Scorecard Manager Uses Analysis Services

A forthcoming product called the Office Business Scorecard Manager (BSM) 2005 (previously referred to by the code-name Maestro) and planned for fall 2005, supports business performance management, the use of “business scorecards” to analyze ongoing performance of businesses or business units. BSM will likely be priced lower than competitive offerings and could help systems integrators and vertical ISVs on Microsoft’s platform expand further into business intelligence (BI). The sales effort will also leverage the marketing and installed base of SharePoint Portal Server and SQL Server. For software vendors with BI platforms, BSM 2005 sharpens Microsoft’s competitive threat.

Grade Cards for Business Units

BSM will let companies analyze business data using business scorecards or key performance indicators (KPIs), in which a business unit evaluates itself over time against a consistent set of business-specific metrics (e.g., average revenue per user, subscriber churn, and employee retention rates). Internally, Microsoft uses this method extensively to gauge its own business performance.