Applied Microsoft Business Intelligence

Chapter 10Choosing the Right Business Intelligence Visualization Tool

Microsoft has a variety of visualization tools within its business intelligence offering, but which one should you pick? Deciding between tools can be a daunting task, but one that can be approached very methodically if you know what to do. It is important to factor in your organization, options of tools, and business and technical priorities. Following the plan described in this chapter will ensure you have the right tool for the job.

This chapter helps you to choose the right business intelligence tool for your organization. By following a standard process, you can ensure that you incorporated all necessary requirements for a business intelligence visualization tool. To start, you will read about the importance of picking the right business intelligence tool. Then, you learn how to gather these requirements and incorporate them into an evaluation matrix for assessment. You also learn about some of the visualization tools available to you to include in the matrix. Finally, you complete the matrix and come up with a solution that fits your organization.

Why Do You Need to Choose?

A business intelligence visualization tool enables a person to see information in a way that allows them to make a good business decision. Also known as performing analysis or gaining insights, the visualization tool highlights something important, such as a trend or an outlier. Microsoft provides many visualization tools, many of ...