Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services Increases Business Insight for Canadian Organizations
Early deployment by London Drugs empowers employees with better access to information
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MISSISSAUGA, ON, March 15, 2004 — Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000 is gaining momentum in the Canadian market with the recently launched SQL Server ™ 2000 Reporting Services. Reporting Services provides companies with a powerful new reporting tool that can increase business insight by providing real-time information from any data source to any device. Enterprise reporting empowers employees at every level by giving them better access to information which increases their ability to make more informed decisions and provides greater business value to their company.
With the addition of Reporting Services, SQL Server, a part of the Microsoft® Windows Server System™ provides the single most comprehensive data management and business intelligence (BI) platform on the market, with integrated analytics that include online analytical processing; data mining; data warehousing; extract, transform and load tools; and reporting functionality. This integrated, end-to-end approach is empowering Canadian enterprises to make better decisions, faster while helping to lower the total cost of ownership traditionally associated with BI deployments.
"Canadian enterprises are realizing the business benefits of providing key decision makers with timely access to critical business data,” said Darren Massel, SQL Server and Business Intelligence Solutions Product Manager, Microsoft Canada Co. "Early deployments of Reporting Services by Canadian customers illustrate that this affordable and easy-to-use reporting solution enables users to easily access important data, which leads to smarter business decisions.”
Canadian customers such as London Drugs have already implemented Reporting Services solutions and have experienced significant benefits.
London Drugs benefits from organization-wide data access
London Drugs, a Canadian retail organization with 59 locations across Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, needed a reporting tool that could provide employees a greater level of business insight through access to critical business and operational data. London Drugs selected Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services for its ease of use and ability to leverage existing infrastructure using Microsoft software. Since deployment, the business insight provided by Reporting Services has allowed London Drugs staff to improve customer service and increase productivity.
“The value of SQL Server Reporting Services has been immense. By providing users with the power to access and analyze business critical data, we are able to be more competitive as an organization,” said Scott Riddell, IT Manager, London Drugs.
“By selecting SQL Server Reporting Services, we were able to keep costs down and leverage our in-house expertise. We have a high level of flexibility and scalability with the Microsoft BI solution, and all at a fraction of the cost of investing in other BI solutions.”
SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services Features and Benefits
SQL Server Reporting Services is a comprehensive, server-based solution that enables the creation, management, and delivery of both traditional, paper-oriented reports and interactive, Web-based reports. An integrated part of the Microsoft business intelligence framework, Reporting Services combines the data management capabilities of SQL Server and Microsoft Windows Server™ with familiar and powerful applications in Microsoft Office System to deliver real-time information to support daily operations and drive decisions. Specific features include:
| • | Report authoring. Report developers can create reports to be published to the Report Server using Microsoft or third-party design tools that use Report Definition Language (RDL), an XML-based industry standard used to define reports. |
| • | Report management. Report definitions, folders, and resources are published and managed as a Web service. Managed reports can be executed either on demand or on a specified schedule, and are cached for consistency and performance. |
| • | Report delivery. SQL Server Reporting Services supports both on-demand (pull) and event-based (push) delivery of reports. Users can view reports in a Web-based format or in e-mail. |
About SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server, part of the Windows Server System, is the complete database and analysis offering for rapidly delivering the next generation of scalable e-commerce, line-of-business and business intelligence solutions. It dramatically reduces the time required to bring these applications to market while offering the scalability needed for the most-demanding environments. More information on Microsoft SQL Server can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/sql/.
About Windows Server System
Microsoft Windows Server System is an integrated and interoperable server infrastructure that reduces IT complexity to enable IT professionals to deliver innovative solutions that meet the changing needs of business. With Windows Server (TM) 2003 at the foundation, Windows Server System is engineered from the ground up for XML Web services based on Microsoft .NET technologies to connect information, people, systems and devices. Based on a common software architecture that spans all facets of IT from design, development and deployment through ongoing management and usage, Windows Server System provides comprehensive IT infrastructure for operations (security, systems management, networked storage), applications (data management and analysis, e-business), and information work (messaging, communications and collaboration). More information on Microsoft Windows Server System can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/.
About Microsoft Canada
Established in 1985, Microsoft Canada Co. is the Canadian subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq "MSFT") the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. Microsoft Canada provides nationwide sales, marketing, consulting and local support services in both French and English. Microsoft Canada is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario with MSN.CA offices located in Toronto and eight regional offices across the country dedicated to empowering people through great software - any time, any place and on any device. Visit Microsoft Canada's web site at www.microsoft.ca.
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