Developing Business Intelligence Apps for SharePoint

Chapter 39. Office Client Configuration of PowerPivot and Power View

With three released versions of PowerPivot, it can be confusing as to which version to choose and what the process for implementing them is. In this chapter, we will clear up the confusion and walk through the implementation of the PowerPivot version 2 for Office implementation.

The topics include:

• What you need to get started and where to get the pieces

• The Light-Up story for PowerPivot and Power View in Office 2013

• Power View Implementation

Upgrading versions of Office in an enterprise can prove challenging; however, in order to capitalize on the latest and greatest features you must have the latest and greatest product. When PowerPivot version 1 was first released, it was a little known add-in to a highly saturated product. Excel macros and add-ins had long since peaked and essentially jumped the shark. People were finding ways to leverage the newer native functionality rather than looking for an add-in to solve a specific, singular need.

Then along came PowerPivot, which by the nature of being a new product integration from Microsoft directly garnered some attention—but it wasn’t until the product reached its adolescence with PowerPivot version 2 and the addition of Power View that people truly stopped and took notice. Often, executives are still a bit leery to make a real commitment to a technology that is still a separate download and where the sexy new feature is only available in SharePoint—the exception being ...