50596 : Dashboards for Monitoring, Analyzing and Managing
About this Course
Audience Profile
- The Project Manager to gain an understanding of best practices, follow a design methodology and gain an understanding of ineffective dashboard designs.
- The Business Managers so they can understand the input that they will need to provide to the project team and what they should expect back from these dashboards.
- IT as they manage the infrastructure.
- Report Builders' so their designs can be effectively presented to the report consumer.
- Business Intelligence/SQL Personnel as it is their data that is displayed and analyzed.
Prerequisites
- An understanding of the state of the data repository in their environment.
At Course Completion
- Utilize the dashboard development methodology
- Optimize visual design of dashboards
- Structure dashboards hierarchies
- Understand the basics of data visualizations
- List the thirteen crucial errors in dashboard design
- Implement user menus in scorecards
- Understand how to connect into multiple data sources
- Gain familiarity with the definitions of common Business Intelligence terms
- Learn the methodology for connecting into and displaying near-real-time data
- Create parameterized reports
- Create sub reports
- Create map based reports
- Use the Decomposition Tree in PerformancePoint Services
- Connect together SharePoint components into PerformancePoint components
- Use report parts as a library
- Know when to use Report Builder, Dashboard Designer and SharePoint Designer
- Use and understand Report Builder 3.0
- Use and understand Dashboard Designer from PerformancePoint Services
- Use and understand SharePoint Designer for working with dashboards
- Utilize Excel Services to share Excel workbooks
- Design and implement KPIs
- Understand the scoring methodologies used with indicators to change visual displays
- Be able to develop proper filters for easy end-user click to detail on dashboards
- Group scorecards into dashboards and link them together
- Modify the web page hosting the dashboards for branding
- Implement master pages in dashboards for consistency with company standards.
- Develop multiple-valued KPIs. For example this year actual and target and last year actual and target at the same relative point in time
- Implement time intelligence features to query such as Year-To-Date, Last 6 Months etc.
- Develop filters for scorecards
- Understand the implications of where a filter is applied
- Create effective graphs
- Create visual reports
- Create effective gauges
- Utilize sparklines in reports
- Understand how to secure dashboards
- Use dynamic hierarchies in dashboards
- Implement user menus in dashboards
- Create monitoring dashboards
- Create analytical dashboards
- Create management dashboards
Course Outline
Module 1: Course overview
- Introduction
- Course materials
- Facilities
- Prerequisites
- What we'll be discussing
Module 2: The Microsoft Business Intelligence Stack tools
Lessons
- SQL Analysis Services
- SQL Reporting Services
- SharePoint 2010 PerformancePoint Services
- SharePoint Business Intelligence Center
- Understanding the terminology of dashboards
- Report Builder 3.0
- Dashboard Designer
- SharePoint Designer
- Explore SharePoint 2010 Business Intelligence Center
Module 3: Dashboard design principles
Lessons
- Dashboard taxonomies
- Visual perception
- Dashboard design flaws
- An effective dashboard design process
- Dashboard hierarchy
- Dashboard variance
- Dynamic dashboards
- Dashboard interactivity
- Develop multiple dashboards
- Change deployed dashboards
- Provide interactive help for your dashboards
- Monitor dashboard utilization
- Control dashboard updates
- Group lab using scenarios
Module 4: Report Builder 3.0
Lessons
- Report Builder interface
- Data connections
- Graphs
- Gauges
- Parameterized reports
- Report parts
- Mapping reports
- Data connections
- Graphs
- Gauges
- Parameterized reports
- Report parts
- Mapping reports
Module 5: Dashboard Designer
Lessons
- Dashboard Designer interface
- Key performance indicators (KPIs)
- Multivalued KPIs
- Objective KPIs
- Leaf KPIs
- Indicators
- Filters
- Scorecards (as containers)
- Connections
- Visual reports (Called graphs in Report Builder)
- Dashboards (Here we mean the web page)
- Create data connections
- Create multiple types of KPIs
- Create visual reports
- Create the hosting scorecard
- Deploy the dashboard to SharePoint
- Create filters
Module 6: SharePoint Designer
Lessons
- SharePoint Designer interface
- Business Connectivity Services
- SharePoint Web Parts
- Using SharePoint Designer for dashboard refinement
- SharePoint Designer interface familiarization
- Use Business Connectivity Services in a dashboard
- Use SharePoint Web Parts in a dashboard
- Using SharePoint Designer for dashboard refinement
Module 7: Dashboards that monitor
Lessons
- Guidance through monitoring dashboards
- Characteristics of monitoring dashboards
- Real-time monitoring
- Best practices
- Instructor guided project as preparation for the lab
- The students will walk through the creation of three dashboards based on scenarios.
- Scenario1
- Scenario 2
- Scenario 3
- Student presentation to the group
Module 8: Dashboards that analyze
Lessons
- Guidance through analytical dashboards
- Characteristics of analytical dashboards
- Best practices
- Instructor guided project as preparation for the lab
- Scenario 1
- Scenario 2
- Scenario 3
- Students presentation to the group
Module 9: Dashboards for management strategy
Lessons
- Guidance through management dashboards
- Characteristics of management dashboards
- Best practices
- Instructor guided project as preparation for the lab
- Scenario 1
- Scenario 2
- Scenario 3
- Students presentation to the group
Module 10: Custom reports and graphs using MDX (Optional module)
Lessons
- What is MDX?
- MDX Query Editor
- Select statement
- Key concepts
- Sets
- Functions
- Time intelligence
- Examine what MDX can add to the reporting environment