Business Intelligence

Create professional-looking, richly formatted reports by using familiar tools and interfaces and a comprehensive report design environment for developers and business users.

Empower business users to author reports

• Enable users to create reports and explore data with Report Builder 3.0, a familiar report-authoring environment with rich visualizations.

• Rely on a semantic report model that lets users build reports without understanding data structures.

• Reuse existing objects from the Report Part Gallery to create new reports in just minutes.

Design visually rich reports from disparate data sources

• Enrich reports by using new mapping capabilities that integrate with Bing Maps and fully support SQL Server spatial data types.

• Apply rich visualizations including charts, gauges, indicators, sparklines, and data bars.

• Take advantage of chart enhancements, including annotations, custom color palettes, scale breaks, merged charts, and multiple axes.

• Choose from flexible data representation options with Tablix™ to format reports in the way that makes the most sense for particular reporting needs.

• Present an at-a-glance view of performance metrics and trends by embedding indicators, sparklines, or data bars within a Tablix.

• Access data from anywhere across the enterprise, including SQL Server, Oracle, Teradata, and SAP NetWeaver BI.

• Use nontraditional data sources, such as SharePoint Server lists and PowerPivot models.

• Access new SQL Server data sources, including Parallel Data Warehouse and Microsoft SQL Azure.

Enjoy a comprehensive report design environment

• Use the Visual Studio-based Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) to build integration, reporting, and analytic solutions in a unified environment.

• Rely on BIDS to support the entire development life cycle of developing, testing, and deploying robust, highly secure, scalable solutions.

Deliver and access richly formatted, up-to-date reports more efficiently by using a single, collaborative workspace and flexible options for publishing and consuming reports.

Deliver valuable reports using a variety of methods and formats

• Deliver reports to a SharePoint library, through email messages or post them to a shared folder on your network.

• Enable users to subscribe to reports for delivery at a specified time/location.

• Automate large-scale report distribution through data-driven subscriptions.

• Render reports in many formats, including HTML, PDF, CSV, TIFF, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Excel.

• Securely deliver data for desktop analytics with PowerPivot for Excel by using reports as data feeds through an ATOM renderer.

Embed reports into applications and portals

• Publish models, reports, and subcomponents to a shared location for quick, collaborative access, editing, and delivery.

• Use the ReportViewer controls in Visual Studio to embed reports directly into business applications.

• Take advantage of the ReportViewer web server control to host reports in ASP.NET projects.

• Publish reports to a SharePoint Server report library or PowerPivot report gallery.

• Embed reports directly into portals by using the ReportViewer Web Part for renderings in SharePoint Server.

Simplify management of your reporting environment and extend permissions based on role by using consistent, familiar tools and interfaces and close integration with SharePoint Server.

Simplify oversight and access with manageability tools

• Centralize management tasks through the web-based Report Manager or by integrating with SharePoint Server.

• Integrate with SharePoint Server technologies to centrally manage reports in a familiar Microsoft Office environment.

• Deploy and manage all of your Reporting Services configuration options by using Configuration Manager.

Secure your reporting solution and customize management

• Use the Reporting Services role-based security model to secure access to reports, folders, resources, and data sources.

• Grant access to users by assigning them to built-in and custom role definitions.

• Customize management; use the extensible architecture and open interfaces to integrate reporting tools in diverse IT environments.