microsoft bi reporting tools
DESCRIPTION
Excel, SSRS, Report Builder, PowerPivot, PerformancePoint, Power View. Which one should I use? I will discuss the pro's and con's of each and give demo's of all the tools so you know the best tool for each situation. Given two types of underlying data sources (a data warehouse and a OLAP cube built from the data warehouse) there are many different possible presentation layers (client tools) that serve different user communities with varying usage profiles. There is a lot of confusion on what is the best tool to use. This presentation will hopefully clear up the confusion and give you some guidance on the best tool for each situation.TRANSCRIPT
About me
• In IT for 28 years, currently an independent consultant
• Worked as desktop/web/database developer, DBA (for 12 years), BI and DW architect, MDM, PDW
• Been perm, contractor, consultant, business owner• MCSE for SQL Server 2012: Data Platform and BI• SME for SQL Server 2012 certs• Currently on a project working with MDS at
Schlumberger as a MDM Technical Lead• Contributing writer for SQL Server Pro magazine• Will be speaking at the PASS Business Analytics
Conference• Blog at JamesSerra.com
AgendaSQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS)Report BuilderPowerPivotPerformancePointPower ViewData MiningSharePoint DependenciesCategories of UsersBI Reporting StylesTool CategoriesReport Matrix
SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS)
SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS)
• Server-based platform• Powerful report authoring and management
environment • Allows creation of static and parameterized reports• Built using Visual Studio• Accessed via a portal as well as automatically
generated and distributed or exported
Report Builder
Report Builder
• Intuitive report authoring environment for tech-savvy business users
• Report Builder is the light weight substitute for Visual Studio
• “Click once” application• Users can build and then give to IT to convert to
SSRS• Uses Report Model• SSRS environment required
PowerPivot
PowerPivot
• Good for ad hoc, one-off analysis• Free add-in to Excel• Extends the capabilities of PivotTable• Scale to hundreds of millions of rows via xVelocity
engine• Very fast• Prototype a solution quickly before involving IT• PowerPivot for SharePoint
PerformancePoint
PerformancePoint
• Component of Microsoft SharePoint Server • Create dashboards, scorecards, reports, and KPIs• Interact with SSRS reports, cube-based graphs,
performance maps, decomposition trees, Visio diagrams
• Filters can be applied across all dashboard components
• Ad-hoc analysis, slice and dice dimensional data, navigate through hierarchies, and change chart types quickly
Power View
Power View
• In SQL Server 2012• Good for ad hoc, one-off analysis• Interactive data exploration and visual
presentation experience• Fun, visual, powerful drag-and-drop• Web-based end-user BI tool based on Silverlight• Create reports based on models deployed to
SharePoint• Nothing to deploy, presentation-ready, no design
mode• Uses xVelocity
Data Mining
Data Mining
• Add-in for Microsoft Excel• Process of analyzing data to find hidden patterns
using automatic methodologies• Other tools are ways to see where you have been,
data mining is a tool to predict where you are going• Mine historical data for accurate forecasting
SharePoint Dependencies
• Power View: is required since reports can only be viewed thru SharePoint, but this will change starting with Excel 2013 as Power View will be an add-in to Excel 2013 that does not require SharePoint
• PowerPivot: is required if you wish to share Excel workbooks that contain PowerPivot data via SharePoint (called “PowerPivot for SharePoint”). Otherwise you would have to share PowerPivot workbooks via email, file share, etc.
• PerformancePoint: requires it since it is part of SharePoint 2010
SharePoint Dependencies - continued
• SSRS: does not require it for SSRS native mode but obviously requires it for SSRS SharePoint integration mode
• Excel: does not require it, but does for Excel Services (Excel Services is a service application that enables you to load, calculate, and display Microsoft Excel workbooks on Microsoft SharePoint Server)
• Report Builder: Report Builder installs with a SQL Server Reporting Services report server configured for either native mode or SharePoint integration mode. So obviously does not require SharePoint if in native mode but requires it if in SharePoint integration mode
Categories of Users
Strategic Users (Executive, Power User, Subject Matter Expert, Regional/Area General Manager): • High-level, quick snapshot view• Scorecard, KPI’s• Desire to take action on problem areas• High collaboration to make decisions in teams
Recommend: PerformancePoint
Categories of Users - continued
Tactical Users (Analysts, Advanced Users, Power User, Subject Matter Expert, Managers):• Require maximum root-cause analysis and maximum
ad-hoc capabilities• Need full slice and dice capabilities and full drill-down• Require some what-if analysis capabilities and
visualization to manage by outlier
Recommend: PowerPivot or Power View
Categories of Users - continued
Operational Users (Field Personnel)• Need only limited ad-hoc analysis capability• Refresh the same reports daily/weekly/monthly• Static (or flat) reports with known rows and columns• Does not require the collaboration of a team
Recommend: SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) or Report Builder• Excellent for mass distribution of canned reports• Features subscription functionality to allow
information to be pushed to the user on a schedule
BI Reporting Styles
• Self-Service Analysis - Non-technical users able to do free-form reporting and analysis. No IT. Tool options: PowerPivot, Power View
• Business Reporting – Power users who create formatted reports that are company shared. IT only for tool setup and configuration. Tool options: PowerPivot, Report Builder
• Parameterized and Operational Reporting - Like Business Reporting but reports are created by IT with parameters and filters. Tool options: SSRS, Report Builder
• Performance Monitoring (Dashboards) – Executive level employees who view dashboards (i.e. tabular report, graphs, scorecards) to see health of their business. Created by IT. Tool options: PowerPivot, SSRS, Report Builder, PerformancePoint
• Scorecarding – Highly summarized views with KPIs. Tool options: PerformancePoint (recommended), all others
BI Reporting Styles - other
• Enterprise Reporting (Financial statements; high level board report)
• Operational Reporting (Detailed reports for day-to-day decision-making)
• Analytics (Data exploration; statistical & predictive analytics; data mining)
• Performance Management (Scorecards & Dashboards)
• Self-Service & Ad-Hoc Reporting (Empowering end users)
Tool Categories
Tool Categories
Report Matrix
Users Information Access Requested
Profile Static Reports (Pre-canned)
Dynamic Reports
Ad hoc Querying
Dashboards
Data Mining and
Statistical Analysis
Executive
Manager
Analyst
Other
Resources:• End-User Microsoft BI Tools – Clearing up the confusion: http://bit.ly/SrBMLT• SharePoint dependencies: http://bit.ly/UTxBdh