SQL Server 2008 R2 provides the back office infrastructure for BI solutions. The SQL infrastructure provides services for reporting and dashboarding, integration services which provide the back bone for the extraction, transformation and loading of data, and analysis services that enable the creation of online analytical processing (OLAP) cubes.

Business Intelligence concepts provided for by SQL Server 2008 R2

1.  Data Warehousing

Microsoft data warehousing solutions are designed to store and connect your information securely, making the analysis, extraction, transformation, and loading processes easier.

Because data is aggregated, compressed and stored in a dynamic, scalable, integrated system, organizations can reduce long-term storage requirements and generate reports faster.

Employees spend less time searching for the right data and more time on higher-value work and better decision-making.

2.  Ad-hoc Analysis

Microsoft Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) makes it quick and easy to perform ad-hoc queries and analysis of large amounts of complex data across all aspects of your business.  OLAP functionality improves reporting for sales, marketing, management reporting, business process management, budgeting and forecasting, financial reporting and similar areas.

3.  Data Quality

Microsoft Business Intelligence solutions protect the high quality of your data with secure integration and tight interoperability across multiple data sources.

You can rely on high-quality data that is accurate, timely, meaningful and complete.

4.  Data Mining

Microsoft data mining solutions empower people to go beyond simple data analysis to identify hidden trends, problems or relationships in the information.

Once insights are extracted from patterns, clusters and trends, employees can better identify root causes of problems and predict future outcomes.

5.  Production Reporting

Microsoft Business Intelligence solutions help employees analyse workflows and identify areas for process improvements.  Production reports help employees determine root cause of exceptions, and provide tools to predict future capacity needs.

Reports are highly formatted and interactive, making the information easy to understand and use for informed decision-making.