SQL Server 2008 R2 Reporting Services (SSRS)
Top New Features
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“Grab and Go” reporting experience enabled through the Report Part Gallery
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Support for maps and geospatial visualizations with integration to Bing maps and support for SQL spatial data types
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Additional visualizations including indicators, sparklines and data bars
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Support for consuming SharePoint lists and PowerPivot models as data sources
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Support for Madison and SQL Azure data sources
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Render any report as a data source to PowerPivot or other applications through ATOM data feeds
Business Situation
To be successful in today's competitive marketplace, organizations need to extend information beyond the walls of their organization and seamlessly interact with customers, partners, and suppliers in real time. Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services enables organizations to transform valuable enterprise data into shared information for insightful, timely decisions at a lower Total Cost of Cwnership (TOC).
Solution
.jpg "Figure 1: Server Integration Architecture")
SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services extends the Microsoft Business Intelligence (BI) platform to reach the executive management and information worker who needs access to business data. Reporting Services is a server-based enterprise reporting environment, managed via web services. Reports can be delivered in a variety of formats, with a range of interactivity and printing options. Complex analyses can reach a broad audience through the distribution of reports as a data source for downstream business intelligence.
SQL Server Reporting Services is a comprehensive, server-based solution that enables the creation, management, and delivery of both traditional, paper-oriented reports and interactive, Web-based reports. An integrated part of the Microsoft business intelligence framework, Reporting Services combines the data management capabilities of SQL Server and Microsoft Windows Server with familiar and powerful Microsoft Office System applications to deliver real-time information to support daily operations and drive decisions.
Business Benefits
Reporting Services combines a single,complete reporting platform with a scalable and extensible architecture to meet a wide variety of reporting needs:
- Enterprise reporting.
- Ad Hoc reporting.
- Embedded reporting.
- A complete, server-based platform for reporting.
- Flexible and extensible reporting.
The Add-in creates a new Reporting Services section within the SharePoint Central Administration General Application Settings page. On the Reporting Services
Integration page you enter the Report Server URL and the authentication details and activation of the Reporting Services feature on all or selective site collections in the farm.
.jpg "Figure 2: Configuring the Reporting Services proxy")
Report users can upload and view each report separately; however, some reports are designed to work together through the use of links. You can design and create reports as templates for designing new reports.
Report users can post reports to a portal, email them to users, or allow users to use the web-based report server to access reports from a folder hierarchy. Navigation, search, and subscription features help users locate and run the reports they need. Personalized subscriptions let them select the rendering format they prefer.
VTL Consulting provides technical solutions, report and data warehouse design, and implementation that turn your data into reports (Balance Sheet, Income Statement CurYTD- Company, Income Statement YTD-Region, Income Statement Trended, Trial Balance Variance Report) using Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services tools that would consolidate data and provide commitment reporting and goal collection in an integrated web application using Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server without requiring programming and customization:
Data Warehouse
Enterprise Data Warehouse Solutions
VTL will help you deploy it to unleash the power of this technology to give your users a fast and easy way to analyze your data. Makes the most of the entire SQL Server product suite to provide multi-tiered reporting and analysis solutions. By using the SQL Server product suite, our solutions are easier to manage and maintain. Reporting Services solutions maximize the native feature set to provide insightful and interactive decision support solutions. Analysis Services and OLAP cubes go further to add comparative and aggregation capabilities with drill down capabilities to accelerate understanding for better decisions.
VTL uses SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services to deliver enterprise, Web-enabled reporting functionality so the customer can consume reports that draw content from a variety of data sources, publish reports in various formats, and centrally manage security and subscriptions.
VTL can design and conduct interviews to identify the needs of system users. These needs can be summarized, describing each data set in the organization along with the creation, maintenance, access, and analysis activities for each user group in the organization. Through a thorough analysis of each group's needs, detailed requirements and design specifications are documented to ensure the system supports your business objectives.
It is critical to the success of the warehouse to design the most effective data aggregation strategy and data model. This will not only provide dimensional flexibility and superior performance, but will allow for future data growth and dimensional expansion. An efficient, cost-effective solution is designed to meet your data warehousing needs using industry best practices, proven methodologies, and a compilation of recommended database, extraction, and data modeling tools and technologies.
VTL consultants are experienced in developing data cleansing and conversion methodologies that assist clients in the transfer of accurate data from any source into their data warehouse. VTL can also assist with integrating data from proprietary and standard formats as well as commercially available data sets. We have experience and relationships with leading extraction and translation tool vendors, which enable the implementation of a rapid and repeatable data cleansing and conversion process.
VTL can provide you with a working model of your actual data that can then be manipulated, reported, and tested in your environment. Through production of prototypes for data, system architecture, and dimensional analysis, VTL can help you at any step in the process.
A flexible report generation interface provides business analysts and executives with the ability to perform detailed analysis of custom reports from their desktop via Web browsers, existing applications, or custom reporting software. VTL can assist in the design and creation of reporting structures and systems.
The Database and The Application Platform Decision
- To be successful in a competitive market place, it is important for Avanade to differentiate its services form services of competitors. To do so it needs:
- A well integrated application platform spanning all layers of the Business Intelligence stack including the platform itself, end-user tools, and business performance management
- The ability to provide its services at a competitive price. “To remain competitive, we need to be able to provide superior Business Intelligence solutions at a fraction of our competitors cost”
- Good integration with tools that end-user are familiar with such as the Microsoft office suite. “The Business Intelligence decision within the enterprise is shifting to the end-user, the office worker. And most end-users are familiar with Microsoft Office which is part of the Microsoft Business Intelligence stack
In this respect the SQL Server and the Microsoft application platform fit well with VTL’s strategic platform requirements. “SQL Server is the foundation of almost every Business Intelligence project at VTL Consulting. It’s a great platform for our clients”.
VTL consultants are experienced in the implementation of data warehouse architecture and related databases. The integrity and implementation rules governing the consistency between information in the data warehouse and the operational applications are identified and initiated, which creates a smooth and effective transition from test to production.
VTL can provide you with database specialists that excel in database maintenance and administration, which will improve data integrity and ensure the long-term success and support of your data warehouse.
Depending on your reporting needs, we will help you deploy the best reporting and consolidation tools, including Microsoft Enterprise Reporting, Excel-based report, ProClarity and Microsoft Reporting Services. Report builder is a new addition to SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services to enable power users to build and publish ad-hoc reports.
VTL is dedicated to helping organizations successfully develop, implement, and maintain these leading data warehouse solutions. Providing experienced project teams and leveraging partnerships with industry leaders, VTL quickly and effectively helps you take full advantage of data warehouse solutions across virtually every key industry.
Evangelizing the Vision and Value Proposition:
VTL can capitalize on the fact that customers are familiar with and trust Microsoft’s application infrastructure. At the same time the platform presents a unique, well integrated, rich Business Intelligence offering with high user acceptance through deep integration into the Office System.
VTL Consulting’s commitment to the Microsoft platform has provided ample opportunity to pursue business. Business Intelligence related revenue has grown to represent over 70% of VTL Consulting’s revenue and is growing fast as represented by over 100 Business Intelligence implementations currently in the pipeline.
Microsoft products used with Business Intelligence Implementations:
- SharePoint 2007 & SharePoint 2010
- Business Intelligence Applications
- ERP Applications
- PerformancePoint Service with SharePoint 2010
- Microsoft Dynamics Business Solutions (AX, CRM, CRM online, Exchange Online, Point of Sales, BPOS)
- SQL Server 2005/2008/2008 R2
- Visual Studio 2008/2010
Microsoft technologies used:
- Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 and 4.0
- SQL Server 2005/2008/2008 R2 Analysis Services(SSAS)
- SQL Server 2000/2005 Integration Services (DTS)
- SQL Server 2005/2008/2008 R2 Integration Services (SSIS)
- SQL Server 2005/2008/2008 R2 Management Tools
- SQL Server 2005/2008/2008 R2 Replication Services
- SQL Server2005/2008/2008 R2 Reporting Services (SSRS)
Legacy SQL Server 2005 Resources
Some of the best resources for SQL Server Reporting Services (SRS) are found on Microsoft's own sites, the only problem is knowing where to find them.
Information about Versions and Editions of SRS:
Introductions and Overview articles on the web about SRS:
Information about SRS Setup and Administration. (setup and administration)
Useful articles
Information about the SRS Report Builder - a powerful tool that lets non-techies slice and dice SRS data.
How to videos from MSDN TV - Channel 9
Keep tabs on the latest SRS developments by staying on top of SRS team blogs.
Links to other SRS resources: