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Just What is PerformancePoint Server 2007?

by: Michael Wallace, VP Business Development and Principal Consultant

Sometime later this year Microsoft will be releasing its newest business intelligence (BI) product, officially called Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007.  So exactly what is this new product, and why should you care?  Well, if the success of your business is in any way connected to the availability of the right information in the right hands at the right time, then you should care a lot.  Just as Microsoft has brought powerful database capabilities to the masses with SQL Server, PerformancePoint Server will bring powerful data analysis capabilities to organizations that could not afford the steep cost of the existing alternatives.

So just what is PerformancePoint Server?  To help answer that question, let’s take a look at the current BI offering from Microsoft.  The graphic below shows the different products that make up the Microsoft BI stack:

Like many technologies from Microsoft, their BI product stack consists of something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.  The foundation for Microsoft BI is “something old”, SQL Server.  SQL Server provides Integration Services for moving around your data, Analysis Services for building data cubes to facilitate data analysis, and Reporting Services for producing end user reports.  And while SQL Server has been around awhile, the latest version is full of new features that make it a great BI platform.  The “something borrowed” is ProClarity Analytics, which Microsoft purchased last year.  ProClarity provides advance data visualizations for creating dashboards and scorecards, in a much more sophisticated way than Business Scorecard Manager.  The “something blue” is the look and feel of the new version of Office (I know, it’s a stretch to make the analogy work J), which with Excel and SharePoint gives the user multiple options for visualizing and working with the data.

The “something new” is the new PerformancePoint Server that combines the best of Business Scorecard Manager and ProClarity.  When PerformancePoint is released, the Microsoft product stack will look like this:

So what would cause you to use PerformancePoint over some of its competitors?  There are several things to consider:

Integration with Office and SQL Server.
PerformancePoint is an integrated performance management application that provides comprehensive functionality such as scorecarding, analytics, and planning. It uses the new Office 2007 standard interface, so it is familiar to anyone using Office 2007.  It also uses the built-in data integration and transformation, analytical query and data mining, and reporting capabilities in SQL Server.  If you already have Office and SQL Server, you have a big part of what you need to get started.

Less IT support needed.
PerformancePoint features user friendly design and wizards that business people can use to setup their own business definitions, run queries, and create personalized scorecards without the need for IT support.  That means more self-service and less reliance on the IT team for performing basic analytics.

Model-driven approach.
PerformancePoint uses a model-driven approach that helps users create corporate models for scorecards, analytics, and plans. Hierarchical models structures can accommodate unique departmental business models that synchronize with those above and below them in the organization structure, across departments, and up to the corporate level for a consistent view of organizational performance.

Includes planning, budgeting and forecasting capabilities.
PerformancePoint includes these capabilities that are typically extra cost with other products. It allows you to build models that contain the business rules, assumptions, calculations, and other business drivers that create the framework for plans and budgets for all levels of the organization. These models can use budget forms based on Office Excel for line managers to enter their data. These models ensure consistently applied business rules and assumptions that align to overall corporate goals.

The bottom line is that if you are already using SQL Server and Office, you can’t afford not to take a look at PerformancePoint when it becomes available.  If you want an early peek, sign up for the Community Technology Preview (CTP) at https://connect.microsoft.com.

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