This document discusses Gemini, a self-service business intelligence (BI) solution that aims to unite business users and IT. It does this by providing an easy to use and familiar tool (Excel) for business users to access and analyze data in a managed and compliant way. The solution leverages existing technologies like SQL Server, SharePoint and Excel Services to provide capabilities like data feeds, reports as data sources and collaboration in a secure and scalable manner while giving IT management and oversight of resources and data. The goal is to empower business users with self-service capabilities while also addressing IT needs for compliance, reliability and maintenance.
2. What's in a name… Gemini - Gemini (pronounced /ˈgɛmɪnaɪ/, Latin: twins, symbol ♊) is one of the constellations of the zodiac known as "the twins"
3. The Corporate Twins Business Users IT United in a common goal but separated by a chasm of clashing roles and responsibilities
4. BI Spectrum Empoweredand Managed IT Managed Secure Scalable Up to date Backed Up Self Service Easy to use On and Offline Collaborative Data Sources Data Marts BI andLOB Apps Portals and Dashboards IT Involvement in BI IT Unmanaged Spreadsheets and Desktop Apps End User Context for BI Personal(Empowered) Organizational(Aligned) Team(Connected) 4
5. Personal, Team, Organizational BI Data Sources Data Marts BI andLOB Apps Portals and Dashboards Spreadsheets and Desktop Apps Empowered Aligned
6. The Challenge Data warehouses do not cover all data or all users New formal BI solutions need time and resources Diverse users have diverse data needs Bottleneck Ad-hoc requests stress I.T. capacity Power users bypass I.T. with unsanctioned sources Chaos
19. A Technology driven approach Adapt technology to the business user Remove friction and barriers to entry Transparent to the user Familiar tools and skills – the cornerstone of Gemini Nothing new to learn Full potential of existing technology investments Continue to work with familiar partners Everyone Plays their position Business Users don’t need to be technologists IT doesn’t need to understand business trivia
36. Data feeds Data service REST/Atom WCF service syndication feeds Astoria Data feed file Atom service document (.atomsvc) Opens in Gemini client to import data Microsoft Internal Only
41. Ms and 3rd party apps can publish feeds Microsoft Internal Only
42. For More Information CTP - http://blogs.msdn.com/mtc/archive/2009/08/10/sql-server-2008-r2-august-ctp-availability.aspx http://blogs.msdn.com/gemini/ http://blogs.msdn.com/SoCalDevGal
Hinweis der Redaktion
End users are the final consumers of “Business Intelligence” they are the ones that look for insights into the information that is provided and make strategic, tactical or operational decisions.Today end users use familiar tools like Microsoft Office Excel and Access to create their business models or reports and either make decisions themselves or share it out with others. This allows them to get solutions up and running quickly without any dependence on IT. The challenge with these traditional tools is that there is no accountability for where the data in their systems comes from and where the information goes. Not only is it a data quality issue, but one of compliance as well and is the reason why IT Pros within these organizations look to try and manage this information sprawl.IT on the other hand is used to managing their data and infrastructure in a secure, scalable and reliable way, but just cant keep up with the demands of the end users as every new request needs additional customization or the creation of new BI assets.Our vision for end user empowerment is about bringing the best of both worlds to the end user. End users should continue to rapidly create their business models and repots using the tools that they are familiar with while at the same time being able to work on information that is managed by IT, is secure and of high quality. All without having to directly call on IT to make it all happen. This is what we view as “Self Service BI”
If SharePoint lists had a REST/Atom API, when Gemini is installed in the SharePoint farm we could add an Open Data Feed menu option that returned an .atomsvc file that points to the data service (the Open Data Feed menu option would be added by Gemini not part of WSS, because showing this option to users only makes sense if their organization has deployed Gemini in their SharePoint farm).
For REST/Atom data services, the IT administrator can create data feed files that contain the URL of the data service. For the MDM example above to work, MDM (or preferably BDC) would have to implement a REST/Atom API.
Data feed files stored in SharePoint document libraries can be returned as search results