Foundations of SQL Server 2008 R2 Business Intelligence, Second Edition

Using Excel Pivot Tables and Pivot Charts

The simplest choice for reporting is to use an Excel pivot table or pivot chart. These tools offer a good deal of flexibility for creating tabular reports and chart graphics from SSAS. Pivot tables make an easier task of analyzing and filtering your company's data, while pivot charts can create professional visualizations of your prepared pivot tables.

Creating a Pivot Table

A pivot table simplifies the work necessary to create a summarized view of your data. Pivot tables do not require formulas and can make relationships in your data more apparent. Pivot tables can be used to ask questions such as “Who are our best customers?” or “What are our biggest selling products?” To create a pivot table, you need ...