Advances in data acquisition and storage-based technologies have resulted in the creation of databases that were unimaginable even a few years ago. The need for such huge databases can be attributed to modern-day business demands where there is a need to stay one step ahead of competition with up-to-date information, data analyses and fast turnaround product offerings.

The provision of front-end tools to aid the decision-making process of organisations has gained further impetus with the increasing realisation that knowledge is a key resource for an organisation to achieve its goals. Of the various technologies available, knowledge technology is unique and has the capability to deliver lasting competitive advantage.

Data mining tools empower a user to search for patterns of information in data, thereby capitalising on all the information and data available to a company.

The rapid decrease of both processing and storage costs in conjunction with the vast amounts of digital data, advances in machine learning and statistics available today, has made data mining an achievable reality.

If the right processes are established for data mining to be maximised, the resource base that is created adds a new dimension to decision making. It gives the organisation a powerful tool to help maximise business opportunities by harnessing the information needed to make effective business decisions.

The extent and detail of the data amassed in corporate databases has the potential to change the way organisations are structured; the way they conduct their business (by empowering the end user to make decisions at the point of sale); and the type of service they deliver by better targeting their investments.

Industries, such as banking, retailing and telecommunications, which generate huge volumes of transaction data and are now subject to lesser regulation and greater competition, are well positioned to benefit from the use of data mining technology.

Information and knowledge about customers can be used to build long-lasting customer relationships, expand the customer base and increase sales of the more profitable products. Data mining tools enable an organisation to continually learn from its data by capitalising on business trends made available through the constant analyses of enormous amounts of data.

With vital information consistently at the finger tips of the decision makers, a company is able to go with the ebbs and flows of the business environment it is in; and all the while maximising business goals based on analyses of changing consumer demands.

Data mining tools allow companies to maximise business competitiveness by harnessing the data and information they have available. The three key areas where data mining is expected to play an important role are marketing, customer service and fraud detection.

By implementing an effective data mining system, companies will be able to benefit with information such as:

• optimum sales forecasting

• vulnerability analysis

• customer profiling

• identifying high value customer prospects

• financial product recommendations based on multiple factors

Two major challenges stand in the way of corporations capturing the benefits of data mining.

They are efficiency and scalability with existing systems and databases within organisations.

As data mining (DM) requires access to large volumes of data, DM tools must be fully integrated with a large data warehouse. DM tools work by establishing trends from a set of records or by detailing structures or relationships from variables that are set in the database.

In most cases, pure DM is effectively performed "beside" the warehouse, as a separate repository, with data structures that lend themselves to detailed analyses.

The benefits of DM technology to an organisation are limited only by the information that is currently available and a company's desire to stay competitive, or to go beyond that and have

a competitive advantage in the marketplace.