Business intelligence (BI) used to be the domain of a select few IT organizations. Armed with specialized training and technical knowledge, BI specialists would string together complex queries and code to glean specific information about a company's operations and performance. But a newly forged partnership between Teradata and Microsoft enables companies to bring BI to the masses. Now virtually every employee with access to a computer, PDA or smartphone can also have access to customized BI providing real-time, job-specific data without requiring any specialized technical knowledge.

For example, an executive logs in to his work computer, which automatically launches a Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2007 application. From this Web-enabled portal, he can read his e-mail, keep tabs on industry trends and monitor his company's sales performance.

enlarge Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services is used by Microsoft Excel 2007 to connect to Teradata via either Teradata .NET Data Provider or Teradata OLE-DB. SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services can also connect to Teradata via SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services.

On the screen is a series of alerts, some green and one red. Clicking on the red alert, the executive learns of a profitability issue in one of the company's divisions. Clicking again, a Microsoft Office Excel 2007 spreadsheet opens, drilling deeper into the problem. The spreadsheet automatically extracts real-time data from the Teradata Database to quickly display the margins and revenues for the problem product line.

The executive sees that the profit margin for this line is exceptionally low and could soon cause the company to lose money. He sends an e-mail to the product manager suggesting the company raise the product's price or otherwise explore ways to decrease production costs to solve the problem.

"BI for the masses" means that employees across an organization can easily view and act on this kind of specialized data all the time without needing to know how to run specialized programs or write SQL.

Greater than the sum of its parts
Coupling Teradata's data management expertise with Microsoft's software design and delivery skills creates a BI toolset that is even greater than the sum of its powerful parts.

Through the alliance, the vast resources of the Teradata Database greatly enhance the Microsoft tools that a company may already be running, such as SharePoint Portal Server 2007 and Excel 2007.

Companies often find that implementing a BI solution using Microsoft products is a more affordable option than implementing one using traditional BI front-end tools. That's because many companies already have licenses for Microsoft applications and because employees are already familiar with these applications, less training is required to get them up to speed.

Deploying the joint solution
Implementing a Teradata/Microsoft BI solution allows companies to create a flexible, scalable system that meets each employee's business needs and furthers the company's long-term strategic goals. Though deployment time varies by company and project, the average time to initial deployment is three months or less.

A typical implementation, such as the one used by the executive to pinpoint his profitability problem, consists of three basic components:

	Interface. Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2007 provides a Web-based interface to track and display data coming from the Teradata Database and other sources, while an Excel spreadsheet displays drilldown data related to the problem. Other Microsoft products, such as PerformancePoint Monitor, PerformancePoint Plan and SQL Server Reporting Services, can be used to analyze data, delve deeper into a problem or translate raw data into analytical charts, graphs or reports.
	Teradata Database. This component contains all of the information in the enterprise. To get to the right data quickly, specialized algorithms called aggregate join indexes (AJIs) maximize data retrieval speed and optimize performance.
	Connection. SQL Server Analysis Services, working in conjunction with Teradata's 64-bit .NET Data Provider, provides the bridge between the data warehouse and the user interface components using online analytical processing (OLAP). There are multiple OLAP architectures, including: Relational OLAP (ROLAP) Multi-dimensional OLAP (MOLAP) Hybrid OLAP (HOLAP) Implementation experts generally recommend that companies employing the Teradata/Microsoft BI solution use ROLAP or HOLAP to take advantage of Teradata's parallel processing power.

A tangible solution
All types and sizes of organizations can leverage the Teradata/Microsoft solution to provide customizable, real-time BI to their employees. With this capability, organizations will discover that effective information management will boost industry competitiveness and spur long-term growth and prosperity. T

PRODUCT Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and Microsoft Office System 2007 PRODUCT STATS Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services for OLAP implementation, Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services for reports, and Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services for data integration; Microsoft Office System includes Excel, PerformancePoint Server for analytics and SharePoint Portal Server for visualization. BENEFITS Integrated Business Intelligence (BI) tools to support the development and deployment of BI solutions targeted for back-office and front-line employees. COMPANY STATS Microsoft (Nasdaq MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their potential. Founded in 1975. Redmond, Wash., U.S.A.

Lori Janies writes about business and technology for various publications.

Teradata Magazine-December 2007