• Efficiently organize PPS content in SharePoint Server
• Easily share up-to-date information
• Quickly preview PPS content in SharePoint
• Build impressive PPS scorecards based on SharePoint lists

Stay tuned for more on these topics! If you have suggestions for other topics, please leave a comment below.

  Poornima Hanumara Program Manager| Office BI

I want to quickly prototype a new dashboard to keep track of the products in my sporting goods store.

PowerPivot is a great tool to create a data model. This model can be used as a data source for PerformancePoint Services to create a dashboard.

Here's the simple dashboard I want to create:

To get started I need:

• PowerPivot add-in for Excel 2010
• Sharepoint Server 2010 with PowerPivot installed and enabled
• PerformancePoint Services for SharePoint 2010

It was a quick 3 step process to create the dashboard:

Step 1: Create a PowerPivot model

I used Excel, which had my sample data to create a PowerPivot model using some help from the PowerPivot TechNet Virtual Lab.

I created a PivotTable in Excel using the model and put all the measures in the Values field. Without doing this, PerformancePoint will not be able to distinguish measures from dimensions. So, make sure all the fields you want to use as measures are in the Values field in the PivotTable Field List!

Step 2: Publish the workbook to Sharepoint

I saved the workbook to the Sharepoint Server which had PowerPivot for Sharepoint enabled:

Step 3: Use the workbook's URL in the data source connection string in Dashboard Designer

I set the connection string to the PowerPivot datasource by using the following format:

PROVIDER=MSOLAP;DATASOURCE=https://contoso/Documents/PowerPivot_Sample.xlsx

Create a PowerPivot Data Connection has step-by-step instructions on how to create a new datasource.

In the familiar PerformancePoint Dashboard Designer, I created the dashboard and deployed it to Sharepoint. The final dashboard looks pretty similar to the initial sketch!

Here are the topics that we plan to cover:

• Using Excel Services to create data that is presented in PerformancePoint scorecards
• Using PowerPivot to incorporate publicly available data sets in your PerformancePoint dashboards
• How to use Cascading filters to deal with cubes that contain large dimensions.

If you'd like to hear about something else, or have tips about novel ways to get and use data in PerformancePoint, please leave a comment below.

Dave Sherman | Senior Program Manager | Office BI

The Excel Services Data Source in PerformancePoint 2010 allows you to create data using familiar Excel tools and methods that you can then surface in PerformancePoint scorecards.

To demonstrate the use of the Excel Services Data Source, I'll walk you through creating a scorecard that shows information about U.S. state government finance. The data for the this scorecard will be in an Excel workbook in a SharePoint document library.

My Example Workbook

For this example, I've created a sample workbook containing data about U.S. state government finances and population. The data in my workbook came from the site https://www.census.gov. I downloaded three workbooks from this site containing information about US state revenue, expense, and population in 2008. I consolidated this information into one workbook and then created a summary table called "StateFinances2008" containing simple metrics for each state like Revenue per Person and the Debt to Cash and Securities ratio. This workbook is attached to this blog post.

Saving the Workbook to SharePoint

To use a workbook like the one I've created as a PerformancePoint data source, first save it to a SharePoint site with Excel Services enabled. To do this, use Save to SharePoint in  Excel,  setting the publishing options as described below.

Publishing options control which parts of the workbook are exposed though Excel Services. Publishing options are set using Publish Options as shown:

Expose only the StateFinances2008 data table by selecting it on the Show tab of the Publish Options dialog:

Here's the workbook in my BI Center document library:

Creating the Excel Services Data Source

With the workbook in place, create a new data source using PerformancePoint Dashboard Designer:

When prompted to select the type of data source, choose Excel Services as shown:

Once the data source is created, configure it to reference the workbook you saved to your SharePoint site. Supply all the information required to retrieve the desired information from the workbook: the site address, the document library name, the name of the workbook, and the name of the data table in the workbook. The following image shows this information for the data source I created:

Next, supply the names of the columns in your new data source. The column names aren't automatically copied from the data table in the workbook. To do this click on the View tab and then select each column and enter an appropriate column name in the Details pane on the right. Here's an image illustrating this process:

Once you've finished this, your data source is complete.

Using the Data Source

After the data source is in-place, creating KPIs and a scorecard that show data in the work book is straight-forward. Using the approach described in the post Creating simple budget KPIs from SharePoint Lists, you can create KPIs and a scorecard based on your new Excel Services data source. For my sample, I created three simple KPI:

I placed these KPIs on columns and put the State dimension from my Excel Services data source on rows with all states selected.

Here's a snapshot of the dashboard containing my scorecard:

Conclusion

Although this is a simple example, Excel Service data sources enable more sophisticated PerformancePoint solutions that leverage the power of Excel and Excel Services to retrieve, manipulate, and calculate data.

Dave Sherman | Senior Program Manger | Office BI

The concept of cascading filters is that the output of one filter becomes the input of another; or more precisely, the choices made in one filter limit the choices available in another. Typically, this would be filters in the same hierarchy: time, geography, or organization, for example.

Before showing how to set up a dashboard with cascading filters, I'd like to show you a working example, focusing on just the filters.

In this example, using the Contoso Retail DW database's Sales cube, we have a geography-based (country, state/province, and city) filter cascade. With everything in place, the filter zone of the dashboard looks like this.

Changing the “States or Provinces” filter selection to another state makes the choices for the Cities filter change.

Suppose we change the “North America” filter choice.

If we pull down the "States or Provinces" filter, notice that it shows only the Canadian Provinces.

If we disconnect the "North America" filter from the "States or Provinces" filter and re-deploy, notice how the list grows.

By "uncascading" the filters, we see the benefit we were getting with cascading filters – refining the choices in one filter based on choices made in another filter.

Let's look at how this dashboard was made, and add in a report to better visualize the filter cascade's output.

After firing up Dashboard Designer, we create the data connection. The above shows the dialog that will supply the data connection to the Analysis Services server for this example. (If you're following along creating this content, your Server will be different.) Once the data connection is saved, we can create the filters.

With the selection in the PerformancePoint Content section of the Workspace Browser, tell Dashboard Designer to create a filter.

Let's use the Member Selection filter template and, of course, the data connection we just created.

We want filters based on geography. The “Sales Territory” has several levels of geographic data. For this example, let’s just use the “Sales Territory.Territory Hierarchy”, which contains all of the geographies represented, but focus on the country level and slice off just the countries represented in its “North America” section. First, the Filter dimension:

Then, pick the members of interest.

Set the display method. The simplest type is the list.

We can name the filter “North America”.

The next level of interest in the Sales Territory hierarchy is the state/province. Repeat the above process to create a filter for it from the dimension “Sales Territory.Territory Hierarchy” dimension, but this time, select only the children of Canada and United States.

Make this a List type filter, too, and name it "States or Provinces".

The final filter to be created is Cities, and will need the children of each Canadian Province and United States State.

Hint: A Select Grandchildren would come in handy. There is a shortcut you could take here: Use “Sales Territory.Sales Territory Name”, which corresponds closely to the city level in the Hierarchy, as a dimension and select all the items The cascading functionality will pick the children of the upstream filter correctly.

Now, create a dashboard, one with several zones, and a scorecard and/or a report. Drag the filters and the reports and scorecards onto the dashboard. Try to arrange the filters in a natural flow from the highest level to the lowest for the best experience for the dashboard user.

Now, the magic. To connect the “North America” filter to the “States or Provinces” filter, either

· Drag and drop the Member Unique Name from the “North America” filter onto the “States or Provinces” filter

--or--

· Use Create Connection for the “North America” filter (from the Ribbon's Edit section or its triangle menu) to send values to the “States or Provinces” filter, with a source value of "Member Unique Name".

Similarly, connect the "States or Provinces" to the Cities filter, using Member Unique Name.

Connect the Cities filter to any desired reports and scorecards. Deploy the dashboard, and the whole system will be ready for use.

The Apply Filters Button, or Paint it Once

One seemingly minor part of the SP1 upgrade—the ability to add the Apply Filters button to a dashboard from within Dashboard Designer—ties in very closely well with Cascading Filters.

What really makes the Apply Filters button a good addition to Cascading Filters is that it lets you settle all the filter choices before the scorecards and reports "repaint", so you aren't waiting for the scorecards and reports during every adjustment of the filters.

Adding the button couldn't be simpler. It's sitting at the top of the list of filters in the Dashboard Designer's dashboard editor's Details pane.

Select it and use the Add To Zone control or just drag it onto the dashboard.

Now, when the user of the deployed dashboard changes a filter setting, other filters that are "downstream in the cascade" (dependent on that filter) will update, but reports and scorecards won't, letting the user find the exact filter settings desired, at which point the user can click the button and get all the filter values applied at once.

Here, for example, is the dashboard we've been building with the filters all applied. The Apply Filters button is inactive, because there are no pending filter changes.

Now, change the “States or Provinces” filter to Ontario. The Cities filter adjusts to the new upstream values (I opened it to show the new choices available) and the Apply Filters button turns on, but the report doesn't change at all.

Clicking the Apply Filters button makes the report update to the new value and the button go back to its inactive state.

So, that's one path through the wonderful land of Cascading Filters! Appropriate deployment of Cascading filters will improve the efficiency and reduce frustration and wait times for the users of your dashboards. If you would like more information, be sure to visit this TechNet article.

Happy Dashboarding!

Paul Thrasher,    
Office BI Test Engineer

In Litware's party planning committee we log how much we spend on events using a SharePoint list. Corporate's creating a corporate balanced scorecard using PerformancePoint Services, and they've asked us to contribute a KPI showing how we're doing. For now our KPI will be based on the data we have, and the rules will be >100% budget is warning, >120% budget is bad. Later we can swap in other sources of information, for example employee anticipation around the next golf scramble, into the KPI's definition to make it a more accurate or more predictive metric, and the changes will flow into the higher level scorecard that uses the KPI.

Here's a sample of our spending history list. Let's create the KPI and scorecard from this point.

I launch Dashboard Designer from the Business Intelligence site template homepage. First I create a new data connection using the SharePoint List template:

After the data source appears in Workspace Browser I give it a name and point it towards the specific list in the site:

Very important: based on the settings above, the unattended service account for PerformancePoint Services must have access to the list. I can find out if it does by clicking "Test Data Source."

I'm done with the data source, so I save the data source to SharePoint:

Now we're ready to build the KPI and a test scorecard. I create a scorecard in PerformancePoint Content using the SharePoint List template; this will create both our KPI and the test scorecard:

Next I select the data connection we created. Then on the next screen I add a KPI, select the columns representing Actual and Target, and select "Closer to Target is Better" for some flexibility later:

I click "Next" through the rest of the wizard to get a KPI and scorecard added to the workspace, and I see what I have so far as the scorecard updates. The exact rules haven't been set yet (remember we're after >100% budget is warning, >120% budget is bad) and I'm going to get a stern warning if I format dollars with this precision:

To change these I need to edit the KPI. I select it in the Workspace Browser, and then change the number format and thresholds:

That's better!

Although corporate probably won't care about this detail when they integrate the KPI into their scorecard, I can break the number down by the individual event titles, or any other column in the list, by dragging the field into the scorecard.

Tip: I use the "Named Sets" instead of "Dimensions" so that new rows in the SharePoint list will automatically show up in the scorecard:

After I click Update in the Edit tab of the ribbon, here's the result:

I save both the scorecard and KPI in the workspace, and now I can put it into SharePoint using the PerformancePoint Services Scorecard webpart. I think I'll touch up the test scorecard for use by our team, and I’ll tell corporate my work here is done; they can find the KPI for broader use at https://intranet.litware.com/corp/hr/partyplanning/Lists/PerformancePoint%20Content/

Wade Dorrell

Program Manager, Office BI

Got Project? When you create a Project Web App in SharePoint Server, you automatically get a Business Intelligence Center. If PerformancePoint Services is configured, you can use Dashboard Designer to create project management dashboards.

For example, you can create a dashboard to track project resource usage like the one shown in the following image:

Using the dashboard filter, users can select one or more projects for which they want to view performance. The scorecard then updates to display information for the items that are selected in the filter. For example, if a user selects two items in the filter, the scorecard displays information for only those items. Similarly, if users select all the items in the filter, the scorecard displays information for all the projects.

Curious about how to create a dashboard like this for your organization?

Here’s how we did it, in three steps:

1. We began by installing and configuring Project Server 2010 as described in Deploy Project Server 2010 to a server farm environment. As part of that process, we created a Project Web App (PWA) site and configured reporting for Project Server.
2. We then configured PerformancePoint Services to work in our environment, as described in Use Project Server with PerformancePoint Services.
3. Using sample data from the downloadable Microsoft Project 2010 Demonstration and Evaluation Installation Pack, we used Excel Services together with PerformancePoint Services to create our dashboard. (Detailed steps are included in Track project resource usage by using a dashboard.)
1. Using Excel, we created, configured, and published a workbook to SharePoint Server. The workbook uses an external data connection to Project Server timesheet data. It contains a PivotTable report and a PivotChart report comparing planned hours to actual hours by time period and by project.
2. Using Dashboard Designer, we created a SQL Server Table data connection.
3. Using the SQL Server Table data connection in Dashboard Designer, we created a scorecard. The scorecard contains a key performance indicator (KPI) that uses calculated metrics.
4. Using the same data connection in Dashboard Designer, we created a dashboard filter.
5. Using Dashboard Designer, we created an Excel Services report to display the PivotTable report and the PivotChart report we created earlier.
6. Using Dashboard Designer, we created a dashboard page and added the scorecard, Excel Services report, and filter to the page. We connected the filter to the scorecard and then published the dashboard to SharePoint Server.

It’s that easy!

Be sure to see all the details in Track project resource usage by using a dashboard. And, take a look at our other business intelligence solutions and scenarios on TechNet.

Happy Dashboarding!

Denise Stendera

P.S. We’re always interested in your feedback and suggestions. Please use comments to tell us what you think and what you’d like to see. You can also send us an email at mailto:docbi@microsoft.com.

Available in SharePoint Server 2010 is the Business Intelligence Center site template. You can use it to create and configure a place to store and organize your business intelligence content, manage user permissions to that content, and take advantage of content reusability.

Storing and Organizing Business Intelligence Content

The Business Intelligence Center serves as a central location where you can store and manage all your business intelligence content. It contains lists and libraries that contain specific kinds of content, including the following:

• A Data Connections library that contains data sources that can be used by various applications, including Excel Services, PerformancePoint Services, Visio Services, Reporting Services, and so on.
• A PerformancePoint Content list that contains dashboard items that were created by using Dashboard Designer, including data sources, reports, scorecards, key performance indicators (KPIs), dashboard filters, and dashboard pages.
• A Dashboards library that contains published dashboards
• A Documents library that you can use to store files. The Documents library also includes an Excel Services sample workbook.

Managing User Permissions to Business Intelligence Content

One really nice thing about the Business Intelligence Center is that once you set it up, users across your organization can access it, according to the permissions that are assigned to them. There are four main levels of permissions you can assign:

• Read permissions that enable users to view information only
• Contribute permissions that enable users to view, create, and edit items, such as data connections, reports, scorecards, KPIs, dashboard pages, and filters, but not to publish dashboards.
• Design permissions that enable users to view, create, and edit items as well as publish dashboards.
• Full Control permissions that enable users to view, create, edit items, publish dashboards, and view/change user permissions.

Reusing Business Intelligence Content

Another nice thing about the Business Intelligence Center is that it enables your organization to reuse items that have been created. For example, suppose that one dashboard author has created a nice sales report for a dashboard. Suppose that you want to use the same report in another dashboard. You can easily do that by using one of the following methods:

• If the report and your dashboard are both created by using Dashboard Designer, you can simply open your dashboard for editing, and then add the report that you want to the page in Dashboard Designer. (For more information, see Add Items to a Dashboard Page.)
• If either the report or your dashboard were not created by using Dashboard Designer, then you can use edit mode in SharePoint Server. Open a Web Part Page for editing, click "Add a Web Part" in a zone, and then use the Categories and Web Parts panes to locate the kind of Web Part that you want to add to the page. Then, click a link to open the tool pane for that Web Part, and specify the location and a name for the report. (For more information, see Creating Web Part Pages and Add a Web Part to a Page.)

You can reuse the same report in multiple locations, which cuts down on the time and effort required to share information.

More Information

Want more information about how to create, manage and share your business intelligence content? See the following resources:

Getting Started Content

Getting Started: Introduction to the Business Intelligence Center

Getting Started with Dashboards

Getting Started: PerformancePoint Dashboard Designer

Additional Content

Using Excel Services to Share Pieces and Parts of Excel Workbooks

Plan, Design, and Implement a PerformancePoint Dashboard

Create Data Connections by using Dashboard Designer

Create Reports and Scorecards by using Dashboard Designer

Create Dashboard Filters by using Dashboard Designer

Create and Assemble Dashboard Pages by using Dashboard Designer

Publish Dashboards by using Dashboard Designer

Our team is always interested in hearing from you. Please use Comments to give us your feedback. Is this information helpful? What else would you like to see? Let us know, and we will take that into account as we continue to publish more content.

Happy Dashboarding!

Denise Stendera

· PerformancePoin?t Services 2010: Change Analytic Report Data Source Sample lets users change the data source that an analytic report points to.

· PerformancePoint Services 2010: Save Analytic Report Sample lets users save a copy of a navigated analytic report.

Both are packaged as SharePoint features in Visual Studio 2010 solutions.

Note: The samples were developed and tested on single-server farms. They work out-of-the-box in these simple test configurations, but they are not guaranteed to work with all configurations. If they do not work in your environment, you can modify the code (probably in the .aspx.cs file) in Visual Studio and then redeploy the feature.

Previously published PerformancePoint samples were moved to the Code Gallery archive site. (https://archive.msdn.microsoft.com/Project/ProjectDirectory.aspx?TagName=PerformancePoint)

Explore In SharePoint with BI Center

You can explore this by creating a new site using the BI Center template (for instructions on how to do this see Getting Started: Introduction to the Business Intelligence Center). New BI Center sites contains a library called "Data Connections" and a list called "PerformancePoint Content". Links to the site's data connection library and content list are available in the quick launch area as shown in the following image:

The library "Data Connection" is the default location for storing PerformancePoint data sources and the list "PerformancePoint Content" is the default location for storing PerformancePoint reports, scorecards, filters, dashboard layouts, etc.

When you start the PerformancePoint Dashboard Designer (for more information on Dashboard Designer, see Getting Started: PerformancePoint Dashboard Designer) from the link your BI Center site as shown in the following images, it will connect to these locations and allow you to create and edit data sources and the content items that make up a PerformancePoint dashboard:

In the Designer, you can see the data source libraries and content lists you are using. For example, this is what you'll see when you launch the Designer from a BI Center site:

You can create additional data source libraries and contents lists in you BI center site to store your data sources and dashboard designs. You can use multiple data source libraries and content lists to partition the assets that make up your solutions so they can be secured appropriately and so they can be organized based on organizational areas, solution type, etc.

Use PerformancePoint in any non-BI Center Site

PerformancePoint can also be used without creating a BI Center site. PerformancePoint data source libraries and content lists can be created on any site where PerformancePoint is available. These libraries and lists provide you with direct access to the SharePoint Designer to create and edit data source, reports, scorecards, etc.

To create a new data source from a PerformancePoint data connection library:

1. Open the data connection library
2. Select the "Documents" in the library's tool bar
3. Select "New Document"
4. Select "PerformancePoint Data Source" from the resulting menu (see the following image). The PerformancePoint Dashboard Designer will be started and a new data source will be created.

To create a new report, filter, scorecard, etc. from a PerformancePoint content list:

1. Open the content list
2. Select the "Items" in the list's tool bar
3. Select "New Items"
4. Choose the type of item you would like to create (see the following image). Again, the PerformancePoint Dashboard Designer will be started and an item of the selected type will be created.

PerformancePoint data source, reports, scorecard, etc. can be edited directly from the SharePoint library or list that contain them. To do this:

1. Select the data source or content list item in the list or library.
2. Open the item's context menu
3. Select the operation "Edit in Dashboard Designer".

The following image show a PerformancePoint content list item and its context menu:

Preview PerformancePoint Reports and Scorecards in SharePoint

Finally, you can view reports and scorecards from the SharePoint content lists that contain them without starting the designer and without placing them in a dashboard. Here's the process:

1. Select the report or scorecard you'd like view in the PerformancePoint content list.
2. Open the report or scorecard's context menu.
3. Select the operation "Display Report" or "Display Scorecard".

The following images illustrate this. Select "Display Report" from the reports context menu in the content list:

Then the report will be displayed in a new tab in your browser:

Dave Sherman

Program Manager, Office BI