Tim Kent's blog

Performance Pointing

May 2010 - Posts

PerformancePoint Services and PowerPivot document

MSFT have just a published a new document about how to use PowerPivot Cubes\workbooks as data sources for your PPS dashboards.  Worth a read as it doesn’t work quite the same way as a standard AS data source in PPS.  A couple of things stood out for me:

Dimensions and Attribute Hierarchies

Every table, including a Fact table, in the PowerPivot window is shown as a dimension in PerformancePoint. The columns in each table are represented as an attribute hierarchy under the respective dimension in PPS. In a similar manner, calculated columns in the PowerPivot window are displayed as attribute hierarchies for that dimension.

Also:

ADOMD.NET Driver

PerformancePoint uses the ADOMD.NET driver to connect to PowerPivot applications.

In order to use a PowerPivot model in PerformancePoint, you must install the new SQL Server 2008 R2 ADOMD.NET driver on the servers that are running the PerformancePoint service in the SharePoint Server farm. This is not required if such servers also have the server component of PowerPivot, that is the SQL Server PowerPivot for SharePoint, installed on them.

SQL Server Master Data Services now available

Whilst the core components of SQL 2008 R2 have been signing autographs on the red carpet, Master Data Services has sneaked quietly in through the back door.   If you have MSDN access, download a full version (guessing developer and enterprise only but haven’t checked) and off you go.  The install is a not part of the main installation either, you need to run it directly from the DVD\ISO in the MasterDataServices folder.  Setup is very simple and there’s some good sample packages to play with. 

StreamInsight is on there as well :)

Posted: May 06 2010, 11:09 PM by Tim Kent | with 1 comment(s)
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