MicroStrategy Products

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1 MicroStrategy Products A Single Interface for All Business Intelligence Reporting, Analysis, and Monitoring MicroStrategy Web is the primary business user interface for the MicroStrategy Business Intelligence (BI) platform. With years of experience supporting the most demanding BI applications, MicroStrategy is proven to meet customer requirements for scalable, secure, and high performing BI applications. Supported by MicroStrategy s unified BI platform and single metadata, MicroStrategy Web deploys in minutes and provides all business users with a consistent experience for all reporting, analysis, and monitoring. MicroStrategy Web delivers Windows-like functionality through a browserindependent interface with absolutely no ActiveX or Java applets. While adhering to full functionality and zero-footprint as a core design principle, MicroStrategy Web pioneers innovative uses of Web technologies for the most intuitive and interactive BI experience on the Web. MicroStrategy Web is a unified, consistent interface for all major styles of BI Scorecards and Dashboards, Enterprise Reporting, OLAP Analysis, Predictive Analysis, and Alerts and Proactive Notification. While other BI vendors present each style of BI as a separate product or interface, MicroStrategy Web allows business users to move seamlessly between all 5 Styles of BI and even combine multiple styles within a single report display. MicroStrategy Web offers exceptional ease of use with an intuitive interface that uses navigation techniques and interactive paradigms familiar to any user of Windows applications or the Internet. With virtually no training required, business users immediately recognize toolbars, context-sensitive right-click menus, drag-and-drop actions, and WYSIWYG (What-You-See- Is-What-You-Get) formatting. For each user or user group, the BI experience is tailored to provide only the functionality appropriate to each user s job role and skill level. As users BI knowledge and needs expand, additional functionality is granted via a user privilege checklist. MicroStrategy Web is a platform-independent application that runs on a variety of hardware, operating systems, and application servers. BI users access MicroStrategy Web via a zero-footprint, browser-independent interface without ActiveX controls or Java applets. As a result, MicroStrategy Web deploys securely in minutes to any user base from small, departmental user groups to large, enterprise users. MicroStrategy s platform independence and unified architecture deliver BI applications that are easy to develop, deploy, and maintain. MicroStrategy Web displays interactive dashboards to quickly assess business performance.

2 A Single Web Interface for All Production Reports, OLAP Analysis,... Self-Service for Business Users With MicroStrategy Web, business users can view, edit, and create all types of reports in a single, intuitive interface without assistance from IT. Business users are no longer required to learn complicated data structures, query creation processes, or multiple user interfaces to build or interact with reports, scorecards, and dashboards. Additionally, business users can personalize their report results by easily applying MicroStrategy s advanced OLAP functionality, or by answering intuitive questions (prompts) to meet their specific analysis needs. This self-service capability for business users frees IT departments to devote more time to work on BI application activities that require technical expertise. Operational Reports and Statements MicroStrategy Web provides business users the ability to view, interact with, and design detailed operational reports and fixed-form statements. Operational reports, often referred to as hierarchical or banded reports, are highly structured, densely populated, multi-page reports that contain detailed operational data. Fixed-form statements such as invoices and account statements require precise layout and page-break logic for printing onto mail-ready corporate letterheads. MicroStrategy Web offers the Pixel Perfect TM and print perfect design precision needed to build operational reports and statements with ease. Detailed invoice and operational reports display precisely formatted information both on screen and on paper. Advanced OLAP Functionality MicroStrategy Web users can follow their analysis wherever it leads them using a simple right mouse-click menu to pivot, page-by, sort, filter, or drill to navigate information anywhere in the entire data warehouse. Business users can also build their own ad hoc reports in an intuitive, drag-and-drop design process using simple business terms. Simple right mouse-click options expose intuitive OLAP actions such as pivot, page-by, sort, filter, or drill. 2

3 Scorecards and Dashboards, Data Mining, and Exception Alerting Scorecards and Dashboards MicroStrategy Web delivers scorecards and dashboards that spotlight key areas for improving corporate performance. Scorecards typically track key performance indicators (KPIs), showing actual values against targets or benchmarks and graphically indicating significant changes. Dashboards provide at-a-glance monitoring for quick business performance analysis. Data Mining and Predictive Analysis MicroStrategy provides hundreds of statistical, financial, predictive, analytical, and data mining functions that may be incorporated into any metric or KPI. With MicroStrategy Web s unsurpassed combination of full relational OLAP analysis and support for complex data mining models, business users can quickly find new insights into customer buying patterns, proper inventory stocking levels, fraud detection, and risk assessment. Alerts and Exception Conditions Often business users are most interested in any performance Highly visual, alert-driven scorecards and dashboards enable business users to quickly detect, interpret, and respond appropriately to changes in key performance indicators. metric deviations from a norm or target. MicroStrategy can draw users attention immediately to exceptional or unexpected occurrences via thresholds, visual indicators, and red flags. Additionally, entire sections of a report or pages of explanatory text can be conditionally displayed, hidden, or highlighted based on the criteria that matter to the business users. Users may also subscribe to receive alerts via on a time, event, or rules-based schedule. Data mining capabilities allow powerful predictive analytic metrics to identify hidden patterns and predictive information available in the data warehouse. 3

4 Designed with Intuitive Navigation and a Familiar Interface Design Windows-Like Functionality and Ease-of-Use MicroStrategy s renowned Web interface has long set the standard in the BI industry with the highest scalability and greatest level of user interactivity. MicroStrategy Web has an exceptionally crisp look-and-feel that exposes functionality gradually to business users as they need it. With no prior training, business users can easily access vital reports, perform insightful analysis, and monitor key business metrics using familiar techniques and Windows-like paradigms such as: Drag-and-drop actions Comprehensive and convenient toolbars Context-sensitive right-click menu options Drop down menus and mouse-over tool tips Floating dialog boxes with context-sensitive options Shortcut keys for common actions such as copy, paste, and duplicate Undo and redo buttons Save reports to shared or private folders Object and data multi-select manipulations Optimized and context-sensitive toolbar ribbon MicroStrategy Web interface includes a comprehensive array of one-click actions to make business users highly productive in their viewing and exploration of data. A single mouse-click also accomplishes common tasks like running a report or drilling to additional detail. Other intuitive interface paradigms include reports organized into hierarchical folder structures, ability to create bookmarks to favorite reports, comprehensive and useroriented online help, and effective object search functionality across the application. Business users effortlessly interact with intuitive menus and dialog boxes that display a wide range of formatting and editing functionality. Toolbar buttons display options for familiar activities such as saving and printing. Access to menus, dialogs, and toolbars are all based on the user s security profile and current menu context. 4

5 Fully Interactive Analysis from All Reports, Dashboards, and Scorecards Reorganize data presentation: Drag-and-drop, pivot Single and multi-key sort Drill anywhere Filter, group, and page-by data Personalize: Select data range Answer prompts Apply data security Collaborate and share: Export to Excel and PDF Pixel Perfect print Collaborate and add notes Send and subscribe Rich Analysis from Fully Interactive Reports, Dashboards, and Scorecards Business users easily perform common tasks such as editing totals, fine-tuning report formatting, or converting tables to graphs. Business users can also reorganize any report with simple drag-and-drop actions or by clicking on toolbar icons to get entirely new views of the data. By efficiently utilizing resources available on client browsers, MicroStrategy Web provides an innovative approach that enables far more interactive, intuitive, and responsive user interactions. MicroStrategy accomplishes this within a zero-footprint framework, using JavaScript coding proficiently, coupled with support files and persistent browser-level caching. MicroStrategy Web offers fully interactive reporting through a zero-footprint, multi-browser Web interface. Seamless Integration of Analysis in Every Enterprise Report, Dashboard, and Scorecard Through years of focused design effort and the development of proprietary algorithms and patents, MicroStrategy s highly refined Relational OLAP (ROLAP) engine meets the most demanding BI requirements. MicroStrategy Web makes this powerful analytic capability available directly from every report in two ways. First, business users can perform OLAP analysis directly on grids or graphs embedded within any scorecard, dashboard, or enterprise report. Second, business users can drill from any report to an optimized view for conducting detailed analysis within the same unified Web interface. In both cases, the integration of reporting with analysis is automatic, seamless, and allows business users to answer their own follow-up questions as they occur and without support from IT. Business users benefit from powerful, interactive analysis accessible from precisely formatted reports or scorecards, including seamless navigation from a high-level report to detailed data, all while using the same, intuitive interface. 5

6 WYSIWYG Report Design and Formatting for the Business User WYSIWYG design for all elements: Ruler and snap to grid Drag-and-drop data on or off the layout Pivot, sort, drill, and filter Insert calculations and subtotals Insert charts and tables WYSIWYG formatting for all elements: Text and numeric field labels Graphs and charts Borders, colors, and shading Alignment and distribution Spacing and overlap Object grouping, alignment, and order WYSIWYG mode uses intuitive skills for design, and provides instant feedback to design changes on every element on the screen, including tables and charts. WYSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) Report Design MicroStrategy Web extends report design capability beyond specialized report developers to include the business user. With MicroStrategy, business users can design and refine reports in full WYSIWYG mode through a zero-footprint Web interface. WYSI- WYG design means that business users employ the same skills to design or refine a MicroStrategy report as they use when working in Microsoft PowerPoint or Microsoft Excel, receiving instant feedback on the effect of their design change. WYSIWYG design represents a radically simpler model for designing reports and makes it possible for business users to tune reports to the exact structure and format desired, without time-consuming iterations with professional report designers. Companies can achieve faster time-to-deployment for new scorecards, dashboards, and enterprise reports with MicroStrategy Web s WYSIWYG design. Report developers can design reports quickly for use throughout an organization or within specific departments. Report developers can then send the reports to true business users to add all of the important final formatting, context, and details to make the report most meaningful. This saves time for both report developers and business users, freeing each group to perform their primary job function more efficiently and effectively. 6

7 Identical Report Formats on Screen and in Print Pixel Perfect HTML Reports In MicroStrategy Web, business users can easily specify the delivery format of a given report, analysis, or alert. With the reliance on paper decreasing, it is extremely important that reports look great on screen as well as allow the user to interact with the data. Traditional report writing tools, whose origins predate the widespread use of the Internet, often lag in this area. Conversely, MicroStrategy Web is optimized for on screen viewing and user interactivity. Identical Print Perfect PDF Reports For certain reports and applications such as invoices, account statements, and operational reports, precise printing remains a critical requirement. Some newer reporting tools overcompensate for the trend towards online report viewing and sacrifice precise and predictable printing. With these tools, users often become quite frustrated by the inability to print exactly what they see on screen. MicroStrategy Web complements its on screen display with identically formatted printed reports. With a single click, end users generate a report in portable document format (PDF), the popular and highly precise printing format. These print-ready reports have compressed file sizes that make it easy to print one page or thousands. Additionally, business users may specify page break logic and page setup options like fit-to-page. Microsoft Excel for Integrated Report Briefing Books MicroStrategy reports look great on screen, on paper, and in Excel. Graphs within MicroStrategy Web are even exported as live Excel charts. Additionally, using MicroStrategy Office, these reports retain a live link to MicroStrategy, allowing the report to be updated with the latest data using a single mouse-click. MicroStrategy Web displays Pixel Perfect reports in HTML and identically formatted, print-ready reports in a portable format (PDF). 7

8 Relevant and Intuitive BI Information Directly from Your Enterprise Portal Applications Enrich Your Portal Applications with MicroStrategy BI Portal solutions provide many value-added capabilities for businesses. Closed-loop business intelligence applications implemented with the MicroStrategy BI Platform reduce the time required to act on business insight and allow companies to standardize internal processes and procedures more efficiently. MicroStrategy Web offers out-of-the-box portlets for Oracle WebLogic, IBM WebSphere, Microsoft Office SharePoint, and SAP NetWeaver. Embedding MicroStrategy portlets on a single portal page offers organizations the ability to create dashboard-style applications. Users can enjoy the full range of BI functionality and interactive reporting capabilities available in MicroStrategy Web directly through the portal environment. MicroStrategy Web accomplishes all of its functionality through a cookie-less, zero-footprint Web client without using ActiveX or Java Applets on the Web browser. As a result of these capabilities, MicroStrategy Web works seamlessly through all standard Web firewalls, making deployment straightforward and minimizing administration overhead. In addition, all the information displayed is highly personalized and secure, integrating the portal server s security model with MicroStrategy s hallmark out-of-the-box security capabilities, including feature privileges, access control lists, and data filters. MicroStrategy Web s out-of-the-box portlets embed folders, reports, documents, user history lists, search functionality, and portlet-toportlet communication into the portals through easy-to-configure screens. This exposes the full range of MicroStrategy BI functionality to portal users quickly and easily. 8

9 Functionality Personalized for Individuals or Groups Based on Roles or Skill Levels Personalized Interactivity for Varying Types of Users With MicroStrategy Web, business intelligence administrators control the exact functionality given to a specific user or group of users. For instance, a user from the reporting group might have permission to run reports, drill down to additional detail, and export results to Microsoft Excel while a user from the analyst group might have the additional capability to drill anywhere within the data warehouse and pivot the report results. Administrators use simple checkboxes and hierarchical user groups to define BI users functional privileges stored in MicroStrategy s central metadata. This personalization of the user experience shields them from unnecessary complexity while they learn the full and exact set of interactive capabilities available. At the same time, this protects BI systems and valuable data from accidental or intentional misuse. MicroStrategy Web comes in three editions for different user skill levels Reporter, Analyst, and Professional. Within these editions, BI administrators can further personalize an individual user s or group of users access to MicroStrategy Web functionality. MicroStrategy Web Features Web Reporter Web Analyst Web Professional Subscribe to scheduled reports Create shortcuts to favorite reports Switch between grid and graph formats Print reports Export report results Drill down Personalize reports through prompts Search using keywords Modify totals and subtotals Create derived metric calculations Define thresholds Pivot report results Drill anywhere Publish new reports to Shared Reports Design reports in WYSIWYG view mode or in report editor Create and edit report filter elements Create and edit prompts Save report templates and filters for reuse Perform advanced report formatting This table displays an abbreviated list of features available in the MicroStrategy Web Reporter, Analyst, and Professional editions. Web Reporter: Business users are able to view all types of reports and scorecards and also personalize reports, print, drill, sort, choose grid or graph format, schedule, or immediately send reports via or to a file server or a printer. Web Analyst: Business analysts have all the functionality of business users, plus the ability to drill anywhere, edit totals, pivot columns and rows, add to or remove fields from a report, create derived metrics, and create reports or ad hoc queries. Web Professional: Report developers and advanced business users have access to all the functionality of business analysts, plus the ability to design scorecards, dashboards, and operational reports in design mode or WYSIWYG view mode. These users also have advanced formatting capabilities as well as the ability to perform calculations across multiple data sources. 9

10 Efficient Processing and Platform Independence for Flexibility, Scalability, and Consistency MicroStrategy Web supports 64-bit Java Virtual Machines (JVMs), which allow each Web server to support many more concurrent user sessions and larger reports. Benefit from an Identical User Experience Regardless of Hardware and Software Choices MicroStrategy Web operates on a wide range of application servers, Web servers, and operating systems, including IBM WebSphere, JBoss Application Server, Oracle WebLogic, Sun ONE, Oracle Application Server, Microsoft Internet Information Server, and Tomcat. This is possible because MicroStrategy Web uses a single code base developed on a platform-independent Java architecture that can operate equally well in a J2EE or.net environments. Every MicroStrategy Web release is immediately available on all compatible application servers, operating systems, and hardware platforms. Most importantly, business users receive the exact same functionality and experience, regardless of the choice of application server, hardware, Java server page (JSP), active server page (ASP) front-end, or operating system, thus future-proofing the MicroStrategy Web investment. Deploy a Zero-Footprint, Browser-Independent Solution with Confidence With no ActiveX, Java applets, or cookies required, MicroStrategy Web runs on a variety of browsers, including the open source Firefox browser. Organizations can confidently deploy MicroStrategy Web to business users by simply sending a URL hyperlink. In contrast, many other BI tools are restricted to only the Internet Explorer browser because they require downloaded or embedded ActiveX controls. Support More Concurrent Users with Larger Reports MicroStrategy Web supports 64-bit Java Virtual Machines (JVMs), which offer much greater memory space. This vastly increased memory space allows each Web server to support many more concurrent user sessions and larger reports. In addition, MicroStrategy Web employs new Extreme AJAX coding disciplines within its architecture. This practice shifts processing from the shared Web servers to the individual Web browsers, thus spreading the workload and providing the most efficient and responsive user experience while still preserving a true zero-footprint Web interface. Access a Single Interface for All Data Sources MicroStrategy Web provides a single point of access for all of your enterprise data sources. Business users do not need to know which data source provides a specific set of data, because all data is accessed through the same intuitive MicroStrategy interface. All MicroStrategy Web scorecards, dashboards, and reports may contain data from virtually any data source, including a relational data warehouse, a transactional database, an operational datamart, SAP BW, Microsoft Analysis Services, Hyperion Essbase, and even flat files such as comma-delimited and Excel files. Data from one or all of these sources can be combined in a single report in a way that is completely transparent to business users. The result all business users see a unified view of the business and a single version of the truth. 10

11 Centralized Administration of All Reports, Users, and Data Develop and Maintain BI Applications with Ease MicroStrategy Web supports many of the most demanding BI applications in the world. In these applications, it is critical for IT administrators to manage user security, evolving report requirements, and new data sources in an efficient manner. Similar requirements also exist for reporting, analysis, and monitoring applications operating on smaller budgets. With some BI tools, each report requires its own static mapping to the underlying data. Under that architecture, each report has its own individual metadata. This requires significantly more overall setup time as data mappings and business rules defined in one report often must be recreated for many additional reports. With such BI tools, a change in one business definition must be re-implemented in each affected report. In contrast, MicroStrategy utilizes a centralized, objectoriented metadata that is common to all reports, all users, and all data sources. MicroStrategy stores all business rules and definitions in this unified metadata. MicroStrategy s metadata is object-oriented so that each report, calculation, user prompt, user security profile, and all other objects exist as reusable and shareable building blocks. The mapping of business terms and rules to the underlying data occurs only once, resulting in much quicker delivery of reports to business users. When changes in business definitions occur, those changes can be implemented in a single place with the change rippling through dynamically to all objects in the metadata that use that definition. IT report developers and administrators realize great time savings from this streamlined creation and maintenance of business rules in a single metadata. Deploy Reports Immediately and Automatically There is no separate step to publish a report to MicroStrategy Web. When a report developer creates a new scorecard or highly formatted enterprise report, that report is immediately available to all MicroStrategy Web users who have appropriate permissions. When a business user accesses a new report, that business user will only see the data and interactive functionality that his or her role requires. Business users can also easily save scorecards, dashboards, and reports in a private folder for their future use, or to a shared folder that other users may access (if they have the appropriate security permissions and privileges). MicroStrategy s objectoriented metadata provides end users quicker access to new reports, analyses, and alerts. Whether an organization is deploying the first corporate BI application or attempting to consolidate tens or hundreds of applications onto a common BI platform, MicroStrategy Web provides an extremely easy to use interface that is scalable, functionally complete, and easy to deploy. With MicroStrategy Web, organizations dramatically improve efficiency by providing their business users and IT departments with a single BI interface that supports all of an organization s users, data sources, and reports. Scorecards & dashboards Browsers Reporting MicroStrategy Report Services Operational Databases (ERP) Mobile Enterprise portals UNIFIED WEB INTERFACE OLAP MicroStrategy OLAP Services Report Services x Advanced analysis & ad-hoc MicroStrategy Analytic Services INTEGRATED BACKPLANE SERVICES ORIENTED ARCHITECTURE MICROSTRATEGY INTELLIGENCE SERVER Operational Databases (CRM, RFID) OPERATIONAL DATABASES Data Warehouse Data mart Microsoft Office DECISION SUPPORT DATABASES x x Alerts & Proactive Notification MicroStrategy Distribution Services SAP BW With MicroStrategy s plug-and-play component architecture, companies can start quickly with small and simple business intelligence applications and be assured that these initial applications can grow incrementally to full enterprise scale, scope, and sophistication. x 11

12 MicroStrategy Web Scorecards, Dashboards, and Reports in a Single Interface All Reporting, Analysis, and Monitoring in a Single, Intuitive Interface Supported by a unified BI architecture, MicroStrategy Web provides a consistent, intuitive experience for all users. MicroStrategy is the clear choice for organizations that want to achieve the lowest total cost of ownership by standardizing all scorecards and dashboards, enterprise reporting, OLAP analysis, predictive analysis, and alerts and proactive notification onto a single BI platform. MicroStrategy 9 is breakthrough technology that supports the full range of business intelligence applications from a single, integrated platform. MicroStrategy Web Feature Scorecards, Dashboards, Reports, OLAP Analysis, Predictive Analysis, and Exception Alerting in a Single Web Interface Easy to Use Windows-Like Functionality Seamless Integration of Reporting and Analysis WYSIWYG Report Editing and Formatting Through a Zero-Footprint Web Interface Choice of Report Formats, Including HTML, PDF, Flash*, and Microsoft Excel Granular Control of Users Access to Application Functionality A Complete, Platform-Independent Architecture Single, Centralized Metadata Benefits Quicker, more accurate answers for business users with less cost to IT departments CIOs have a BI utility that can extend to all of an enterprise s reporting, analysis, and monitoring needs Maximizes ease of use for business users Little to no learning curve Better insights and decisions as users navigate interactively through the data, since they are not forced to compromise on presentation formatting or depth of analysis Quick deployment of reports that are optimized by the people who use them every day A single report rendered in the business user s choice of formats Pixel Perfect on screen and print perfect on paper Easily create comprehensive briefing books in PDF or Excel formats Suitable for business users of all skill levels Tailor BI interactivity and interface for individuals or groups Deploy immediately on current hardware and software through users choice of browser Future-proofed BI investment is adaptable to changing corporate IT standards for operating systems, application servers, and Web servers Streamline report creation and deployment Centrally administer all reports, users, and data Lowest total cost of ownership for all BI applications MicroStrategy 9 extends the performance, scalability, and efficiency of enterprise BI; enables the rapid deployment of departmental BI applications; and provides a seamless consolidation path from departmental BI to enterprise BI. Try MicroStrategy Web Try the best business intelligence software for yourself. Call or visit us at * Flash is available as a report format for MicroStrategy Report Services documents and dashboards. MicroStrategy Web delivers a BI experience for business users that is intuitive, efficient, and simply unsurpassed. At the same time, MicroStrategy Web is flexible, secure, scalable, and centrally managed for fast, robust deployment and efficient administration. MicroStrategy Incorporated 1850 Towers Crescent Plaza Vienna, VA Copyright All rights reserved. COLL