Microsoft

As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, we focus on Business Intelligence which includes SQL Server (relational and OLAP database technology) and SharePoint as well as Bing Maps for Enterprise and Microsoft Silverlight (both technologies used for data visualisation).

Business Intelligence Platform

Microsoft SQL Server including Analysis Services and SharePoint
SQL Server 2008 Business Intelligence platform provides a scalable Business Intelligence (BI) platform optimised for data integration, reporting, analysis and data mining, enabling organisations to deliver insight into their business where users need it.

By providing a rich, personalised user experience, more users can act on the knowledge they gain through an extensible and embeddable architecture that is optimised for Microsoft Office interoperability. It is much more affordable to provide information right across an organisation so that many more business users are empowered in their roles than ever before.

To learn more about Microsoft’s Business Intelligence offering with SQL Server 2008, read this data sheet.

For more information, please contact Matt Quinn via microsoft@altiusconsulting.com

Microsoft SQL Server PowerPivot for Excel 2010 (codename ‘Gemini’)

PowerPivot for Excel 2010 (formerly known as ‘Gemini’) is a new data analysis tool that delivers powerful analytical capability directly within the application users already know and love - Microsoft Excel.

It provides users with the ability to work with and analyse vast quantities of data within Excel. You can give your users the power to gain deeper insight into any business aspect and compress decision cycles. You can enable your users to share their findings with others effortlessly and securely.

PowerPivot for Excel represents a revolutionary advance in empowering users to manage their own information requirements without a dependency on IT resources. Both the power, familiarity and price point of PowerPivot is likely to see several existing BI vendors either leave the market or decline in market share.

Microsoft Silverlight

Silverlight is a web presentation technology that enables the creation of visually stunning interactive user experiences. Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering the next generation of .NET-based media experiences and rich interactive applications (RIAs) for the Web.By combining vector graphics, 2D animation and streaming video and audio, Silverlight can offer an internet user experience well beyond what HTML and Dynamic HTML can offer.

Altius built the Films for Learning website for Microsoft using the Silverlight technology, click here to read the Films for Learning case study.

Microsoft Bing Maps for Enterprise

Microsoft Bing Maps for Enterprise provides a way of creating engaging applications to visualise geographic and location-based information by combining online maps with your data. You can:

• Connect with your customers: Build rich, engaging location applications to drive customers from your web site to your stores, and boost community around your brand.
• Gather deeper insight: Visualise location-based data-demographic or census data, insurance policy holders and more - to gain deeper visual insight into your business.
• Manage your assets better: Use Bing Maps to help manage and track the location of mobile assets in the field, better manage inventory, deliveries, fleets, and other mobile operations in near real time.

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS) is designed as a collaboration platform providing intuitive and simple interfacesto allow your business to store corporate knowledge. It utilises powerful workflow functionality to streamline and automate business processes and increases accessibility of information through powerful search facilities.

Especially for Business Intelligence, the Report Centre provides a powerful way to share reports throughout an organisation using a central repository. Dashboards can be built providing an intuitive and visual way of communicating status and driving action. Reports, charts, KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and other metrics from disparate sources can be combined on a single web page. These reports can come from Excel or Reporting Services.