Chapter 14. Using SharePoint as a Business Intelligence Platform

In this Chapter

Defining Business Intelligence scenarios
Implementing BI components
Configuring BI dashboards

Business intelligence is a popular subject these days. The definitions of business intelligence vary based on the context and the solution that is for sale. This chapter defines it as the aggregation of data into information for users so that they can make smart and complete business decisions or actions. With MOSS 2007, it is possible to host a wide variety of content and processes, from documents and reports to collaboration and workflow, and the challenge becomes how to present that content in a meaningful and actionable format for users.

This chapter introduces the topic of business intelligence and provides samples of how business intelligence can be used in an organization. We delve into how SharePoint delivers the toolset through components, connectors, and dashboards to enable business intelligence in your organization. We provide examples throughout the chapter of how those components can be connected to provide contextual information to users.

The SharePoint features that support BI are available in MOSS only, not WSS. So, this chapter is targeted to the organizations that are deploying MOSS as their portal platform.

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