US Patent 7788200 Goal seeking using predictive analytics

Seeking goals in data that can be expressed as rows and columns is provided through predictive analytics. If a desired goal is achievable, the changes to the rows and/or columns that can achieve the goal are presented to a user. If the desired goal is not achievable, an error message or other indicator can be presented to the user. Predictive analytics can include a predictive algorithm, various data mining techniques, or other predictive techniques. A confidence metric of a goal-seek result can be normalized to estimate the degree of confidence that a particular change will yield the desired outcome.