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Business Intelligence with MicroStrategy Cookbook
Business Intelligence with MicroStrategy Cookbook

Business Intelligence with MicroStrategy Cookbook: Over 90 practical, hands-on recipes to help you build your MicroStrategy business intelligence project, including more than a 100 screencasts with this book and ebook

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Business Intelligence with MicroStrategy Cookbook

Chapter 1. Getting Started with MicroStrategy

In this chapter, we will cover:

  • Installing SQL Server 2012 Express LocalDB

  • Installing SQL Server Native Client 11.0

  • Installing SQL Server 2012 Command Line Utilities

  • Setting up the AdventureWorks DW sample database

  • Installing the .NET Framework 4.0 and the 4.0.2 update

  • Checking whether IIS is enabled and working

  • Installing MicroStrategy Suite

  • Registering the MicroStrategy License

  • Metadata and data warehouse

  • Creating ODBC DSN for metadata and data warehouse

  • Modifying the logon account for the Intelligence Server

  • Creating the metadata, and configuring the Intelligence Server

  • Opening the MicroStrategy Desktop application

Introduction


This book is intended for Business Intelligence (BI) developers who want to expand their knowledge in a technology that is in huge demand at the moment, and for advanced data analysts who are evaluating different technologies. In this first chapter, we will start by downloading and installing the software and a well-known sample SQL Server database. You do not need to be a SQL rock star to read this book, yet some concepts, such as foreign keys or many-to-many relationships, are taken for granted.

Having previous basic knowledge about dimensional modeling (fact tables and dimensions) will also help the comprehension.

The chapters are ordered by increasing difficulties, and each one builds on the top of the preceding, so the learning is progressive; you'll get the most out of it, if you follow the recipes one after the other.

You may already have a working MicroStrategy environment; if so, you can just install the example database and skip the rest of this chapter. However, I suggest using a dedicated installation to follow the recipes; it would be easier and cleaner.

These initial recipes may seem too easy for the more experienced BI specialists, I apologize for that; I only want to be sure that starting from Chapter 2, The First Steps in a MicroStrategy Project, everyone has a common setup.

Note

The operating system installation is outside the scope of this book; nevertheless, it is of vital importance that the machine where you will be doing the exercises is correctly configured and loaded with everything we will need. Throughout the course of this book, I will use Windows 2008 Web Server SP2; I have a VMware virtual machine with 2 GB RAM and two cores. The operating system is 32 bits. You may follow the whole book with a 64-bit software, but the examples and the instructions are written and tested on a 32-bit system. While this is a very small setup for a BI machine, it is enough to start.

Installing SQL Server 2012 Express LocalDB


We will use Microsoft SQL Server for our practice; there are several versions out there both free and commercial. I selected the LocalDB because it's the one with less memory footprint and yet, has a complete set of features.

Getting ready

You will need to download some software prior to installation:

Download all these files and put them in a folder, for example, C:\install\.

How to do it...

The setup is very straightforward, in a command prompt window do the following:

  1. Install the SQL Server 2012 Express LocalDB engine by running:

    C:\install\SqlLocaLDB.MSI
    
  2. Accept the agreement and click your way out through the Next button; no special attention other than clicking on Continue to allow the user account control permission to install. The setup will take one minute, if not seconds, and it's very simple.

How it works...

We are using a stripped down version of Microsoft SQL Server 2012 database. This LocalDB engine features almost everything from the full-fledged product but runs as a user application, not as a service like its major siblings do. It is important to remember this detail because only the currently logged on user will be able to connect to the database instance.

LocalDB has very low memory requirements and guarantees quick data access on small machines.

There's more...

Check the successful outcome by issuing in a command prompt:

sqllocaldb info

The system will answer with the version number:

v11.0

which is also the name of the default instance.

Note

You can watch a screencast of this operation at:

Installing SQL Server Native Client 11.0


After installing the SQL engine, we need to load the last version of the client in order to access the local instance.

Getting ready

You need to have completed the previous recipe to continue.

How to do it...

Here's how to run the installation, in a command prompt window:

  1. Install SQL Server Native Client 11.0 by running:

    C:\install\sqlncli.msi
    
  2. Leave the default components selected for installation and click on Next until the end. As before, give the user account control permission to continue.

How it works...

We are forced to install this version of the client, as previous native clients are not able to connect to the LocalDB engine.

There's more...

Check successful outcome by clicking on Start | Administrative Tools | Data Sources (ODBC). Click on Continue if prompted, and in the ODBC Data Source Administrator window, select the Drivers tab. You should find among the last rows in this list both SQL Server and SQL Server Native Client 11.0.

Note

You can watch a screencast of this operation at:

Installing SQL Server 2012 Command Line Utilities


The command-line utilities are needed to run SQL sentences and scripts onto the database instance. You may feel more comfortable with the full SQL Server Management Studio Express, which is also free to download and use. For simplicity, and not to overload the machine, I will be using only the command line during the recipes.

Getting ready

You need to have completed the previous recipe to continue.

How to do it...

As in the previous recipes, execute the following steps in a command prompt window:

  1. Install SQL Server 2012 Command Line Utilities by running:

    C:\install\SqlCmdLnUtils.msi
    
  2. Accept the agreement, allow permission if prompted, and click on Next until the end.

There's more...

Check successful outcome with the following command:

sqlcmd -S (localdb)\v11.0

This should connect to the default instance of SQL Server. It may take a while as the SQL Server instance is loaded on demand, so when you issue this command for the first time, Windows actually has to run the sqlservr.exe executable. From the second time, the instance will be loaded faster.

Note

You can watch a screencast of this operation at:

Setting up the AdventureWorks DW sample database


Now that the instance is up and running, we can load the data into it. First, we'll create a database that will be populated with sample data.

Getting ready

You need to have completed the previous recipe to continue, and then unzip the AdventureWorks 2008R2 Data Warehouse.zip file into the folder C:\install\, so that you will end up with a folder named AdventureWorks 2008R2 Data Warehouse containing a series of SQL script files; the main being named instawdwdb.sql.

How to do it...

Before running this script we need to modify it, in order to specify the name of the source folder containing the CSV files and the name of the destination folder that will store the resulting database:

  1. Create a directory named C:\datawarehouse; this will be the location of our database.

  2. Open in Notepad the file instawdwdb.sql and modify lines 36 and 37 so that they look like:

    :setvar SqlSamplesDatabasePath   "C:\datawarehouse\"
    :setvar SqlSamplesSourceDataPath "C:\install\AdventureWorks 2008R2 Data Warehouse\"

    Tip

    The two hyphens at the beginning of the lines (comment marks) have been removed and the path to data folder and source scripts folder have been modified, they both include the trailing backslash.

  3. Save the file and close Notepad.

  4. Open a command prompt and enter the following command:

    sqlcmd -S (localdb)\v11.0 –i "C:\install\AdventureWorks 2008R2 Data Warehouse\instawdwdb.sql"
    

    Tip

    This command must be written all in one line and including the double quotes.

How it works...

The script will create the database and all the needed tables. Then will import the CSV data files into the tables to populate them with data. The script will lastly exit the sqlcmd command interface.

There's more...

In order to check if everything was installed correctly, we will perform a couple of very simple SQL queries on the database:

  1. Open the sqlcmd utility again:

    sqlcmd -S (localdb)\v11.0
    
  2. At the 1> prompt, write the following instructions each on its own line, followed by the Enter key:

    use AdventureWorksDW2008R2
    go
    select count(1) from FactInternetSales
    go
    select count(1) from DimCustomer
    go
    exit
    

The database will respond with the number of rows in the main fact table and the customer dimension table, 60398 and 18484 respectively.

Congratulations, you correctly installed the data warehouse source database!

Note

You can watch a screencast of this operation at:

Exercise 1

From the sqlcmd utility execute the queries to count the number of records in the following tables: FactCurrencyRate, FactResellerSales, DimGeography, DimDate, and DimCurrency. Note down the numbers.

Installing the .NET Framework 4.0 and the 4.0.2 update


One main software requirement for the setup of MicroStrategy suite is the .NET Framework 4.0, and the update 4.0.2 as in the Microsoft article KB2544514.

How to do it...

In a command prompt window, complete the following steps:

  1. Run the command:

    C:\install\dotNetFx40_Full_x86_x64.exe
    
  2. Accept the license agreement and watch the blue progress bars filling up slowly. This can take a while; you may have a coffee if you need. When it's finished, run:

    C:\install\NDP40-KB2544514-x86-x64.exe
    
  3. One accept button (the license agreement) and two more blue progress bars to go. If you're prompted to reboot, please do so.

How it works...

The .NET Framework is a requirement for the MicroStrategy Web and several add-on utilities.

Note

You can watch a screencast of this operation at:

Checking whether IIS is enabled and working


Since we're using Windows 2008 Web Server, we speak about roles; so we need to be sure that the web role is enabled with all the required features for the platform setup to run smoothly.

Getting ready

You need to have completed the previous recipe to continue.

How to do it...

Use the following steps to check if the required features are enabled:

  1. Open the Server Manager (Start | Administrative Tools | Server Manager) and scroll to the Roles Summary pane.

  2. Click on the Add roles link, you will see the Add Roles Wizard window; click on Next.

  3. Select Web Server (IIS) and click on Add Required Features in the pop-up message box; now click on Next and then on Next again.

  4. In the Select Role Services page, carefully check the following if not selected already:

    • In the Application Development group:

      ASP.NET (add required role services if prompted)

      ASP

    • In the Security group:

      Basic Authentication

      Windows Authentication

  5. Click on Next, then on Install, and when finished click on Close.

How it works...

These role features enable MicroStrategy Web ASP.NET pages and the ability to use Windows authentication when connecting to the Intelligence Server through the Web.

There's more...

Check the successful outcome by opening Internet Explorer and typing http://localhost/ in the address bar. You should see the IIS7 welcome logo.

Note

You can watch a screencast of this operation at:

Installing MicroStrategy Suite


Now that the prerequisites are in place, we can go on with the platform setup.

Getting ready

You need to have completed all the previous recipes to continue.

When you download the MicroStrategy Suite, it can be installed in two different versions: the full-featured 30 days evaluation or the free reporting suite.

The difference between the two is that with the former you have the complete suite with administration tools, unlimited users, the option to use more than one processor, and more; while the second is a free version with limited users, no administrator tools, and one CPU limit.

We will be using the latter, throughout this book, and only cover the features available in the free one.

Prior to downloading and installing the software we need to register on the MicroStrategy website. Please provide a real company e-mail address as the registration process won't allow you to use @hotmail or @gmail addresses or any other well-known free e-mail service. Once you're registered, you will receive a message in your inbox with a license number.

MicroStrategy installation archive can be found at:

You only need to download one of the two and unzip the archive into a folder, for example, C:\install\.

How to do it...

You need to have administrator rights to install the suite:

  1. You should have extracted the contents of the MSTR_93_GA_WindowsFullzip archive into C:\install\, so run the executable:

    C:\install\MICROSTRATEGY.exe
    
  2. In the welcome window, click on Install Software and then on Begin MicroStrategy Platform Installation. If a User Account Control dialog pops up, click on Allow.

  3. The MicroStrategy-InstallShield Wizard appears asking you to choose a language for the setup, accept the default English and click on OK.

  4. You will find yourself in front of yet another welcome page; politely click on Next and agree to the following warning message saying that the print spooler and remote registry service will be shut down during the setup (they will restart when you reboot the machine).

  5. Now accept the license agreement and click on Next.

  6. In the Customer Information window, fill your username, company, and paste the license number you received via e-mail.

  7. Click on Next, which will bring you to the Choose Destination Location page, accept the defaults and click on Next again.

  8. Here you have the features selection list; depending if you used the free license or the evaluation key you will be presented with more or less choices. Simply accept the defaults and click on Next (if you receive a warning about a missing PDF reader disregard it, for now we do not need this feature).

  9. Click on Yes, the web server will be stopped and restarted.

  10. Then click on Yes again, the setup will enable the web service extensions in IIS for us.

  11. On the MicroStrategy Health Center Setting page, accept the defaults and click on Next.

  12. On the Server Activation page, click on Next; fill in the Name, Location, and Use fields. Then click on Next.

  13. On the following page you must select the first option: I am an employee of the licensed company., otherwise you won't be allowed to continue. All the fields in the Installer Information group are mandatory except State, so be patient and fill in them all.

  14. Lastly, you may choose to request an activation code, which will be sent to your e-mail. Please do so unless you're behind a corporate firewall which in some cases may prevent the operation to complete.

  15. Review the summary information and click on Install.

  16. The full install may last anywhere between 5 and 40 minutes depending on the hard drive speed—time for a break.

  17. At the end of the progress bar, read the Readme file if you want, and click on Yes, reboot the machine when prompted.

There's more...

Check the successful outcome—after the server reboots, the Configuration Wizard window will appear. We will use it in a while but not just yet; you can click on Exit now or simply leave it in the background while going on to the next recipe.

Also, look at the Windows taskbar. You may see a warning balloon message popping and saying that the operating system has blocked some startup programs; click on the Blocked Startup Programs icon and let it run the executable MASvcMgr, now you will see the server manager icon with a green check mark meaning the Intelligence Server is running. Good job!

If you chose not to request an activation code, you may use the software for seven days before it stops working.

Note

You can watch a screencast of this operation at:

Registering the MicroStrategy License


The license needs to be activated for the software to continue working after the seven days grace period. There is a tool in the suite to help with the registration process, named License Manager.

Getting ready

You need to have completed the previous recipe to continue.

How to do it...

We will be now registering the MicroStrategy License:

  1. Click on Start | All Programs | MicroStrategy | License Manager.

  2. In the main window, select the tab named License Administration; the first option Activate Server Installation should be already selected. Click on Next.

  3. In the following page, ensure that the radio button Generate Activation File and Request Activation Code is selected and click on Next and then on Next again, until you come to the page where you should enter all the details about your company and contacts.

  4. The e-mail address is important to receive the activation code. Click on Next.

  5. Select Yes, I want to request an Activation Code now and hit Next. You will shortly receive an e-mail message.

  6. Click on Done to return to the beginning of the license administration process and start again with the Activate Server Installation radio button selected.

  7. Click on Next, and this time select the option Server Activation using Activation Code.

  8. In the textbox underneath, paste the code you received by e-mail and click on Next, and then click on OK, then on Done, and then on the Exit button.

Congratulations, you have registered the MicroStrategy License. Reboot the machine or restart the following services: MicroStrategy Intelligence Server and World Wide Web Publishing Service.

There's more....

The free license allows you to use the software with up to 10 named users, with the only limitation that some utilities are missing. With this edition you can build a complete BI solution for a small to mid-size company on a very low budget.

The Evaluation version has no user limitation, and all the utilities, but will expire after 30 days.

Note

You can watch a screencast of this operation at:

Metadata and data warehouse


These are two key concepts in every BI project with MicroStrategy so we'd better have them clear since the beginning.

Metadata is data about data (what?). Ok, let's say that in the metadata you won't find any customer names or sales figures or any other fact, you'll just find information about the columns where this data come from, the datatype, and several other details about how to create the customer entity, for example, how does it relate to other elements in the project and where it is stored, plus the definition of all the reports.

While the data warehouse is the real source of the facts and dimensions that you will analyze. So, in principle, metadata and data warehouse are different databases and/or different instances; they may even reside in different hardware (and usually are, for example, in cluster production environments).

It is easy to deduce that the metadata is relatively small compared to the data warehouse, which is usually a huge, daily refreshed, historical storage with lots of records.

So AdventureWorksDW2008R2, which we just created, will be our "huge" 78 MB data warehouse; while we still do not have a storage for the metadata. Given that we are in a single-user training environment, we can use the same SQL Server instance for the metadata, but we'll create a new database to hold it.

Getting ready

You need to have completed the previous recipe to continue.

How to do it...

In a command prompt window:

  1. Bring up the sqlcmd command utility once again with:

    sqlcmd -S (localdb)\v11.0
    
  2. And when the 1> prompt appears, type this (each command in its own line and followed by the Enter key):

    create database metadata
    go
    exit
    

How it works...

The create database metadata instruction will generate the metadata.mdf file. Both databases will be accessible from the same instance named v11.0.

There's more...

In SQL Server, the go command is the default end of the batch instruction. Other databases use different commands.

Note

You can watch a screencast of this operation at:

Creating ODBC DSN for metadata and data warehouse


Now that we have two databases, we need to tell MicroStrategy how to find and how to connect to them. Being in a Windows world, all the connections are done through ODBC, 32-bit ODBC to be correct.

Tip

You should be aware of this if you happen to install MicroStrategy on 64-bit Windows—the connectivity tier runs on 32 bits, the ODBC drivers are 32-bit drivers, and you won't find them in the default 64-bit ODBC Administrator (hint: look in the SysWOW64 folder).

Getting ready

You need to have completed the previous recipe to continue.

How to do it...

We will create the two DSN:

  1. Click on Start | Administrative Tools | Data Sources (ODBC) and select the System DSN tab.

  2. You will find some DSNs already created for you by the setup; we need to create two more (yes, you're right: one for the metadata and one for the data warehouse).

  3. Click on the Add… button, scroll down the list to select SQL Server Native Client 11.0 and click on Finish.

  4. In the Create a New Data Source to SQL Server window, type these values:

    • Name: metadata

    • Server: (localdb)\v11.0

  5. Click on Next and then on Next again.

  6. Click the checkbox labeled Change the default database to and in the drop-down list underneath, select metadata. Leave all the remaining default values and click on Next and on Finish.

  7. Click on Test Data Source… and look at the message: if it says TESTS COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY!, you're good to go. Click on OK and then on OK again.

  8. Repeat all the steps to create another DSN to the data warehouse, this time with the following values:

    • Name: datawarehouse

    • Server: (localdb)\v11.0

    • Change the default database to: AdventureWorksDW2008R2

How it works...

Every interaction with the relational DBMS is done through ODBC. MicroStrategy ships with a list of out-of-the-box drivers for the most common databases. Nevertheless, you may use other ODBC drivers if so you wish, provided that they work in 32 bits.

There's more...

In our recipes, we will connect to a SQL Server instance, so we need to use the Microsoft provided Native ODBC. If, for example, you use Oracle in your BI environment, you will find the provided Oracle Wire driver being very convenient and light-weight. The company behind the shipped drivers is DataDirect.

Note

You can watch a screencast of this operation at:

Modifying the logon account for the Intelligence Server


As said before, the SQL Server LocalDB engine runs as a user application, hence it is only accessible from the currently logged on user. We will now modify the credentials of the MicroStrategy Intelligence Server so that it can connect to the database instance that is running in the user context.

I'm hearing the screams of the security-wise system administrators: of course, you wouldn't want to do this in a production environment as it can pose serious security risks, but here we are in a training environment.

Getting ready

If the current user has no password, create one before proceeding.

How to do it...

Follow these steps to modify the startup account for the Intelligence Server:

  1. In Start | Run dialog, type services.msc.

  2. This will open the Services console; scroll down to find MicroStrategy Intelligence Server, it is now executing with Local System credentials, double-click on the service.

  3. Select the Log On tab and click on the This account radio button.

  4. Then type your current username and password in the corresponding text fields below.

  5. Now click on OK to close the dialog box.

  6. A message will warn you that the user has been granted the right to log on as a service. Click on OK and then on OK again at the second warning telling you that you should restart the service. We'll do it in a moment.

  7. Right-click on the MicroStrategy Intelligence Server service and select Restart from the context menu that appears.

How it works...

Most of the services in Windows run with a special account called Local System. In our case, the Intelligence Server service must be able to connect to a SQL Server instance that is running under the currently connected user context. This is why we need to run the Intelligence Server as "ourselves", so that it can see the database instance.

There's more...

Restarting the Intelligence Server service will take some time, in case of any error the service won't restart; you probably mistyped the password or the username; double check and retry. Please keep in mind that Windows will not allow blank-password users to log on as a service.

Note

You can watch a screencast of this operation at:

Creating the metadata and configuring the Intelligence Server


The metadata consists of a series of tables that MicroStrategy uses to store information about projects and the objects that build up those projects. In one of the previous recipes, we created the empty metadata database and now we will start populating it.

Getting ready

You need to have completed the previous recipe to continue.

How to do it...

To create the metadata, do the following:

  1. You should already have the configuration wizard open in the background; if you closed it, you can find it in Start | All Programs | MicroStrategy. Click on Configuration Wizard to run it.

  2. In the first page of the wizard, the first option should already be selected, so click on Next.

  3. In this phase of the project, we're not interested in the history list or statistics, so we uncheck the corresponding checkboxes and leave just the first one checked. Then click on Next.

  4. Now we are telling the wizard where to look for the metadata database, you should have a list of all the system DSNs present in the machine, select the metadata DSN that we created before, click on Next and on Finish.

  5. The wizard starts creating and populating metadata tables. When the process is completed, click on Close to go back to the starting page of the wizard.

  6. The second option Configure Intelligent Server should be automatically selected, click on Next and again select the metadata DSN from the drop-down list and click on Next.

  7. When you're prompted for the username and password leave everything as default, the Administrator user still has no password, and click on Next.

    Note

    This Administrator user here has nothing to do with the operating system. It's the MicroStrategy metadata administrator.

  8. Watch the wizard as it tries to connect to the recently created metadata and when the Server Definitions page appears just hit Next and Next again, as we will use all the default settings.

  9. In the SSL Configuration page, leave the checkbox unchecked; click on Next and on Finish.

  10. The Intelligence Server is stopping and restarting with the new configuration. Once the process terminates, click on Close and then on Exit.

We're ready to start up the Desktop application.

How it works...

The Intelligence Server definition is stored in the metadata. The wizard populates the tables with default values such as the server port and the administrator password. The Intelligence Server service then, reads the metadata when starting up, to retrieve all this information. There can be only one active metadata at a time. You may have different versions of it, but only one in use. To switch from one metadata to another, you need to run the configuration wizard again.

There's more...

Needless to say, the backup of the metadata is very important. If you lose this database, you lose every project in it.

You could also create a metadata in an MS Access database, if you want. For small projects or demos, this helps moving it around just by copying the MDB file.

Note

You can watch screencasts of this operation at:

Opening the MicroStrategy Desktop application


The platform is all set. We now have a brand new MicroStrategy Server up and running, but we don't have any projects yet.

This may be a good time to save your work and store a backup of the Windows machine, just in case. If you are running a virtual environment, a snapshot of the VM would be perfect.

The MicroStrategy Desktop application is the development tool to generate projects, objects, reports, and so on. It is also used to explore and manage the objects that reside in the metadata. From now on, we'll spend the major part of our time in this IDE.

It's not difficult to get used to the interface as it is fairly simple, much like the Windows Explorer you have folders on the left and details on the right.

Getting ready

You need to have completed the previous recipe to continue.

How to do it...

Let's open the Desktop application:

  1. Go to Start | All Programs | MicroStrategy | Desktop and click on the Desktop icon.

  2. Double-click on the line named MicroStrategy Analytics Modules, which was created by the setup and you'll be prompted for the metadata credentials; remember? The user is Administrator with no password.

  3. The first time you connect, a message will remind you that no project is there, click on OK. We'll create one in a moment.

  4. When you enter the MicroStrategy Analytics Modules (we call this a project source) for the first time, you'll be watching a window like the one in the following screen capture:

  5. Unfold the Administration folder and click on User Manger on the left pane. Then double-click on Everyone on the right pane. You will see there is only a user in this group.

  6. Double-click on the Administrator user icon to open the User Editor.

  7. Here, you can manage all the details of a user such as full name, login, password, or permission to see projects and which features the user has access to. There are two text fields for password with asterisks, type a new password here and confirm. Then close the editor by clicking on OK.

  8. Exit the Desktop application and open it again. This time you will be prompted for credentials to enter the MicroStrategy Analytics Modules, type Administrator and the password you just created.

How it works...

At the top-most level of the folder tree in MicroStrategy Desktop application there are the project sources, think of them as a shortcut to the Metadata. A project source is just a way for MicroStrategy to know where the Intelligence Server is running and how to connect to it.

The Administration folder is where all the administrative tasks are performed in the Desktop application, and you can see this because you've entered the application with an admin account.

There's more...

There are two types of project source, two-tiers (Direct) and three-tiers (Intelligence Server). Two-tiered project sources connect directly to the metadata database, while three-tiered first connect to an Intelligence Server, which in turn connects to the metadata.

Now that the administrative account is secured, if you forget this password, all of your work will be lost. Ouch! Really? Yes, exactly, please remember: there is no way known to humans to recover a metadata lost password. Only MicroStrategy Support can do this: I never dared to ask them to, so please take my work and be sure not to forget it.

Note

You can watch a screencast of this operation at:

See also

  • The Creating an empty project recipe in Chapter 2, The First Steps in a MicroStrategy Project

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Key benefits

  • Learn about every step of the BI project, starting from the installation of a sample database
  • Design web reports and documents
  • Configure, develop, and use the Mobile Dashboard
  • Master data discovery with Visual Insight and MicroStrategy Cloud Express
  • Learn with the help of practical, real-life examples and screencasts for every exercise

Description

Business intelligence is becoming more important by the day, with cloud offerings and mobile devices gaining wider acceptance and achieving better market penetration. MicroStrategy Reporting Suite is a complete business intelligence platform that covers all the data analysis needs of an enterprise. Scorecards, dashboards, and reports can be explored and delivered on desktop, the Web, mobile devices, and the Cloud. With the latest Visual Insight tool, MicroStrategy brings the power of BI to the business users, allowing them to discover information without the help of IT personnel. Business Intelligence with MicroStrategy Cookbook covers the full cycle of a BI project with the MicroStrategy platform, from setting up the software to using dashboards in the cloud and on mobile devices. This book uses step-by-step instructions to teach you everything from the very basics to the more advanced topics. We will start by downloading and installing the software and a well-known sample SQL Server database. Then, one brick at a time, we will construct a fully-featured BI solution with a web interface, mobile reporting, and agile analytics. The chapters are ordered by increasing difficulty, and each one builds on top of the preceding chapter so that the learning process is progressive. The examples given in this book are practical, and you will be able to see the immediate result of your efforts. We will first cover setting up the platform, including the creation of the metadata and the different objects that are part of a BI project: tables, attributes, and metrics. Then, we take a look at how to create and analyze reports, charts, documents, and dashboards, as well as how to manipulate data with the desktop application, the web Interface, and an iPad device. The last part of the book is dedicated to advanced topics like the new agile analytics technology from MicroStrategy, where we cover both Visual Insight and MicroStrategy Cloud Express. Whether you are a database developer, data analyst, or a business user, Business Intelligence with MicroStrategy Cookbook will get you up to speed with one of the most powerful BI platforms on the market with the smallest possible investment of time and money.

Who is this book for?

This book is intended for both BI and database developers who want to expand their knowledge of MicroStrategy. It is also useful for advanced data analysts who are evaluating different technologies. You do not need to be an SQL master to read this book, yet knowledge of some concepts like foreign keys and many-to-many relationships is assumed. Some knowledge of basic concepts such as dimensional modeling (fact tables, dimensions) will also help your comprehension of this book. No previous MicroStrategy knowledge is needed.

What you will learn

  • Install a complete MicroStrategy server (including a web interface)
  • Create a project and connect to a data warehouse
  • Build reports, graphs, documents, dashboards, and interactive visualizations
  • Configure and use MicroStrategy on mobile devices
  • Add values to the data with month to date and year to date analyses
  • Use In-Memory technology for instant results and data discovery
  • Analyze data in the cloud with MicroStrategy Cloud Express

Product Details

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Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Oct 26, 2013
Length: 356 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781782179764
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Product Details

Publication date : Oct 26, 2013
Length: 356 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781782179764
Category :

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Mastering Business Intelligence with MicroStrategy
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Table of Contents

13 Chapters
Getting Started with MicroStrategy Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
The First Steps in a MicroStrategy Project Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Schema Objects – Attributes Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Objects – Facts and Metrics Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Data Display and Manipulation – Reports Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Data Analysis and Visualization – Graphs Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Analysis on the Web – Documents and Dashboards Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Dynamic Selection with Filters and Prompts Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Mobile BI for Developers Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Mobile BI for Users Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Consolidations, Custom Groups, and Transformations Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
In-Memory Cubes and Visual Insight Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
MicroStrategy Express Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Top Reviews
Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon Empty star icon 3.8
(11 Ratings)
5 star 54.5%
4 star 18.2%
3 star 0%
2 star 9.1%
1 star 18.2%
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eric h souare Jan 03, 2014
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
One of the first manuals outside of the official Microstrategy (vendor) publications. I like that it takes you through an entire report development cycle. The steps are easy to follow and the instructions accurate.On a personal note, I have known Davide for a few years now. When I am stuck on a complex microstrategy problem, he is the only one I go to.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
SF Dec 24, 2014
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
The author leads the reader through a series of bona-fide workshops that will give you a strong understanding of the sophisticated and robust data warehouse/business intelligence environment of MicroStrategy. If you have already used MicroStrategy tools, the labs can fill out your knowledge set. Either way, the Kindle and this book together are the perfect application for investing your time in the labs - and you SHOULD go through all the labs - because you not only can read through the directions on the Kindle, you can EASILY navigate to the URI links provided in the book without losing your train of thought in your extant lab. Either way: go through the book, and the author will have opened a door of BI knowledge that is difficult to penetrate: the MicroStrategy BI environment.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Dmitry Mar 28, 2016
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Very good book, especially for the people who has experience with other BI and want to quickly switch on Microstrategy.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Ashish Feb 11, 2014
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This is the first book by an independent MSTR expert which goes from scratch till full development cycle. Absolutely recommended for beginners, good refresher for architects. The best part is it takes on a Data Model, goes through every step of development in a very precise and simple to understand steps. It gives explanation through its "How it works" section which I think should be how a good guide should be written.It covers almost every aspects of MSTR objects which a developer needs to know.It also gives good input of various new products from MicroStrategy.Just for note: This is a cookbook and not a detail theory book so it will give reader all the ammunitions to fight the extreme curve of learning MSTR but for detail learning reader should keep MSTR product guides handy and go through them. These product guides are still the ones without which learning MSTR is incomplete.For the author: I would like to see a similar cookbook, a sequel to this basic guide which is on advance topics simulating the common DW scenarios and one on Administration for beginners including EM, Metadata, IM, OM. Thanks for this good read!Regards,Ashish
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Jag Feb 25, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Price is very less compare to competitors. 👌👍
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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