Abstract

In a 2017 survey of Military Operations Research Society (MORS) members, more than 55% of respondents revealed that out of 15 analytical techniques presented, Data Analytics, Statistics, Simulation, and Optimization formed the principal techniques used in the execution of their analytical duties (Goerger, 2017). To enable quality analysis, analysts nearly always rely upon software to uncover insights that might not otherwise be accessible by manual methods. Underscoring the importance of software in the practice of operations research, consider that the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) publishes a bimonthly member newsletter that dedicates a portion of each issue to trends in specialized tools (software) to facilitate these analytical techniques. A simple internet search finds a myriad of books, mini-courses, and other resources available to practitioners to enable use of these tools.