BI Update

Webcast Update: Using OLAP to Optimize and Maintain Predictive Analytics Models

2010-12-06T15:29:00.001-07:00

This Friday, PASS DW/BI Virtual Chapter Presents:
Using OLAP to Optimize and Maintain Predictive Analytics Models
Presenter: Eugene Asahara
Fri 12/10/2010 12pm EST

Topic Description:
In complex Predictive Analytics (PA) scenarios where it is being applied to a complex system or the players involved are actually trying to undermine the predictions (ex: credit card fraud), the sophistication of the PA must be taken up a notch or two. In this Webcast I will describe techniques for building sophisticated PA systems on the Microsoft BI Stack by using OLAP to:
• Analyze, validate, and optimize PA models.
• Manage and Monitor the performance of the PA models in a Performance Management style.
• Surface PA results to end users in a manner that allows them to work through the ambiguity that remains around predictions.

Join the meeting.
Audio Information: Computer Audio
To use computer audio, you need speakers and microphone, or a headset.

First Time Users:
To save time before the meeting, check your system to make sure it is ready to use Microsoft Office Live Meeting.

Troubleshooting
Unable to join the meeting? Follow these steps:

Copy this address and paste it into your web browser:
https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join
Copy and paste the required information:
Meeting ID: 4RNB5Z
Entry Code: db3}'sPXG
Location: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups

If you still cannot enter the meeting, contact support

Notice
Microsoft Office Live Meeting can be used to record meetings. By participating in this meeting, you agree that your communications may be monitored or recorded at any time during the meeting.

Webcast Update: Collaborative Disclosure Management is all about filling the gap!

2010-11-18T18:07:00.001-07:00

Next Tuesday (11/23), Tagetik will showcase their Disclosure Management tool for external reporting of financial statements (10K, 10Q, XBRL, multi-GAAP/management/regulatory/sustainability reports).

Tuesday, Nov 23
11am (EST)
Click here for more info

Webcast Update - Offering PowerPivot as a Service - Best Practices from Microsoft IT

2010-11-15T20:53:00.001-07:00

MICROSOFT TECH ED DEMO VIDEO:
Offering PowerPivot as a Service - Best Practices from Microsoft IT :: 2010 :: Europe :: Microsoft Tech·Ed

Recorded:
Sanjay Soni, Microsoft
Thomas Pagel, Avanade

Length: 58 min

Agenda:
See how Microsoft IT is deploying PowerPivot as a service for Microsoft, and how it is being used to enable self-service BI from EDW. We will share best practices, in collaboration with SQLCAT, for technical architecture, configurations, on-boarding, training and evangelizing across the enterprise. We will also provide in-depth technical details surrounding some complex case studies surrounding PowerPivot, specifically: providing PowerPivot as an Online Service, and PowerPivot High Availability and Scalability.

Content:
00:00 – 05:30 Opening Slides
- Microsoft IT EDW Architecture and BI Engineering Platform Slide (01:30)
- “Business power users encouraged to create reports and were provided capability to publish their reports”

05:31 – 9:30 CBI Demo
- Logging In (05:31)
- Enterprise Report Catalog – metadata (07:00)
- Open PowerPivot report (08:30)

09:30 – 16:00 CBI Slides
- Building the Enterprise Data Warehouse (09:30)
- Using Excel for Data Warehouse reporting (11:45)
- Introducing PowerPivot (13:30)

16:00 – 23:30 PowerPivot in 10 minutes
- Selecting Data from multiple sources (16:30)
- Create Linked Table (17:30)
- Create Relationships (18:45)
- Create Cube (19:45)
- PowerPivot Slicers (20:30)
- Publish to SharePoint (22:00)

23:30 – 26:00 Questions & Answers

26:00 – 40:00 EDW PowerPivot Sandbox and Data Services Layer
Architecture Slide (26:50)
Architecting the EDW PowerPivot Sandbox Environment Slide (30:00)
EDW PowerPivot Sandbox Onboarding Process (32:30)
CBI Onboarding Demo (34:00)
CBI Video Channel – Academy Live (36:45)

40:00 – 44:00 PowerPivot Service Architecture
IT Got Out of the Box BI Dashboards (40:50)
The Result (41:45)
Today, and In the future (42:10)
Data as a Service – Enterprise Data Distribution Platform (43:10)

44:00 – 46:00 Data as a Service (DSL) Demo

46:00 – 47:30 PowerPivot - SAP Integration Experience

47:30 – 54:30 Top 10 Lessons learned
- Build your BI reporting infrastructure in parallel with (or even before) the enterprise data warehouse
- Architect with the enterprise vision in mind (security, scalability,…)
- Evangelize to achieve enterprise adoption
- Support users to find relevant data
- Empower users to create their own business intelligence
- PowerPivot is no Enterprise Data Warehouse replacement
- Remember that PowerPivot has “digital” security: “Access” or “No Access”
- PowerPivot supports flat organizations: There are no hierarchies!
- Effective performance with 64bit version of Excel client
- Start using PowerPivot now….

55:00 - Resources, Questions & Answers

Refer to CapstoneBI for Metadata and PowerPivot solutions
www.CapstoneBI.com

Tech Days: Deploying & Managing PowerPivot for SharePoint

2010-11-10T17:03:00.001-07:00

For my friends in Canada…

Derek Comingore will be presenting at Tech Days, a training conference for Canadian IT Professionals and Developers…

http://www.techdays.ca/

Montreal: Nov 23-24
Winnipeg: Dec 7-8
Calgary: Dec 14-15

Deploying and Managing PowerPivot For SharePoint sessions will be held on Day 2, but if you live in the area, I suggest you check out all the technical tracks to see if there are other topics of interest. Looks like there is some great SharePoint content in the Collaboration track

User Group: Predictive Analytics with PowerPivot and SharePoint 2010

2010-11-02T12:13:00.001-06:00

Bay Area Microsoft Business Intelligence User Group
Thursday, November 4
6:30 pm, San Francisco

Click here to RSVP

According to a recent article by Forbes.com, leading companies are increasingly turning to a new management discipline called Predictive Analytics to compete and thrive. In this session, you'll learn what Predictive Analytics means and how to use it to create effective marketing campaigns.

You may be surprised how easy it is to implement data mining and share the results interactively without buying new servers and expensive software licenses.

This San Francisco meeting is free and includes dinner.

Regards, Mark Ginnebaugh

Predictive Analytics with PowerPivot and SharePoint 2010

You'll learn about:

Data Mining
What’s possible using Microsoft Technology tools
How to apply data mining in the business world
Predictive Analytics project phases – a step by step approach
Using PowerPivot,Microsoft Excel 2010, SharePoint 2010, and Predixion Insight

Case Study: You'll learn how Diamond Foods uses Predictive Analytics to accurately predict customer buying behavior, develop effective promotional strategies, and improve operational efficiencies.

Location
Microsoft Office
835 Market Street #700
San Francisco, CA 94103

Time
Pizza or sandwiches at 6:30 pm, meeting begins around 7:00 pm

Cost: No charge

RSVP
Click here to RSVP

Speakers
Jamie MacLennan is CTO at Predixion Software. Previously, Jamie directed the development of the current generation of Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS).

Irit Eizips is the Corporate Performance Management Practice Director for CapstoneBI.

November 2010 v.39 – Business Intelligence Update

2010-11-02T11:58:00.001-06:00

HOT TOPICS

Predictive Analytics with PowerPivot and SharePoint 2010
Microsoft Office
San Francisco, CA
Nov 4, 6:30PM
Click here for more info

PASS Summit
Seattle, WA
Nov 8-11
Click here for more info

*** PASS Summit is the world's largest, most-focused, and most-intensive conference for Microsoft SQL Server and BI professionals.

Collaborative Disclosure Management is all about filling the gap!
Hosted by Tagetik
Nov 23, 11am
Click here for more info

Notes From the Field – CapstoneBI Blog
Database Mirroring monitor for ETL
SSIS Package Configurations
Predictive Analytics in the Cloud
Getting Started with SQL Server Data Mining for Retail/Finance
Standardize Your MDX Parameter Queries
Interpreting Causation in Time Series Forecast Models

WEBCASTS
All webcast times are in Eastern Time Zone unless otherwise specified

Effective Presentation of Analytical Results
Hosted by Tableau Software
Nov 3, 1pm
Click here for more info

Moving to deFacto
Nov 4, 2pm
Nov 11, 2pm
Nov 18, 12pm
Nov 25, 2pm
Click here for more info

Empower Your Microsoft Dynamics Users With Excel for Reporting and Budgeting
Hosted by Solver
Nov 10, 1pm
Click here for more info

Enhance your SharePoint BI Portal
Hosted by Strategy Companion
Nov 11, 2pm
Click here for more info

Customer Success: Kleberg Bank – Improving Decision Making and Growing More Profitably
Hosted by swiftknowledge
Nov 18, 2pm
Click here for more info

XBRL and Automated External Reporting
Hosted by Clarity Systems
Nov 23, 2pm
Click here for more info

The End of BI as We Know It: A fresh look at what business analytics means for today’s organizations
Hosted by Tableau Software
Dec 1, 12pm
Click here for more info

EVENTS

Tableau 6.0 Tour
Hosted by Tableau Software
Nov 1–Dec 2, Multiple Locations
Click here for more info

Techniques & Technologies for Enterprise-wide Business Intelligence
Hosted by SoCal BI User Group
Nov 4, Mission Viejo, CA
Click here for more info

PASS Summit
Hosted by Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS)
Nov 8-11, Seattle, WA
Click here for more info
Click here to stream keynote sessions live

TDWI World Conference
Hosted by TDWI
Nov 7-12, Orlando, FL
Click here for more info

Successful XBRL Filters own their XBRL Process-CLARITY FSR Case Study
Hosted by Clarity Systems
Nov 17, New York, NY
Click here for more info

Houston SQL User Group Meeting
Hosted by PASS
Nov 9, Houston TX
Click here for more info

NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES

Microsoft PowerPivot: Five Things You Need To Know
Microsoft updates SQL Server 2008 with new SharePoint integrations
Q&A: Microsoft’s Bob Muglia details cloud strategy
Kevin Turner on Predictive Simulation & Analytics
What I’m Looking Forward to at PASS Summit 2010

Predixion Software Introduces New Product to Run SAS and SPSS Predictive Models in the Cloud
Tableau Software Shows Growth in BI Market

The top 10 IT skills for 2011

Webcast Reminder: Self-Service BI with Microsoft PowerPivot

2010-08-23T09:15:00.001-06:00

This Thursday, Andrew Brust of twentysix New York will be providing a 60 min webcast on the newly released PowerPivot. Find out what this “in-memory” operational model is all about.

Thursday, Aug 26
10-11am (PST)
Click here for more info

100% of companies using CLARITY FSR™ for their SEC XBRL submission successfully file without any EDGAR XBRL validation errors

2010-08-18T17:10:00.001-06:00

Big news from our partner, Clarity Systems, regarding their Financial Reporting & Governance product, Clarity FSR.

FSR is the ONLY major XBRL creation software that filed without validation errors… are you kidding me? This year, many of these companies were required to perform detailed XBRL tagging for the first time.

Read the Press Release

I’ve seen FSR in action and I can understand why Clarity’s clients have been so successful. Beyond XBRL tagging, FSR provides an elegant and easy-to-use platform for simplifying the financial reporting process, particularly in the final stages of disclosure.

Using Excel 2007 for Analysis Services (SSAS)

2010-08-12T16:24:00.001-06:00

I was asked by a client today if I had run across any good books or training that focus on cube functions in Excel.

Immediately, Mr Excel came to mind. I ran a quick search and it looks like Pivot Table Data Crunching Excel 2007 might be worth checking out.

Otherwise, here are some additional resources that look useful…

Virtual Labs
Developing Business Intelligence Applications
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services – Pervasive Analysis through 2007 Microsoft Office Excel
Business Intelligence in Excel 2007 Pivot Tables and Analysis Services

Webcast
Excel 2007 – Building Business Intelligence Solutions Using Excel and SQL Server 2005 Analysis

Excel 2007 Help and How-to
List of worksheet functions (by category) – cube functions

Microsoft Excel 2010 Blog
Using Excel & Excel Services with SQL Server Analysis Services 2008
CUBE Functions Part 1
CUBE Functions 2: A Few Examples
CUBE Functions 3: Formula AutoComplete revisited
CUBE Functions 4: Deconstructing the PivotTable

Please comment with your feedback if you find any of these resources particularly useful (or bad), and if there are additional guides, books, webcasts, online trainings on this subject that you really like!

August 2010 v.38 – Business Intelligence Update

2010-08-10T11:39:00.001-06:00

HOT TOPICS

Executive Breakfast Briefing
Hosted by CapstoneBI
Aug 12, San Jose, CA
Click here for more info

Using SharePoint 2010 to Monitor & Analyze K12 Student Assessment Scores
Hosted by CapstoneBI
Aug 25, 1pm
Click here to register

Blog: Microsoft Based Planning and Budgeting solutions revisited

Where Social Media Meets Strategy
Microsoft Reports 48% Increase in Profits

Bringing Data Mining Into the Mainstream
Blog: Jamie’s Junk – continuing whatever comes to mind on data mining and predictive analytics
Blog: DM(X) – bogdanc on SQL Server Data Mining

WEBCASTS
All webcast times are in Eastern Time Zone unless otherwise specified

Quick Deployment of Enterprise-Level Executive Dashboards
Hosted by Strategy Companion
Aug 12, 2pm
Click here for more info

Metrics to Understand Your Brand and Help it Thrive
Hosted by Tableau Software
Aug 18, 2pm
Click here for more info

Using SharePoint 2010 to Monitor & Analyze K12 Student Assessment Scores
Hosted by CapstoneBI
Aug 25, 1pm
Click here to register

SaaS and BI
Hosted by Strategy Companion
Aug 26, 2pm
Click here for more info

Self-Service Business Intelligence with Microsoft PowerPivot
Hosted by Andrew Brust of 26NY
Aug 26, 1pm
Click here for more info

Powerful Budgeting, Planning and Forecasting with CLARITY 7 using Microsoft technology
Hosted by Clarity Systems
Sep 16, 2pm
Click here for more info

EVENTS

Executive Breakfast Briefing
Hosted by CapstoneBI
Aug 12, San Jose, CA
Click here for more info

TDWI BI Executive Summit
Aug 16-18, San Diego, CA
Click here for more info

2010 Tableau Customer Conference
Aug 30-Sep 2, Seattle, WA
Click here for more info

Minnesota Microsoft BI User Group 2010 Q3 Meeting
Sep 1, Bloomington, MN
Click here for more info

SoCal BI User Group
Sep 2, Mission Viejo, CA
Click here for more info

TRAINING

Web-based Training
SQL Server: Training Portal, eLearning
SharePoint 2007: Training Portal
SharePoint 2010: Getting Started with SharePoint 2010, Introducing SharePoint Designer
PerformancePoint 2010: Up to Speed with PerformancePoint Dashboards and Web Parts

Instructor Led Training
Presenting Data and Information
Edward Tufte
Sep 29 & 30 Arlington, VA
Oct 1, Arlington, VA
Click here for more info

Implementing and Maintaining Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services
Accelebrate
Aug 25-27, Online
Click here for more info

Advanced T-SQL Querying, Programming and Tuning for SQL Server 2005 & 2008
Solid Quality Mentors
Sep 13-17, Sacramento, CA
Click here for more info

SQL Server and Business Intelligence Training
Pragmatic Works
August Courses, Online
Click here for more info

SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) Training
Intertech
Aug 25-27, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info

Business Intelligence Training
Hosted by QuickStart
Click here for more info

Microsoft PerformancePoint Planning Training
Hosted by CapstoneBI
Click here for more info

RESOURCES
Microsoft BI

SQL Server
Business Intelligence: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
SSAS: list of front end applications
Data Mining: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
StreamInsight: Versions and SQL Server SKUs, Developers Training Kit
Book: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services Unleashed
Book: Data Mining with SQL Server 2008

SQL 2008 R2: Home, Parallel Data Warehouse
Download: SQL Server 2008 R2
Microsoft Virtual Lab: PowerPivot for Excel 2010 Introduction, SQL Server 2008 Virtual Labs
Hands On Lab: PowerPivot in SQL Server 2008 R2
Whitepaper: Best Practices for Data Warehousing with SQL Server 2008
Whitepaper: Develop Reporting Services reports using Analysis Services data
Blog Post: Reporting Services Bing Map – Unable to connect to the remote server

SQL 2008 Books Online: Planning and Architecture (Analysis Services – Data Mining)
SQL 2008 Books Online: Architecture of Integration Services
Whitepaper: Top 10 Performance and Productivity Reasons to Use SQL Server 2008 for Your Business Intelligence Solutions
Blog: SQL Server 2008 for Oracle DBA

SharePoint Server 2010
Microsoft SharePoint Team Blog
Blog: SharePoint 2010 – Top 10 Resources to get you started…
Describing SharePoint 2010 in 1 Sentence, 8 Categories and 40 Feature Areas
Excel Services in SharePoint 2010 Feature Support, Dashboard Improvements, Planning for Upgrade from SharePoint Portal Server 2003 to SharePoint Server 2010
MSDN Virtual Lab: Developing Business Intelligence Applications

Office 2010
www.PowerPivot.com
PowerPivot Team Blog
The Great PowerPivot FAQ
Download: PowerPivot for Excel 2010
Book: PowerPivot for the Data Analyst: Microsoft Excel 2010
Book: Microsoft PowerPivot for Excel 2010: Give Your Data Meaning
Book: Professional PowerPivot for Excel and SharePoint
Demo: Using PowerPivot to analyze MS Dynamics NAV
Blog: Load data from SAP into PowerPivot for Excel
Blog: The Business User’s Perspective
Blog: Thoughts on how PowerPivot and SSAS could work together
Blog: Diagnostic Guide for Usage and the PowerPivot Management Dashboard
Screencast: Using datamining with PowerPivot in Excel

Microsoft BI Certifications
Blog: New 2008 Microsoft BI Certifications Reviewed
Blog: Obtaining Microsoft BI Certification
Learning Plan: BI Developer
Exam: 70-448
Exam: 70-452
Exam: 78-702

NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES

Ballmer Outlines Mobile Strategy at Microsoft Event
The Promise of PowerPivot in Excel 2010
PowerPivot vs.. Native SSAS
PowerPivot Fast Track
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2: What’s New with PowerPivot?
Microsoft Office 2010 adds depth while making things easier
Light-up Your Dashboards with Silverlight
Download PivotViewer Extension for Reporting Services CTP1
Northridge Announces Numerous SharePoint 2010 Enterprise Implementations

BI’s Corporate Challenge
IT Market Starting to Heat Up
Business Intelligence: maximising data collation for end users
Buying BI? Talk to Users, not Technologists

Microsoft Dynamics CRM a Leader according to Forrester

2010-07-09T18:01:00.000-06:00

Turn away for a second and the next thing you know Dynamics is touted as a bona fide Leader for CRM. Check out the Waves for both Large Enterprise and Mid-Size...

July 2010 v.37 – Business Intelligence Update

2010-07-06T10:48:00.001-06:00

HOT TOPICS

Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference
July 11-15, Washington DC
Click here for more info

Free ebook: Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2
Blog: Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 – Business Intelligence Samples

Microsoft Live Labs Pivot
World Cup Pivot

Blog: ProClarity Resources
Demo: Using PowerPivot to analyze MS Dynamics NAV

WEBCASTS
All webcast times are in Eastern Time Zone unless otherwise specified

BI on a Limited or Shrinking Budget: Strategies for Doing More with Less
Hosted by Tableau Software
Jul 7, 12pm
Click here for more info

Techniques & Technologies for Enterprise-Wide BI Deployment
Hosted by Strategy Companion
Jul 8, 2pm
Click here for more info

Powerful Budgeting, Planning and Forecasting with CLARITY 7 using Microsoft technology
Hosted by Clarity Systems
Jul 13, 2pm
Click here for more info

Empower Your Users with Advanced Analytics-On-The-Fly
Hosted by Panorama
Jul 20, 2pm
Click here for more info

SaaS and BI
Hosted by Strategy Companion
Aug 26, 2pm
Click here for more info

EVENTS

Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference
Hosted by Microsoft
Jul 11-15, Washington D.C.
Click here for more info

Building Cubes using Analysis Services
Boise SQL Server User Group
July 13, Boise ID
Click here for more info

Query Tuning Tips
Hosted by PASSMN, presented by Itzik Ben-Gan
July 20, Bloomington MN
Click here for more info

2010 Tableau Customer Conference
Aug 30-Sep 2, Seattle, WA
Click here for more info

TRAINING

Web-based Training

SQL Server: Training Portal, eLearning
SharePoint 2007: Training Portal
SharePoint 2010: Getting Started with SharePoint 2010, Introducing SharePoint Designer
PerformancePoint 2010: Up to Speed with PerformancePoint Dashboards and Web Parts

Instructor Led Training

Presenting Data and Information
Edward Tufte
Jul 19, Minneapolis, MN
Jul 22 & 23 Chicago, IL
Sep 29 & 30 Arlington, VA
Oct 1, Arlington, VA
Click here for more info

Implementing and Maintaining Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services
Accelebrate
Jul 14-16, Online
Aug 25-27, Online
Click here for more info

Advanced T-SQL Querying, Programming and Tuning for SQL Server 2005 & 2008
Solid Quality Mentors
Jul 19-23, Minneapolis, MN
Jul 26-30, Bellevue, WA
Sep 13-17, Sacramento, CA
Click here for more info

SQL Server and Business Intelligence Training
Pragmatic Works
August Courses, Online
Click here for more info

SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) Training
Intertech
Aug 25-27, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info

Business Intelligence Training
Hosted by QuickStart
Click here for more info

Microsoft PerformancePoint Planning Training
Hosted by CapstoneBI
Click here for more info

RESOURCES
Microsoft BI

Download: SQL Server 2008 R2
Microsoft Virtual Lab: PowerPivot for Excel 2010 Introduction, SQL Server 2008 Virtual Labs
Hands On Lab: PowerPivot in SQL Server 2008 R2
Whitepaper: Best Practices for Data Warehousing with SQL Server 2008
Whitepaper: Develop Reporting Services reports using Analysis Services data
SQL 2008 Books Online: Planning and Architecture (Analysis Services – Data Mining)
SQL 2008 Books Online: Architecture of Integration Services
Whitepaper: Top 10 Performance and Productivity Reasons to Use SQL Server 2008 for Your Business Intelligence Solutions
Blog: SQL Server 2008 for Oracle DBA

SharePoint Server 2010
Microsoft SharePoint Team Blog
Blog: SharePoint 2010 – Top 10 Resources to get you started…
Describing SharePoint 2010 in 1 Sentence, 8 Categories and 40 Feature Areas
Excel Services in SharePoint 2010 Feature Support, Dashboard Improvements, Planning for Upgrade from SharePoint Portal Server 2003 to SharePoint Server 2010
MSDN Virtual Lab: Developing Business Intelligence Applications

Office 2010
www.PowerPivot.com
PowerPivot Team Blog
The Great PowerPivot FAQ
Download: PowerPivot for Excel 2010
Book: Professional Microsoft PowerPivot for Excel and SharePoint
Book: PowerPivot for the Data Analyst: Microsoft Excel 2010

Blog: Load data from SAP into PowerPivot for Excel
Blog: The Business User’s Perspective
Blog: Thoughts on how PowerPivot and SSAS could work together
Blog: Diagnostic Guide for Usage and the PowerPivot Management Dashboard
Screencast: Using datamining with PowerPivot in Excel

Microsoft BI Certifications
Blog: New 2008 Microsoft BI Certifications Reviewed
Blog: Obtaining Microsoft BI Certification
Learning Plan: BI Developer
Exam: 70-448
Exam: 70-452
Exam: 78-702

Related BI Resources
Notes from the Field

Professional Association for SQL Server
SSAS-info
FUTURESULTS – Microsoft web parts, add-ons, customizations
Panorama Software Releases NovaView 6.2: Integration with Office/SharePoint 2010…
Dundas Dashboard Wins “Best of TechEd” Award
Article: Microsoft PowerPivot vs. Tableau
Blog: Using a Data Warehouse for CRM
Blog: Thoughts on: Who are the BI Personas?

NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES

Review: Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010
Dissecting Microsoft Office 2010
Office 2010: a deeper dive
Forrester: Google still a distant Office competitor

PowerPivot Developer’s Career Is Full of Twists and Turns
PowerPivot observations from TechEd/BI Conf, Pt 1
Laissez les bon temps rouler! (Microsoft BI Conference 2010)
TechEd 2010 StreamInsight Session and Demo

Attracting and Retaining Top BI Professionals

Microsoft BI Demo, VPC 7.1 - Expiry

2010-04-14T13:59:00.000-06:00

A couple years ago, Microsoft made available a pre-built, virtual demo environment (BI VPC 7.1) that included demo scenarios for fictitious businesses called 'Contoso' and 'AdventureWorks'. This demo environment consisted of Excel 2007, SharePoint 2007, SQL Server 2005, PerformancePoint Server and ProClarity.

Several BI consultants (and internal MS field teams) have used this virtual image over the years. Many folks have further customized this environment to showcase sample data sets and scenarios, and to build Proof of Concepts.

This week I heard from one such consultant whom I have been in touch with for several years, Eliot MacDonald (Director of Consulting Services, Market Forte). Eliot works with SSAS and ProClarity quite a bit, and he has used the BI VPC 7.1 extensively.

Eliot emailed me yesterday to mention the Expiration Date of the environment...

the latest “BI-VPC” has a deadline of 2 days from now. For me, that’s a big deal since I’ve used it for development purposes and have a ton of stuff contained within that virtual hard drive that may well have been lost had I not marked a warning on my calendar.

Since it had a 2-year-plus time frame on it (the 7.1 version), there may be others out there who have just been happily using it daily and will suddenly be unable to access it in a couple of days. So thought it might be worth sending such a warning to others.

He was smart, he set a calendar reminder in Outlook to assure he didn't miss the deadline. If he hadn't paid attention to expiry, he would have lost the work he'd done and would have to rebuild the demo environment and reconfigure all of his customizations.

Thought I'd post a mention of this for everyone out there who are using BI VPC 7.1

Thank you Eliot, for the insight!
.

April 2010 v.36 – Business Intelligence Update

2010-04-06T12:28:00.021-06:00

March 2010 v.35 – Business Intelligence Update

2010-03-03T11:18:00.001-07:00

HOT TOPICS

Special Report, The Economist
Data, data everywhere
A different game… Information is transforming traditional business
Show me… new ways of visualising data
The data deluge

Up to Speed with PerformancePoint Dashboards and Web Parts
SharePoint guidance for SQL Server database administrators

WEBCASTS
All webcast times are in Eastern Time Zone unless otherwise specified

How Microsoft IT Developed Best Practices in Offering PowerPivot as a Service
Hosted by Microsoft
Mar 16, 12:30pm
Click here for more info

Week of Business Intelligence – webinar series
Hosted by Pragmatic Works
Mar 22-26
Click here for more info

SharePoint 2007 vs.. 2010
Hosted by Gig Werks
Mar 24, 1pm
Click here for more info

EVENTS

Using SharePoint 2010 as a Business Intelligence Breakthrough Tool
Hosted by Quilogy
Mar 2, Naperville, IL
Click here for more info

North Central District Microsoft BI User Group
Hosted by BISIG
Mar 3, Bloomington, MN
Click here for more info

SoCal BI User Group
Hosted by Xelleration
Mar 4, San Diego, CA
Click here for more info

Boise SQL Server User Group
Hosted by Microsoft
Mar 9, Boise, ID
Email me for more info

Microsoft Business Intelligence Conference
Hosted by Microsoft
Jun 7-10, New Orleans, LA
Click here for more info

TRAINING

Web-based Training

SQL Server: Training Portal
SharePoint 2007: Training Portal
SharePoint 2010: Getting Started with SharePoint 2010
PerformancePoint Monitoring and Analytics: Dashboard basics I, Dashboard basics II
Excel 2007: Training Courses

Instructor Led Training

Solving Business Problems with MDX in SQL Server 2008
Solid Quality Mentors
Click here for more info

Implementing and Maintaining Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services
Accelebrate
Mar 29-31, Online
Click here for more info

SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) Training
Intertech
Mar 15-17, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info

SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) Training
Intertech
Mar 29-30, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info

Implementing and Maintaining Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services
Accelebrate
Apr 12-14, Online
Click here for more info

RESOURCES

Microsoft BI
2010 Betas are here, including Office, SharePoint, Project & Visio

SQL Server
Business Intelligence: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
SSAS: SQL Sentry, Performance Optimization Software
SSAS: list of front end applications
Data Mining: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
StreamInsight: Versions and SQL Server SKUs

SQL Server 2008 R2 gets an official date
Download: SQL Server 2008 R2 November CTP
Hands On Lab: PowerPivot in SQL Server 2008 R2
SQL 2008 R2: Home, Parallel Data Warehouse
Whitepaper: Best Practices for Data Warehousing with SQL Server 2008

SQL 2008 Books Online: Planning and Architecture (Analysis Services – Data Mining)
SQL 2008 Books Online: Architecture of Integration Services

Whitepaper: Top 10 Performance and Productivity Reasons to Use SQL Server 2008 for Your Business Intelligence Solutions
Blog: SQL Server 2008 for Oracle DBA

SharePoint Server 2007
Business Intelligence: Overview, Using BI Features

PerformancePoint: Technical Library
Download: PerformancePoint SP2 (64-bit or 32-bit)
Blog: Using Excel Services Reports with PerformancePoint Server (PPS)

SharePoint Server 2010
Describing SharePoint 2010 in 1 Sentence, 8 Categories and 40 Feature Areas
New Features in PerformancePoint Services 2010

Excel Services in SharePoint 2010 Feature Support, Dashboard Improvements,
Upgrading PerformancePoint Server 2007 to PerformancePoint 2010
Planning for Upgrade from SharePoint Portal Server 2003 to SharePoint Server 2010

Office 2010
www.PowerPivot.com
PowerPivot Team Blog
New BI Features in Excel 2010
The Great PowerPivot FAQ
Download: PowerPivot for Excel 2010
Blog: The Business User’s Perspective
Screencast: Using datamining with PowerPivot in Excel

Microsoft BI Certifications
Blog: New 2008 Microsoft BI Certifications Reviewed
Learning Plan: BI Developer
Exam: 70-448
Exam: 70-452

Tableau 5.1 Release
Tableau Positioned as Challenger on Gartner 2010 Magic Quadrant Report for Business Intelligence Platforms
What’s New in Tableau 5.1

Demo: Extended Outlook – Put your business intelligence reporting inside Microsoft Outlook
Demo: PushBI Mobile for the Apple iPhone

NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES

Microsoft positioned in Leaders Quadrant of the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Data Warehouse Database Management Systems

Launching an Analytics Practice: Ten Steps to Success
Zen BI: The Wisdom of Letting Go

Blog: Great Visualizers: Mike Deal Charts the Beatles
TED2010: Spatial Search – Bing, Flickr, Videos Maps and the Stars

February 2010 v.34 – Business Intelligence Update

2010-02-04T13:55:00.002-07:00

.

HOT TOPICS

Microsoft positioned in Leaders Quadrant of the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Data Warehouse Database Management Systems

New BI Features in Excel 2010
The Great PowerPivot FAQ
QlikView from a PowerPivot standpoint

SQL Server 2008 R2 gets an official date
Download: SQL Server 2008 R2 November CTP
Hands On Lab: PowerPivot in SQL Server 2008 R2

Developing a Culture of Performance with Microsoft BI

WEBCASTS
All webcast times are in Eastern Time Zone unless otherwise specified

Obtain Customer Loyalty with Tracking, Marketing, and Communication Hosted by Neudesic
Feb 4, 1pm
Click here for more info

Business Intelligence using SharePoint 2010 & PowerPivot
Hosted by ShareSquared
Feb 9, 2pm
Click here for more info

Microsoft Consolidated Business Intelligence: Delivering BI to Microsoft
Hosted by Microsoft
Feb 23, 12:30pm
Click here for more info

From Strategy to Students: Realizing the Vision
Hosted by Mariner
Feb 23, 11am
Click here for more info

Total Cost of Database Administration: A Comparison of SQL Server and Oracle
Hosted by Microsoft
Feb 26, 12pm
Click here for more info

How Microsoft IT Developed Best Practices in Offering PowerPivot as a Service
Hosted by Microsoft
Mar 16, 12:30pm
Click here for more info

EVENTS

SoCal BI User Group
Hosted by Xelleration & iQ4bis
Feb 4, Irvine, CA
Click here for more info

Pervasive, Self-Service BI: For The People, By The People
Hosted by Tallan
Feb 4, Farmington, CT
Click here for more info

Business Performance Management
Hosted by GNET Group
Feb 10, St Paul, MN
Click here for more info

Driving Innovation and Growth with Microsoft SharePoint
Hosted by Microsoft
Feb 16, Bellevue, WA
Click here for more info

Using SharePoint 2010 as a Business Intelligence Breakthrough Tool
Hosted by Quilogy
Feb 17, Omaha, NE
Click here for more info

Using SharePoint 2010 as a Business Intelligence Breakthrough Tool
Hosted by Quilogy
Feb 18, Overland Park, KS
Click here for more info

Driving Innovation and Growth with Microsoft SharePoint
Hosted by Microsoft
Feb 18, San Francisco, CA
Click here for more info

Driving Innovation and Growth with Microsoft SharePoint
Hosted by Microsoft
Feb 23, Irvine, CA
Click here for more info

Driving Innovation and Growth with Microsoft SharePoint
Hosted by Microsoft
Feb 25, Phoenix, AZ
Click here for more info

Using SharePoint 2010 as a Business Intelligence Breakthrough Tool
Hosted by Quilogy
Mar 2, Naperville, IL
Click here for more info

TRAINING

Web-based Training
SQL Server: Training Portal
SharePoint Server 2007: Training Portal
PerformancePoint Monitoring and Analytics: Dashboard basics I, Dashboard basics II
Excel 2007: Training Courses

Instructor Led Training
SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services (SSRS) Training
Intertech
Feb 8, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info

Implementing and Maintaining Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services
Accelebrate
Feb 8, Online
Click here for more info

SQL Server 2005 Integration Services (SSIS) Training
Intertech
Feb 10, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info

Microsoft Business Intelligence from SQL 2008 through SharePoint and Office 2007
Accelebrate
Feb 22, Online
Click here for more info

Implementing and Maintaining SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services (SSRS)
Intertech
Feb 22, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info

Solving Business Problems with MDX in SQL Server 2008
Solid Quality Mentors
Mar 9, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info

Implementing and Maintaining Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services
Accelebrate
Mar 8, Online
Click here for more info

SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) Training
Intertech
Mar 15, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info

RESOURCES

Microsoft BI
2010 Betas are here, including Office, SharePoint, Project & Visio

SQL Server
Business Intelligence: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
SSAS: SQL Sentry, Performance Optimization Software
SSAS: list of front end applications
Data Mining: SQL 2005, SQL 2008

SQL 2008 Books Online: Planning and Architecture (Analysis Services – Data Mining)
SQL 2008 Books Online: Architecture of Integration Services

Whitepaper: Best Practices for Data Warehousing with SQL Server 2008
Whitepaper: Top 10 Performance and Productivity Reasons to Use SQL Server 2008 for Your Business Intelligence Solutions

SharePoint Server 2007
Business Intelligence: Overview, Using BI Features

PerformancePoint: Technical Library
Download: PerformancePoint SP2 (64-bit or 32-bit)

SharePoint Server 2010
Describing SharePoint 2010 in 1 Sentence, 8 Categories and 40 Feature Areas
New Features in PerformancePoint Services 2010
Excel Services in SharePoint 2010 Feature Support, Dashboard Improvements
Upgrading PerformancePoint Server 2007 to PerformancePoint 2010
Planning for Upgrade from SharePoint Portal Server 2003 to SharePoint Server 2010

Office 2010
www.PowerPivot.com
PowerPivot Team Blog
PowerPivot Demos
PowerPivot introduction videos – load, analyse and use in SharePoint
Download: PowerPivot for Excel 2010
Blog: The Business User’s Perspective
Demo: PowerPivot Mashup by Mr Excel

Microsoft BI Certifications Blog:
New 2008 Microsoft BI Certifications Reviewed
Learning Plan: BI Developer
Exam: 70-448
Exam: 70-452

Related BI Resources
Notes from the Field

Tableau Positioned as Challenger on Gartner 2010 Magic Quadrant Report for Business Intelligence Platforms

Demo: Extended Outlook – Put your business intelligence reporting inside Microsoft Outlook Demo: PushBI Mobile for the Apple iPhone

NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES

Message from Tom Casey, General Manager, Microsoft Business Intelligence

Principle of Proximity: THE Best Practice in BI
The Next Wave in BI: Decision Analytics
Top 20 Data Visualizations Mentioned on Twitter
The Next Wave in BI: Decision Analysis
Assessing the Effectiveness of a New Dashboard’s Design
My 10 favourite business intelligence blog posts of 2009
Self-Service Business Intelligence: Dissolving the Barriers to Creative Decision-Support Solutions

Click here to Unsubscribe from this Monthly BI Update

Developing a Culture of Performance with Microsoft BI

2010-01-08T11:42:00.001-07:00

.

If you expect to be in the loop regarding Microsoft's BI strategy, then it's imperative you follow the work of my friend and former colleague on the Microsoft BI team, Bruno Aziza.

Bruno approaches BI with a business-minded perspective (as opposed to a purely technical perspective) with a keen focus on the real purpose of BI implementation...to drive performance and cultivate success. In fact, he co-authored a book on the topic (see below) as part of the Microsoft Executive Learning Series.

I recommend joining the LinkedIn Group that Bruno moderates, The Culture of Performance... and if you tweet, you'll find him there too.

Notable upcoming events in January include:

Developing a Culture of Performance in Retail
Held at the National Retail Federation (NRF) 99th Annual Convention
Hosted by Bruno Aziza and Henrik Amsinck, CIO of Lego Group
Jan 12, 1:45-3:30pm
Click here for more info

Building a Culture of Performance | Analytical Paradox & User Centricity
Webcast Series moderated by Bruno Aziza and Extended Results
Hosted by Bob O'Brien, Sr Director Business Analytics Media & Entertainment Group
Jan 20, 2pm EST
Click here to register

.

January 2010 v.33 – Business Intelligence Update

2010-01-04T13:16:00.009-07:00

HOT TOPICS

2010 Betas are here, including Office, SharePoint, Project & Visio

Zero to Cube in 60 Minutes
Hosted by PASS DW/BI Virtual Chapter
MARK YOUR CALENDARS: Jan 12, 12 pm EST
Click here to Attend

Microsoft Case Studies: Microsoft BI vs IBM Cognos Building Great Cubes: Tip 1 Tableau Blog: US Oil Imports in 2008

WEBCASTS
All webcast times are in Eastern Time Zone unless otherwise specified

Business Intelligence IT Dashboard Webinar
Hosted by MicroLink,LLC Jan 5, 2pm
Click here for more info

Enhance your SharePoint BI Portal Hosted by Strategy Companion Jan 7, 1pm
Click here for more info

SharePoint, BI, & Silverlight Hosted by Neudesic Jan 13, 1pm
Click here for more info

Actionable Insights at Your Fingertips: Rules of KPIs Part I: Few/Recyclable Hosted by Extended Results, with guest speaker Bruno Aziza Jan 20, 4:30pm
Click here for more info

SaaS and BI Hosted by Strategy Companion Jan 21, 1pm
Click here for more info

Emerge Stronger with Microsoft BI: Sales and Marketing Hosted by Microsoft Jan 26, 2 pm
Click here for more info

EVENTS

Driving Innovation and Growth with Microsoft SharePoint Hosted by Microsoft Feb 16, Bellevue, WA
Click here for more info

Driving Innovation and Growth with Microsoft SharePoint Hosted by Microsoft Feb 18, San Francisco, CA
Click here for more info

Driving Innovation and Growth with Microsoft SharePoint Hosted by Microsoft Feb 23, Irvine, CA
Click here for more info

Driving Innovation and Growth with Microsoft SharePoint Hosted by Microsoft Feb 25, Phoenix, AZ
Click here for more info

TRAINING

In-Person Training Deploying, Operating, and Tuning an Analysis Services 2008 Solution Solid Quality Mentors Feb 1, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info

SQL Server 2008 End-to-End Business Intelligence Workshop Solid Quality Mentors Feb 15, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info

RESOURCES

Microsoft BI

SQL Server Business Intelligence: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
SSAS: SQL Sentry, Performance Optimization Software
SSAS: list of front end applications
Data Mining: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
SQL 2008 Books Online: Planning and Architecture (Analysis Services – Data Mining)
SQL 2008 Books Online: Architecture of Integration Services
Whitepaper: Best Practices for Data Warehousing with SQL Server 2008
Whitepaper: Top 10 Performance and Productivity Reasons to Use SQL Server 2008 for Your Business Intelligence Solutions

SharePoint Server 2007 Business Intelligence: Overview, Using BI Features
PerformancePoint: Technical Library
Download: PerformancePoint SP2 (64-bit or 32-bit)

SharePoint Server 2010 Blog: Describing SharePoint 2010 in 1 Sentence, 8 Categories and 40 Feature Areas
Blog: New Features in PerformancePoint Services 2010
Blog: Excel Services in SharePoint 2010 Feature Support, Dashboard Improvements
Blog: Upgrading PerformancePoint Server 2007 to PerformancePoint 2010
Blog: Planning for Upgrade from SharePoint Portal Server 2003 to SharePoint Server 2010

Office 2010 www.PowerPivot.com
PowerPivot Team Blog PowerPivot Demos
Download: PowerPivot for Excel 2010
Blog: The Business User’s Perspective
Demo: PowerPivot Mashup by Mr Excel

Microsoft BI Certifications Blog: New 2008 Microsoft BI Certifications Reviewed
Learning Plan: BI Developer
Exam: 70-448
Exam: 70-452

Related BI Resources Notes from the Field
Demo: Extended Outlook – Put your business intelligence reporting inside Microsoft Outlook
Demo: PushBI Mobile for the Apple iPhone

NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES

Intelligent Enterprise Top Stories of 2009 Eleven BI/Analytics Topics for 2010

Swimming in Data? Three Benefits of Visualization Data visualization can lead to greater business insights Analytics at Work: Q&A with Tom Davenport Survey: BI Still Hindered By Technical Problems

.

Tableau Blog - US Oil Imports in 2008

2009-12-30T18:02:00.003-07:00

Response to a blog post published by Ross Perez of Tableau

In previous BI Update posts, I’ve shared links to Data.gov and expressed my enthusiasm for recent efforts by the Federal Government to expand public access to public information.

So I was thrilled to see a recent blog - US Oil Imports in 2008 – with interactive bar charts that you can click on to analyze US oil imports and exports in 2008. The dimensions you can analyze the data by are:

# Barrels of Oil
By Export Country
By Import State
By Company (Oil Importer)
By Month

When I click on IRAQ in the “Country of Export” chart, I can immediately see which States imported oil from Iraq and through which Companies. I can check out import trends over the past year. The data visualizations compel me to look at the information in a new way.

Below the charts, there are also several buttons that you don’t want to overlook which help make this information actionable and useful to others, including buttons to...

Share
View Data
Print to PDF
Revert All

I highly suggest checking out the Tableau blog archives and Visual Examples site when you have some free time… these resources are bound to get you thinking, and wishing you could look at more information in these ways!

.

Microsoft Case Studies: Microsoft BI vs IBM Cognos

2009-12-16T00:10:00.002-07:00

.
Here are links and extracts for a handful of Microsoft Case Studies where PerformancePoint was selected over Cognos. I know there are many many more such stories, but these are well-documented anyway...

Community Health Networks
Overcoming Cognos

GPX Tires
To help find a new BI solution, the company enlisted the help of SHEA Business Solutions. The Microsoft Certified Partner conducted a comprehensive review of available database and reporting products (including solutions from Cognos and Business Objects) before determining that Microsoft Office PerformancePoint™ Server 2007 was the best fit for GPX’s IT environment.

Tyson Foods
Another problem related to company growth was the challenge of making sense of so much data. Tyson used Cognos as its corporate business intelligence (BI) tool, but the program required a steep learning curve. Many employees beyond the Cognos experts could benefit from BI insights, but the IT staff did not have time to develop custom Cognos analysis cubes and dashboards for every department. In fact, the overworked IT staff had far more project requests than it could handle. It was eager to discover and deploy new technologies that would either shorten development cycles or empower users to create their own solutions without IT help.

In the finance department, having data in analysis cubes improves the company’s ability to audit financial data because information is consistent and more secure. Security is also enhanced by the ability to use Excel Services to hide information from unauthorized users. Financial analysts can publish reports to the intranet versus attaching documents to e-mail messages, which speeds access and reduces e-mail volume. Many analysts are using SQL Server Reporting Services in place of Cognos because it is less expensive and easier to use.

Responsiveness of financial analysis has also improved since Tyson began using Office Excel 2007 with SQL Server Analysis Services. “Performance has been amazing—the Analysis Services reports come back instantaneously, whereas the Oracle and Cognos reports could take anywhere from minutes to hours,” Barron says.

Ste Michelle Winery
Ste. Michelle evaluated business intelligence software from IBM Cognos, MicroStrategy, DataJungle (now called Blink Logic), and Oracle but decided that those options were either too expensive or too inflexible to meet its needs over the long term. Instead, the winery turned to a solution based on Microsoft Business Intelligence.

“The Microsoft Business Intelligence solution gave us the best combination of price and performance of any of the options that we considered,” says Alan Stefanin, Database Architect, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. “We have a best-of-breed strategy, and Microsoft Business Intelligence fit into that perfectly. A significant share of our IT infrastructure is based on Microsoft technologies, and this solution would operate easily with what we already used.”

Ste. Michelle put the Microsoft Business Intelligence solution into production for just half the cost of most of the alternatives that it considered, representing a savings of U.S.$100,000 in the first year, according to Gregg. He attributes the savings to several factors.

The Credit Valley Hospital
The Credit Valley Hospital worked with a Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner, Systemgroup Inc., to implement a new business intelligence (BI) solution. After reviewing several options, including tools from Cognos and SAS, Credit Valley decided on Microsoft® Office PerformancePoint™ Server 2007 as the most flexible and cost-effective performance management option.

Swisscom
In seeking an automated solution to replace the paper-based system, Swisscom first evaluated business analytics solutions from some of the major management performance software vendors, including IBM Cognos, SAS, and SAP Crystal Reports. Dörfer says: “These vendors supply big toolsets, but most of them have many functions that we simply did not need. We wanted a business intelligence (BI) environment that met all our needs for flexibility and scalability as well as supporting a simple dashboard solution for performance management of our IT systems.”

The Prime Minister's Office
The first step was to select a technology vendor that could deliver a reliable solution in just two months, in time for the next quarter’s performance report. Another critical requirement was to have an Arabic interface for the solution—Arabic is the official language of the UAE. After testing technologies by rival companies such as IBM-owned and Ontario-based Cognos and Finland-based QPR, the PMO chose Microsoft as its project partner.

Lotte Hotel
“The Cognos Powerplay tool, which we used in the past, was too high-priced so it was expensive to upgrade,” says Kim. “SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services had no cost burden and at the same time it was a strong alternative enabling us to easily convert our existing OLAP [online analytical processing] environment, after which we applied reporting tools to create Lotte Hotel’s overall BI [business intelligence] environment.”

some additional Microsoft BI Case Studies

.

December 2009 v.32 - Business Intelligence Update

2009-12-02T14:23:00.002-07:00

.

HOT TOPICS

2010 Betas are here, including Office, SharePoint, Project & Visio

PowerPivot Team Blog
Download: PowerPivot for Excel 2010
Blog: The Business User's Perspective

Demo: Extended Outlook - Put your business intelligence reporting inside Microsoft Outlook

CapstoneBI Blog: Analysis Services 2008 Metadata Report Pack

WEBCASTS
All webcast times are in Eastern Time Zone unless otherwise specified

Beat the Competition with the Power of Analytics
Hosted by Panorama
Dec 3, 2pm
Click here for more info

FEDSPUG December Meeting (Webcast)
Hosted by Microsoft
Dec 3, 2pm
Click here for more info

SharePoint 2010 Preview
Hosted by Gig Werks
Dec 8, 1pm
Click here for more info

Is Your Data Warehousing Project Doomed from the Beginning?
Hosted by B2B Technologies
Dec 10, 12:30pm
Click here for more info

Best Practices for Pervasive BI
Hosted by Strategy Companion
Dec 10, 1pm
Click here for more info

Build More Powerful Solutions with Bing Maps
Hosted by Microsoft
Dec 10, 1pm
Click here for more info

Portfolio Management and Capital Planning with Microsoft Solutions
Hosted by Projility
Dec 12, 1pm
Click here for more info

Looping, Moving Files, and Splitting Data Streams: Intermediate SSIS Tasks for the DBA
Hosted by PASS DW/BI Virtual Chapter, with guest speaker Tim Mitchell
Dec 15, 12pm
Click here to attend

Zero to Cube in 60 minutes
Hosted by PASS DW/BI Virtual Chapter, with guest speaker Adam Jorgensen
Dec 18, 12pm
Click here to attend

The Many-to-Many Compression Algorithm
Hosted by PASS DW/BI Virtual Chapter, with guest speaker Eugene Asahara
Dec 21, 12pm
Click here to attend

EVENTS

SoCal BI User Group - featuring Bob Abernathy of Strategy Companion
Hosted by Xelleration
Dec 3, Irvine, CA
Click here for more info

IN-PERSON TRAINING

Deploying, Operating, and Tuning an Analysis Services 2008 Solution
Hosted by Solid Quality Mentors
Feb 1, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info

SQL Server 2008 End-to-End Business Intelligence Workshop
Hosted by Solid Quality Mentors
Feb 15, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info

RESOURCES
Microsoft BI

SQL Server
Business Intelligence: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
Data Mining: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
Whitepaper: New Data Warehouse Scalability Features in SQL Server
Whitepaper: Introducing Microsoft StreamInsight

Blog: Formatting Linked Server MDX Query Results Using CTEs

SharePoint Server 2007
Business Intelligence: Overview, Using BI Features
PerformancePoint: Technical Library
Download PerformancePoint SP2 (64-bit or 32-bit)
Whitepaper: Publishing PerformancePoint Server in Extranet Scenarios
Whitepaper: Accessing large scale ROLAP environments with PerformancePoint 2007

SharePoint Server 2010
Blog: Describing SharePoint 2010 in 1 Sentence, 8 Categories and 40 Feature Areas
Blog: New Features in PerformancePoint 2010
Blog: Excel Services in SharePoint 2010 Feature Support, Dashboard Improvements

Office 2010
PowerPivot
http://www.powerpivot.com/
Blog: Using PowerPivot with Excel 2010

Related BI Resources
Notes from the Field

NEW AND PRESS RELEASES

Microsoft Elevates Mission-Critical Commitment With New SQL Server 2008 R2 Premium Editions, Delivery of November CTP
Bruno Aziza interviews Stephon Elop, President of Microsoft's Business Division

BIDN Launches: Business Intelligence Developer Network (http://www.bidn.com/)

Crossing the Chasm II - Departmental to Enterprise BI
Gartner enters into Agreement to Acquire AMR Research, Inc.
Gartner Says Performance Driven Culture Is One of Four Disciplines Required for a Successful Pattern-Based Strategy

.

November 2009 v.31 - Business Intelligence Update

2009-11-06T02:04:00.005-07:00

.

HOT TOPICS

SQL Pass - Seattle, Nov 2-5

SQL Server 2008 R2 - Managed Self Service Business Intelligence
http://www.powerpivot.com/ for Excel 2010
Blog: Excel 2010, Interacting with Slicers
Bruno Aziza interviews Stephon Elop, President of Microsoft's Business Division

deFacto... a new alternative to PerformancePoint Planning?

WEBCASTS
All webcast times are in Eastern Time Zone unless otherwise specified

Emerge Stronger with Microsoft Business Intelligence
Hosted by Microsoft
Nov 9, 2pm
Click here for more info

deFacto Performance Management Webinar
Hosted by deFacto Global
Nov 10, 12pm
Nov 19, 2pm
Nov 24, 12pm
Click here for more info

Increase Transparency Through Business Intelligence
Hosted by MicroLink LLC
Nov 12, 2pm
Click here for more info

Emerge Stronger with Microsoft BI: Operational Improvement
Hosted by Microsoft
Nov 17, 2pm
Click here for more info

How Hospitals Use Microsoft Technology to Manage Clinical Trials
Hosted by Quilogy
Nov 18, 1pm
Click here for more info

Turn insight into a winning strategy with cost-effective BI solutions
Hosted by twentysix New York
Dec 1, 2pm
Click here for more info

Emerge Stronger with Microsoft BI: Sales and Marketing
Hosted by Microsoft
Jan 26, 2pm
Click here for more info

EVENTS

TDWI World Conference
Hosted by The Data Warehouse Institute
Nov 1-6, Orlando, FL
Click here for more info

SQL PASS
Hosted by Microsoft
Nov 2-5, Seattle, WA
Click here for more info

SharePoint Unleashed
Hosted by Microsoft
Nov 3, Irvine, CA
Click here for more info

Discover Business Intelligence Capabilities within SharePoint
Hosted by Microsoft
Nov 3, Denver, CO
Click here for more info

SoCal BI User Group
Hosted by Xelleration
Nov 5, Irvine, CA
Click here for more info

Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence Strategies for the New Economy
Hosted by Hitachi Consulting
Nov 5, Denver, CO
Nov 10, San Francisco, CA
Nov 11, Los Angeles, CA
Click here for more info

Los Angeles SQL Server Professionals Group
Nov 19, Los Angeles, CA
Click here for more info

Microsoft Reporting Services and Business Intelligence
Hosted by CSG Professionals
Nov 24, Portland, OR
Click here for more info

TRAINING

Web-based Training

SQL Server: Training Portal
SharePoint Server 2007: Training Portal
PerformancePoint Monitoring & Analytics: Dashboard basics I, Dashboard Basics II
Excel 2007: Training Courses

In-Person Training

Enterprise ETL with SSIS
Solid Quality Mentors
Nov 9, Beaverton, OR
Click here for more info

SQL Server 2008 Fast Track Data Warehouse
Solid Quality Mentors
Nov 13, Irving, TX
Nov 17, Reston, VA
Nov 19, Iselin, NJ
Nov 20, Chicago, IL
Click here for more info

SQL Server 2008 End-to-End Business Intelligence Workshop
Solid Quality Mentors
Dec 7, Bellevue, WA
Click here for more info

Microsoft BI Bootcamp
Solid Quality Mentors
Dec 14, Beaverton, OR
Click here for more info

RESOURCES
Microsoft BI
CapstoneBI Architects
Notes from the Field

SQL Server
Business Intelligence: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
Data Mining: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
Whitepaper: New Data Warehouse Scalability Features in SQL Server
Whitepaper: Predictive Analysis with SQL Server 2008
Whitepaper: Introducing Microsoft StreamInsight
OLAP Heartbeat - monitor activity on Analysis Services

SQL Server 2008: Project "Madison"
Blog: Introduction to SQL Server Project Madison

SSIS: Kimball Method SSIS Slowly Changing Dimension Component
Blog: Formatting Linked Server MDX Query Results Using CTEs

SSAS: SQL Sentry, Performance Optimization Software
SSAS: list of front end applications

SharePoint Server
Business Intelligence: Overview, Using BI Features

PerformancePoint: Technical Library
Download: PerformancePoint SP2 (64-bit or 32-bit)
Whitepaper: Publishing PerformancePoint Server in Extranet Scenarios
Whitepaper: Accessing large scale ROLAP environments with PerformancePoint Server 2007

Office 2010
PowerPivot
http://www.powerpivot.com/ for Excel 2010
Blog: Using PowerPivot with Excel 2010

Related BI Resources
Caveman Forecaster - great resource for data mining/time series formatting
Federal IT Dashboard
http://it.usaspending.gov/ - track Stimulus Spending
Data.gov Catalogs, FAQ

NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES

Microsoft sets SQL Server 2008 R2 preview
Q&A: Business Intelligence gets a facelift in SQL Server 2008 R2
Microsoft Previews SQL Server Upgrades, In-Memory Analysis
End of life comes for SQL Server 2005 SP2

DBA career paths could lead to business intelligence

Peter Drucker as Life Coach: Book Shares His Wisdom

.

deFacto... a new alternative to PerformancePoint Planning?

2009-10-30T10:15:00.003-06:00

Last week, I had the pleasure of spending a few days in Las Vegas for Microsoft's SharePoint Conference. I have to admit, I came away drinking the Microsoft 'kool aid' after seeing great attention being paid to the new Business Intelligence (BI) capabilities within SharePoint and Excel. After all, in his keynote speech Ballmer included a demo of PerformancePoint Services within SharePoint and the new PowerPivot capabilities within Excel... over 7,000 attendees were exposed to some very cool BI right there...

BUT, perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the session was discovering deFacto Global, who had a vendor booth and used the SharePoint Conference as an opportunity to "launch" their brand new product, defacto Performance Management.

Here is more information sent to me by the principals at deFacto, including mention of PerformancePoint Planning Migration that is worth checking out if your organization currently uses PerformancePoint Planning and is considering alternatives that align with your current infrastructure...

deFacto Performance Management fulfills the original mission of Microsoft PerformancePoint Server 2007 Planning: a Microsoft-centric budgeting, forecasting, consolidation, reporting and analysis tool that is powerful, scalable, easy to use and implement, and affordable. Built from the ground up by experts behind world-class products from Hyperion Solutions, OutlookSoft, and SAP®, deFacto delivers best-of-the-best performance management capabilities in a single, fully unified product.

deFacto is a highly scalable solution that supports the full range of planning and analysis applications from sophisticated enterprise wide to much more straightforward department level . Built using the vast features of Microsoft’s Excel, and the Relational and Multi-dimensional capabilities of SQL Server, deFacto represents a critical component of any organization’s Microsoft-centric Business Intelligence or Performance Management strategy. It goes far beyond the usual slicing-and-dicing of data to allow instant reporting of user-specific financial and operational data such as finance, marketing, human resources, supply chain, capital planning, profitability, sales, and many others.

deFacto is a completely unified, OLAP-based, analysis and planning product that offers the full range of capabilities users need, including modeling, forecasting, drill-down, drill-through, what-if analysis, reporting, and more. It empowers business users who drive planning processes throughout an organization with the ability to perform real-time analysis by enabling Excel and even SharePoint with data submission capability to its centralized data store. deFacto also complements Microsoft SharePoint Monitoring and Analytics components with powerful capabilities such as cube building, user security, advanced logic, data entry and what-if – all of which can be managed by the business user through the deFacto Modeler.

Migrating to deFacto is Easy….

deFacto offers PerformancePoint Server 2007 Planning customers a straightforward and cost-effective way to realize dramatic improvements in the usability, performance, scalability and support of their investment. Planning customers find moving to deFacto is the best and easiest way to transition to a tool that offers critical, must-have functionality and performance, as well as an exciting future. Since deFacto’s core technology is Microsoft-centric, much like PPS Planning, it offers the added benefit of capitalizing on your’ investment in organization-specific assets such as models, dimensions, business rules, data structures, reports, templates, ETL, security, and others.

Whether they are setting-up a new performance management environment from scratch or migrating from another tool, our customers are up and running quickly and efficiently. deFacto provides all of the functionality user’s need while setting a new standard for performance management.

For more information about deFacto Performance Management please visit http://www.defactoglobal.com/.

October 2009 v.30 - Business Intelligence Update

2009-10-05T12:45:00.001-06:00

HOT TOPICS
SharePoint Conference – Las Vegas, Oct 19-22
SQL PASS – Seattle, Nov 2-5

Ballmer: The New Efficiency

SQL Server 2008 R2 – Managed Self Service Business Intelligence
Blog: Excel 2010, Interacting with Slicers

Feds Refresh Stimulus Tracking Site
http://www.recovery.gov/ – track Stimulus Spending

White House set to unleash 100,000 federal data sources via data.gov
Data.gov Catalogs, FAQ

WEBCASTS
All webcast times are in Eastern Time Zone unless otherwise specified

SaaS and BI
Hosted by Strategy Companion
Oct 16, 2pm
Click here for more info

Save Time and Money with the Business Intelligence Capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics GP
Hosted by Microsoft
Oct 20, 1pm
Click here for more info

How to Create a Clear Vision for your Business Intelligence Needs
Hosted by Neudesic
Oct 20, 2pm
Click here for more info

Jumpstart Sales with Business Intelligence
Hosted by Gig Werks
Oct 28, 1pm
Click here for more info

EVENTS

SoCal BI User Group
Speaker: Daniel Upton
Oct 1, San Diego, CA
Click here for more info

Baton Rouge SQL User Group
Topic: Introduction to MDX
Oct 7, Baton Rouge, LA
Click here for more info

SharePoint Conference 2009
Hosted by Microsoft
Oct 18, Las Vegas, NV
Click here for more info

Boulder SQL Server User Group
Topic: SQL Tuning
Oct 20, Broomfield, CO
Click here for more info

Microsoft PerformancePoint Services and Business Intelligence
Hosted by CSG Professional Services
Oct 27, Portland OR
Click here for more info

TDWI World Conference
Hosted by The Data Warehouse Institute
Nov 1, Orlando, FL
Click here for more info

SQL PASS
Hosted by Microsoft
Nov 2, Seattle, WA
Click here for more info

SharePoint Unleashed
Hosted by Microsoft
Nov 3, Irvine, CA
Click here for more info

Los Angeles SQL Server Professionals Group
Nov 19, Los Angeles, CA
Click here for more info

TRAINING
Web: SQL Server Training Portal
Web: SharePoint Server 2007 Training Portal
Web: Excel 2007 Training Courses
Web: PerformancePoint Monitoring and Analytics
Dashboard basics I, Dashboard basics II

Microsoft BI Bootcamp
Solid Quality Mentors
Oct 19, Bellevue, WA
Click here for more info

Enterprise ETL with SSIS
Solid Quality Mentors
Oct 19, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info

Enterprise ETL with SSIS
Solid Quality Mentors
Nov 9, Beaverton, OR
Click here for more info

RESOURCES
Microsoft BI
CapstoneBI Home page

SQL Server
Business Intelligence: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
Data Mining: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
Whitepaper: New Data Warehouse Scalability Features in SQL Server
Whitepaper: Predicative Analysis with SQL Server 2008
OLAP Heartbeat – monitor activity on Analysis Services
Complex Event Processing

SQL Server 2008: Project "Madison"
Blog: Introduction to SQL Server Project Madison

SSIS: Kimball Method SSIS Slowly Changing Dimension Component

SSAS: SQL Sentry, Performance Optimization Software
SSAS: list of front end applications

SharePoint Server

Business Intelligence: Overview, Using BI Features

PerformancePoint: Technical Library
Download: PerformancePoint SP2 (64-bit or 32-bit)
Whitepaper: Publishing PerformancePoint Server in Extranet Scenarios
Whitepaper: Accessing large scale ROLAP environments with PerformancePoint Server 2007

Office 2010

Project "Gemini"

Related BI Resources
Caveman Forecaster – great resource for data mining/time series forecasting
Federal IT Dashboard

NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES
Getting Started with BI
Smart and cheap: How to improve business intelligence on a tight budget
Want to make BI pervasive? It’s the culture, stupid
IT Jobs May Get Left Behind in Recovery
Tracking Carbon Emissions: The Next Big Reporting Challenge
Profiles in Performance: Q&A with Howard Dresner

SoCal BI User Group - Oct1, San Diego

2009-09-30T16:22:00.002-06:00

For those of you in the SoCal area, take part in the SoCal BI User Group.

Enhancing BI End-User Data Visualizations using MDX
Presented by Daniel Upton

Thursday, Oct 1, 6:30-8:30pm

7480 Mission Valley Road
Suite 100
San Diego, CA 92108

Article Update - For Today’s Graduate, Just One Word: Statistics

2009-09-16T23:22:00.005-06:00

On Monday I chatted with a friend of mine about data mining. She's a brilliant woman, always makes me laugh, and these days she's swamped working on her PhD dissertation. She studies Psychometrics at Columbia University, a field that involves the study of measurement instruments and procedures, and a field that requires proficient data analysis.

She pointed me to this NY Times article from last month, and I think there are some interesting statements in it worth noting.

excerpts from... For Today's Graduate, Just One Word: Statistics
New York Times
Published Aug 5, 2009

"I keep saying that the sexy job in the next 10 years will be statisticians," said Hal Varian, chief economist at Google. "And I'm not kidding."

The rising stature of statisticians, who can earn $125,000 at top companies in their first year after getting a doctorate, is a byproduct of the recent explosion of digital data.

And the digital surge only promises to accelerate, rising fivefold by 2012, according to a projection by IDC, a research firm.

Yet data is merely the raw material of knowledge. "We're rapidly entering a world where everything can be monitored and measured," said Erik Brynjolfsson, an economist and director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Digital Business. "But the big problem is going to be the ability of humans to use, analyze and make sense of the data."

They are certainly welcomed in the White House these days. "Robust, unbiased data are the first step toward addressing our long term economic needs and key policy priorities," Peter R. Orzag, director of the Office of Management and Budget, declared in a speech in May.

It is the size of the data sets on the Web that opens new worlds of discovery.

"The key is to let computers do what they are good at, which is trawling these massive data sets for something that is mathematically odd," said Daniel Gruhl, an I.B.M. researcher whose recent work includes mining medical data to improve treatement. "And that makes it easier for humans to do what they are good at --explain those anomalies."

September 2009 v.29 - Business Intelligence Update

2009-09-01T15:19:00.013-06:00

.

HOT TOPICS

Office 2010: Project "Gemini"
Demo: Overview
Demo: Creating table relationships in MS Gemini Self-Service Business Intelligence

Microsoft ships the first technology preview for Project code-named "Madison"
SQL Server 2008: Project "Madison"

Federal IT Dashboard
Commentary: Federal CIO Dashboard: We Can and Should Do Better Than This

NY Times: For Today’s Graduate, Just One Word: Statistics

WEBCASTS
All webcast times are in Eastern Time Zone unless otherwise specified

Putting Microsoft BI Tools in the Hands of Business Users
Hosted by Gig-Werks
Sept 2, 1pm
Click here for more info

Best Practices for Pervasive BI
Hosted by Strategy Companion
Sept 3, 2pm
Click here for more info

Building the Business Case for BI/Analytics
Hosted by Xcelligent
Sept 11, 11:45am
Click here for more info

Complete Business Intelligence Solution for your Microsoft Platform
Hosted by Panorama
Sept 15, 1pm
Click here for more info

Using Microsoft Office for Business Intelligence
Hosted by Microsoft
Sept 16, 2pm
Click here for more info

Microsoft Business Intelligence for Oracle Financials
Hosted by Microsoft
Sept 23, 1pm
Click here for more info

Better Operational Efficiency with Business Intelligence
Hosted by Gig Werks
Sept 30, 1pm
Click here for more info

Transforming Analytics in Financial Services
Hosted by Tableau Software
Sept 30, 2pm
Click here for more info

How to Create a Clear Vision for your Business Intelligence Needs
Hosted by Neudesic
Oct 20, 2pm
Click here for more info

Jumpstart Sales with Business Intelligence
Hosted by Gig Werks
Oct 28, 1pm
Click here for more info

EVENTS

SharePoint Conference 2009
Hosted by Microsoft
Oct 18, Las Vegas, NV
Click here for more info

TDWI World Conference
Hosted by The Data Warehouse Institute
Nov 1, Orlando, FL
Click here for more info

SQL PASS
Hosted by Microsoft
Nov 2, Seattle, WA
Click here for more info

TRAINING

Web: SQL Server Training Portal
Web: SharePoint Server 2007 Training Portal

Web: PerformancePoint Monitoring and Analytics:
Dashboard basics I, Dashboard basics II

PerformancePoint Monitoring and Analytics
Solid Quality Mentors
Sept 9, Beaverton, OR
Click here for more info

SQL Server 2008 End-to-End BI Workshop
Solid Quality Mentors
Sept 14, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info

Microsoft BI Bootcamp
Solid Quality Mentors
Sept 21, Beaverton, OR
Click here for more info

Deploying, Operating, and Tuning an SSAS 2008 Solution
Solid Quality Mentors
Oct 5, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info

Enterprise ETL with SSIS
Solid Quality Mentors
Oct 19, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info

Designing and Developing Solutions with SSAS 2008
Solid Quality Mentors
Oct 26, Beaverton, OR
Click here for more info

RESOURCES
Microsoft BI
CapstoneBI Home page

SQL Server
Business Intelligence: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
Data Mining: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
Whitepaper: New Data Warehouse Scalability Features in SQL Server
Whitepaper: Predicative Analysis with SQL Server 2008
OLAP Heartbeat – monitor activity on Analysis Services
Complex Event Processing

SharePoint Server
Business Intelligence: Overview, Using BI Features

PerformancePoint
Technical Library
Download: PerformancePoint SP2 (64-bit or 32-bit)
Whitepaper: Publishing PerformancePoint Server in Extranet Scenarios
Whitepaper: Accessing large scale ROLAP environments with PerformancePoint Server 2007

NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES
Preview SQL Server 2008 R2
Microsoft Unveils Preview Code for Next SQL Server
Microsoft issues SQL Azure, CEP platform previews

Can Business Intelligence Help Save Healthcare?
4 Technologies That Are Reshaping Business Intelligence
Kimball University: Five Alternatives for Better Employee Dimension Modeling

White House set to unleash 100,000 federal data sources via data.gov

.

CapstoneBI, Competing in Analytics

2009-08-26T09:55:00.010-06:00

I'm thrilled to now be working for Capstone Consulting Group, this is an experienced team of guys I've worked with for years. I'm particularly happy that my colleagues are passionate about data analysis, predictive modeling, parameters, fact-based decision making, the future technologies of business intelligence.

Having just started with Capstone, I recently came across the book Competing on Analytics, by Thomas Davenport and Jeanne Harris and I read it on one of my trips.  Since the book motivated me (yes it got me all pumped up about business intelligence), I have every reason to think the book is great. You should check it out.

Well, I went so far as to incorporate the "Competing on analytics stages model" (page 36) into my initial requirements gathering process as I work with clients to assess how CapstoneBI can support their project plans. There are five stages in this model... what stage is your company at?

1) Analytically Impaired - "flying blind"
2) Localized Analytics - local and opportunistic
3) Analytical Aspirations - begun efforts to integrate data systems
4) Analytical Companies - enterprise-wide perspective, know what to do but not quite there
5) Analytical Competitors - enterprise-wide, big results, sustainable

Like the authors of the book, most companies I meet with are at stages 1 and 2.  I find huge opportunities to positively impact company culture by introducing innovation thru data integration and better centralized access.

For companies at stage 3, unforeseen challenges can stump project momentum, political and beauracratic policies slow the project down.  Users are hungry for new perspective and new information, an enterprise-wide system will help.

At stage 4, the network is humming, performance dashboards are being developed and used. Now we want to see what the future may bring... what will happen if these trends persist for another year? what will need to happen to reduce our risk?

When it comes to hands-on experience applying the principles found in this book, CapstoneBI experts solve tough BI technology issues daily, with companies at ALL stages listed above. We're on some challenging high-profile projects now. Aside from the technical experience we bring to the table, our team is made up of good people who innately respect and enjoy helping the professionals we work with.

Sync up with us... check out our CapstoneBI website and technical blog, Notes from the Field... if you have questions don't hesitate to be in touch. We're always looking for new clients who have BI implementation challenges we can help solve... and we're looking for skilled and experienced BI consultants to join our team.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Jason Morales
Director, CapstoneBI

BI Update

Webcast Update: Using OLAP to Optimize and Maintain Predictive Analytics Models

Webcast Update: Collaborative Disclosure Management is all about filling the gap!

Webcast Update - Offering PowerPivot as a Service - Best Practices from Microsoft IT

Tech Days: Deploying & Managing PowerPivot for SharePoint

User Group: Predictive Analytics with PowerPivot and SharePoint 2010

November 2010 v.39 – Business Intelligence Update

Webcast Reminder: Self-Service BI with Microsoft PowerPivot

100% of companies using CLARITY FSR™ for their SEC XBRL submission successfully file without any EDGAR XBRL validation errors

Using Excel 2007 for Analysis Services (SSAS)

August 2010 v.38 – Business Intelligence Update

Microsoft Dynamics CRM a Leader according to Forrester

July 2010 v.37 – Business Intelligence Update

Microsoft BI Demo, VPC 7.1 - Expiry

April 2010 v.36 – Business Intelligence Update

March 2010 v.35 – Business Intelligence Update

February 2010 v.34 – Business Intelligence Update

Developing a Culture of Performance with Microsoft BI

January 2010 v.33 – Business Intelligence Update

HOT TOPICS

WEBCASTSAll webcast times are in Eastern Time Zone unless otherwise specified

EVENTS

TRAINING

RESOURCES

NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES

Tableau Blog - US Oil Imports in 2008

Microsoft Case Studies: Microsoft BI vs IBM Cognos

December 2009 v.32 - Business Intelligence Update

November 2009 v.31 - Business Intelligence Update

deFacto... a new alternative to PerformancePoint Planning?

October 2009 v.30 - Business Intelligence Update

SoCal BI User Group - Oct1, San Diego

Article Update - For Today’s Graduate, Just One Word: Statistics

September 2009 v.29 - Business Intelligence Update

CapstoneBI, Competing in Analytics

WEBCASTS
All webcast times are in Eastern Time Zone unless otherwise specified