Jason Morales' Microsoft BI Update

PerformancePoint Seminar - Jan 20, Malvern

 

For those of you in Philadelphia area, I'd like to make you aware of an upcoming PerformancePoint seminar.

This event is hosted by one of our Gold Certified partners with speciality in Microsoft Business Intelligence and SharePoint.

 

 

Breakthroughs in Business Intelligence

presented by Gig-Werks

 

Microsoft Office

45 Liberty Blvd.

Great Valley Corporate Center, Suite 210 

Malvern, PA 19355

 

Seminar - 12:00-1:30pm

Welcome Time - 11:30am 

 

 

Webcast Update - PerformancePoint Dashboards for Dynamics AX

 

 

SOLVER DEMO VIDEO:

PerformancePoint Dashboards for Dynamic AX

 

Recorded: October 20, 2008

Nils Rasmussen & Jim Lacenski, Solver USA

Jason Morales, Microsoft

 

Length: 36 minutes

 

Agenda:

Overview: Microsoft Business Intelligence

Product Demo: PerformancePoint Server Dashboards for Dynamics AX

 

Content:         

00:00 - 15:42   Opening Slides

Microsoft BI Vision, Platform & Architecture

PerformancePoint: Monitor, Analyze, Plan

Integration Options for PerformancePoint and Dynamics AX

 

15:43 – 23:14   PerformancePoint Dashboard Demo

- SharePoint integration

- Example:  key summaries from General Ledger account from Dynamics AX

- Compare Actual vs Target

- Drill Down & Cross Drill through charts & grids

- Export Dashboard Views to Excel & PowerPoint 

 

24:20 - 45:59   Steps creating a Dashboard using PerformancePoint Dashboard Designer

The PerformancePoint Dashboard Designer lets you easily create and manage

 

Refer to Office Online for…

How do I create a PerformancePoint dashboard?

Create a Data Source

How do I build a scorecard?

Learn about report templates

 

 

33:17 – 35:37   Wrap Up

 

 

 

PerformancePoint Seminar - Dec 18, New York

 

For those of you in New York area, I'd like to make you aware of a PerformancePoint seminar happening this Thursday.

This event is hosted by one of our Gold Certified partners with speciality in Microsoft Business Intelligence.

 

 

Introduction to PerformancePoint Server 2007

presented by Hedgehog Development and New Horizons

 

New Horizons Learning Center

1660 Walt Whitman Road

Melville, NY  11747

 

Seminar - 8:30 - 10am

Welcome Time - 8am

 

 

 

Whitepaper Summary: Thriving in Economic Uncertainty

 

Published November 2008

*** the content provided below is extracted from a whitepaper…

Click here to read more

 

 

 

In uncertain economic times...

 

                Customer orders fall

                Scrutiny for management decisions rises

                               

                Suppliers & lenders seek safe, low-risk investments

                 'Belt tightening' measures compel hiring freezes & layoffs

                               

Executives reevaluate travel, computer, & supply expenses

 

 

Do more with less

Compete effectively for limited credit

Analyze investment options

 

Securing new funds requires forecasting accurate return on investment (ROI)

Investors want management to evaluate multiple scenarios & prepare contingency plans

 

Reassure stakeholders & investors

                Rely on solid financial analysis to assess risk & return

                                                                                                                               

 

 

The critical success factors for surviving economic uncertainty...

 

Reduce costs

Root out wasteful, expensive inefficiencies & automate routine processes

 

                Find Inefficiencies

                Implement a solution that provides better visibility into performance

                Reduce costs without compromising quality or speed of service 

Case Study… Culver Franchising Systems, Inc (CFSI)

 

                Save Money

                Automate processes to reduce time-consuming manual intervention

                 Case Study… TAC Americas

                 

 

Operate Smarter, more strategically

                Build a foundation you can grow on when the economy picks up

 

Get real-time information to the right employees

Empower your employees with real-time information they need to make better, more strategic decisions

For example…

Customer Service Reps more quickly identify cross-sell opportunities

Sales Directors review pipeline to prioritize around the most profitable customers

CFOs set automatic alerts to warn of potential problems with cash flow

 

                Find profitable customers

                Analyze customer profitability so you can allocate resources on customers that are most profitable

                Cultivate those customers most likely to grow when the economy recovers

Case Study…PREMIER Bankcard

 

                Pivot on a dime

                Identify problems early on so you can make quick decisions in response to changes in the market

                Turn data into powerful information

Forecast and plan based on multiple scenarios and changing business conditions

                Case Studies…

Ste. Michelle Wine Estates

Illinois Department of Transportation

GPX International Tire Corp.

 

 

Innovate to create a condition for growth

Identify buying patterns so that you can focus resources on producing in-demand products

 

Centralize portfolio management 

Case Study… Eli Lilly

 

 

 

Powerful cost-effective solutions: Microsoft Business Intelligence

 

Best Value

Maximize your existing technology investments

In the long run, Microsoft solutions offer lower support, training, & maintenance costs  

 

Pervasive deployment

Easy to use so that all of your employees are able to review performance daily

 

 Fully integrated

Integrate with Microsoft Office productivity tools to support rapid deployment, insight and action

 

 

 

Jason Morales' Microsoft BI Update - December 2008

 

HOT TOPICS

 

Announcing PerformancePoint Server 2007 Service Pack 2

Click here to learn more

 

ORDER NOW!!!  The latest & greatest book written by esteemed colleagues

on the PerformancePoint Product Team

Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007

 

The Role of BI in an Economic Downturn

Microsoft BI Website

 

Thriving in a Down Economy

Dec 10 – Portland, OR

Click here to register

 

New Independent Study Finds 162% Risk-Adjusted ROI for SQL Server 2008 Deployment

 

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

 

Streamlining the Budgeting Process

Presented by Analysts International

Dec 9 – Minneapolis, MN

Click here to register

 

Thriving in a Down Economy

Presented by Microsoft & Online Business Systems

Dec 10 – Portland, OR

Click here to register

 

Executive Seminar: Dashboard in a Day

Presented by Quilogy

Dec 11 – West Des Moines, IA

Click here to register

 

Taking the Business Temperature,

Monitoring & Analyzing Data with PerformancePoint Server 2007

Presented by North Central District Business Intelligence Special Interest Group

Dec 11 – Bloomington, MN

Click here to register

 

SharePoint and SQL User Group Meeting

Featuring PerformancePoint Server

Dec 17 – Pittsburgh, PA

Click here to register

 

SharePoint and SQL User Group Meeting

Featuring PerformancePoint Server

Dec 18 – Pittsburgh, PA

Click here to register

 

Improving Business Intelligence with CRM

Presented by Quilogy

Jan 15 – St Charles, MO

Click here to register

 

Breakthroughs in Business Intelligence

Presented by Gig Werks

Jan 20 – Malvern, PA

Click here to register

 

Executive Seminar: Sales Analytics

Presented by Quilogy

Jan 28 – West Des Moines, IA

Click here to register

 

Find Events & Webcasts

 

 

UPCOMING LIVE WEBCASTS

* all times listed below are for Pacific time zone unless otherwise noted

 

Creating Value and Driving Performance for Finance Professionals

Microsoft Dynamics Webcast

Dec 9, 9am

Click here to register

 

The Value of Business Intelligence (Level 100)

Momentum Webcast

Dec 9, 9am

Click here to register

 

IT Executives Driving Business Growth in Today’s Economy

Presented by Intellinet

Dec 10, 10am

Click here to register

 

Patient Safety and Satisfaction Through Better Use of Business Intelligence…

Presented by Neudesic

Dec 10, 10am

Click here to register

 

PerformancePoint Server 2007

Presented Premier Knowledge Solutions

Dec 15, 9am

Click here to register

 

Microsoft BI for Retail

Presented by Solver

Jan 8, 11am

Click here to register

 

Executive Overview of SharePoint Server

Presented by RJB Consulting

Jan 8, 9am

Click here to register

 

CRM & BI, Easily Leverage Your CRM Data

Presented by Neudesic

Jan 20, 11am

Click here to register

 

CRM, SharePoint & Business Intelligence Combine

to Facilitate Healthcare IT System Adoption In a Clinical Setting

Presented by Neudesic

Feb 11, 10am

Click here to register

 

PerformancePoint Webinar

Presented by Summit Group Software

Feb 19, 12pm

Click here to register

 

 

TRAINING

 

PerformancePoint Training Sites

Online: PPS Planning, Monitoring and Analytics (includes videos and workbooks)

Online: ProClarity

 

 

Hitachi Consulting

Business Intelligence Education Services

 

PerformancePoint 2007 Boot Camp (5 Day)

Dec 15, Princeton, NJ

Jan 26, Beaverton, OR

Feb 2, Waltham, MA

Feb 16, Wilmington DE

Feb 16, Lincoln, RI

Feb 23, Bellevue, WA

April 6, Waltham, MA

April 13, Columbia, MD

April 13, Wilmington DE

April 13, Lincoln, RI

Click here for more info

 

SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence Bootcamp (5 Day)

Jan 12, Washington, DC

Jan 12, Falls Church, VA

April 13, Wilmington, DE

Click here for more info

 

Hands-On MDX with SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services (3 Day)

Feb 23, Washington, DC

Feb 23, Falls Church, VA

Click here for more info

 

SQL Server 2005 Integration Services Boot Camp (5 Day)

Jan 5, Lincoln, RI

Feb 2, Washington, DC

Feb 2, Falls Church, VA

May 18, Princeton, NJ

May 18, Lincoln, RI

Click here for more info

 

 

Solid Quality Mentors

BI Courses, including SQL 2005, PerformancePoint and ProClarity

 

Microsoft BI Bootcamp (5 day)

Dec 8-12, Seattle, WA

Click here for more info

 

SQL Server 2005 End-to-End Business Intelligence Workshop (5 day)

Dec 1-5, Beaverton, OR

Click here for more info

 

Enterprise ETL with SQL Server 2008 Integration Services

Jan 26-29, Minneapolis, MN

Feb 16-19, Bellevue, WA

May 26-29, Beaverton, OR

Click here for more info

 

 

NEWS LINKS & PRESS RELEASES

 

Microsoft vs. Teradata: Data warehouse technology poised for competition (no, really)

SQL Business Value website

Migrating an SAP/ERP environment to SQL Server can reduce unplanned downtime by over 20%, cut IT labor costs by nearly 25%, and cut ongoing software support costs up to 85%.

 

Business Intelligence and Information Technology

OLAP: In Fashion Or Old Fashioned?

Data Warehousing After the Bubble

Business & Decision Announces a New Solution - RLinteract

Orion Builds Efficiency Into Eli Lilly’s R&D System

 

 

Case Study Summary: Culver Franchising Systems, Inc (CFSI)

 

Culver's Improves Operations with Microsoft Business Intelligence Solution

 

 Posted 7/28/08

*** the content provided below is extracted from a Microsoft case study …

Click here to read more

 

 

Software and Services

Office SharePoint Server 2007
PerformancePoint Server 2007
SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition

 

Related Industries

Food Service Industry

 

 

Culver Franchising Systems, Inc (CFSI) has 8 stores, 373 franchises and 90 employees.  CFSI's success depends on maintaining the integrity of the Culver's brand and helping franchisees run efficient, profitable operations.

 

 

"Life with Excel and nothing but Excel... we needed to analyze our data so we could make decisions that would help us with the initiatives such as lowering food costs and improving the speed of service.

 

“CFSI now has access to accurate data that it can report and analyze easily.  For just one type of report - the speed-of-service-report - CFSI is saving about $45,000 a year." 

 

“If the parameters were large, our old system would time out before we could even get data.  Now we run reporting right out of our Performance Management solution... it's so easy with the RedPrairie solution... what took 20 FBPs several hours apiece on a monthly basis now takes me 10 minutes." 

Paul Mullin

Business Analyst, CFS

 

 

 

"With PerformancePoint, you can turn out dashboards and reports very quickly - and you don't need a developer to build them.  If you know how to do a pivot table in Excel, you can design PerformancePoint dashboards.

 

"With the dashboards and reports, CFSI's management can get a very good sense of performance at a single glance.  For example, they can click on 'same store net sales' in the scorecard to view reports on the dashboard page.  Or drill into restaurant performance by region, district or store."

John Workman

Development Manager, RedPrairie

 

 

 

Posted by jasonmorales | 1 Comments

Filed under: Case Study, SharePoint, PerformancePoint Server, SQL Server 2005, Consulting Partners, Drill Through, Drill Down

Jason Morales' Microsoft BI Update - November 2008

 

HOT TOPICS

 

Scorecards and Dashboards for your IT Department

Whitepaper – This document provides direction and samples for creating a Business Intelligence framework for data collected by Microsoft^® Systems Center Operations Manager.

Download Sample Solution

 

Microsoft BI Surface Demo

Presented at the Microsoft BI Conference in Seattle, 2008

 

Drive Business Performance by Bruno Aziza & Joey Fitts

 

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

 

Wine, Hor d’oeuvres, and Analytics: at the Ritz

Sponsored by Blackstone Technology Group & Microsoft

Nov 18 – San Francisco, CA

Click here to register

 

Sales Workshop with Dale Carnegie Training & Microsoft

Nov 18 – Portland, OR

Click here to register

 

Wine, Hor d’oeuvres, and Analytics: at The Mountain Winery

Sponsored by Convergent Computing (CCO) & Microsoft

Nov 19 – Saratoga, CA

Click here to register

 

Microsoft Business Intelligence – Improve Your Bottom Lin

Sponsored by MIG & Co.

Nov 20 – New York NY

Click here to register

 

Wine, Hor d’oeuvres, and Analytics: at the Wente Winery

Sponsored by Allin Consulting & Microsoft

Nov 20 – Livermore, CA

Click here to register

 

PASS Community Summit 2008

Nov 18-21 - Seattle, WA

Click here to register

 

Sales Workshop with Dale Carnegie Training & Microsoft

Nov 20 – Bellevue, WA

Click here to register

 

Roadmap to a Data Driven Enterprise

Presented by Eastridge Technology & Analytic Vision

Dec 2 – Columbia, SC

Click here to register

 

PerformancePoint Server – Hands on Lab

Dec 3 – Iselin, NJ

Click here to learn more

 

Executive Seminar: Sales Analytics

Presented by Quilogy

Dec 3 – West Des Moines, IA

Click here to register

 

Executive Seminar: Dashboard in a Day

Presented by Quilogy

Dec 4 – Omaha, NE

Click here to register

 

Leverage What You Already Own for a Powerful Business Intelligence Solution

Presented by Planet Technologies

Dec 5 – Baltimore, MD

Click here to register

 

Thriving in a Down Economy

Presented by Microsoft & Online Business Systems

Dec 10 – Portland, OR

Click here to register

 

Executive Seminar: Dashboard in a Day

Presented by Quilogy

Dec 11 – West Des Moines, IA

Click here to register

 

 

Find Events & Webcasts

 

 

UPCOMING WEBCASTS

* all times listed below are for Pacific time zone unless otherwise noted

  

CRM & BI, Easily Leverage Your CRM Data

Presented by Darren Gooding & Steve Muise of Neudesic

Nov 18, 11am

Click here to register

 

Make Tough Decisions with Confidence: Monitor Execution with BI

Presented by Robbins Gioia

Nov 19, 11am

Click here to register

 

Enterprise Content Management Breakthroughs in SharePoint

The Six Pillars of SharePoint Server Series, presented by Gig-Werks

Nov 25 – 1pm (Eastern Time)

Click here to register

 

Driving Business Performance with Microsoft Business Intelligence

Dec 2, 11am

Click here to register

 

Microsoft webcast series… Business Intelligence

Dec 4, 9am

Click here to register

 

Executive Overview of SharePoint Server

Presented by RJB Technical Consulting

Dec 4, 9am

Click here to register

 

Microsoft BI for Retail

Presented by Solver

Dec 4, 11am

Click here to register

 

Creating Value and Driving Performance for Finance Professionals

Microsoft Dynamics Webcast

Dec 9, 9am

Click here to register

 

The Value of Business Intelligence (Level 100)

Momentum Webcast

Dec 9, 9am

Click here to register

 

Microsoft BI for Retail

Presented by Solver

Jan 8, 11am

Click here to register

 

 

NEWS LINKS & PRESS RELEASES

 

Microsoft looks to unlock door to wider BI use

Test Center review: Deep dive into SQL Server 2008

Microsoft’s big BI push

 

Five Steps to Optimizing BI and Data Warehouse Performance

Scaling the Data Warehouse

Why Sales is Ripe for Performance Management

Ten Tips for Aligning Business and Business Intelligence

Motivations for Building the Data Warehouse

Data Warehousing Roundup

New Rules for Performance Management, Part 2

New Rules for Performance Management, Part 3

How the New Obama Administration Might Impact Business Performance Management 

Case Study Summary - PREMIER Bankcard

 

Credit Card Company Runs its Business with 12-Terabyte Mission Critical BI Solution

 

Posted 07/25/08

*** the content provided below is extracted from a Microsoft Case Study… click to watch the video

Click here to read more

 

Software and Services

PerformancePoint 2007

SQL Server 2005, Enterprise Edition

 

Related Industries

Banking

 

PREMIER Bankcard is one of the largest VISA and MasterCard credit providers in the United States.  Headquartered in Sioux Falls with about 3200 employees, PREMIER processes more than 500,000 credit card applications per month.

 

“We’re currently on about 3000 desktops.  We have instantaneous response, sub-second response.  They pull data down from their cubes, they pull data attached to the cubes, they pull data down out of the warehouse.”

Dan Zerfas

VP, Software Development

  

“Before our current data warehouse infrastructure, people had to do their trending, their organization of the data in Access and Excel and it was an extremely manual process.  The error rate was very high, the time to market was very long, and the accuracy was very low.

Our data warehouse now is about 12 terabytes of information.  Every day it organizes and inputs about 20-30 GB of data depending on cardholder and customer activity.”

Ron van Zanten

Director, Business Intelligence

 

“The information is definitely more accurate because of the analytical capabilities that are out there today.  On a daily basis, it probably saves me at least 30 minutes from prior implementation to the current software.”

Tom Schmidt

Directing Officer, Credit

 

 “My management team can probably find 5 or 6 different things that have saved us  thousands of dollars if not hundreds of thousands of dollars by being able to analyze, doing a better job analyzing.  I have a big picture that I expect to see every morning when I come in and it’s the key indicators of every one of our departments.  We could not be where we’re at today, we would not be as successful as we are today, if we did not have the information at our fingertips to make decisions.”

Miles Beacom

President and CEO

Jason Morales' Microsoft BI Update - October 2008

 

HOT TOPICS

   

SQL Server 2008 performs 1 trillion row query in seconds at BI Conference

 

Microsoft Focuses on BI for SQL Server Kilimanjaro

Microsoft BI: Gemini Lands at Kilimanjaro

 

DM Review Midmarket Business Intelligence Survey Results

 

Assessment Tool for Business Intelligence

 - compare your infrastructure against industry best practices and the latest IT research

 

 

UPCOMING EVENTS 

 

IT: A Strategic Asset for BI and Collaboration

Sponsored by CSG Professional Services & Microsoft

Oct 15 – Portland, OR

Click here to register

 

Capitalize on the Business Intelligence Opportunity

Partner Recruit Road Show

Oct 17 - San Francisco, CA

Click here to register

 

Driving Business Performance with Microsoft PerformancePoint Server Planning

Sponsored by Microsoft & GNET Group (www.gnetgroup.com)

Oct 21 – Golden Valley, MN

Click here to register

 

Streamlining the Budget Process

Presented by Analysts International (www.analysts.com)

Oct 23 – Minneapolis, MN

Click here to register

 

Wine, Hor d’oeuvres, and Analytics: at the Ste. Michelle Wine Estates

Nov 4 – Woodinville, WA

Click here to register

 

Wine, Hor d’oeuvres, and Analytics: at Ponzi Winery

Sponsored by CSG Professional Services & Microsoft

Nov 11 – Beaverton, OR

Click here to register

 

Performance Management Executive Roundtable  (invite only)

Sponsored by Brown Smith Wallace & Microsoft

Nov 12 – St. Louis, MO

Click here to receive an invite

 

Performance Management Executive Roundtable  (invite only)

Sponsored by Microsoft & GNET Group (www.gnetgroup.com)

Nov 13 – Minneapolis, MN

Click here to receive an invite

 

Wine, Hor d’oeuvres, and Analytics: at the Ritz

Sponsored by Blackstone Technology Group & Microsoft

Nov 18 – San Francisco, CA

Click here to register

 

Sales Workshop with Dale Carnegie Training & Microsoft

Nov 18 – Portland, OR

Click here to register

 

Wine, Hor d’oeuvres, and Analytics: at The Mountain Winery

Sponsored by Convergent Computing (CCO) & Microsoft

Nov 19 – Saratoga, CA

Click here to register

 

Wine, Hor d’oeuvres, and Analytics: at the Wente Winery

Sponsored by Allin Consulting & Microsoft

Nov 20 – Livermore, CA

Click here to register

 

PASS Community Summit 2008

Nov 18-21 - Seattle, WA

Click here to learn more

 

Find Events & Webcasts

 

 

UPCOMING WEBCASTS

* all times listed below are for Pacific time zone 

 

Business Intelligence and SharePoint, Gain Knowledge from your Technology

Presented by Steve Muise and Jason Noble of Neudesic

Oct 21, 11am

Click here to register

 

Extend Your Investment with Autonomy Integrated Suite for SharePoint

Presented by Microlink, LLC  (www.microlinkllc.com)

Oct 22, 10am

Click here to register

 

A Day in the Life of a Budget Administrator Using PerformancePoint

Presented by Graham Hunter of Ninety & Jason Morales of Microsoft

Oct 23, 11am

Click here to register

 

How Dashboards and KPIs can Transform Your Services Business

Presented by PointBridge

Nov 5, 10am

Click here to register

 

Application Lifecycle Development

Presented by Neudesic

Nov 12, 10am

Click here to register

 

Performance Management Using Project Server 2007 and PerformancePoint Server 2007

Nov 13, 1pm

Click here to register

 

CRM & BI, Easily Leverage Your CRM Data

Presented by Darren Gooding & Steve Muise of Neudesic

Nov 18, 11am

Click here to register

 

 

NEWS LINKS & PRESS RELEASES

 

Microsoft Bundling for BI

Microsoft Aims to Spread BI Throughout the Enterprise

Microsoft to Add Muscle To SQL Server

Microsoft lays out SQL Server Improvements

Microsoft’s (un)secret weapon for winning the BI battle

 

Roles and Responsibilities in Business Intelligence Teams, Part 2

Special Report: Business Intelligence Gets Smart

New Rules for Performance Management, Part 1  

Operational Performance: What Sets Best-In-Class Companies Apart?

Exploring Ethics in Business Intelligence

Using Enterprise 2.0 for Business Intelligence, Part 6

How BI could have provided early warning to financial market meltdown

Business intelligence oils the wheels of the oil sector profit

 

 

Contact Me if you'd like to receive monthly emails of Jason Morales' Microsoft BI Update

Posted by jasonmorales | 1 Comments

Filed under: Analyst Report, Demo, In-Person Event, Webcast, SharePoint, PerformancePoint Server, SQL Server 2008, Consulting Partners

Case Study Summary - GPX International Tire Corp.

 

Tire Manufacturer Drives Deeper Business Insight with Microsoft® Office PerformancePoint Server 2007

 

Posted: 05/07/2008

*** the content provided below is extracted from a Microsoft Case Study... click to read more...

 

Software and Services

PerformancePoint 2007

SQL Server 2005, Enterprise Edition

Dynamics NAV

 

Consulting Partner

SHEA Business Solutions

 

Related Industries

Manufacturing

Distributing

Industrial

Automotive

 

GPX International Tire Corp. represents one of the largest independent global providers of specialty "off-the-road" tires for the agricultural, construction, materials handling and transportation industries.

 

Today, GPX is using the PerformancePoint Server-based platform to deliver deeper and on-demand insights of customers, product sales and distribution channels – while helping to improve corporate transparency and governance.

 

 

"Mergers, acquisitions and changing business models present customers like GPX with tremendous market opportunities. We recommended Performance Point Server to help GPX better realize the competitive advantages of its new business model.  The new solution helps GPX better serve customers, increase productivity and work more effectively with its suppliers by better aligning the company's business goals to the marketplace."

        Jeffrey Hunt, SHEA Business Solutions

 

“Our employees were relying too heavily on spreadsheets in Excel in order to track information, which was affecting reporting results and productivity. We needed an affordable solution that could pull important data from each of our regional offices and bring it together under one umbrella to answer the key business questions that help us meet our organizational goals... We found that PerformancePoint Server 2007 was the best fit for us considering the attractive price-point and the fact it easily integrates within our existing SQL Server 2005-based environment”

       Andy Soares, GPX International Tire Corp.

 

 

PerformancePoint Server allows employees to quickly access data from its Microsoft Dynamics NAV ERP system, as well as other systems and data sources so that users have a more holistic view of the company’s activities. In addition, since employees were already familiar with Microsoft Office System, training costs are minimized and workers can easily create their own reports without any assistance from IT staff. Previously, it took the IT department several hours to create a relatively simple report; now GPX is able to generate reports within minutes.

 

The new integrated data environment helps GPX ensure greater accuracy and security. The firm now has easy access to consistent data and the ability to create a wide variety of reports that enable flexible, in-depth analysis… [and] is better able to ensure consistent measurement of targets and results throughout organization by setting targets at the enterprise level. As a result, the company has been able to help improve corporate governance and drive deeper accountability throughout the various levels of the organization. Simply put, GPX now has more confidence in the quality of its data and the ability to analyze its business in real-time.

 

 

 

Webcast Demo - PerformancePoint Dashboards for Dynamics AX

I will be co-hosting an upcoming webcast demo showcasing PerformancePoint Dashboards for Dynamics AX.

Solver, a Microsoft Gold Certified partner, will provide the demo content.

 

Click here to register. 

 

The webcast session is scheduled for a full hour. 

The presentation will be about 30 minutes, and we'll be available for Questions for the remaining 30 minutes.

 

Some topics we expect to discuss:

- PerformancePoint Dashboards - KPIs, scorecards, linked reports, parameterized filters

- Dynamics AX Role Centers - how does PerformancePoint differ and provide additional value 

- Dynamics AX - out-of-the-box SQL Analysis Services (OLAP) cubes

The Business Intelligence Update - September 2008

 

HOT TOPICS

 

Register NOW for the 2nd Annual Microsoft BI Conference - click here!

 

25% Discount Promotion - Microsoft Office SharePoint ECAL / PerformancePoint Server CAL

*** extended through September 30, 2008

 

Assessment Tool for Business Intelligence

 - compare your infrastructure against industry best practices and the latest IT research

 

Online Demo: Geospatial Business Intelligence

-  by integrating Virtual Earth and PerformancePoint

-  Blog: More on Virtual Earth & PPS 

 

Business intelligence basics: case studies and job advice

Five keys to hiring (good) business intelligence professionals 

Leveraging business and marketing skills for a business intelligence (BI) career

 

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

 

How does it all stack up?

6 part Seminar Series, sponsored by Inetium & Microsoft

Sept 18

Omaha, NE

Click here to register

 

Dashboard in a Day - sponsored by Quilogy

Sept 16 - Omaha, NE

Sept 18 - Chicago, IL

Click here to learn more and register

 

The Next Generation of Business Intelligence

Executive Roundtable Breakfast Series, sponsored by Neudesic & Microsoft

Sept 18 - Denver, CO

Sept 30 - Las Vegas, NV

 

Microsoft BI Conference

Oct 6-8 - Seattle, WA

www.microsoftbiconference.com

 

Managing Performance with PerformancePoint

Planning, Financial Reporting, Monitoring and Analytics for Dynamics GP 10

Oct 8 - Mountain View, CA

Click here to register

  

PASS Community Summit 2008

Nov 18-21 - Seattle, WA

Click here to learn more

 

Find Events & Webcasts

 

 

UPCOMING WEBCASTS

* all times listed below are for Pacific time zone 

 

Microsoft Business Intelligence for Retail - sponsored by Solver 

Sept 11, 11am

Click here to register

 

Using Your SharePoint Portal to Communicate Business Intelligence presented by Quilogy

Sept 11, 1 pm

Click here to register

 

Achieving Business Intelligence Across the Enterprise presented by Thorogood

Sept 18, 9am - Realize Fast & Effective Planning, Budgeting & Forecasting

Click here to register

 

 

NEWS LINKS & PRESS RELEASES

 

SQL Server 2008: First Impressions

 

BIScorecard Rates Eight Leading Products

An Effective Business Intelligence Strategy is the Key to Business Success

Next-generation BI at Hand, Forrester Reports

Gartner lists Microsoft India as leading vendor of BI

 

Information Agility

Who doesn't want to be agile?

The Business Intelligence Model of Conflicting Interests

Is Excel a Complete BI Solution?

Pervasive business intelligence: Are organizations really ready?

Seven Steps to Successful BI Competency Centers

Business Intelligence: Distilling Raw Data into Useful Information

The Business Intelligence Education Problem

Full Circle: Decision Intelligence (DSS 2.0)

Contact Me if you'd like to receive monthly emails of Jason Morales' Microsoft BI Update

Posted by jasonmorales | 1 Comments

The Update - August 2008

 

HOT TOPICS

 

Microsoft Releases SQL Server 2008

 

Register NOW for the 2nd Annual Microsoft BI Conference - click here!

 

25% Discount Promotion - Microsoft Office SharePoint ECAL / PerformancePoint Server CAL

*** extended through September 30, 2008

 

Microsoft to Acquire DATAllegro

What the Microsoft-DATAllegro Deal Means for Customers, Vendors and BI

 

Assessment Tool for Business Intelligence

 - compare your infrastructure against industry best practices and the latest IT research

 

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

 

TDWI Conference

Aug 17-22 - San Diego, CA

Click here to register

 

How does it all stack up?

6 part Seminar Series, sponsored by Inetium & Microsoft

Aug 7 & 28,  Sept 18

Omaha, NE

Click here to register

 

Dashboard in a Day - sponsored by Quilogy

Sept 9 - Kansas City, MO

Sept 11 - Fairview Heights, IL

Sept 16 - Omaha, NE

Sept 18 - Chicago, IL

Click here to learn more and register

 

Microsoft BI Conference

Oct 6-8 - Seattle, WA

www.microsoftbiconference.com

 

PASS Community Summit 2008

Nov 18-21 - Seattle, WA

Click here to learn more

 

Find Events & Webcasts

 

 

UPCOMING WEBCASTS

* all times listed below are for Pacific time zone 

 

Making the right business decisions at the right time with the right tools

Aug 15, 9am

Click here to register

 

Achieving Business Intelligence Across the Enterprise presented by Thorogood

Aug 21, 9am - Maximize Business Performance

Sept 18, 9am - Realize Fast & Effective Planning, Budgeting & Forecasting

 

Microsoft Business Intelligence for Retail - sponsored by Solver 

Aug 14, 11am

Aug 28, 11am

Sept 11, 11am

Click here to register

 

 

TRAINING

 

PerformancePoint Training Sites

Online: PPS Planning, Monitoring and Analytics (includes videos and workbooks)

Online: ProClarity

 

Hitachi Consulting

Business Intelligence Education Services

PerformancePoint 2007 Boot Camp (4 Day) - click here for more info

Sept 9-12 - Irvine, CA

 

Solid Quality Mentors

BI Courses, including SQL 2005, PPS and ProClarity

Microsoft BI Bootcamp (5 day) - click here for more info

Sept 8-12 - Beaverton, OR

Dec 8-12 - Seattle, WA

 

IT Mentors

Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 Monitoring & Analytics

 

Premier Knowledge Solutions

PerformancePoint Bootcamp - click here for more info

Additional course info available by request - contact Andrew Petroline

 

SQL 2005 Reporting Services Bootcamp - click here for more info

Sept 2-4 - St. Louis, MO

 

ONLC Training Centers

PerformancePoint Training, Class, Course Information

 

AppDev - CD-ROM & DVD-ROM Training

SQL Server 2005 and BI Learning Suite

 

SQL Server Training Courses

Online & Instructor Led

 

Partner Program - webcasts

Online Training Webcasts - (keyword = performancepoint)

 

 

RESOURCES

 

Microsoft BI

Whitepapers, Demos, Product Evaluations

Consulting Partner Directory

Subscribe - Microsoft Business Intelligence Newsletter 

 

PerformancePoint 2007

System Requirements

Download: PerformancePoint Server 2007 Trial Software

Flash Demo:  Virtual Experience

Datasheets:  Overview, Monitor, Analyze, Plan, Management Reporter

Video:  PerformancePoint Server Team Video

Video: Business Intelligence by Role (CFO, Operations Mgr, IT Director, Sales Mgr)

Wikis:  Wikipedia, Channel 9

 

On-Demand Webcasts of PerformancePoint 2007

 

Technet Library

Developer Portal

 

ProClarity

Search the Support Knowledge Base

Microsoft ProClarity Software Developer's Kit 6.3

 

PerformancePoint Management Reporter

Overview

 

SQL Server 2005

Business Intelligence

Best Practices

BI Presentations

Learning Portal

Archived Webcasts, Virtual Labs, Podcasts

 

SQL Server 2008

Business Intelligence

Data Warehousing

Datasheet: Business Intelligence

Demo:  SQL Server 2008 Overview

Video:  SQL Server 2008 Business Intelligence

 

SQL Server 2008 Virtual Labs:

Analysis Services: Delivering Analysis Services capabilities through Microsoft Office

Analysis Services: Managing Analysis Services Solutions 

Reporting Services: Managing the Report Services Infrastructure

Data Mining

 

SharePoint Server 2007

SharePoint Business Intelligence

Evaluation Guide

Case Study: Microsoft Team Closes Books 33 Percent Faster, Files Financials 40 Percent Sooner

 

Data Mining

SQL Server Data Mining 

Webcast: Building Adaptive Applications with SQL Server Data Mining

Video: SQL Server 2008 Data Mining Enhancements 

 

Dynamics

Microsoft Dynamics - Everyone Gets It

Evaluate Microsoft Dynamics - What is Microsoft Dynamics?

Dynamic Communities

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009

Microsoft Dynamics Integration with Microsoft Technologies

Whitepaper: Evaluating Financial Management Software - Is it time for a change?

 

 

NEWS LINKS & PRESS RELEASES

 

Microsoft SQL Server Growth Slows But Still Beats Rivals

Microsoft's "Katmai" Is Filled to the Brim

Kalido launches integrated suite for Microsoft BI

Analysis: Behind Microsoft's DATAllegro Acquisition

 

4 Simple Tips for Business Intelligence Usability

Business Intelligence and Sensemaking

Business Intelligence: Software Helps Decision Makers

Considering Business Intelligence and Enterprise Planning

Who should control business intelligence?

From Operational Business Intelligence to Competing on Decisions

 

 

Contact Me if you'd like to receive monthly emails of Jason Morales' Microsoft BI Update

Posted by jasonmorales | 1 Comments

Filed under: Demo, In-Person Event, Webcast, Training, ProClarity, Management Reporter, Evaluation Copy, Virtual Lab, Dynamics AX, SharePoint, Data Mining, PerformancePoint Server, SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, Reporting Services, Analysis Services

The Update - July 2008

 

HOT TOPICS

 

Gates exits Microsoft to focus on charity work

 

BI Trends: The Next Generation of Performance Management

IDC Report Sees Steady Growth for BI, Pent-Up Demand for Analytics

Who's Hot and Who's Not in BI, Analytics?

 

Kimball University: Microsoft SQL Server Comes of Age for Data Warehousing

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 appealing as ERP refresh

 

Hiring Business Intelligence Resources When You're Too Busy to Hire Business Intelligence Resources

 

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

 

How does it all stack up?

6 part Seminar Series, sponsored by Inetium & Microsoft

July 17,  Aug 7 & 28,  Sept 18

Omaha, NE

Click here to register

 

Dashboard in a Day - sponsored by Quilogy

Sept 9 - Kansas City, MO

Sept 11 - Fairview Heights, IL

Sept 16 - Omaha, NE

Sept 18 - Chicago, IL

Click here to learn more and register

 

Microsoft BI Conference

Oct 6-8

Seattle, WA

http://www.microsoftbiconference.com/

 

Find Events & Webcasts

 

 

UPCOMING WEBCASTS

* all times listed below are for Pacific time zone 

 

PerformancePoint Server Webcast Demo

July 15, 11am

July 29, 11am

 

Achieving Business Intelligence Across the Enterprise presented by Thorogood

July 17, 9am - Increase Accessibility of Information

Aug 21, 9am - Maximize Business Performance

Sept 18, 9am - Realize Fast & Effective Planning, Budgeting & Forecasting

 

Microsoft Business Intelligence for Retail - sponsored by Solver 

July 31, 11am

Aug 14, 11am 

Aug 28, 11am

Sept 11, 11am

Click here to register

 

 

TRAINING

 

PerformancePoint Training Sites

Online: PPS Planning, Monitoring and Analytics (includes videos and workbooks)

Online: ProClarity

 

Hitachi Consulting

Business Intelligence Education Services

PerformancePoint 2007 Boot Camp (4 Day) - click here for more info

Irvine, CA: Aug 4-7

 

Solid Quality Mentors

BI Courses, including SQL 2005, PPS and ProClarity

Microsoft BI Bootcamp (5 day) - click here for more info

Beaverton, OR:  Sept 8-12

Seattle, WA: Dec 8-12

 

IT Mentors

Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 Monitoring & Analytics

 

Premier Knowledge Solutions

BI Courses, including SQL 2005, PPS and ProClarity

Microsoft BI Bootcamp (5 day) - click here for more info

St Louis, MO:  Aug 4-8

 

AppDev - CD-ROM & DVD-ROM Training

SQL Server 2005 and BI Learning Suite

 

SQL Server Training Courses

Online & Instructor Led

 

Partner Program - webcasts

Online Training Webcasts - (keyword = performancepoint)

 

 

RESOURCES

 

Microsoft BI

Whitepapers, Demos, Product Evaluations

Consulting Partner Directory

Subscribe - Microsoft Business Intelligence Newsletter 

 

PerformancePoint 2007

System Requirements

Download: PerformancePoint Server 2007 Trial Software

Flash Demo:  Virtual Experience

Datasheets:  Overview, Monitor, Analyze, Plan, Management Reporter

Video:  PerformancePoint Server Team Video

Video: Business Intelligence by Role (CFO, Operations Mgr, IT Director, Sales Mgr)

Wikis:  Wikipedia, Channel 9

 

On-Demand Webcasts of PerformancePoint 2007

 

Technet Library

Developer Portal

 

ProClarity

Search the Support Knowledge Base

Microsoft ProClarity Software Developer's Kit 6.3

 

PerformancePoint Management Reporter

Overview

 

SQL Server 2005

Business Intelligence

Best Practices

BI Presentations

Learning Portal

Archived Webcasts, Virtual Labs, Podcasts

 

SQL Server 2008

Business Intelligence

Data Warehousing

Datasheet: Business Intelligence

Demo:  SQL Server 2008 Overview

Video:  SQL Server 2008 Business Intelligence

 

SQL Server 2008 Virtual Labs:

Analysis Services: Delivering Analysis Services capabilities through Microsoft Office

Analysis Services: Managing Analysis Services Solutions 

Reporting Services: Managing the Report Services Infrastructure

Data Mining

 

SharePoint Server 2007

SharePoint Business Intelligence

Evaluation Guide

Case Study: Microsoft Team Closes Books 33 Percent Faster, Files Financials 40 Percent Sooner

 

Data Mining

SQL Server Data Mining 

Webcast: Building Adaptive Applications with SQL Server Data Mining

Video: SQL Server 2008 Data Mining Enhancements 

 

Dynamics

Microsoft Dynamics - Everyone Gets It

Evaluate Microsoft Dynamics - What is Microsoft Dynamics?

Dynamic Communities

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009

Microsoft Dynamics Integration with Microsoft Technologies

Whitepaper: Evaluating Financial Management Software - Is it time for a change?

 

 

NEWS LINKS & PRESS RELEASES

 

Bill Gates Steps Down: The End of an Era

 

It's No Longer Tracking, It's Locating

Knowledge Management and Business Intelligence

Predictive Analytics: Peer into the BI Crystal Ball

BI Vendors Trying to Reach the Rank and File

Strategic Learning, Design and Business Intelligence

Using Enterprise 2.0 for Business Intelligence, Part 5

When Will BI Head Downstream?

Ride the Next Wave of Flexible 'BI Workspaces'

Uncorking the Data Bottleneck with Operational BI

Your Business Intelligence Vendor - A Partner or Problem?

 

 

Contact Me if you'd like to receive monthly emails of Jason Morales' Microsoft BI Update

Posted by jasonmorales | 1 Comments

Filed under: Analyst Report, Demo, In-Person Event, Webcast, User Group, Training, ProClarity, Management Reporter, Evaluation Copy, Virtual Lab, Dynamics AX, SharePoint, Data Mining, PerformancePoint Server, SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, Reporting Services, Analysis Services, ERP

Compare SQL Server Reporting Services & Crystal Reports

To date, many organizations have relied on Crystal Reports for production reporting of data stored in SQL Server.  But with the release of SQL Server 2005, Microsoft offers a version of Reporting Services that is an excellent alternative to Crystal Reports, so many organizations are migrating away from Business Objects licensing to the Microsoft platform. 

 

The following article compares the two reporting applications and provides migration 'How To' detail and resources:

Migrating from Business Objects Crystal Reports to SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services

 

In summary, here are some reasons to migrate:

Avoid paying for unneccessary licenses

- since Reporting Services is included with SQL Server license, paying for Crystal Report licenses is redundant and doesn't make fiscal sense

Single platform

- in addition to production reporting, SQL Server provides a market-leading platform for data warehouse development, OLAP (ad hoc) analysis, and data integration

- strategic and cohesive approach to technology optimization conveys how IT is a proactive asset to the organization, not a reactive cost center that constantly has to piece together and fix disparate systems

Unified development model

- by using the Visual Studio framework for report development, developers apply a consistent development methodology for different applications

Familiar user interfaces

- through the Microsoft Office System (including SharePoint & PerformancePoint), business users benefit from greater accessibility to the applications and key functions they use everyday

Integration

- SQL Server integrates multiple data sources into single 'warehouse' or application to report information effectively

- Microsoft Office System integrates reports and BI capabilities with other key business processes such as collaboration, workflow, search, document management and planning

Documentation & Resources

- the collection of available resources online and in print for the Microsoft platform is more extensive and more readily available than what Business Objects offers

New hires and contractors

- easier to find affordable staff and consultants who are familiar with SQL Server and Microsoft Office for reporting and Business Intelligence

Use of XML schema for Report Definition Language (RDL)

- promotes an open report document format that can be easily shared between applications

Greater extensibility

- application developers can create new custom data sources, new delivery capabilities, new rendering options, or new security

- Web Services can be used as data sources  and custom report controls can be easily created and used in reports

 

Top new features of SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services:

- Author reports with any structure using the Tablix data format

- Enhanced performance and scalability

- Render reports to Microsoft Office Word 2007

- Enhanced visualizations (including new Dundas charting)