October 2007 - Posts
It always astounds me what Microsoft are willing to bundle with their software, Analysis Services or SSIS (SQL Server Integration Services) with SQL Server for example! They haven't stopped, they bundle Windows Sharepoint Services with Windows Server 2003, with is basically a fully functional SharePoint Server, however they still have SharePoint Server 2007 as a product. So what are the differences? At first glance it doesn't appear to be much, however for tight integration into the enterprise, it seems that MOSS 2007 (Microsoft Office SharePoint Server) is a must! I will highlight the most interesting bits that MOSS 2007 has over and above WSS 3.0 (Windows Sharepoint Services) :
- User Profiles support - Allows each user to store profile information
- Site Manager - Manage Navigation, Security and look and feel with drag an drop functionality
- Enterprise Search Tools - numerous tools to search Sharepoint Sites and Portals across entire enterprises
- Business Data Catalog - The Business Data Catalog (BDC) tightly integrates external data, providing access to external data residing within other business applications, and enabling the display of, and interaction with external data
- Business data search - Search data residing in your business applications using the BDC (See Above)
- Business Data Web Parts - Used for viewing lists, entities, and related information retrieved through the Business Data Catalog
- Business document workflow support - Automate document review, approval, signature collection, and issue tracking using workflow applications
- Retention and auditing policies - Allows customized information management policies to control retention period, expiration, and auditing
- Browser-based forms - Integration with InfoPath, allows integration on to SharePoint of created forms and surveys.
- Integrated, flexible spreadsheet publishing - Allows information workers to easily choose what they want to share with others and determine how others can interact with published spreadsheets.
- Share, manage, and control spreadsheets - Provides access to spreadsheet data and analysis through server-calculated, interactive spreadsheets from a Web browser. Can help to protect any sensitive or proprietary information embedded in documents, such as financial models, and audits their usage.
- Web-based business intelligence using Excel Services - Allows spreadsheets to be broadly and easily shared. Fully interactive, data-bound spreadsheets including charts, tables, and PivotTable views can be created as part of a portal, dashboard, or business scorecard.
- Data Connection Libraries - Document Libraries storing ODCs (Office Data Connections), Making one single location for all data connections.
- Business Data actions - Easily create actions that open Web pages, display the user interfaces of other business applications, launch InfoPath forms, and perform other common tasks.
- Integrated business intelligence dashboards - Rich, interactive BI dashboards that assemble and display business information from disparate sources by using built-in Web parts, Excel spreadsheets, Reporting Services, or a collection of business data connectivity Web Parts.
- Report Center - Provides consistent management of reports, spreadsheets, and data connections.
- Key performance indicators - A KPI web Part can connect to Analysis Services, Excel Spreadsheets, SharePoint Lists, or manual entered data.
- Notification service - Improved allowing workflow users to receive emails by default, and improved triggering and filtering
- Single Sign-On (SSO) - Allows the User to log onto a variety of applications with a single user name and password, therefore integrating back office applications, and helps pre-population with integration to the Profile part of MOSS 2007.
- Social Networking Part - Connect to Public My Site pages to help establish connections between colleagues with common interests
- Personal Site Support - Allows Users to create Personal Web Sites
- Content syndication - Use RSS feeds to syndicate content managed in a portal site.
This is just a few of the extras you get in MOSS 2007, and I have highlighted those that are more angled to Business Intelligence! As for the cost, you can find that here: (In USD$ I am afraid) http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointserver...
MOSS 2007 sits centre stage in Microsoft's BPIO (Business Productivity Infrastructure Optimisation) vision for the "People Ready Business"... Lets see what it can do!
So did the event "Change Business Forever"... probably not, but it was very interesting to see how Oracle have integrated (or not as the case may be) Hyperion products into Oracle's plethora of products. A number of the presentations for the event are now available here. Possibly the most interesting one is called "Business Performance Measurement State of the Art" presented by Andy Neely (Cranfield University), who presented a very interesting set of survey results on the current Performance Management market, with results gathered from over 220 large organisations. To briefly summarise what was mentioned (there was a lot of percentages, and facts, so I will try and highlight the most interesting ones):
- Over 54% of those surveyed have adopted a balance scorecard approach
- Over 61% believe that improved company performance is attributed to Business Performance Measurement
- Over 63% (average) believe that their current BPM helps them make Strategic Decisions, Operation decisions and positively affects KPI's
- However, it is noted that over 50% believe that their BPM does not provide insight.
- Nearly 40% have concerns of their data quality
- By a huge margin (Over 70%), Spreadsheets are the tool of choice, compared to custom built software, ERP software, BPM software and nothing at all!
- A massive 74.6% of companies developed their BPM inhouse
- Over 64% do not visualise the links in their BPM
There are many more results in the presentation that are well worth a read.
As for the rest of the day, it was very interesting to see what Oracle and Hyperion have to offer, and they do not seem to have integrated Hyperion and the base Oracle suite that well, although it is promised to be coming. Without being from an Oracle background, and therefore seeing a lot of this as new, there seems to be a lot of overlapping applications, and so many parts to the framework that it is very difficult to see the wood for the trees. Saying they Hyperion Essbase is remaining, and as yet has not been renamed. The Oracle suite makes Microsoft look very coherent and easy to understand, and judging by Oracle's candidness to answer cost questions, still a lot cheaper. In fact Oracle are approaching the reduction in cost by adding more functionality and built in functions to make it quicker out of the box, and not reducing the product price. One last thing worth noting is their push to integrate with Microsoft Office, we all know the Essbase Excel Add-In was, and arguably still is best in class, and Oracle fully intend to continue with these Office integration efforts. However to be blunt, will they ever be able to integrate with Office as well as Microsoft can?
All in all certainly an interesting day, however I can not see Oracle slowing down Microsoft with their currently offerings!
So, if like me, you wanted to look at SQL 2008, and thought it best to totally remove 2005, and then install 2008 (Katmai), then realising that the Katmai BI tools did not install properly, you may want to re-install 2005.
If have got to this stage you may have found and annoying installation bug, even after removing 2008. This is regarding the SQL Native Client. It fails to install and therefore most of SQL 2005 fails to install. After numerous more efforts to install this there is a simple fix.
From the SQL 2005 disc, run Sqlncli.msi
- Choose remove, repair doesn't work!
- Once removed install SQL server 2005 as normal - easy - when you know how!
While installing the latest CTP release for SQL Server 2008, I came across an odd installation error. It was one of those errors that is less than helpful, as follows:
TITLE: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Setup
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Upgrade Failed due to the following Error.The error code is :-2147467259.Message:Unspecified error
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The install package had installed everything but the end client components and tools! Most frustrating, and the only thing I could do was see what would install and what wouldn't. The problem is, the whole installation process takes so long!
After retrying this install numerous times, it seems that it thinks it is being upgraded, although there is no instance, and never has been an instance of SQL Server 2000, or SQL Server 2005. However, I do have Visual Studio 2005 installed. After removing components and re adding them, I seem to have identified the problem; it will not install with Business Intelligence Development Studio. So Installing SQL Server 2008 with out this component included works no problem. However this will cause a problem as I will be needing BIDS. As and when I find out how to install it I will add it to my blog!
Hope this helps any of you out there who are experiencing the same problems!