The document discusses how implementing a self-service approach using Microsoft Business Intelligence (MBI) tools can empower government users and maximize ROI for federal IT resources. It provides 12 suggestions for how MBI tools like Power BI, SQL Server Analysis Services, and SharePoint can allow users to perform analytics, create custom reports, and access reports on any device without relying on IT staff. The document concludes that MBI tools offer significant efficiency compared to traditional programming but require an investment to establish a strategy and framework.

1. 12 Ways to Empower
Government Users With the
Microsoft Business
Intelligence (MBI) Stack

2. Question
Are your organization’s
Federal IT resources
under constant
pressure, with no end
in sight?

3. Answer
You are not alone.
With limited access to dedicated information
technology resources, non-technical end users
often play the waiting game, relying on IT staff to do
simple tasks like generating custom queries and
embedding them within applications.

4. Another Issue
Your department’s need
to generate on demand,
ad hoc reports gets
pushed to the back burner
while IT resources
respond to more pressing
matters.

5. Solution
Implementing a self-service
approach
alleviates your IT staff
from such tasks,
affording them more
time to focus on solving
high impact problems.

6. Check Your Budget Constraints
With the 2013 government shutdown and
sequestration on our minds, proper
allocation of IT funds is critical for
budgetary survival. Although the federal
government plans to spend a mere 2% of
its $3.9 trillion budget on IT resources
(SOURCE: Agency FY 2015 IT Budgets),
there’s no guarantee that your IT budget
will escape future cuts.

7. The Challenge of Cloud First
Since February 2011, government
agencies have struggled to comply with
US Chief Information Officer Vivek
Kundra’s Federal Cloud Computing
Strategy (known as “Cloud First”). This
directive, released through the Office of
Management and Budget, requires
agencies to give cloud technology first
priority in developing IT projects.
(Source: GovIT Journal). Three years
later, compliance under this policy is still
a challenge.

8. So…
How can you
maximize ROI in Federal
IT and move toward
Cloud First compliance?

9. Solution
Discontinue the habit of
relying on IT resources
for small tasks that users
can either do themselves
or with limited
assistance.

10. Think Microsoft
Your agency’s use of
Microsoft Business
Intelligence (MBI) tools
and reporting services
may hold the key to
advancing your
organization’s return on
investment as well as gain
much needed autonomy
for your users.

11. Empower Your Users & Save Money
12 Ways to Empower Your End Users
with the
Microsoft
Business Intelligence (MBI)
Stack

12. Suggestion #1
Build a user friendly, cloud-based
computing solution (e.g., Microsoft
Power BI for Office 365) that’s
simple to use and easy to maintain
with the same Microsoft products
your staff use every day. As a
result, the learning curve will be
low for your staff and make the
transition into the business
intelligence world less painful for
all involved.

13. Suggestion #2
Once the Power BI site is in
place, end users can access
the system on the go, share
ideas, and take ownership of
their individual and collective
projects.

14. Suggestion #3
Allow users to perform data
analytics in real time and create
custom reports and templates
on the fly by simply dragging
and dropping components to
make reports as needed.
Moreover, with an easy to use
framework, users can generate
many types of reports without
IT intervention.

15. Suggestion #4
Use SQL Server Analysis Services
(SSAS) to unleash the power of
Excel. With data mining algorithms,
users are able to “data dive” to
obtain the results that they need
to turn data into useful information
without manually sifting through
tons of data. In addition, the
PivotTable and PivotChart tools
create visual representations that
are easy to manipulate and modify,
as necessary.

16. Suggestion #5
Set viewing, editing and
access permissions on a
“need to know” basis. Give
users the appropriate rights
they need to do their
particular job functions.

17. Suggestion #6
Document versioning controls
within SharePoint allow for several
iterations of the same document to
be stored as separate files on the
system. Only one version of a
document is viewable at a time. In
addition, reverting back to
previous versions is possible with
very little effort.

18. Suggestion #7
SharePoint’s check-in/check-out
functionality prevents
document overwrites,
ensuring document security.
End users check out
documents when they need
them and check them back in
when they are done.

19. Suggestion #8
SQL Server Reporting Services
(SSRS) integrates within a
SharePoint environment,
permitting users multiple
options for reporting in Excel,
Visio, and SharePoint.

20. Suggestion #9
Users can access reports on any
device that supports Windows 8.1
and HTML5 via the Microsoft Power
BI for Windows app. This
functionality provides even more
opportunity for sharing and
collaboration with staff. Documents
are synced between the device and
the cloud, ensuring that document
integrity remains intact.
SOURCE: MICROSOFT CORPORATION

21. Suggestion #10
Use Power Query in Excel to ask
specific questions in “natural” non-technical
language. Users can
manipulate information by
filtering, sorting, forecasting, and
highlighting data.

22. Suggestion #11
Configure data refreshes without
much disruption to your team. This
ensures that all team members
instantly have the most recent
updates.

23. Suggestion #12
The SharePoint KPI list can be
added to a SharePoint site
and configured to display
color coded icons (e.g., green,
yellow, and red) to indicate
KPI status. Monitoring KPI
performance may be used to
predict the success of your
organization.

24. Conclusion
Microsoft Business Intelligence tools are tremendously
powerful and offer significant efficiency when compared
with programmatic support required for the creation of
ad hoc queries. They do, however, require an investment
of IT resources to establish a BI strategy and framework.
Microsoft’s implementation vision of thinking big and
starting small is key to proving the value of BI for analysis
and reporting, as well as to ensure buy-in by
management and users together.

25. Call Blue Mountain Data Systems
For your Microsoft Business Intelligence needs, contact
Blue Mountain at 703-502-3416.
We can help you to establish a strategy, framework and
reporting structure to enable you to begin effectively
using BI tools.

26. ABOUT US
Blue Mountain Data Systems Inc.
Blue Mountain Data Systems Inc. is dedicated to application
and systems development, document management and the
automation of workflow processes.
Read more about our experience here:
>> http://bluemt.com/experience

27. MANAGEMENT
Paul T. Vesely
Founder, President, CEO and Principal Architect
Mr. Vesely is a recognized thought leader in systems
architecture and delivery, having designed and
delivered many enterprise wide information and
document management solutions. Mr. Vesely’s history
includes 33 years experience in the information
systems industry, with Unisys, Grumman, PRC and a
host of clients in both government and private sectors.

28. CONTACT US
Contact Us Today to Discuss Your Next IT Project
HEADQUARTERS
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Herndon, VA 20170
PHONE 703-502-3416
FAX 703-745-9110
EMAIL
paul@bluemt.com
WEB
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