Confessions of a reformed SPS hater - MOSS and Microsoft Business Intelligence

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OK, I admit it -- For years, I really didn't like SharePoint. I thought it was silly -- SharePoint sites were things that people started on a whim (like those "blog whatchamacallits") and then quickly abandoned. Collaboration? Yeah, whatever -- just attach the workbook/document to email and shut up already...I was a SharePoint curmudgeon.

Well, over the past week, I've spent quite a bit of time with the next version of SharePoint - Microsoft Office 2007 SharePoint Server (MOSS). And just like I hated to admit that blogs are actually worthwhile and that that the internets aren't just a bunch of tubes, I gotta say, MOSS is cool as hell.

Using MOSS, I'm able to:

  • Create and store Excel Reports - Excel Services ROCK!
  • Store and render SQL Reporting Services Reports
  • Create and display KPIs from Excel, Analysis Services and SharePoint list
  • Implement a BI dashboard in about 5 minutes

...and this is coming from a guy who knew nothing about SPS and didn't WANT to know anything about it.

All of the sudden, SPS has changed from this thing I sort of snickered about into a tool I don't think anyone in their right mind should live without. Jeesh, I feel like a complete marketing weasel here, but MOSS is very, very cool.