Business Intelligence Capabilities in SharePoint 2007

October, 2006

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 introduces next generation Business Intelligence components as a native part of the new portal platform.

• Excel Services gives users the ability to display spreadsheets from a central location (a document library), without need to worry about multiple versions of spreadsheets or exposing sensitive business logic or formulas. Excel Services renders such spreadsheets as interactive HTML content with Excel look and feel, accessible even by users who do not have Microsoft Excel installed – all they need is a Web browser.
• A new type of list called Key Performance Indicators list allows users to define KPIs and display them graphically. KPIs can use data from SQL Server Analysis Services, Excel worksheets, existing SharePoint lists and manually entered values. Key Performance Indicators built in Business Scorecard Manager 2005 can be displayed using the Office Scorecard Web part. As with any SharePoint list, a KPI list can be filtered to display only a subset of KPIs, for instance only the KPIs that represent problems.
• Another new feature is Report Center site template, designed for creating dashboard-style applications hosted in MOSS 2007 that are easy to discover and use. The template includes a special document library named Reports Library to store Business Intelligence reports like Excel worksheets and SQL Reporting Services reports.
• MOSS 2007 provides filtering Web parts that can be used with dashboards to make data more relevant to the user. For instance, a sales manager for the Eastern region would only see sales figures from their region.

A company fulfills the promise of its portal when it uses portal technology to:

• Find and Use Information
• Enable Team Collaboration
• Automate Business Processes
• Manage Business Performance

Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server's Business Intelligence features provide companies with a terrific set of options for fulfilling the fourth of these promises: Managing Business Performance.

*Information concerning features of the new SharePoint 2007 discussed above is based on our best understanding of what will be included in the product release. It is possible that some of the features discussed herein might not be part of the released product