Intelligent Insight on PerformancePoint

It's that time of year

btamblyn — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:45:27 GMT

We've just concluded the formal conference season - with the completion of Worldwide Partner Conference in Houston and Microsoft's internal MGX Sales Conference in Atlanta.

Having just completed a phenomenal fiscal year we typically spend the first two weeks of July setting plans and objectives for the coming year.

This kicked off with some 12,500 partners in Houston two weeks ago. From a BI perspective there's some incredible excitement within our partner community and also within the Microsoft business to deliver another stellar year. Most of the major keynotes from Steve Ballmer, Simon Witts and Chris Caposella outlined the importance of Business Intelligence for Microsoft in the upcoming 12 months - all three talked about the "democratization of BI" - which outlines our strategy around providing business intelligence to the majority of decision makers up and down the organization.

You can review the keynote information and major messaging here at the digital WPC site. I'd especially encourage you to look at Chris Caposella's keynote and in particular the demonstration from Kirk Koenigsbauer which showcased not only our core business intelligence assets in PerformancePoint and SQL but also provided some guidance as to how we also leverage the Microsoft SharePoint Server platform and FAST to deliver a truly compelling business intelligence and decision support experience.

Technorati Tags: Business Intelligence,PerformancePoint,SQL Server 2008,FAST,Partner

PerformancePoint Server SP1 released

btamblyn — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 05:20:14 GMT

In case you weren't aware of this...last week we released the Service Pack for PerformancePoint Server 2007.

With this new Service Pack, enhancements have been made to the monitoring, analyzing and planning functionality found in PerformancePoint Server to help organizations improve decision making. Usability, stability and performance enhancements are key focus areas for PerformancePoint Server SP1.

Organizations will be able to take advantage of new workbook options for improved performance of queries, as well as see the effects of changes in planning assignments for better “what-if” analysis.

Organizations using strategy maps and KPI’s for monitoring and analytics will see improvements to scorecard and filter usability. Scorecards with negative numbers have improved formatting and are easier to read, while dashboards with filters are now faster to render and provide the ability to link reports directly to KPI’s. There are also improvements to Tabular filters and Time Intelligence Post Formula filters.

In addition, SP1 adds certified support for Windows Server 2008. Support for SQL Server 2008 will be available later this year following the release of SQL Server 2008.

For more details:

http://office.microsoft.com/enus/performancepoint/FX102380591033.aspx

Technorati Tags: PerformancePoint,Microsoft

Performancepoint planning data migration tool

btamblyn — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 07:56:00 GMT

The PerformancePoint Server 2007 Planning Data Migration Tool is now available on TechNet and the MS Download Center.

Norm Warren has provided some great additional guidance to support this here.

Documentation: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc512833.aspx

Download: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=FA1C6CAD-45BD-4E5C-A257-4BBA84FA4224&displaylang=en

Technorati Tags: PerformancePoint,Planning,TechNet,Data Migration,Microsoft

Downloadable implementation plans for PerformancePoint server 2007

btamblyn — Sun, 25 May 2008 18:53:26 GMT

A wealth of new content (templates, project plans and worksheets) has been made available on TechNet to assist partners and customers with implementing PerformancePoint Server 2007.

There are links to this content below:

As always we'd welcome your feedback on these.

Technorati Tags: Training,PerformancePoint,Implementation,Microsoft,Business Intelligence

PerformancePoint: Implementation web cast series

btamblyn — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 09:39:32 GMT

This three-part webcast series has been created specifically for Microsoft partners and will provide guidance and best practices around implementing PerformancePoint Server 2007.

The first two webcasts will take partners through the suggested phases of a generic PerformancePoint Server Monitoring and Analysis and Planning implementation; what to look out for - and the "do's" and the "don'ts." In addition, a webcast detailing Microsoft's internal implementation of PerformancePoint Server 2007 is also scheduled. The objective of this series is to train partners how to use the Implementation Methodologies developed by Microsoft's BI CoE in order to successfully and correctly implement PPS at customer sites. The series will take place the first three Tuesdays in May at 9:30am PT. Registration links below:

Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007: M&A Implementation Methodologies and Best Practices

This webcast will introduce you to Microsoft Consulting Services’ Performance management Center of Excellence (PM-CoE). The PM-CoE is responsible for documenting implementation methodology and best practices for Performance Point Server 2007. The presentation will take you through the suggested phases of a generic PerformancePoint Server M&A implementation; what to look out for – and the “do’s” and “don’ts”.

Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007: Planning Implementation Methodologies and Best Practices

This webcast will introduce you to Microsoft Consulting Services’ Performance Management Center of Excellence (PM-CoE). The PM-CoE is responsible for documenting implementation methodology and best practices for Performance Point Server 2007. The presentation will take you through the suggested phases of a generic PPS Planning implementation; what to look out for – and the “do’s “ and”don’ts”.

Microsoft Finance Case Study: PerformancePoint Server 2007 Planning Implementation Do’s and Don’ts

Microsoft is on the path of migrating all current planning and forecasting applications with an integrated solution based on Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007. This webcast will address the financial management challenges addressed by PerformancePoint Server 2007 and lessons learned.

Technorati Tags: Partner,Training,PerformancePoint

Lessons in Marketing: Puma

btamblyn — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 22:52:05 GMT

Completely off topic but I saw this post today from Seth Godin which prompted me to share this. Ever since I was a child Puma has been my sports footwear of choice. Why? Put simply my best friend's father was a brand manager for their footwear division in Australia and even at a young age this prompted me to become a brand advocate for Puma. Something I still advocate today as I think they have a cool and unique brand and we're unquestionably pioneers in making the transition from providing high-performance sports footwear and casual footwear. Now all brands have a similarly diverse set of offerings but whilst Nike and Adidas still focus on inspiring people through strong brand advocates such as Michael Jordan and David Beckham, Puma have adopted a different strategy that's historically focused more on word of mouth. Now they're teaming up with Alexander McQueen and Yasahiro Mihara to really emphasise their focus into "sports-fashion".

Oh yeah - and a few years back in 1994 I was asked to do a fashion shoot for Puma Australia "then new" street shoes. I don't think the series of photographs taken ever went any more broadly than some basic catalogues - which is probably a good thing. Perhaps unsurprisingly I now work in BI and Puma are teaming up with professionals. You can do the maths.

Technorati Tags: Seth Godin,Puma,Marketing

The BI Blog

btamblyn — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 08:46:11 GMT

Great news - We've decided to create THE BI BLOG. I've been asked to contribute (which is a great honour) and we'll look to make sure there's something in here for everyone from the customer, partner, developer, and implementer.

For the BI BLOG I'll be teaming up with Nic Smith and Guy Weismantel from the Performance Guys. Maybe we'll even encourage Dennis to contribute as a guest blogger.

From a partner perspective I'm keen to make sure we're able to showcase some of the great solutions our partners are building on top of the PerformancePoint platform so I'd really encourage you to reach out to me if you've got an interesting and innovative story to tell.

Technorati Tags: Business Intelligence,Blogging,Microsoft

Do the dance...

btamblyn — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 05:28:08 GMT

So SAP/BOBJ are using Sir Mixalot as their unofficial mascot with the release of Baby got BI. Our approach is a little different but here's how the Softie's do it. I'll leave you to be the judge of who's best in the "war on talent".

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Fun

Help: How do I...

btamblyn — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 01:13:46 GMT

This is a great set of resources from Jeff Carr that expands upon the information I posted earlier on the PerformancePoint Planning and Architecture Guides.

Jeff's taken this one ~~step~~ LEAP further - This is your PerformancePoint Bible:

Help, How To, Guides, Manuals, & Forums

Planning Help: How do I ...

Monitoring Help: How do I ...

Guides and Manuals

User Forums on TechNet

This is a GREAT resource for both customers and partners.

Technorati Tags: PerformancePoint Server 2007,Planning,Monitoring,Analytics,SQL,Business Intelligence,Microsoft

Downloadable Books for PerformancePoint Server 2007

btamblyn — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 04:18:16 GMT

The PerformancePoint Server 2007 Planning & Architecture Guide, Deployment Guide, and Operations Guide are now available as downloadable books from TechNet.

Information about how to plan a PerformancePoint Server deployment in a large enterprise environment is a common partner request so hopefully this should assist in addressing some of these questions.

Feedback as always is welcome and encouraged.

Technorati Tags: PerformancePoint Server 2007,Planning and Architecture,Deployment,TechNet

PerformancePoint (Search)

btamblyn — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 07:04:33 GMT

Here's a great tool that allows you to build your own search engine. Live Search Macros.

Norm Warren has created a search macro for PerformancePoint which you can use to find documentation, whitepapers, VPC's, and other information around Microsoft BI.

Check it out

Technorati Tags: PerformancePoint Server 2007,Business Intelligence,Microsoft

Not sure what to make of this...

btamblyn — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 06:31:07 GMT

Vendor consolidation has prompted a number of customers and vendors to look at BI differently.

This is certainly different.

Hat-tip to the Performance Guys.

UPDATE: This is written with no agenda, prejudice or ulterior motive but it seems this video is no longer available. From all reports Business Objects/SAP has made the decision to pull this.

Technorati Tags: Business Objects,SAP,Business Intelligence,Performance Management

What a week

btamblyn — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 02:36:43 GMT

Lot's of news this week from Oracle's decision to buy BEA, Sun's decision to purchase MySQL, Cognos 8.3 launch, and a joint announcement from SAP and BOBJ. Phew.

I like the Performance Guys take on this weeks news. If you've not added this to you're regular reading list I'd encourage you to do so.

Oh - and my good pals Adrian and Nick down-under have released The Rational Guide to Planning with Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007. If you want a full chapter breakdown and more here. Great job guys - you both rock.

If you've got to get your hands on a copy of the book immediately you should order it directly from Rational Press.

Technorati Tags: Oracle,Cognos,Sun Microsystems,Business Intelligence,Business Objects,PerformancePoint Server 2007,Microsoft,SAP

Advanced Dashboard creation with Office PerformancePoint Server 2007

btamblyn — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 21:25:04 GMT

This is a great series of sessions as part of the Microsoft Partner Academy presented by Mike Tejedor and Alyson Powell Irwin.

Here's the session abstract and joining details:

Description:

This is the first in a series of sessions that will explore advanced topics in dashboard creation such as, integrating SSRS, ProClarity and Excel Services reports in dashboards, using advanced filtering capabilities, advanced scoring topics and dashboard creation tips and tricks. It is recommended that Monitoring Essentials be viewed prior to this session.

Register here:

https://training.partner.microsoft.com/plc/details.aspx?publisher=12&delivery=241457

Before the Webcast:

To attend our upcoming Webcast you will need:

1. A computer with access to the Internet to view the visual portion of the event.

2. A functioning sound card and speakers or headphones for your PC.

3. Windows Media Player 9 (WMP 9).

4. A compatible computer configuration. Verify Microsoft Live Meeting 2007 System Requirements

5. Use the Microsoft Live Meeting 2007 Windows Console Compatibility Test to join a meeting to see if your computer is compatible with Live Meeting 2007.

During the Webcast- Join the Webcast by clicking the link below:

· Webcast Link: https://www107.livemeeting.com/cc/msevents/join?id=BI29AL&role=attend&pw=KDC178

· Passcode: KDC178

· Telephony: 1-877-208-6695 or 1-503-295-8000 (International)

· Pin: 2706

Technorati Tags: PerformancePoint Server 2007,Monitoring,Analytics,Dashboarding

Microsoft BI Conference: October 6th-8th 2008

btamblyn — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 05:17:04 GMT

The 2nd Annual Microsoft Business Intelligence Conference 2008 will run from October 6th-8th 2008. This is great news - the first conference was a fantastic 3 days and I'm sure with the launch of SQL Server 2008 this will provide a great opportunity for learning, networking and some super keynote presentations.

More information about the Conference is available on the Microsoft Business Intelligence Conference website. Stay tuned to the site for regular updates, including registration, Call for Presentations and Customer Awards Program information.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Business Intelligence,BI Conference,PerformancePoint Server 2007,SQL Server 2008

Feeding Frenzy

btamblyn — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 21:16:00 GMT

Not sure I like the title - but this is an interesting read from Sean Gallagher @ internetnews on the year ahead for the business intelligence market.

Perhaps the most interesting note in this article is that business intelligence has become a major driver of services business - with $5 to $7 in services revenue for every dollar spent on BI software, according to Forrester Research.

Business Intelligence's Feeding Frenzy

Technorati Tags: Business Intelligence,Microsoft,Oracle,SAP,IBM,SaaS

BI for the Barely Repeatable Process (BRP)

btamblyn — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 21:04:00 GMT

I read this post from Hugh MacLeod just before the holidays - and it got me thinking about the role of extracting intelligence from ERP (or for that matter any transactional systems) and perhaps more critically from barely repeatable processes (BRP).

Here's some background from Hugh, Sigurd Rinde from Thingamy and James Governor on the concept of ERP and BRP.

1. The Easily Repeatable Process (ERP for me)

Processes that handles resources, from human (hiring, firing, payroll and more) to parts and products through supply chains, distribution and production. The IT systems go under catchy names like ERP, SCM, PLM, SRM, CRM and the biggest players are as we know SAP, Oracle and Microsoft plus a long roster of smaller firms. [...]

2. The Barely Repeatable Process (BRP)

Typically exceptions to the ERPs, anything that involves people in non-rigid flows through education, health, support, government, consulting or the daily unplanned issues that happens in every organisation. The activities that employees spend most of their time on every day. Processes that often starts with an e-mail or a call. A process volume, measured by time and resource spent at organisations, probably larger than for the Easily Repeatable Processes.

James Governor's take on things:

According to Sig, ERP actually stands for Easily Repeatable Process: "Processes that handle resources, from human (hiring, firing, payroll and more) to parts and products through supply chains, distribution and production. Known to be rigid, but handle events and transactions with precision and in volume. Systems deliver value through extensive reports and full control over resources. Resource oriented, transactional, event driven systems. Delivered by system vendors with roots in accounting using up to 25 year old technological solutions." But Sigurde is far more interested in the Barely Repeatable Process (BRP): "Typically exceptions to the ERPs, anything that involves people in non-rigid flows [like] the daily unplanned issues that happen in every organisation. The activities that employees spend most of their time on every day. Processes that often start with an e-mail or a call.

So if I think about how we begin to extract business intelligence from easily repeatable processes where typically only addressing a fraction of the information we need to make more intelligent decisions. Why?

Because they’re tied to the ERP system, the data warehouse, and the different transactional systems that we have all over our organizations, and perhaps more importantly they don't really reflect how the vast majority of decision makers want to use this information.

Now how do we address the more informal operational decisions? They're more typically aligned to this idea of barely repeatable processes.

These are the business decisions (often made by people that have never heard of “BI”) that happen in almost every business interaction we have – and in isolation have a smaller business impact. However, in aggregate, multiple operational decisions will always provide much richer business insight.

An organisation that manages to capture ERP and BRP and use this to empower individuals to make better, faster and more relevant decisions has a distinct competitive advantage.

Technorati Tags: Business Intelligence,Hugh MacLeod,ERP,BRP

Clarity of roles and responsibilities

btamblyn — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 21:29:21 GMT

So off the back of my post on business/IT alignment here's some more bedtime reading that perhaps add a further dimension to this.

Effective Performance Management programmes require extreme clarity of roles and responsibility.

According to TDWI the average BI professional performs 3.27 roles which I think suggests that for the most part business intelligence is still addressing only a fraction of the information that we need to access to help us become more productive and make better decisions. These statistics from TDWI also suggest that the vast majority of people within a company go un-served or underserved relative to their informational needs. This leaves the knowledge and expertise of approximately 95% of most companies untapped to a significant degree. The un-served and underserved audience is almost entirely responsible for the tactical and operational decision making that takes place on a day to day basis and the BI professional is tearing is hair out and working 80-100 hour weeks.

Technorati Tags: Business Intelligence,Microsoft,TDWI

Really...

btamblyn — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 03:58:57 GMT

Completely off topic but thought it was worth sharing. Via Seth Godin's blog.

Quite extraordinary.

PerformancePoint positioning Video

btamblyn — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 03:18:58 GMT

This video was pulled together just before the launch of PerformancePoint, but I think it frames our strategy nicely. I've never been one for using video's in presentations but I think this is a great way to position Microsoft's vision around Performance Management.

Video: PerformancePoint Server Team Video

Technorati Tags: PerformancePoint Server, Performance Management, Microsoft, Business Intelligence

The road to business/IT alignment

btamblyn — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 22:52:40 GMT

Here's a link to the second part of a three part series of articles on business/IT alignment from Linda McHugh. She discusses how IT can apply realistic and established tactics to address the alignment challenges through planning and project methods. Check it out.

This is even more important when we think about Performance Management - and I'd probably throw in a few more "must-haves" for good measure.

A clear business need and a well defined strategy for execution
Healthy business processes - if they're not in good order you'll never realize the benefit
Confidence and trust of the data in your existing systems
Realistic budgets
An implementation plan

I'm sure it seems like I'm applying the traditional "consultants mantra" of stealing your watch to tell you the time here but it happens time and time again.

Technorati Tags: Performance Management, Linda McHugh, B-Eye Network

Rational Guide: PerformancePoint Server 2007

btamblyn — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 20:37:17 GMT

My good friends Adrian Downes and Nick Barclay have now released the first of their books on PerformancePoint Server 2007. This first book covers deployment as well as implementation tips to help customers and partners understand what PerformancePoint Server is, and how to get started with the application. Further details including where to purchase can be found here.

I'd encourage you all to pick up a copy of this. These guys really are industry experts on this stuff and their insight should provide you all with a great starting point for understanding how to kick off a PerformancePoint implementation.

Great job guys - looking forward to the next one in the series.

Technorati Tags: Rational Guide, PerformancePoint Server, Monitoring, Analytics, Nick Barclay, Adrian Downes, Microsoft

It's only 10:00am and I've already donated 600 grains of rice to help end world hunger

btamblyn — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 13:21:28 GMT

Found this via Seth Godin's blog. It's a pretty simple and highly addictive site - especially if you consider yourself a bit of a wordsmith.

Check out Free Rice here.

Technorati Tags: Seth Godin, Free Rice

Introduction to PerformancePoint Server 2007

btamblyn — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 14:58:10 GMT

These seminars have been run really successfully by the UK ProClarity team in the past. They are a great introduction to PerformancePoint Server designed for both customers and partners and provide a unique insight into the way Microsoft position performance management.

These sessions are a great supplement to the additional 4 day instructor-led technical workshop sessions being run for solution architects.

The customer sessions will go into detail around:

The Microsoft Business Intelligence Offering – overview of SQL 2005, Excel 2007, SharePoint and integration to Office PerformancePoint Server 2007
Upgrading and migrating from ProClarity and Business Scorecard Manager – process overview and licensing implications
Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 demonstration – Planning, Monitoring and Analytics

and the partner sessions will look at:

Selling the value of Microsoft Business Intelligence. Benefits of SQL 2005, Excel 2007, SharePoint and integration to Office PerformancePoint Server 2007
Understanding the licensing model of Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 and system requirements; as well as the implications for Upgrading and migrating customers from ProClarity and Business Scorecard Manager
Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 demonstration – Planning, Monitoring and Analytics
Resources – training, demonstration scripts, events

Events for customers:

Monday 19^th November AM	Cardinal Place, London	Register here	Call: 0870 166 6680 ref 6729
Wednesday 28^th November AM	Cardinal Place, London	Register here	Call: 0870 166 6680 ref 6839
Tuesday 22^nd January AM	Microsoft, Edinburgh	Register here	Call: 0870 166 6680 ref 5870

Events for partners:

Monday 19^th November PM	Cardinal Place, London	Register here	Call: 0870 166 6680 ref 6834
Wednesday 28^th November PM	Cardinal Place, London	Register here	Call: 0870 166 6680 ref 6838
Tuesday 22^nd January PM	Microsoft, Edinburgh	Register here	Call: 0870 166 6680 ref 6303

Technorati Tags: PerformancePoint Server, Training, Microsoft, Partner, Business Intelligence

Announcing the new PerformancePoint forums

btamblyn — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 22:14:16 GMT

Having moved from CTP to RTM last month and now that PerformancePoint is available under volume licensing we now have Microsoft forums set up under both TechNet and MSDN.

Despite being non-technical I get quite a few support questions submitted by readers of this blog and whilst some I will try to answer this is really the most efficient way of connecting into a wealth of technical expertise both within Microsoft and our partner community.

Microsoft forums for Microsoft PerformancePoint Server, ProClarity and Master Data Management are now publicly available on TechNet or MSDN, allowing for enhancement of the user community by providing a place where users can discuss, share knowledge, and provide new ideas on our products. These are forums for external users, as well as internal Microsoft employees. This provides an excellent place to ask questions and get answers by interacting with other members of the PerformancePoint and Microsoft BI community.

The Forums will fully replace the older V1 Beta newsgroups on January 2, 2008. Until then we will keep the current Beta newsgroups alive, but inform the users there to move to the Forums ahead of time. See below for more information.

A. What are advantages of the new Microsoft Forums?

Discoverability on internet search means more users participating and using content
Strong authentication (a top request from frequent users, Microsoft MVPs) means less spam and more accountability
Answer-tagging differentiates answers from ordinary replies, making search more relevant and metrics more actionable
In order to post questions, you only need to set up a Microsoft TechNet login (all it requires is a internet passport account)

The Microsoft Forums are moderated by a Microsoft representative (and collaborate with Microsoft MVP's as appropriate)

B. FAQ about Microsoft Forums

See: http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/languages/en-US/docs/faq.aspx?SiteID=17

C. What are the PerformancePoint team specific forums?

TechNet Forums

PerformancePoint Server Planning – and - PerformancePoint Monitoring Analytics are contained in main page below.

Link:

http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/default.aspx?ForumGroupID=517&SiteID=17

ProClarity:

http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/default.aspx?ForumGroupID=516&SiteID=17

MSDN Forums

Master Data Management (MDM)

http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/default.aspx?ForumGroupID=519&SiteID=1

D. What were old newsgroups that are going away (inactive) Jan 2 2008?

The two old Beta Newsgroups (on http://connect.microsoft.com ) were:

Microsoft.beta.office.performancepoint.monitoranalyze
Microsoft.beta.office.performancepoint.planning

Hat tip to Venky Renganathan in the PPS Programme Management team for pulling this together.

Technorati Tags: PerformancePoint Server, Forums, TechNet, MSDN, ProClarity, MDM, Microsoft