Norm's PerformancePoint Server Blog

Norm's PerformancePoint Server blog

2008-10-27T16:37:06Z

You may have noticed that the name of this Blog has changed...and maybe you haven't. In order to remove some of the confusion from changing the name of this Blog in an effort to create a team Blog, I will create a new Blog for our PerformancePoint IT professional documentation team. It will be called B.I. the way...PerformancePoint Server documentation team Blog (B.I. aka business intelligence).

This will be the last post I make to this Blog. I will begin writing for the documentation team Blog and will also look forward to the useful posts that my team mates will undoubtedly give you. Thank you for reading this Blog. :)

-Norm

PerformancePoint Server Service Pack 2

2008-10-17T01:36:06Z

Hello again!

Hal Zucati here from the PerformancePoint UA writing team once again to share with you a bit of pre-release information on the PerformancePoint Service Pack 2 (SP2) documentation I'm currently working on.

This information is presented here for reference use only and should not be viewed or used as a substitute to the formal update that will be published to our TechNet library at the beginning of December here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc514367.aspx

At this time the link above will mostly likely be where the SP2 information will be published, replacing the current SP1 documentation. After talking with the PerformancePoint Product team about the upcoming SP2 release, I have learned that the following is forthcoming:

Monitoring Server will be a refresh of the existing SP1 documentation and will have only invisible updates (see below).

Planning Server will have both refreshed content as well as additional new content (see below) .

· There will be several fixes and updates that are invisible to users. This means that while you as the end user cannot see the changes, they are there, making PerformancePoint Monitoring Server better than before.

· PerformancePoint Server SP2 supports SQL Server 2008. This means that for existing installations of PerformancePoint Server (Planning and Monitoring) with SQL Server 2005, you can upgrade to SQL Server 2008 with no further action required. All your data, structure and PerformancePoint connections will be updated along with SQL Server. For new deployments of PerformancePoint Server to SQL Server 2008 there are a few things that you will need to do to make all the appropriate connections, but not many, and these will all be outlined in the upcoming documentation.

· As noted previously by Norm, Hyper-V support has been added. Norm is the writer for that subject area and has provided some great information in previous postings here on this blog. (Look at his October 14^th posting.)

New articles in the works:

o How to upgrade from SQL Server 2005 to SQL Server 2008

o How to install PPS on a clean install of SQL Server 2008

o Install several SQL Server 2005 components BEFORE SQL Server 2008 (this is a PerformancePoint Server requirement)

o Upgrade security changes

Both the updated and the new information will be published to our TechNet library around the beginning of December 2008.

I'd like to thank everyone who visits this blog and encourage you to review our TechNet library often for the most up to date information.

- Hal

Introduction to B.I. the way... PerformancePoint Server documentation team blog (Bio)

2008-10-16T19:01:54Z

My name is Steve Hord and I will be contributing to the B.I. the way... PerformancePoint Server documentation team blog for the next few months. I am a writer on the Duet User Assistance (UA) team, and since Duet 1.5 General Availability will release at the end of 2008, the documentation is for the most part done. I have been writing for the Duet project for a year and a half, throughout the Duet 1.5 product cycle. I will work with the PerformancePoint UA team throughout the rest of this year and until the Duet 3.0 product cycle begins, scheduled for mid- to late January 2009.

Microsoft and SAP co-own Duet, consequently several of the guides are co-written by both companies. I have worked closely with my SAP counterpart Duet writer and we have produced the first integrated versions of the Duet for Microsoft Office and SAP: Installation Guide, Master Guide, and Upgrade Guide.

I am not entirely new to PerformancePoint as I helped revise the installation document for one of the TAP releases several years ago. I will concentrate on the PerformancePoint Planning Server documentation and look forward to contributing to the B.I. the way... PerformancePoint Server documentation team blog.

PerformancePoint Server SP2: Hyper-V is supported

2008-10-14T21:16:15Z

It is good to know that PerformancePoint Server (PPS) Service Pack 2 will support Hyper-V. The news is located on a Microsoft server software and supported virtualization environment list.

This article discusses the support policy for running Microsoft server software in the following supported virtualization environments:

Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V
Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008
Server Virtualization Validation Program (SVVP)

The current economic situation demands that we look for ways to save money, and consolidating your server hardware by using Hyper-V is one that must be evaluated. Consider the Sporton Lab case study where it reduces hardware requirements by a 1-7 ratio to reduce data center costs.

Consider the cost savings that Microsoft experienced (talked about here).

Hyper-V documentation

For now, consider the following places for documentation and prepare for PPS to be compatible !!!

BizTalk has some very comprehensive documentation here.
Robert Hoover, who writes about Project Server, has prepared a Hyper-V guide white paper and a planning article with useful recommendations and links.
When you're ready to create some guest operating systems, see Hyper-V Getting Started Guide . It contains the following sections.
- Requirements for Hyper-V
- Step 1: Install Hyper-V
- Step 2: Create and set up a virtual machine
- Step 3: Install the operating system and integration services
- Step 4: Configuring virtual networks

I look forward to providing some test scenario-driven documentation.

Microsoft BI Conference wrap-up

2008-10-10T19:39:24Z

What an incredible experience it was for me to meet so many customers. Thanks for sharing your experiences with me. Pej, from the THE BI Blog, shares some of the highlights such as Gemini and Report Builder 2.0 and a link to several podcasts.

I spent some time in the Hands-On-Labs room talking to customers. Many want to know if the virtual labs experienced at the conference are available online. Here they are !!!

Here are links to most of the virtual labs that were at the conference.

PerformancePoint Server virtual labs for IT Professionals

Virtual Labs for SQL Server 2008 – includes SSRS, SSAS, SSIS, and Data Mining

TechNet Virtual Labs: SQL Server 2005

Business Intelligence –Report Builder

Search on "virtual lab" and "<technology or product>" and you will find others.

For more PerformancePoint Server resources, see the documentation roadmap in the Product Evaluation section.

PerformancePoint Server TechCenter prototypes

2008-10-10T00:00:00Z

For a post last week, I spent some time asking for feedback on our TechNet documentation through various site features. I have one more request before I do my best to deliver more tips and solid news for PerformancePoint Server. Consider reviewing the TechCenter prototypes that I have included below.

Background

The TechNet site engineers are consistently working to improve site layouts so that the most important information can be located quickly. There is a TechCenter for all Microsoft server products. The PerformancePoint Server TechCenter highlights documentation, resources, and support specific to PerformancePoint Server. The following are two PerformancePoint TechCenter prototypes.

Please provide feedback on the following prototypes by answering the questions below.

Prototype-A Prototype-B

If you have a moment, answer the following questions.

Which PPS TechCenter (prototype-A or prototype-B) would you prefer? Why?
How would you change the existing TechCenter?
Which version do you think has fresher, up-to-date content?
Would you bookmark any of these pages (existing TechCenter, prototype-A, or prototype-B)?
On prototype-A, did you notice that you could expand each section? What type of information would you expect to see in each expansion?
What suggestions do you have that would help make this TechCenter a more valuable reference for you?

Making PerformancePoint Server documentation better

2008-10-05T02:01:09Z

Ralph Kimball, in his book The Data Warehouse ETL Toolkit (Indianapolis, IN: Wiley.) said, "if it is not documented, it does not exist." I agree.

There are a number of ways that you can provide valuable input to improve your and others' TechNet documentation experience. Here are a few.

Fill out the following survey (click to download) and send it to ppsdocs@microsoft.com.

Give feedback using the simple feature in TechNet —we respond to all of these! The following is an image of the feedback feature in TechNet. In any TechNet article, simply mouse over the words Click to Rate and Give Feedback located close to the top, right corner.

The following Community Content feature is located at the bottom of every TechNet article. You can add new content to any existing TechNet article. The content may be additional information that you know would benefit others.

PerformancePoint Server for monitoring IT health - a solution

2008-10-01T01:39:16Z

I just read a BI Blog post that details a solution for IT managers that want to use PerformancePoint Server to monitor several KPIs, view trends, and more. PerformancePoint Server can help you monitor and manage the health of your IT infrastructure by connecting to System Center Operations Manager 2007, SCOM (formerly known as Microsoft Operations Manager, MOM) data from a PerformancePoint Server dashboard. A Microsoft team provides a white paper and solution to help you create a complete performance management solution for monitoring the health of your IT infrastructure. Click here and scroll to the bottom of the page for the solution.

The white paper shows how to do the trickier parts of the solution and gives more detail about the metrics that are monitored.

The sample solution includes SQL Server Integrations Services ETL packages for the BI data warehouse, cubes, and sample dashboards. The IT manager gets value from having a holistic view of the IT system and being able to monitor metrics such as those found in a service-level agreement.

Good stuff !

TechNet Virtual Lab is here !!!; plus see the Performance Point Server / Project Server advanced data visualization in person!

2008-09-25T19:43:31Z

[Update: Rob Hoover blogged here about the availability of the Virtual Lab. The direct link to the lab is here.]

Hi everyone, Joanne again. If you have never used the virtual labs on http://www.Technet.com, it’s time you did. It's a great way to get a hands-on look at Microsoft products without having to download full trial versions or dedicate test computers.

Better yet, make sure to check out the virtual lab coming in mid-October from the Project Server team. It will be publishing the complete lab we mentioned yesterday on how to leverage PerformancePoint with Project Server at http://blogs.msdn.com/chrisfie/archive/2008/05/01/performancepoint-server-virtual-labs.aspx. The way to learn and love this solution is to experience how easy and powerful this combination of tools can be.

But if you can't wait, make sure to attend the Microsoft BI conference on October 6 -8 in Seattle. Senior Technical Product Manager Christophe Fiessinger will be there giving this full presentation and lab. Take advantage of this great opportunity to ask the experts and see how these applications can give you real-life solutions. Of course, the PerformancePoint team will be well-represented as Microsoft presents the best BI solutions in the business!

Check out Christophe's blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/chrisfie/.

Using Performance Point Server for Project Server advanced data visualization

2008-09-25T03:05:08Z

Hi everyone, this is Joanne again. A frequent request from users is providing solutions on how PerformancePoint can work with other applications, and, in particular, Project Server data. Recently Michael Jordan (not the basketball player) presented a lab at TechReady on Enterprise Project Management (EPM) and Data Visualization using Microsoft BI tools and solutions. One of the topics he addressed was how to use the Monitoring & Analytics aspect of PerformancePoint Server for advanced data visualization.

Using a simple dashboard, he demonstrated how you can monitor Project Management health based on selected KPIs. The actual and target values for two KPIs (cost and work) were taken from a Project Server OLAP cube. The third KPI was an internal satisfaction that was a fixed value indicator. In a real production environment it could roll up from other indicators monitoring different aspects of internal project management processes.

Another feature he demonstrated was creating a report analyzing cost breakdown across programs in the organization, and then he linked the report to the cost KPI. In this way, as soon as the cost KPI is selected the report gets generated.

Here is an example, condensed from Michael's presentation. While this doesn't include every single click, and is highly condensed from his classroom lab, it does cover the key aspects you need to accomplish this solution. Remember that this showcases basic fundamentals; you can develop very sophisticated Dashboards and Reports that will simplify your life!

I. Create a data source: The first step is defining a data source. When you select "create a new data source" make sure to select Analysis Services from the Multidimensional category. As you work through the Editor, you will be asked to provide the server type, the database, and the cube. Complete this with the details from your Project Server cube.

II. Create a scorecard: There are several important steps to call out here.

As you create a new scorecard, select Analysis Services from the Microsoft category. Click OK to launch the Create an Analysis Services scorecard wizard. Among other items, you will be prompted to select a data source. Choose the Project Server PortfolioAnalysis cube data source that you defined in Step I.

In the Select a KPI source step of the wizard, make sure to select Create KPI from SQL Server Analysis Services measures. In the Select a KPIs to import step of the wizard:

Click Add KPI five times, until you see both Cost and Work KPI.
Delete 2nd, 3rd and 4th KPI - Overtime Cost, Actual Cost ,and Actual Overtime Cost by selecting them and then clicking Delete Selected KPIs. You should now see only Cost and Work KPIs.

For the Cost KPI do the following:

In the Actual column select Actual Cost
In the Band Method select Decreasing is Better

Do the same for Work KPI:

In the Actual column select Actual Work
In the Band Method select Decreasing is Better

III. Modify KPIs: Modify any KPI you wish.

IV. Create a new KPI: Use the wizard to create a Satisfaction KPI.

V. Create a new Objective: Create an objective to roll up the three other KPIs.

VI. Customizing the Scorecard: Customize the layout of the KPIs.

VII. Creating a new report: Using the data from your Project Server cube, create a Cost Drilldown Report.

VIII. Creating a new dashboard: Include your Project Management scorecard and the Program Cost Drilldown Report on your dashboard. Place the Program Cost Drilldown report into the Dashboard Content zone of the Editor below the Project Management Scorecard.

In the Editor, locate the Display Condition item with a document and a magnifying glass icon in the Project Management Scorecard. Drag this item below onto the Program Cost Drilldown Report. A Display Condition Editor appears; select Cost.

Microsoft Business Intelligence Conference 2008

2008-09-25T00:01:37Z

When: October 6-8

Where: Seattle, Washington

Why? CIOs and CTOs, and IT Professionals as well as business decision makers, analysts, seasoned BI professionals or users new to business intelligence should attend this 3-day conference to see how Microsoft Business Intelligence can help you drive increased business performance at strategic, tactical and organizational levels. You’ll gain in-depth product knowledge from Microsoft product experts, learn best practices for designing, building and deploying robust, yet cost-effective, business intelligence applications for everyone in your organization, and network with peers from around the world.

For more details, visit http://www.msbiconference.com/Pages/default.aspx

I'll be helping with hands-on-labs and hope to see you there.

PerformancePoint Server SDK

2008-09-15T08:15:27Z

This from Diane, an SDK writer for PerformancePoint Monitoring Server. This blog is about navigating the SDK documentation, which contains two sections:

A General Reference section that contains conceptual information, procedures, and code examples.
A Class Library Reference section that shows the signature for exposed public and protected members and contains comments for many members. The content is organized by namespace.

The main focus of the General Reference section is about extending dashboard objects. These objects have a designer component and a server component. The designer component lets users select, create, and edit the object in Dashboard Designer. The server component is the corresponding viewer or provider.

This type of information is in the “How Do I…” section (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb836266.aspx), which is mostly broken down by object into the following sections:

Reports. Describes how to add a new type of report view to PerformancePoint Dashboard Designer, such as a geographical map or statistical control chart.
Data Sources. Describes how to provide support for a data source that is not native to Monitoring Server.
Dashboard Filters. Describes how to create a custom dashboard filter.
Wizard Templates. Describes how to design a wizard template that can be used to create custom dashboard objects in Dashboard Designer. Dashboard objects include dashboards, data sources, indicators, KPIs, parameters, reports, and scorecards.
Ribbon Items. Describes how to add custom tabs, panels, and buttons to the Ribbon in Dashboard Designer.
Scorecard Transforms. Describes how to modify a scorecard before it is rendered in a dashboard or in Dashboard Designer.

The September 2008 content update of the SDK documentation includes an expanded topic on data source providers and an expanded section on scorecard transforms—new overview information and two code examples (one that changes scorecard formatting and one that shows when an annotation was last updated).

The SDK for Monitoring Server 2007 consists of the documentation on MSDN only. However, there are several samples from the PerformancePoint Team Blog that you can download and install (https://blogs.msdn.com/performancepoint/default.aspx).

PerformancePoint Server documentation -organization explained

2008-09-05T22:57:55Z

[UPDATE: New PerformancePoint Server documentation roadmap published on TechNet]

Microsoft Office product documentation is published on Office Online, Technet, or MSDN for the corresponding audiences; information worker (IW), IT Pro, and developer. PerformancePoint Server (PPS) is separated by the three audiences mentioned.

I write this post to clarify where PPS documentation is located in Office Online, MSDN, and TechNet.

PPS Office Online (Information Worker) docs	PPS TechNet (IT Pro docs)	PPS MSDN (Developer docs)
PerformancePoint Add-in for Excel	Product evaluation	PPS Monitoring SDK
Planning Business Modeler	Planning and Architecture Guide	Planning Business Rules Development Guide
Dashboard Designer	Deployment Guide
Dashboard Viewer for SharePoint Services	Operations Guide
MUCH MORE WILL BE PUBLISHED IN COMING WEEKS.	White papers
	PPS glossary

Note: All of the information worker documentation for PPS products such as Planning Business Modeler and Dashboard Designer, will be published (outside the box) this fall. This part of Microsoft's commitment to move towards a "services model". When that happens, we will be able to cross-reference between our PPS IT Pro, Office Online, and MSDN documentation where it makes sense.

The content seems like a lot -and it doesn't even cover the stack of technologies such as SQL Server 2005 (Books Online-MSDN) and SharePoint (WSS or MOSS). But consider Alan Whitehouse's Blog recent post, Skill Sets Required to Successfully Implement PPS. Note that I would add project management to that list.

Additional help is provided in How do I... articles. Here are some examples that are located in MSDN.

How do I set up a model for shares calculation and consolidation?

How do I create an association to move data between models?

How do I use an assumption model?

How do I write a business rule?

How do I customize a Currency rule template?

How do I customize an Intercompany Reconciliation template?

How do I export data with an outbound rule?

How to: Applications and Models

How to: Dimensions and Members

How to: Business Rules

How to: Associations Between Models

PerformancePoint Server KPIs and Office SharePoint Server KPIs

2008-08-29T20:38:49Z

Last month I wrote a post, PerformancePoint Server OR SharePoint BI, that addresses some confusion that many have had about differences between BI features in Office SharePoint Server and PerformancePoint Server (PPS). Today, I provide more detail about existing features, such as KPIs, scorecards, indicators, and dashboards, found in both platforms.

Some things to remember.

PerformancePoint Server is not SharePoint shrink-wrapped in a BI toolset. PPS uses MOSS or WSS as part of the platform to deliver complete business intelligence and performance management applications for the person, team, and enterprise.
Office SharePoint Server provides self-service BI where PerformancePoint Server offers more organizational or enterprise level BI. As personal BI is shared with team members, the ability to share insights and information can transform into organizational BI so that strategic application can be monitored.

The following compares between the monitoring features for scorecards, dashboards, KPIs, and indicators.

[disclaimer] Admittedly, most of my writing is for the IT Pro for PPS architecture, deployment, and operations.

KPIs

Feature	MOSS BI today	PPS M&A
Objectives Rollup		X
Objective values (Sum, Min)		X
Normalized Scoring		X
KPI Weights		X
Analysis Services Measures		X
Analysis Services KPI’s	X	X
Data Sources per KPI	Single	Multiple
Formatting		X
Band by Normalized Values		X
Band by Numeric Values	X	X
Thresholds	3	unlimited
Multiple Targets		X
Dimension filters on Column	X	X
Dimension filters on Row		X
MDX Filters		X
Time Intelligence filters		X

Scorecards

Features	MOSS BI today	PPS M&A
Scorecard Object		X
Objective Icons		X
Objective Values Rollup (Min,Max,Sum)		X
Nested Objectives		X
Trend Arrows		X
Interactivity		X
Annotations		X
Normalized Scoring Values		X
Time Intelligence		X
Scorecard Customization		X
Column Aggregation (Sum,Avg,Min,Max)		X
Dimension slicers on the row		X
Dimension slicers on Column		X
Properties		X
Named sets		X
Custom Formulas		X
Scorecard Interactivity		X
Cell comments		X
Indicator count roll Ups		X
Sort and filter		X
Expand/Collapse		X

Indicators

Features	MOSS BI today	PPS M&A
Library of Indicator Visualizations		Numerous
Thresholds	3
Centered Indicators		X
Customization		X
Formatted Properties		X

Dashboards

Features	MOSS BI today	PPS M&A
Templates	3	X
Filter on Columns		X
Filter on Page	X	X
Filters on Rows		X
Time Intelligence		X
MDX Filters		X
Named Set Filters		X
Post Formula		X
Display Condition Filters		X
Multi-Page Dashboards		X
Sticky Parameter		X

PerformancePoint Server Kerberos, Monitoring distributed deployment, security

2008-08-25T23:08:26Z

The following new TechNet documentation fills in a few gaps for you.

Monitoring Server software prerequisites This article provides updated information for the installation and configuration of PerformancePoint Monitoring Server.

Configure Monitoring Server for Kerberos constrained delegation This article provides updated information on configuring Kerberos security and user accounts.

Install Monitoring Server in a distributed environment This article provides updated information for deploying PerformancePoint Monitoring Server and its components.

Deploying Monitoring Server securely This article provides updated information on user and component security for PerformancePoint Monitoring Server.

Deploying Planning Server securely This article provides updated information on user and component security for PerformancePoint Planning Server.

If you have any feedback for the instruction in these, please contact me.