SQL Server Reporting Seeks More Designers

Improvements to Reporting Services in SQL Server 2008 R2 help designers create reports from reusable parts, introduce useful new chart types, and enable reporting on data from SharePoint and the SQL Azure cloud database service. The R2 version should open report design to more users and aid the reporting technology in its friendly rivalry with other reporting options, but Office users still face a steep learning curve and developers will find some technologies out of sync.

Latest Platform for Managed Reporting

Reporting Services, Analysis Services, and Integration Services are the core business intelligence (BI) features in SQL Server. These services help decision making by enabling organizations to analyze data from business applications and databases. As with the other BI components, Reporting Services is not strictly for SQL Server data but can generate reports from data originating in other many sources, including Oracle and IBM DB2 databases.

Reporting Services is part of an array of Microsoft technologies for summarizing and presenting data that also includes Excel, SharePoint Server, and Access. However, Reporting Services provides the most complete, scalable infrastructure for managed reporting, delivering reports to large numbers of users on an ongoing basis while maintaining central control over who sees which reports. (See the illustration “Reporting Services Overview“.) Consequently, Reporting Services remains a good bet for companies looking for a general-purpose reporting platform that will continue to draw Microsoft investment.