February 5, 2009. Article written by Brian Kelly, Senior BI/DW Consultant, Brightlight Consulting

After much speculation, Microsoft officially announced last week that they will discontinue PerformancePoint Server (PPS) as a standalone BI product. While some features will be integrated into future releases of Microsoft Office and SharePoint, many customers are apprehensive, as it appears that Microsoft has abandoned on its strategy to be a major BI application player with dedicated BI products.

From me to you….. don’t worry. PerfomancePoint was a hodge-podge product built on acquired technology that featured analytics, budgeting, planning and forecasting. While it may have sounded good at the time, the offering confused the public and was far too complex for mainstream consumption.

Now Microsoft has taken a more pragmatic approach by leveraging one of its best new products SharePoint to become THE portal for analytics and dashboard deployments. By using this broadly adopted platform Microsoft is increasing its ability to delivery on the promise of “BI for the masses”.

"Our decision is based on wanting customers to truly experience pervasive BI in their organization at a low cost through the tools they use every day," wrote Kurt DelBene, senior VP of the Office Business Platform Group, in a statement.

When looking at what to do with your existing investment in PPS, or for those of you that were considering PPS, please remember that PPS was only a tool to provide analytics and intelligence. What’s more important is your commitment to capture good data with the measures and dimensions necessary to support your analytical needs. A tool cannot make up for a poorly designed data model, data quality issues, or inadequate processes. There are plenty of other analytical “tool” solutions for you to consider, including other Microsoft products like: SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), Excel Services and SharePoint. All of which create a powerful toolset to build Scorecards, Dashboards and Reports. KPI’s can be built and maintained in SharePoint by business users and leveraged by developers and analysts to build and publish Excel Services and SSRS objects. Additionally, there are several other vendors that provide excellent reporting products, including: MicroStrategy, Business Objects, and Cognos.

If you are currently using PPS or have been looking at PPS don’t panic…. you have a partner. Brightlight Consulting, with our dedicated focus on Business Intelligence Services, is available to help you evaluate your current portfolio, formulate a plan and develop a tailored solution for your organization.

Please contact us today to begin your customized evaluation and needs analysis.

To find out more information on the discontinuation of PPS, visit these links:

* Microsoft BI - Microsoft BI Strategy Update.
* Official Video – Video Annoucement.
* Microsoft Press - Microsoft Brings Business Intelligence to the Masses with SharePoint.
* Peter Koller - PerformancePoint is no more.
* Chris Webb -  More thoughts on the death of PPS Planning.
* Nigel Pendse - Commentary: The false dawn of Microsoft PerformancePoint Planning.
* Cubegeek - Microsoft PPS: Dead.

About Brightlight Consulting
Brightlight Consulting is a Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing consultancy dedicated to helping our clients get exactly the right information - to the right people - at the right time, to empower decision-making that will significantly improve profitability, cost efficiency and competitive advantage.  Brightlight brings deep technical knowledge of all the latest BI tools, but our experience tells us Business Intelligence technology is only as effective as the strategy it fulfills and the people it enables. 

Brightlight Consulting's success is based on the belief that building a consulting firm exclusively focused on Business Intelligence Services will attract a community of deeply experienced consultants with a passion for Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing. In turn, we are able to bring our clients a depth and breadth of capability and a commitment to deliver with uncompromising dedication to quality and integrity. 
Web site: www.brightlightconsulting.com.