"Moneyball" helped make predictive analytics famous, but companies of all types are discovering these techniques'immense value for improving decision-making and profitability. Not everyone has access to expensive predictive analytics tools such as SAS, but virtually every business professional does have software that can serve the purpose admirably: Microsoft Excel. In this complete, hands-on tutorial, Microsoft Excel MVP Conrad Carlberg shows business professionals exactly how to solve real-world business problems with Excel predictive analytics, in areas ranging from sales and marketing to operations. Building on skills they already have, experienced Excel users will master techniques ranging from least squares regression and moving averages through smoothing, ARIMA, and logistic regression. Carlberg helps Excel users avoid pitfalls associated with simply "plugging" numbers into Excel's Data Analysis add-in (formerly "Analysis ToolPak"), showing how to create more credible, reliable forecasts. His forecasting coverage is more thorough and sophisticated than that of any other book. Carlberg also provides downloadable Excel workbooks that can be easily adapted to readers'unique requirements. This book's techniques are highly prized by companies seeking to increase revenues, reduce costs, and improve productivity; businesspeople who master these skills will have a major competitive advantage.