A generalized framework for knowledge discovery in business environments

Business databases that have accumulated over many years of business records typically contain a wealth of hidden knowledge that could potentially be utilized by management to make better informed business decisions. In this paper, we describe a framework for knowledge discovery from business databases and demonstrate how the discovered knowledge can be put into good use. The proposed framework uses an application that integrates data mining processes with online analytical processing (OLAP). Our aim is to present an easy-to-use solution that can be used by people who do not necessarily have much IT knowledge and still be able to perform the tasks of knowledge discovery effectively. In fact, feedback from business decision-makers and managers who have used our prototype system for over two to five years has been very encouraging.