REDMOND, Wash., June 2, 2004 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the availability of two new Office 2003 Business Intelligence (BI) Accelerators, the Microsoft
®
Office Business Scorecards Accelerator and the Microsoft Office Excel Add-in for SQL Server (TM) Analysis Services. Designed for and built on the Microsoft Office System and Windows Server System (TM) , the Office BI Accelerators provide customers and partners with increased access to data that is critical to maximizing business performance. Information workers and industry partners can also use the accelerators to assess performance in real time and reshape strategy and redeploy resources as market conditions change, staying one step ahead of their competition. By taking advantage of existing Microsoft technology investments, the accelerators are a cost-effective way for end users and partners to increase their business insight and automate formerly manual business processes, providing greater efficiency, productivity and enhanced decision-making.
“The scorecard project will enable us to manage our business more effectively,” said Bill Bradford, senior vice president of sales and marketing for ON Semiconductor. “The toolset allows for prioritization of key issues and a ‘drive to action,’ so we can allocate resources to achieve our critical goals and objectives faster and with a higher probability of success than ever before.”
Employees Use Accelerators to Make Better Decisions and Decrease Costs
This Business Scorecards Accelerator is a Web-based application that enables a company to simplify the measurement and management of key performance metrics. Instead of manually collecting and analyzing strategic business data, customers can use the Business Scorecards Accelerator to automate the process and help them more easily communicate, drive and measure business strategy. By simplifying the creation and delivery of corporate information, organizations gain real-time visibility into business operations, resulting in timely decisions aimed at reducing costs and improving business performance.
“With the Business Scorecards Accelerator, we’ve been able to automate our ability to monitor and analyze data. Because the information is more accurate and timely, we’ve been able to better align valuable resources to company goals and expect to spend almost 50 percent less time reporting important information internally and to our partners,” said Benny Corvers, director Global Microsoft Alliance at Getronics. “By using this accelerator, we’ve managed to add more functionality by extending our existing Microsoft technology investments like SharePoint®
Portal Server and SQL Server Analysis Services without adding costs.”
The Excel Add-in for Analysis Services is a flexible reporting and analysis tool that allows data to be accessed and analyzed directly in Excel. Users can apply the extensive, familiar features of Excel to this data, which can be refreshed and updated as necessary, saving significant time in designing and updating critical reports and analysis. By using the online analytical processing (OLAP) functionality provided by SQL Server Analysis Services, the Excel Add-in for Analysis Services enables users to create rich, customized reports that provide employees with the ability to access relevant business data when it is needed. Through improved interactive reporting and analysis, organizations can increase productivities by enabling employees to quickly identify, analyze and respond to business opportunities.
Industry Partners Enhance Offerings With Accelerators
These accelerators, in conjunction with the Microsoft Office System and Windows Server System, provide a unique opportunity for industry partners to configure, customize and extend Office BI solutions to meet the specific needs of customers. By using the accelerators, partners have the opportunity to quickly expand their business into new areas with minimal investment while helping their customers do the same.
“The Microsoft Office BI Accelerators provide Panorama with a foundation for developing new applications that we can rapidly deliver to our customer base,” said Allon Cohen, director of Product Management of Panorama Software Ltd. “Our business and product philosophy is to extend and expand the capabilities of the Microsoft BI platform. This enables our customers to make better, timelier business decisions and helps key decisions-makers at all levels of an organization provide accurate and intuitive reports on what is transpiring within their business.”
“ProClarity will be releasing a complete integration kit that will allow us to bring enterprise-class manageability, flexibility and scalability to SharePoint-based applications such as the Microsoft Business Scorecards Accelerator, Six Sigma applications and Excel Add-in for Analysis Services,” said Clay Young, vice president of strategic marketing for ProClarity Corp. “We plan to take full advantage of Microsoft’s Office BI Accelerators to provide world-class BI and analytic applications.”
The Business Scorecards Accelerator and Excel Add-in for Analysis Services are available for download today at no additional cost to users who have valid licenses for the underlying Microsoft products and are supported by Microsoft Product Support Services. More information about these Office BI Accelerators can be found at these Web sites:
Microsoft Office Business Scorecards Accelerator
http://www.microsoft.com/office/solutions/accelerators/scorecards/default.mspx
Microsoft Office Excel Add-in for SQL Server Analysis Services
http://www.microsoft.com/office/solutions/accelerators/exceladdin/default.mspx
About the Microsoft Office System
The Microsoft Office System is an easy way to help more people use information to positively impact their business. Through a system of familiar and easy-to-use programs, servers, services and solutions, users can connect people and organizations to information, business processes and each other — helping ensure that they derive the most value out of information. The Microsoft Office System consists of the 2003 editions of Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003, Microsoft Office Project and Project Server 2003, Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2003, Microsoft Office Live Meeting, Microsoft Office FrontPage® 2003, Microsoft Office InfoPath (TM) 2003, Microsoft Office OneNote (TM) 2003, Microsoft Office Publisher 2003, Microsoft Office Visio® 2003 and the Microsoft Office Solution Accelerators. Enabling technologies, such as Microsoft Windows®
SharePoint Services and Microsoft Windows Server (TM) 2003, enhance the features and functionality of products in the Microsoft Office System.
About the Microsoft Windows Server System
Microsoft Windows Server System is an integrated and interoperable server infrastructure that reduces IT complexity to enable IT professionals to deliver innovative solutions that meet the changing needs of business. With Windows Server 2003 at the foundation, Windows Server System is engineered from the ground up for XML Web services based on Microsoft .NET Technologies to connect information, people, systems and devices. Based on a common software architecture that spans all facets of IT from design, development and deployment through ongoing management and usage, Windows Server System provides comprehensive IT infrastructure for operations (security, systems management, networked storage), applications (data management and analysis, e-business), and information work (messaging, communications and collaboration). More information on Microsoft Windows Server System can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/ .
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential
Microsoft, Windows Server System, SharePoint, FrontPage, InfoPath, OneNote, Visio, Windows and Windows Server are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
Note to editors : If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/ on Microsoft’s corporate information pages. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/contactpr.asp .
