Microsoft Business Intelligence Tools for Excel Analysts

In the past, Business Intelligence had a tangible line separating the departmental reporting performed by business analysts and the enterprise reporting managed by IT professionals. On the business side of the organization, Microsoft Excel is heavily relied upon by business analysts to provide the mechanism for operational data analysis, reporting and dashboarding. Because of its easy availability, its array of analytical tools, and its presentation and graphing strengths, Excel is a natural choice for business analysts who need to report and manipulate data. On the other side of the organization, IT departments use Microsoft SQL Server and SharePoint to store and manage data in varying capacities. The types of data being handled by SQL server range from enterprise-level transactional data, to departmental data marts. Traditionally SQL Server tools like Reporting Services and Analysis Services rarely touch the Excel business analyst. That paradigm has shifted and the latest versions of Office, SQL Server and SharePoint have changed the Business Intelligence world. Tools like PowerPivot and Power View have blurred the line between what is a departmental Excel tool and what is an enterprise-level SQL Server/SharePoint tool. It's becoming increasingly important for business analysts to expand their skill-setfrom the one dimensional spreadsheet to new territory like relational databases, data integration, and multidimensional reporting.

This book is aimed squarely at business analysts and managers who find it increasingly necessary to becomemore efficient at working with "big data" tools traditionally reserved for IT professionals. This book is written from a business analyst's point of view, guiding readers through the mysterious world of PowerPivot, SQL Server andSharePoint reporting in terms they understand. Readers are introduced to the rich set of tools and reporting capabilities that can be leveraged to more effectively source and incorporate "Big Data" Business Intelligence andDashboard reports. Not only can these tools allow Excel analysts to save time and simplify their processes, they will also enable them to substantially enhance their data analysis and reporting capabilities.

The book covers: Moving data between Excel and SQL ServerLeveraging relational databasesUsing SQL Server's built-in functions to analyze large amounts of dataUsing Excel pivot tables to access and report OLAP dataUsing PowerPivot to create powerful reporting mechanisms Easily slicing data into various views to gain different visibility perspectivesCreating eye-catching visualizations and dashboardsAutomating SQL Server data retrieval and integrationPublishing dashboards and reports to the web