by Nicki Stewart

Microsoft has launched a tool on their website to help users ascertain what Business Intelligence tools they already own. Excitingly, enticingly entitled, “What are you capable of?” it suggests it will work out for you what you can already do with what you already have. As that’s bang on line with our BI mission we were keen to test drive.

The tool claims to help answer the following questions:

  • What BI capabilities do I have today in the Microsoft technology I already own?
  • What Microsoft products offer business intelligence, Big Data, and data warehousing capabilities?
  • Based on what I own, what products would I need to upgrade in order to tap into more powerful analytic capabilities?
  • Where can I get more information on deploying these technologies?

This all seemed marvellous so with great optimism I clicked away at the tool. Sadly it is not aimed at Dynamics NAV users. It seems it is pitched at large organisations and so its marketing message is probably to highlight how much money can be wasted on fancy tools that promise great graphics but are too cumbersome / complex for most users and end up being style over substance.

We can give an easier list:

  • Does your version of SQL include the BI tools (e.g. SQL Server R2 2008 Enterprise)?
  • Are you on Office 2007 or later?

Answer yes to the above and you already have most of the tools you need. If you need help unlocking these capabilities, contact us.