!

A Note Regarding the CD or DVD

The print version of this book ships with a CD or DVD. For those customers purchasing one of the digital formats in which this book is available, we are pleased to offer the CD/DVD content as a free download via O'Reilly Media's Digital Distribution services. To download this content, please visit O'Reilly's web site, search for the title of this book to find its catalog page, and click on the link below the cover image (Examples, Companion Content, or Practice Files). Note that while we provide as much of the media content as we are able via free download, we are sometimes limited by licensing restrictions. Please direct any questions or concerns to booktech@oreilly.com.

Paul Cornell has been with Microsoft for five years, serving as an inside sales representative, a sales trainer, and a documentation specialist. For the last two-and-a-half years he has been working as a writer and an editor in Office User Assistance. He also currently works for the MSDN Online Office Developer Center and the Microsoft Office Business Intelligence initiative. His projects have included work on the Microsoft Office XP Visual Basic® for Applications Language Reference, the Microsoft Office XP Web Services Toolkit, the Microsoft Office XP Fabrikam 2.0 Solution Sample, and the Microsoft Data Analyzer Tutorial. He writes the "Office Talk" column for MSDN at http://msdn.microsoft.com/columns/​office.asp and contributes to the "Office Power User Corner" column for the Microsoft Office Assistance Center at http://office.microsoft.com/assistance.