Master Microsoft's Business Intelligence Tools Building Integrated Business Intelligence Solutions with SQL Server 2008 R2 & Office 2010 explains how to take full advantage of Microsoft's collaborative business intelligence (BI) tools. A variety of powerful, flexible technologies are covered, including SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS), Excel, Excel Services, PowerPivot, SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), Server Reporting Services (SSRS), SharePoint Server 2010, PerformancePoint Services, and Master Data Services. This practical guide focuses on deveoloping end-to-end BI solutions that foster informed decision making. Create a multidimensional store for aggregating business data with SSAS Maximize the analysis capabilities of Excel and Excel Services Combine data from different sources and connect data for analysis with PowerPivot Move data into the system using SSIS, InfoPath, Streamsight, and SharePoint 2010 External Lists Build and publish reports with SSRS Integrate data from disparate applications, using SharePoint 2010 BI features Create scorecards and dashboards with PerformancePoint Services Summarize large volumes of data in charts and graphs Use the SSRS map feature for complex visualizations of spatial data Uncover patterns and relationships in data using the SSAS data mining engine Handle master data management with Master Data Services Publish the components of your BI solution and perform administrative tasks

Dive into the business intelligence (BI) features in SharePoint 2010—and use the right combination of tools to deliver compelling solutions. This practical guide helps you explore several BI application services available in SharePoint 2010 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2. You’ll learn each technology with step-by-step instructions, and determine which ones work best in specific BI scenarios—whether you’re a SharePoint administrator, SQL Server developer, or business analyst. Choose the BI tools that meet your needs—and learn how they work together Examine the BI lifecycle, from determining key performance indicators to building dashboards Take Microsoft Excel further—gain more control and functionality with web-based Excel Services Mash up data from multiple sources using PowerPivot for Excel 2010 Create data visualizations with objects, context, and metrics using Microsoft Visio Services Build dashboards, scorecards, and other monitoring and analysis tools with PerformancePoint Services Use SharePoint to view BI reports side by side, no matter which tools were used to produced them Your companion web content includes: Interactive exercises that help you try out concepts or techniques Code samples that enable you to work with the exercises

What differentiates good organizations from bad? The good ones are those that take advantage of the data they already have and use the feedback that business intelligence gives them to improve their processes. SharePoint is now the delivery platform of choice for Microsoft’s business intelligence products, and in this book we reveal how to get the most from developing business intelligence solutions on SharePoint 2010. To understand the various business intelligence offerings in SharePoint 2010, you need to understand the core SQL Server business intelligence concepts, and the first part of the book presents a comprehensive tutorial on those fundamentals. Pro SharePoint 2010 Business Intelligence Solutions then focuses on specific SharePoint business intelligence investments including: Visio Services Excel Services SQL Server Reporting Services Business Connectivity Services PerformancePoint Services All of this is done using a practical, hands-on format, with enough examples to empower you to use these products in your real-life projects. As compelling as SharePoint and SQL Server business intelligence are together, the challenge always has been finding people who understand both SharePoint and SQL Server well enough to deliver such business intelligence solutions. With this book in hand, you become part of that select group.

Foundations of SQL Server 2008 R2 Business Intelligence introduces the entire exciting gamut of business intelligence tools included with SQL Server 2008. Microsoft has designed SQL Server 2008 to be more than just a database. It’s a complete business intelligence (BI) platform. The database is at its core, and surrounding the core are tools for data mining, modeling, reporting, analyzing, charting, and integration with other enterprise-level software packages. SQL Server 2008 puts an incredible amount of BI functionality at your disposal. But how do you take advantage of it? That’s what this book is all about. Authors Guy Fouché and Lynn Langit show how to implement end-to-end BI solutions using SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS), SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), and other tools in the Microsoft business intelligence toolkit. You’ll learn about all-features such as PowerPivot and Report Builder 3.0. Also provided are clear examples of predictive analysis made possible through powerful data mining features in SQL Server. If you’re an analyst or developer working with SQL Server 2008 who is charged with delivering results that drive business success, you can’t afford to be without this book; you can’t afford to ignore the powerful business intelligence suite that Microsoft has placed at your disposal. Provides the "big picture" of Microsoft’s BI tool suite Covers PowerPivot and other game-changing technologies introduced alongside SQL Server 2008 Release 2 Gives a practical analysis of features based on real-world practices

Every business has reams of business data locked away in databases, business systems, and spreadsheets. While you may be able to build some reports by pulling a few of these repositories together, actually performing any kind of analysis on the data that runs your business can range from problematic to impossible. Pro SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services will show you how to pull that data together and present it for reporting and analysis in a way that makes the data accessible to business users, instead of needing to rely on the IT department every time someone needs a different report. Accessible—With a single author's voice, this book conducts a guided tour through the technology that makes it easy to dive into. Solution–oriented—While technically deep, the goal is to focus on practical application of the technologies instead of acting as a technical manual. Comprehensive—This book covers every aspect of analysis services and ancillary technologies to enable you to make the most of SQL Server.

SharePoint 2010 is today’s leading presentation and deployment system for Business Intelligence (BI) solutions based on Microsoft technologies. This book brings together all the information you need to successfully implement and use SharePoint 2010’s powerful BI capabilities. It reflects the unsurpassed real-world experience of five expert consultants at RDA, a Microsoft Gold Partner specializing in delivering advanced BI solutions with SharePoint. You’ll first learn how to prepare SharePoint 2010 for the deployment of BI solutions. Next, the authors walk through integrating, configuring, and using Reporting Services, PerformancePoint Services, PowerPivot, Visio Services, and other key related technologies. Building on what you’ve learned, you’ll walk step-by-step through constructing and integrating two end-to-end BI solutions. Finally, in a comprehensive troubleshooting section, the authors present today’s most common SharePoint BI issues, identify proven solutions, and teach effective problem-solving techniques. Get started fast, by using the Business Intelligence Center’s prebuilt site collection and template Build integrated, end-to-end SharePoint BI solutions Present business data to the enterprise through Excel Services Install, configure, and integrate Reporting Services and the Reporting Services Add-In for SharePoint Define document library content types and manage reports Use Report Viewer Web Parts to render reports on SharePoint web pages Build enterprise dashboards with PerformancePoint Services Secure dashboards via data source delegation, SharePoint permissions, and groups Analyze enormous datasets with PowerPivot for Excel and SharePoint Publish Visio 2010 data-driven web diagrams that integrate multiple data sources Utilize the fine-grained security available through Visio Graphics Service Troubleshoot problems with Reporting Services, PerformancePoint Services, PowerPivot, and Visio Services

Business intelligence (BI) software allows you to view different components of a business using a single visual platform, which makes comprehending mountains of data easier. BI is everywhere. Applications that include reports, analytics, statistics, and historical and predictive modeling are all examples of business intelligence. Currently, we are in the second generation of business intelligence software—called BI 2.0—which is focused on writing business intelligence software that is predictive, adaptive, simple, and interactive. As computers and software have evolved, more data can be presented to end users with increasingly visually rich techniques. Rich Internet application (RIA) technologies such as Microsoft Silverlight can be used to transform traditional user-interfaces filled with boring data into fully interactive analytical applications that quickly deliver insight from large data sets. Furthermore, RIAs now include 3D spatial-design capabilities that move beyond a simple list or grid and allow for interesting layouts of aggregated data. BI 2.0 implemented via an RIA technology can truly bring out the power of business intelligence and deliver it to an average user on the Web. Silverlight 4 Business Intelligence Software provides developers, designers, and architects with a solid foundation in business intelligence design and architecture concepts for Microsoft Silverlight. This book covers key business intelligence design concepts and how they can be applied without an existing BI infrastructure. Author Bart Czernicki provides you with examples of how to build small BI applications that are interactive, highly visual, statistical, predictive—and most importantly—intuitive to the end-user. Business intelligence isn’t just for the executive branch of a Fortune 500 company—it is for the masses. Let Silverlight 4 Business Intelligence Software show you how to unlock the rich intelligence you already have.