Overview
Microsoft Business Intelligence For Dummies covers the Microsoft Business Intelligence stack, discussing current technologies and showing how work together to enable an effective business problem-solving strategy. Common technologies include: SharePoint Microsoft puts SharePoint at the top of the stack with Excel Services, SQL Server Reporting Services integration, dashboards, and KPIs. It was recently announced that PerformancePoint technology will be rolled into SharePoint. The SQL Server suite of products including SQL Server Database Engine, Integration Services, Reporting Services, Analysis Services. Microsoft Office Suite especially Excel which can be used as a data mining client. Excel connects to the back end Analysis Services engine. PerformancePoint as earlier mentioned, will be rolled into SharePoint. BI development technologies including Visual Studio, Business Intelligence Development Studio (Visual Studio with BI functionality), Management Studio, Report Builder 2.0, SharePoint Designer, and Expression Web. All these BI stack elements are enabled by data warehousing, data marts online analytical processing (OLAP), data mining, and key performance indicators, as well as ERP systems. At the infrastructure level of the stack is Windows Server Operating System and its components. Many books on the market delve into the details of particular technologies; however, many managers, developers, and CIOs want more information about how these technologies work together to solve enterprise problems. This book focuses on the functional problems that BI solves and the technologies involved. It removes the guesswork from Microsoft Business Intelligence by explaining each of the technologies, their overall functions, and how they fit together and provide the most efficient BI process and strategy.