Beginning, Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Administration

Chapter 18. Introduction to SQL Server Reporting Services

In today's business world, companies tend to collect massive amounts of information, from the products they sell to what the weather was like when it was sold. This often leads to accumulating many terabytes of information. Because companies collect vast amounts of information, it is often difficult to present that information in a useful way let alone gain insight into the health of their business to make effective business decisions. For the decision makers to make effective use of the information, they must have easy access to intuitive and useful reports that combine information from many different locations to provide a detailed account of business activity. Combining detailed information with a graphical representation aids in understanding and can provide a comprehensive view of various trends and comparisons. SQL Server Reporting Services has all of these capabilities and then some.

SQL Server Reporting Services Overview

SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) was first introduced in 2004 as an add-on product to SQL Server 2000 and was accepted with great fanfare. SQL Server 2005 didn't add all that much new functionality to Reporting Services but did fully integrate Reporting Services as part of the installation. By including Reporting Services as part of the product rather than just an add-on, SQL Server was able to provide a full Business Intelligence infrastructure. Reporting Services underwent a significant overhaul ...