 |
Click this icon for a visual representation of the roadmap. |
Your organization can use the business data and business intelligence features in
to connect to business data in external databases such as Microsoft SQL Server, SAP, or Siebel.
You can then display business data on Web sites, find and share that information with other users, perform business analytics, and measure progress against key performance indicators.
Important You must have the Design or Full Control permission level to configure
Office SharePoint Server 2007 business intelligence features. For more information, see
Permission levels and permissions, or consult your administrator.
Use this roadmap as a starting point to learn about business intelligence features and how you can use them in your organization. The people who perform these tasks will vary depending on the size and culture of your organization. Therefore, you will find references here to articles written for a variety of audiences, including IT professionals, software developers,
site owners, and contributors. The intention is to provide easy access to information about the tasks, regardless of the different user roles required to complete each one.
Plan for business intelligence
Are you involved in planning for business intelligence (BI) features in a deployment? This section covers the three main areas for preparing the foundation of BI functionality. By looking ahead to your company's BI requirements, you can plan accordingly to ensure that they are met with minimal challenges and interruptions.
Plan the foundation
The first step in planning for business intelligence using Office SharePoint Server 2007 is to determine the needs and scope of how you plan to use business intelligence data. The articles in this section cover some of the major tasks in preparing to use business intelligence features using Office SharePoint Server 2007. The articles are presented in recommended order, but because your company may do things differently, you can select the articles that most apply to your own deployment environment and view them in the order that makes most sense to you.What do you want to explore?
| Goal or resource |
Description |
| Determine business data and business intelligence needs |
This Microsoft TechNet article helps you identify which business intelligence features of
Office SharePoint Server 2007 best fit your business processes and associated data. |
| Determine scope of business intelligence analysis |
Familiarize yourself with an overview on business intelligence scope planning through the use of business intelligence principles and examples (TechNet). |
| Introduction to Excel Services and Excel Web Access |
This Office Online article serves as an excellent starting point in learning about Excel Services and Microsoft Office Excel Web Access features that enable you to use, share, secure and manage Microsoft Office Excel 2007 workbooks (.xlsx, .xslb) as interactive reports. |
| Plan for business data search |
In the enterprise version of Office SharePoint Server 2007, you can use enterprise search to find, view and act on relevant business data. This TechNet article provides a strong overview of what you need to do to plan for business data search. |
| Plan for business data profiles |
As part of planning your initial deployment of Office SharePoint Server 2007, this article helps you determine which business data applications to connect to the Business Data Catalog, and which business data types and properties of those applications you want to make available in Office SharePoint Server 2007. |
| Business data worksheet |
Use the business data worksheet to record the applications registered in the Business Data Catalog, along with the included business data types and properties for each business data profile.
|
Plan
source requirements and business data connections
Business data can come from various sources, both external and internal. Specifically, these topics help you determine resource requirements to support Excel Services
as well as help you plan how SharePoint sites will interact with Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services or other databases.What do you want to explore?
| Goal or resource |
Description |
| Determine resource requirements to support Excel Services |
This TechNet article helps you identify which business intelligence features of
Office SharePoint Server 2007 best fit your business processes and associated data. |
| Plan for business data connections with the Business Data Catalog |
The Business Data Catalog (BDC) is a service for registering line-of-business applications and certain business data types and properties of those applications. The BDC is managed from the Shared Services Administration page for each Shared Services Provider (SSP) and you must have the Design or Full Control permission level . This TechNet article focuses on showing you how to plan for the connections to the BDC by first focusing on which applications to connect and how to make those connections.
|
| Plan data connection management |
This article provides an overview of how to maintain and update data connections from Excel 2007 spreadsheets to data sources such as Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services or other databases. |
Plan for Excel Services: , dashboards, and filters
An important part of planning for business intelligence in
Office SharePoint Server 2007 is planning for the use of business data in reports that can contain dashboards, key performance indicators, data filters, and other Excel Services features. Several resources here will help you understand
Excel Services security, external data connections, and planning for reporting, dashboards, and data filters.What do you want to explore?
| Goal or resource |
Description |
| Plan Excel Services security |
This TechNet article guides you through security considerations for an
Office SharePoint Server 2007 deployment that includes Excel Services. |
| Plan external data connections for Excel Services |
Are you responsible for configuring Office SharePoint Server 2007 to enable workbooks that are displayed in
Excel Services to refresh external business data? This comprehensive TechNet article helps you understand the relationships and dependencies between Office SharePoint Server 2007 and external databases. |
| White papers: Excel Services step-by-step guides |
The procedures in these guides take you step by step through the process of configuring and using Excel Services to build fully functional PivotTable reports, charts, and a variety of other reports. You will also learn how to restrict access to spreadsheet data and connect to an external data source such as SQL Server.
|
| Plan reports |
Learn about which Web Parts to use in reports and how to configure them to use business data. This TechNet article also shows you how to combine reports in report pages such as the Report Center site, how to configure management of report libraries, and what other features to enable for the Report Center site and other reports-enabled pages. |
| Plan dashboards and filters |
Learn about dashboards and filters, and gain a solid understanding of which Web Parts are common to dashboards, how filters are used on dashboards and other SharePoint sites, how to connect filters and business data Web Parts, and how to display those filters to users. |
Configure business intelligence features
After you plan for the business intelligence features in Office SharePoint Server 2007,
the next step is to configure these features and, in some cases, customize them to accommodate any special requirements your company may have.
Prepare and customize business data sources and search capabilities
One of the major benefits of using Office SharePoint Server 2007 business intelligence features is the ability to customize the sources you use to store business data. You can also configure and customize search for maximum benefit to your company.
What do you want to explore?
Connect business data and filter Web Parts and set Excel Web Access properties
The articles listed in this section explain how to prepare Web Parts to display business data. This section also covers working with business data connections from one source or from multiple sources. By using and customizing Filter, Excel Web Access, and other business data Web Parts in Office SharePoint Server 2007 you can create powerful, interactive dashboards to display your business data.
What do you want to explore?
| Goal or resource |
Description |
| Connect Filter Web Parts to Excel Web Access |
Learn about Filter Web Parts and how, when connected to Excel Web Access Web Parts, they enable you to filter business data in various ways. For example, you can filter a PivotTable report, in an Excel Web Access Web Part that is based on data in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services. |
| Excel Web Access Web Part custom properties |
You can customize the view, layout, toolbar, and interactivity of the Excel Web Access Web Part. This article is an excellent reference when working with Excel Web Access custom properties. |
| Connect a List View Web Part to Excel Web Access |
Learn more about connecting the List View and Excel Web Access Web Parts to provide more control and flexibility in the display of a workbook in Excel Services. |
| Connect data in Web Parts |
Learn how to create data connections from different data sources without writing custom code. Additionally, this article describes common scenarios and common types of data connections between Web Parts. |
Customize how business data is displayed
There are many ways to display and customize business data on a SharePoint site. The series of articles below serve as a starting point in working with how business data is displayed using Excel workbooks, business data profile pages, and business data Web Parts.
What do you want to explore?
| Goal or resource |
Description |
| Filter data in Excel Services |
This Office Online article shows you how to find and work with a subset of data in workbook range of cells or table column. You will also learn tips on how to avoid issues that either prevent or limit the filtering of data in Excel 2007 workbooks. |
| Roadmap for publishing an Excel workbook as "one version of the truth" |
A step-by-step roadmap article that guides you through the process of creating a centrally managed
Excel workbook that can be modified only by a site administrator, enabling end users to work with a local copy of the worksheet. Because the workbook uses centrally managed and up-to-date connection information, end users always view a consistent set of values and formula results. |
| Customize the business data profile pages |
Do you want a profile page on a SharePoint site to display additional information than what is shown by default? You can display additional information related to a customer — for example, their order history or other associations. This Office Online article shows you how. |
| Display business data on a SharePoint site |
Learn how to add and connect business data Web Parts to display business data from an external database such as SQL Server, SAP, or Siebel. You will work with one or two sample databases that are available for download. |
Customize and display Excel workbooks
The articles in this section pertain specifically to customizing how Excel workbooks are used to display business data. There are many things you can do with workbooks and business data analysis. Several settings and configurations enable you to control the way business data is displayed and analyzed from these workbooks.
What do you want to explore?
| Goal or resource |
Description |
| Display an Excel workbook in Excel Web Access |
This short article shows you how to modify the Office Excel Web Access Web Part in order to view and interact with an Excel workbook. |
| Change workbook parameters in Excel Services |
This is an introductory article about using and changing workbook parameters to perform "what-if" scenarios, entering variable input to a calculation model, and synchronizing connected Web Parts on a Web Part Page. |
Interact with business data
After you have planned and configured business intelligence features, you are ready to interact with the business data that resides in your data source.
Work with business data in Excel worksheets,
KPIs, Pivot charts, and dashboards
After business data features are configured, you can interact with business data by using key performance indicators, Excel worksheets, charts and PivotChart reports, and dashboards. Business data is presented visually from one centrally managed data source that helps keep data secure and regularly updated.
What do you want to explore?
Perform data calculations and manipulate business data
Use Excel Services to integrate Excel workbooks into your business data architecture and deliver key information in real-time and to the right audience.
What do you want to explore?
| Goal or resource |
Description |
| Calculate and recalculate data in Excel Services |
Calculation settings in Excel 2007 are supported and retained when publishing a workbook to a SharePoint library. Learn about calculation settings and what they do, and learn how to calculate a workbook within Office SharePoint Server 2007. |
| Expand or collapse data details in Excel Services |
If you are working with PivotTable reports, this short article shows you how to collapse or expand the reports to any level of data detail. |
| Refresh external data in Excel Services |
In this article you will learn about refreshing data and any associated safety concerns. You will also learn to control how data is refreshed. |
| Sort data in Excel Services |
As an integral part of business data analysis, learn how to sort text, numbers, dates, and times. |
| Outline data in Excel Services |
Outlines in workbooks are used to quickly display summary rows or columns, or to show detailed data for each group. This article shows you how outlines work. |
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