Professional SQL Server™ Analysis Services 2005 with MDX

Introduction

We decided to write this book because we sensed the power and excitement associated with Analysis Services 2005 early on in its development, especially in relation to improvements over Analysis Services 2000. We also sensed that with minimal effort you could probably re-configure the user interface elements to pilot a nuclear submarine. Our recommendation, however, is to use Analysis Services 2005 to build, process, and deploy top of the line business intelligence applications. Ok, so we are not shy about admitting to the apparent complexity of the product when faced with the user interface, which happens to be embedded in the Microsoft Visual Studio shell. This is great for you, especially if you are already familiar with the Visual Studio development environment.

With this book, we want to show that not only will you overcome any possible initial shock regarding the user interface, you will come to see it as your friend. It turns out there are many wizards to accomplish common tasks, or you can design the analytic infrastructure from the ground up, it is up to you. This formidable, yet friendly user interface will empower you to implement business analytics of a caliber formerly reserved for academicians writing up government grant proposals or Ph.D. dissertations. More importantly, this power to turn data into information, and we mean, real usable business-related decision making information, can impact the bottom line of your company in terms of dollars earned ...