8.8. SQL Server Business Intelligence Platform Technologies

The simplest way to start this discussion is to say the foundation of Microsoft Office 2007 business intelligence applications is SQL Server 2005. And although in principle this is a correct statement, it must be noted that Office BI applications can present reporting, analysis, and measurement displays—while directly connected to a wide variety of data sources, including Oracle, IBM's DB2, and even mainframe data. This is because Excel, for example, can use an Office Data Connection to these non-Microsoft data repositories.

However, a fully functioning BI solution needs more than just a connection to these back-end data sources. A modern BI solution is best implemented with a dedicated ...

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