CB Predictor from Decisioneering Inc. can alleviate some of the psychological and practical barriers, hiding the intricacies of statistical methods while making use of the analyst's existing knowledge of spreadsheets. These steps are logical and easy to understand, making the job of forecasting easy. By designing CB Predictor as an add-on to Microsoft Excel, the developers have taken advantage of the Excel user's existing knowledge to provide a familiar look and feel. This reduces the time needed to learn to use the product, radically shortening the interval from loading the program to producing useful predictions. Time-series analysis predicts the next element of a series that is arranged as a time sequence, using the trend and any seasonal pattern in the historic data.
Regression is used to estimate the value of one variable when other related variables are known.
Familiar Face CB Predictor's interface is familiar to any user who has used a wizard. Start the process by bringing up historical data in an Excel spreadsheet, with dates in the far left column and column headers across the top. Select any cell in the range, then click on the CB Predictor icon on the Excel button bar. The program launches as a wizard that guides the user in the 10-step analysis process. The user simply selects check-box items or pushes command buttons, following simple text instructions on the window.