Microsoft Advances Its Business Intelligence Solution

Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 to bring performance management to all employees.

REDMOND, Wash. — Dec. 5, 2006 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the release of the first community technology preview (CTP) for its integrated performance management application Microsoft® Office PerformancePoint™ Server 2007. Scheduled for general availability in mid-2007, Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 brings together next-generation monitoring, analytics and planning capabilities in a complete performance management application. Beginning today, customers can visit http://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?siteid=181 to download the first bits of code and test the product’s capabilities in a real-world business environment.

Office PerformancePoint Server CTP 1 will combine the planning, budgeting, forecasting and financial consolidation capabilities of the product code-named “BizSharp” and the scorecarding functionality of Microsoft Office Business Scorecard Manager Server 2005. CTP 2, scheduled for early 2007, will incorporate the functionality of CTP 1 and analytics from ProClarity® 6.2. Microsoft plans to release either one or two additional CTPs before the general availability of the product scheduled for mid-2007.

“We continue to invest in our business intelligence solution to bridge the gap between people and the information needed to drive business success,” said Chris Capossela, corporate vice president of Microsoft Business Division. “Today’s milestone brings us one step closer to our goal of enabling decision support and superior performance management across the enterprise.”

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Microsoft’s BI porposition is really taking shape with Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 on the horizon … In the slipstream of this CTP I expect more information / handson experience to be shared. I haven’t looked, but I do think the product team must have a blog as well. Will come back to that …