Store and manage business intelligence content in a central location

 

Applies to: SharePoint Server 2010 Enterprise

Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 includes a full range of business intelligence features and functionality. These include Excel Services, PerformancePoint Services, and Visio Services. SharePoint Server can also support integration with SQL Server Reporting Services and PowerPivot for SharePoint. All of these applications enable you to choose which tools to use to create reports, scorecards, and dashboards.

To help your organization be more productive, consider storing and managing your business intelligence content in a central location, such as a Business Intelligence Center site. This article contains information about how to create a central location and manage user permissions and access to the content.

In this article:

  • Overview of the Business Intelligence Center site

  • How to create and configure a Business Intelligence Center site

  • Comparing the Business Intelligence Center site in SharePoint Server 2010 to the Report Center site in SharePoint Server 2007

Overview of the Business Intelligence Center site

The Business Intelligence Center site is a location where you can centrally store and manage business intelligence content, such as data sources, reports, scorecards, and dashboard pages. The Business Intelligence Center resembles the following image:

Business Intelligence Center

The center pane contains three sections that have links to additional information and tools, as described in the following table:

Section Description

Monitor Key Performance

Contains links to information about different approaches to monitoring performance, such as using SharePoint Status Lists and PerformancePoint scorecards.

  • SharePoint Status Lists are quick and easy to create for simple Web Part pages

  • PerformancePoint scorecards offer sophisticated features and functionality. These include row and column hierarchies and complex key performance indicators (KPIs)

Build and Share Reports

Contains links to information about Excel Services and about the interactive visualization tools in PerformancePoint Services.

  • Excel Services enables you to build worksheets, PivotTable reports, PivotChart reports, and then publish those reports to SharePoint Server.

  • PerformancePoint Dashboard Designer enables you to create scorecards and reports, such as analytic charts and grids, strategy maps, KPI Details reports, and references to existing reports, such as Excel Services reports, SQL Server Reporting Services reports, ProClarity Analytics Server reports, and Web Page reports.

Create Dashboards

Contains links to information about how to create dashboards by using tools in SharePoint Server, or by using tools in PerformancePoint Services.

The links in this panel include Start using PerformancePoint Services, which opens a home page for PerformancePoint Services. On that page, you can click Run Dashboard Designer, or you can click links to articles that provide additional information about PerformancePoint Services.

The Business Intelligence Center site enables dashboard content authors to easily access the tools that they have to create business intelligence content. For example, the Business Intelligence Center site contains links to information about Excel Services and PerformancePoint Services. The site also contains links to sample data in Excel that users can easily access.

The Business Intelligence Center site also helps dashboard users to easily find business intelligence content, such as reports and dashboards. Business intelligence content is saved to the following SharePoint lists and document libraries:

  • A Dashboards library that contains only published dashboards that were deployed from Dashboard Designer.

  • A Data Connections content library that contains data sources that can be used for various reports and scorecards. This library also contains server connection information and security details for each data source.

  • A PerformancePoint Content list that contains scorecards, reports, filters, unpublished dashboards, and other dashboard items that were created by using Dashboard Designer. Dashboard items can be organized into folders within this list to make them easier to find and manage.

  • A Documents library that contains sample Excel Services workbooks and can serve as a location to store other business intelligence files. These include Reporting Services reports, Visio Services reports, and so on.

    Tip

    The Documents library is created automatically when a Business Intelligence Center site is created. However, it must be added to the page to be visible. Information about how to do that is included in the following section.

How to create and configure a Business Intelligence Center site

When you create and configure a Business Intelligence Center site, you create a new site collection and select the Business Intelligence Center site template.

Important

You can create a Business Intelligence Center site before you have enabled and configured certain services, such as PerformancePoint Services or Excel Services. However, certain capabilities are unavailable until those services are configured. For example, if PerformancePoint Services is not configured, you and other users will be unable to run PerformancePoint Dashboard Designer to create PerformancePoint reports, scorecards, and dashboards. Similarly, if Excel Services is not configured, you will be unable to display all or part of an Excel workbook in a browser window.
For information about how to configure services to support business intelligence capabilities in SharePoint Server 2010, see the following resources:

To create a Business Intelligence Center site

  1. Log on to the computer that is running the SharePoint Central Administration Web site.

    Tip

    Make sure to use an account that is a member of the Farm Administrators SharePoint group. For more information about security and permissions, see Security planning for sites and content (SharePoint Server 2010).

  2. Click Start, click All Programs, click Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products, and then click SharePoint 2010 Central Administration.

    If a User Account Control dialog box appears, click Yes to continue.

  3. In the Central Administration site, in the Application Management section, click Create site collections.

  4. On the Create Site Collection page, in the Web Application section, confirm or select the Web Application for which you want to create a Business Intelligence Center.

  5. On the Create Site Collection page, specify the following settings:

    • In the Title and Description section, in the Title box, type a name for the Business Intelligence Center.

      For example, you can type BI Center in the Title box.

    • In the Web Site Address section, type a word or phrase in the URL box.

      For example, you can type BICenter in the box to specify a Web site address that resembles http://[webapplicationname]/sites/bicenter.

    • In the Template Selection section, click the Enterprise tab, and then click Business Intelligence Center.

    • In the Primary Site Collection Administrator section, specify an administrator for the site collection.

    Then click OK.

  6. On the Top-Level Site Successfully Created page, click the link for the Business Intelligence Center site that you just created to open it. Keep the Business Intelligence Center open.

Now that you have created a Business Intelligence Center site, the next step is to assign user permissions to control who can view and use business intelligence content. To view, edit, or create content in the Business Intelligence Center, users must have certain permissions assigned in SharePoint Server. In addition, users must have certain permissions assigned in the servers that store data that is used for dashboard content. For more information, see Authorization and permissions in PerformancePoint Services (SharePoint Server 2010).

We recommend as a best practice that you use SharePoint groups such as those that are described in the following table to help organize your roles.

Group Description

BICenterRead

Users assigned to this group can view but not create or edit content in the Business Intelligence Center. This includes PerformancePoint content.

BICenterContribute

Users assigned to this group can view, edit, and create content in the Business Intelligence Center. This includes PerformancePoint content.

BICenterDesign

Users assigned to this group can view, edit, create, and publish dashboard content in the Business Intelligence Center. This includes PerformancePoint content and dashboards.

BICenterFullControl

Users assigned to this group can view, edit, create, and publish content in the Business Intelligence Center. This includes PerformancePoint content and dashboards. In addition, these users can view, edit, and assign user permissions for content in the Business Intelligence Center.

Begin by creating the Active Directory groups that you want for managing user permissions.

To create an Active Directory group

  1. Log on to the domain controller computer as the domain administrator.

  2. Click Start, click All Programs, click Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users and Computers.

  3. In the Active Directory Users and Computers dialog box, right-click Users, click New, and then click Group.

  4. In the Group name box, type the name of the group that you are creating from the previous table.

  5. Click OK.

  6. Repeat for each group that is listed in the table that was mentioned earlier.

First, assign Read permissions to the BICenterRead group.

To set Read permissions on the Business Intelligence Center

  1. Navigate to the Business Intelligence Center. The Web site address (URL) resembles http://[webapplicationname]/sites/bicenter.

  2. Click Site Actions.

  3. Click Site Permissions.

  4. Click Grant Permissions.

  5. In the Users/Groups box, type BICenterRead.

  6. Under Grant Permission, select BICenter Visitors [Read].

  7. Click OK. Keep the Permissions: BICenter page open.

Next, assign Contribute permissions to the BICenterContribute group.

To set Contribute permissions on the Business Intelligence Center

  1. In the Permissions: BICenter page, click Grant Permissions.

  2. In the Users/Groups box, type BICenterContribute.

  3. Under Grant Permission, select BICenter Members [Contribute].

  4. Click OK. Keep the Permissions: BICenter page open.

The next step is to assign Design permissions to the BICenterDesign group.

To set Design permissions on the Business Intelligence Center

  1. In the Permissions: BICenter page, click Grant Permissions.

  2. In the Users/Groups box, type BICenterDesign.

  3. Under Grant Permission, select Designers [Design, Limited Access].

  4. Click OK. Keep the Permissions: BICenter page open.

Finally, assign Full Control permissions to the BICenterFullControl group.

To set Full Control permissions on the Business Intelligence Center

  1. In the Permissions: BICenter page, click Grant Permissions.

  2. In the Users/Groups box, type BICenterFullControl.

  3. Under Grant Permission, select BICenter Owners [Full Control].

  4. Click OK.

Now that you have created a Business Intelligence Center site and assigned user permissions, the next step is to configure it by adding a Documents library to the Quick Launch. The Documents library was automatically created when you created the Business Intelligence Center site. It contains sample Excel workbooks and serves as a central location for documents. These include Excel Services files.

To add the Documents library to the Quick Launch

  1. In the Business Intelligence Center site, click Site Actions, and then click View All Site Content.

  2. In the Document Libraries list, right-click Documents, and then click Copy shortcut.

  3. Return to the Business Intelligence Center site, click Site Actions, and then click Site Settings.

  4. In the Look and Feel section, click Navigation.

  5. In the Navigation Editing and Sorting section, click Current Navigation, and then click Add Link.

  6. In the dialog box that opens, type Documents in the Title box, paste the link that you copied in step 2, and then click OK to close the dialog box. (Do not close the navigation settings yet.)

  7. (This step is optional.) To move the Documents link in the Quick Launch up or down in the list, take the following steps:

    1. In the Navigation Editing and Sorting section, select Documents.

    2. Click Move Up or Move Down until Documents is positioned where you want it.

  8. Click OK to close navigation settings. Verify that Documents appears in the Quick Launch.

At this point, the Business Intelligence Center is created and configured.

Comparing the Business Intelligence Center site in SharePoint Server 2010 to the Report Center site in SharePoint Server 2007

The Report Center site is a SharePoint site that is available in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. The Report Center site is a central location where you can manage certain kinds of business intelligence content. This includes reports and dashboard pages that you create by using SharePoint Server. In SharePoint Server 2010, the Report Center site is replaced by the Business Intelligence Center site. That is, the Report Center site is not available in SharePoint Server 2010.

Tip

If your organization is upgrading from Office SharePoint Server 2007 to SharePoint Server 2010, you cannot upgrade an existing Report Center site to a Business Intelligence Center. Instead, you can create a new Business Intelligence Center site, and then move your content from the Report Center site to that Business Intelligence Center site.

The Business Intelligence Center site that is available in SharePoint Server 2010 enables you to centrally store and manage even more dashboard content than the former Report Center site. You can store and manage content that is created by using multiple applications, such as PerformancePoint Services, Excel Services, and Visio Services. If SQL Server Reporting Services is integrated in your environment, you can publish Reporting Services reports to the same Business Intelligence Center site where your other business intelligence content resides. And, if PowerPivot for SharePoint is configured in your environment, you can publish PowerPivot workbooks to that same Business Intelligence Center site.

Important

If SQL Server Reporting Services is installed on the same computer where SharePoint Server 2010 is installed, you cannot create a site or a documents library called Reports. This is also true if Reporting Services is configured to run in SharePoint Integrated mode on a computer where SharePoint Server 2010 is installed. As an alternative solution, you can take one of the following actions:

  • Use the default Documents library that is available in the Business Intelligence Center site

  • Create a site or a document library that uses a name other than Reports.

See Also

Concepts

Configuring a BI infrastructure: Hands-on labs
Business intelligence planning (SharePoint Server 2010)
Excel Services overview (SharePoint Server 2010)
PerformancePoint Services overview (SharePoint Server 2010)