book

Microsoft® Business Intelligence For Dummies®

Name: Microsoft® Business Intelligence For Dummies®
Author: Ken Withee
ISBN: 9780470526934

by Ken Withee

March 2010

Beginner

408 pages

10h 22m

English

For Dummies

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Copyright
About the Author
Author's Acknowledgments
Publisher's Acknowledgments
Introduction
About This BookHow to Use This BookHow This Book Is OrganizedPart I: Embracing a Microsoft Business Intelligence SolutionPart II: Wrapping Your Head Around Business Intelligence ConceptsPart III: Introducing the Microsoft Business Intelligence TechnologiesPart IV: Incorporating Microsoft Business Intelligence into Your Business EnvironmentPart V: The Part of TensIcons Used In This BookLet's Get Started!
I. Embracing a Microsoft Business Intelligence Solution
1. Surveying Microsoft Business Intelligence from 50,000 Feet
1.1. Introducing Microsoft Business Intelligence1.1.1. Knowing the components of Microsoft BI1.1.2. Tracing the terminology1.2. Getting to the Core of Microsoft BI1.2.1. Date warehousing and data marts1.2.2. Reporting on data1.2.3. Integrating data from many sources1.2.4. Analyzing data1.2.5. Data mining1.3. Microsoft BI Data Presentation1.3.1. Microsoft Office Excel1.3.1.1. An analysis tool for everyone1.3.1.2. The Data Mining Add-in1.3.2. Microsoft Office Visio1.3.3. Microsoft SharePoint1.3.3.1. Excel Services1.3.3.2. PerformancePoint Services1.3.3.3. Reporting Services Integration1.4. Microsoft BI Development Tools1.4.1. Visual Studio1.4.2. Report Builder1.4.3. Silverlight1.4.4. Microsoft .NET
2. Blazing a Trail through the Data Jungle
2.1. Exploring the Data Lifecycle2.1.1. Data generation and collection2.1.1.1. Business processes — the midwife for data2.1.1.2. Ways to collect data2.1.1.3. Data silos2.1.2. Data transformation and organization2.1.3. Data visualization and reporting2.1.4. Data analysis2.1.5. Data mining2.2. Understanding How Microsoft BI Fits into the Data Lifecycle2.3. Juggling Data2.4. It's a Flood of Data! Headed This Way!
3. Adopting Microsoft Business Intelligence
3.1. Understanding the Adoption Process3.1.1. Determining what to ask the BI genie3.1.2. Investigating your current Microsoft product usage3.1.2.1. Checking your current licensing3.1.2.2. Mapping your IT environment3.1.2.3. Determining which Microsoft software to purchase3.1.3. Taking stock of your Microsoft knowledge3.1.4. Saving your sanity with a prototype3.1.5. Iterating the prototype to success3.2. Documenting Your Key Business Processes3.3. Understanding Where to Find Microsoft BI Guidance3.3.1. Taking advantage of in-house expertise3.3.2. Calling in the experts3.3.3. Tracking down individual experts3.3.4. Who you gonna call? Microsoft Support!3.3.5. Other resources online and on paper
II. Wrapping Your Head Around Business Intelligence Concepts

4. Using Data to Inform and Drive Business Activities
4.1. The Importance of Data in Making Business Decisions4.1.1. Tracking down the relevant data4.1.2. Getting the right data to the right person at the right time4.1.3. BI and the risk of high-tech tunnel vision4.2. Why All the Fuss about OLAP?4.2.1. What is OLAP?4.2.2. What makes OLAP so fast?4.2.3. Why OLAP?4.2.4. Databases and cubes4.2.5. Measures and facts (of life)4.2.6. Hierarchies of detail
5. Taking a Closer Look at Data Collection
5.1. The King of BI Concepts — ETL5.1.1. Extracting data5.1.2. Transforming data5.1.2.1. Data cleansing5.1.2.2. Mapping numeric values5.1.2.3. Calculating new values5.1.2.4. Aggregating values5.1.3. Loading data5.2. SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) — Microsoft's ETL Tool5.2.1. Tossing the packages into the projects5.2.2. Connecting to data sources5.2.3. SSIS Toolbox5.2.3.1. The Control Flow Toolbox5.2.3.2. Data Flow Toolbox5.2.4. Data transformations5.2.5. Anything is possible with custom code5.3. A Simple SSIS Walk-Through5.4. Exploring Data Generation5.4.1. Computers speed everything up5.4.2. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)5.4.3. Rise of the machines5.4.3.1. Robots5.4.3.2. Scanners5.4.3.3. Point of sale
6. Turning Data into Information
6.1. Data Storage for BI6.1.1. Data warehouse6.1.1.1. Dual purposes of a data warehouse6.1.1.2. What runs a data warehouse: SQL Server database engine6.1.1.3. Making the case — reasons for a data warehouse6.1.1.4. Getting data out of a data warehouse6.1.2. Data mart6.1.2.1. Purpose of a data mart6.1.2.2. Origin of data in a data mart6.1.3. Data-storage patterns6.1.3.1. Dimensional models6.1.3.2. Relational models6.1.3.3. Hybrid models6.1.4. Models, schemas, and patterns6.2. Understanding SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS)6.2.1. Business Intelligence Developer Studio (BIDS)6.2.2. Report Builder6.3. Getting Familiar with SharePoint6.3.1. Excel Services6.3.2. PerformancePoint Services for SharePoint6.3.3. KPI lists6.3.4. Dashboards6.3.5. Scorecards6.3.5.1. Business balancing act — The Balanced Scorecard6.3.5.2. Microsoft and the balanced scorecard
7. Data Mining for Information Gold
7.1. Going Deep with Data Mining7.1.1. An algorithm defined7.1.2. Data mining's role in the BI process7.2. Digging In to Data Mining in the Microsoft World7.2.1. The Microsoft data-mining process7.2.1.1. Defining the problem7.2.1.2. Preparing the data7.2.1.3. Exploring the data7.2.1.4. Building your models7.2.1.5. Exploring and validating your models7.2.1.6. Deploying and updating your models7.2.2. Data-mining structures7.2.3. Data mining models7.3. Knowing the Microsoft Data-Mining Tools7.3.1. Integrating with Microsoft Office7.3.1.1. Table Analysis Tools for Excel7.3.1.2. Data Mining Client for Excel7.3.1.3. Data Mining Templates for Visio7.3.2. Visual Studio7.3.2.1. Data Mining Wizard7.3.2.2. Data Mining Designer7.3.2.3. SQL Server Integration Services7.3.2.3.1. Tasks7.3.2.3.2. Data-flow transformations7.3.2.3.3. Data-flow destinations7.3.3. SQL Server Management Studio7.4. Using Microsoft Data Mining Algorithms
III. Introducing the Microsoft Business Intelligence Technologies
8. Meeting SQL Server
8.1. First Contact with SQL Server8.2. Primary Components of SQL Server8.2.1. The SQL Server Database Engine8.2.1.1. Creating a database8.2.1.1.1. Creating a database using the GUI8.2.1.1.2. Creating a database using the DDL8.2.1.2. SQL Server clustering and high availability8.2.1.2.1. Failover clustering8.2.1.2.2. Database mirroring8.2.1.2.3. Log shipping8.2.1.2.4. Replication8.2.1.3. SQL Server in the cloud8.2.2. SQL Server Reporting Services8.2.2.1. Report Definition Language8.2.2.2. Report-building tools8.2.2.2.1. Report Builder8.2.2.2.2. Visual Studio and Business Intelligence Developer Studio8.2.2.3. Report models8.2.3. SQL Server Integration Services8.2.4. SQL Server Analysis Services8.2.4.1. OLAP8.2.4.2. Data Mining Engine8.3. Looking at the Different Versions of SQL Server8.3.1. Core editions8.3.1.1. Standard8.3.1.2. Enterprise8.3.2. Specialized editions8.3.2.1. Express8.3.2.2. Web8.3.2.3. Workgroup8.3.2.4. Developer8.4. Installing SQL Server8.5. Checking Out SQL Server Tools8.5.1. SQL Server Management Studio8.5.1.1. Terminology confusion with Management Studio8.5.1.2. Development in Management Studio8.5.2. Transact-SQL8.5.3. MDX
9. Excel — Digital Data Power to the People
9.1. Excel as a BI Application9.2. Generating Data9.3. Collecting Data9.4. Getting Organized9.5. Show Me the Data! — Data Visualization9.5.1. Conditional formatting9.5.2. Charts and graphs9.6. Analyzing Data: Pivot on This and Pivot on That9.6.1. Using Excel PivotTables9.6.2. PivotChart9.7. Data Mining with Excel9.7.1. Using Excel to boss SSAS9.7.2. Pulling cube data for PivotTables and PivotCharts9.8. Keeping Score with the Excel Scorecard9.9. Knowing the Limits of Excel9.10. Looking at the Future of Excel
10. SharePoint Shines
10.1. Getting to Know SharePoint10.1.1. What exactly is SharePoint?10.1.1.1. Starting with the roots — computer hardware10.1.1.2. Software that talks to the hardware — the operating system10.1.1.3. Software frameworks and servers — .NET and IIS10.1.1.4. A computer language for the Web — ASP.NET10.1.1.5. The first step into the SharePoint world — SharePoint Foundation10.1.1.6. A finished product — SharePoint Server10.1.2. Understanding the versions and editions of SharePoint10.1.2.1. WSS 2.0 and MOSS 2007 (previous version of SharePoint)10.1.2.2. SharePoint Foundation 2010 and SharePoint Server 2010 (latest and greatest version of SharePoint)10.2. Making BI Information Available in SharePoint10.2.1. SSRS integration10.2.1.1. SSRS in Native mode10.2.1.2. SSRS in Integrated mode10.2.2. Excel integration10.2.3. InfoPath Form Services10.2.4. Using Key Performance Indicators10.2.5. Business Connectivity Services10.3. Unleashing Human Business Intelligence with SharePoint10.3.1. SharePoint Web sites10.3.2. Document libraries10.3.3. SharePoint Lists10.3.4. Wikis10.3.5. Blogs10.3.6. Discussion boards10.3.7. Office integration10.3.7.1. Word10.3.7.2. Outlook10.4. Learning What Was Added with SharePoint Server 201010.4.1. Cruising with the Navigation Ribbon10.4.2. Providing a more fluid user experience10.4.3. Developing applications with Silverlight10.4.4. Integrating visualizations with PowerPoint themes10.4.5. Visio Services10.4.6. Sorting and filtering lists dynamically10.4.7. Using Business Connectivity Services10.4.8. Increasing efficiency with Office integration10.4.9. Taking SharePoint offline with SharePoint Workspace
11. Expressing Yourself with Development Tools
11.1. Taking a Look at Visual Studio11.1.1. The Visual Studio interface11.1.2. Flavors of Visual Studio11.1.3. Visual Studio in the BI world11.1.3.1. Analysis Services Project11.1.3.2. Import Analysis Services Database11.1.3.3. Integration Services Connections Project Wizard11.1.3.4. Integration Services Project11.1.3.5. Report Server Project Wizard11.1.3.6. Report Model Project11.1.3.7. Report Server Project11.2. Examining the .NET Framework11.2.1. A language only a computer chip can love11.2.2. Intermediate Language (IL)11.2.3. The Common Language Runtime (CLR)11.3. Exploring Report Builder11.4. Diving In to SQL Server Management Studio11.5. Getting to Know SharePoint Designer11.6. Seeing the (Silver)light and Tasting Expression Blend11.7. Understanding PerformancePoint
IV. Incorporating Microsoft Business Intelligence into Your Business Environment
12. Setting Your BI Goals and Implementation Plan
12.1. Setting Your Business Intelligence Goals12.1.1. Understanding the components of business goals12.1.1.1. Politics, politics, politics!12.1.1.2. Asking a genie12.1.1.3. Prioritizing12.1.1.4. Assigning complexities12.1.2. Examining technology goals12.2. Determining Your Implementation Plan12.2.1. Comparing waterfall and iterative methodologies12.2.1.1. Identifying the phases of the waterfall approach12.2.1.2. Using an iterative approach to implement a BI system12.2.2. Discovering how things really work12.2.2.1. Building process maps and process flows12.2.2.2. Sending in the BI version of a SWAT team12.2.3. Identifying the power users12.2.4. Solidifying the goals of the BI project12.2.5. Identifying the data needed to attain your goals12.2.6. Setting a solid foundation for a BI implementation12.2.7. Scope creep can be your friend
13. Evaluating and Choosing Technologies
13.1. Assessing Your BI Capabilities13.1.1. Identifying your current BI-friendly tools13.1.2. Knowing your current licensing13.1.3. Determining your current skill sets13.1.3.1. Windows client OS13.1.3.2. Microsoft Office productivity suite13.1.3.3. Windows Server13.1.3.4. Server products and features13.1.3.5. Developers familiar with Visual Studio and .NET13.1.3.6. SQL Server Database administrators13.1.3.7. Microsoft products all over the place13.2. Choosing Technologies to Incorporate13.2.1. Understanding your business foundation13.2.2. Putting together the BI technology puzzle13.2.3. Plugging in the pieces13.3. Utilizing Free BI Tools: Try Before You Buy13.3.1. Trying SQL Server13.3.2. Checking out SharePoint13.4. Reducing Risk
14. Testing and Rolling Out
14.1. Continuously Adding Value14.2. Testing Your BI Implementation14.2.1. BI testing diversity14.2.1.1. Business process testing14.2.1.2. Testing to ensure data are captured and stored14.2.1.3. ETL testing14.2.1.4. Keeping the project honest — did you answer the question?14.2.2. Unit testing14.2.2.1. Documenting the goal14.2.2.2. Mapping the current state of your business process14.2.2.3. Creating a data-storage mechanism14.2.2.4. Mapping the future process state14.2.2.5. Modifying the current processes14.2.2.6. Creating the ETL package using SSIS14.2.2.7. Creating information and surfacing data14.2.2.8. So, to reiterate . . .14.3. Rolling It Out — Again and Again14.3.1. Surfacing information14.3.1.1. Excel14.3.1.2. SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS)14.3.1.3. SharePoint Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)14.3.1.4. PerformancePoint Services for SharePoint14.3.1.5. Report Builder reports14.4. Having a BI Management Plan14.5. Managing Change14.5.1. Gaining early adoption14.5.2. Transparency is crucial14.5.3. Delegating ownership14.5.4. Changing business processes14.5.4.1. Deciding on the best change mechanism14.5.4.2. Iterative and inclusive change14.5.5. Introducing new technology without mutiny
15. Training, Using, and Evaluating Results
15.1. Tackling Training Efforts15.1.1. Continuous education15.1.2. Enabling self-service training15.1.3. SharePoint training resources15.1.3.1. SharePoint training roadmap15.1.3.2. SharePoint training15.1.3.3. SharePoint Designer training15.1.4. SQL Server training resources15.1.5. Training users at the grassroots level15.2. Evaluating Results15.2.1. Getting feedback with SharePoint15.2.1.1. SharePoint surveys15.2.1.2. Discussion boards15.2.1.3. Blogs15.2.1.4. Wikis15.2.1.5. Interviews15.3. Incorporating Feedback15.4. Creating a BI Culture15.4.1. Inclusion15.4.2. Communication and collaboration15.4.3. Ownership15.4.4. Merit-based recognition15.4.5. Trust
V. The Part of Tens
16. Ten Microsoft BI Implementation Pitfalls
16.1. Drowning Under the Waterfall16.2. Getting Stuck on the Shelf(-ware)16.3. Letting Politics Kill the BI Project16.4. Ignoring IT16.5. Disregarding Power Users16.6. Snubbing Business Processes16.7. Overpromising Results16.8. Getting Squashed by Top-Down Decree16.9. Skimping on the Foundation16.10. Misjudging How to Use Consultants
17. Ten Keys to Successful Microsoft Business Intelligence
17.1. Reiterating an Iterative Approach17.2. Obtaining Executive-Level Sponsorship17.3. Assessing Your Current Environment17.4. Developing an Implementation Plan17.5. Choosing the Right People for the Implementation Team17.5.1. Your in-house team members17.5.2. Calling in consultants17.6. Creating an Inclusive Environment17.7. Fostering a Culture of Communication and Collaboration17.8. Starting with the Right Goals17.9. Reducing Risk17.10. Maintaining Perspective
18. Ten Ways to Boost Your Bottom Line with Microsoft Business Intelligence
18.1. Increasing Efficiency18.2. Improving Agility18.3. Increasing the Visibility of Business Processes18.4. Forecasting18.5. Taking Advantage of Existing Skill Sets18.6. Collaborating and Communicating18.7. Reusing Code in Various Functional Areas18.8. Consolidating Content18.9. Increasing Productivity18.10. Making Deep Use of SQL Server and SharePoint
Glossary

Overview

Learn to create an effective business strategy using Microsoft's BI stack

Microsoft Business Intelligence tools are among the most widely used applications for gathering, providing access to, and analyzing data to enable the enterprise to make sound business decisions. The tools include SharePoint Server, the Office Suite, PerformancePoint Server, and SQL Server, among others.

With so much jargon and so many technologies involved, Microsoft Business Intelligence For Dummies provides a much-needed step-by-step explanation of what's involved and how to use this powerful package to improve your business.

Microsoft Business Intelligence encompasses a broad collection of tools designed to help business owners and managers direct the enterprise effectively
This guide provides an overview of SharePoint, PerformancePoint, the SQL Server suite, Microsoft Office, and the BI development technologies
Explains how the various technologies work together to solve functional problems
Translates the buzzwords and shows you how to create your business strategy
Examines related technologies including data warehousing, data marts, Online Analytical Processing (OLAP), data mining, reporting, dashboards, and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Simplifies this complex package to get you up and running quickly

Microsoft Business Intelligence For Dummies demystifies these essential tools for enterprise managers, business analysts, and others who need to get up to speed.

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
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