Report Template Format Landscape and Roadmap

The latest SQL Server version has also brought the latest additions to Microsoft’s collection of report template formats. Reporting presents query results from a data source to an end user, using a report template created by a report designer. Reporting is critical for monitoring the effectiveness of an organization and its business processes, and for delivering information required by workers to make good decisions. Organizations can save time and money by focusing on Microsoft report template formats that not only serve their needs, but that are likely to receive future investment from Microsoft.

This report summarizes each of Microsoft’s major report template formats and its supporting technologies. (For an overview of the reporting terms used in this report, see the illustration “Reporting Technology Components“.) The report also estimates the amount of future Microsoft investment each format is likely to receive compared to the other formats. (See the chart “Report Format Ratings“.) More detailed analysis of each report format and its supporting technologies appears in other reports listed in the Resources section.