SQL Server Reporting Services 2012 Projects with Visual Studio 2012 - Learning SQL Server Reporting Services 2012 - page 65

SQL Server Reporting
Services 2012 Projects with
Visual Studio 2012
In the previous chapter, we prepared the ground for learning Reporting Services
2012 by installing the software environment on a single computer. In this chapter, we
will look at one of the important tools, SQL Server Data Tools, used to create business
intelligence projects in general and Reporting Services projects in particular.
What is business intelligence?
Business intelligence ( BI ) is the intelligent way of looking at raw business data,
after processing the data with business intelligence tools. The motivation for using
BI is to extract information contained in the data that would help the bottom line
of the business; develop a new insight to branch out into new opportunities; set up
business campaigns; extract information to determine problems, if any, in running
the business in certain ways; predict the business trend by implementing calculated
changes to business patterns; and so on.
The ability to crunch large amounts of data from many different sources of data and to
wring out all the details necessary for such intelligent analysis is at the core of business
intelligence. Reporting is a major part of the BI, to convey the result of data crunching
in a format that can be easily grasped allowing us to take proactive measures.
In previous versions of SQL Servers, notably in SQL Server 2008, an installation
of SQL Server installed a version of Visual Studio called Business Intelligence
Development Studio ( BIDS ) containing only BI-related projects.