Verification
View
the New KPI in the KPI Browser
Let's process the cube
again, and then view the new KPI in the KPI Browser.
20. Select File -> Save All from the main menu, to save our
work thus far, as we did earlier.
21. Right-click the Adventure Works
cube in the Solution Explorer.
22. Select Process ... from the
context menu that appears, as before.
The Process Cube
dialog for the Adventure Works cube appears next, as it did earlier.
23. Click the Run button, as
before, to begin processing.
Processing begins, and we
see the individual steps logged in the Process Progress viewer, once
again. Processing soon completes, and we receive a Process Succeeded
message in the Status bar at the bottom of the viewer, as we noted
earlier.
Having updated cube
metadata, we are ready to browse the cube's KPIs, including our new Growth
in Internet Orders KPI.
24. Click the Browser View
button atop the KPIs view, as depicted in Illustration 36.
Illustration 36: Click
the Browser View Button ...
Our new KPI, Growth in Internet Orders, appears among the rest, where it also appears to
be functioning as expected. The general KPI Browser view appears as
shown in Illustration 37.
Illustration 37: General
KPI Browser View (Compressed)
The small blue icon to
the right of each KPI (with an "i" on it to signify "information")
serves dual purposes. If it is a blue "information" icon, we can
display the KPI description we have assigned with a mouseover, as a tool
tip. If, however, we encountered errors in generating the KPI (say,
one of the MDX expressions we employed within the various expression fields was
incorrect, incomplete or both), a red error icon would appear instead.
We can see with the KPI
that we have a "green light" status ("very good"), and
a "stable" trend. The Growth in Internet Orders KPI appears alone
in Illustration 38, along with the tool tip caption that appears
on the mouseover of the "i" icon.
Illustration 38: General
KPI Browser View
We can
visualize an array of decision support, analysis and reporting capabilities at
this point, once we add in filters at various dimensional levels. In addition,
we can go beyond the KPI Browser, and display KPIs in various
ways in client applications. (I will be doing so within my Reporting Services
series and elsewhere, to present examples of "KPIs beyond the KPI
Browser"). For now, we will conclude our article, having focused upon
the construction of a basic KPI to demonstrate the "multidimensional"
information that these indicators can convey.
25. Examine other features of the KPI
Browser with our Growth in Internet Orders KPI, as well as
the pre-existing sample KPIs, as desired.
26. Select File -> Save All from the main menu, to save our
work through this point, as we have done in earlier steps.
27. Select File -> Exit, when ready, to leave the Business
Intelligence Development Studio.
Conclusion
In this article, we examined Key Performance Indicators. We discussed the concepts behind KPIs,
and ways that we can leverage them within the business environment for decision
support, analysis and reporting purposes. Once we overviewed the features and operations of these
high level, summary indicators, we set about getting some hands-on experience
creating a working KPI to meet a hypothetical client need. We prepared
for our practice session by "cloning"
an Analysis Services Database in SQL Server Management Studio. We then shifted to Business
Intelligence Development Studio, from which we accessed our database and
conducted our practice exercises.
We next created a calculated measure to partially
support a KPI we constructed, (the focus of our practice session). We
then discussed some advantages of using calculated measures for this purpose. Next,
we created a KPI, providing examples of input for various expressions
within its design form, and explaining the intended action of each. Finally,
we examined the KPI in operation from within the KPI Browser,
focusing on its operations and basic features.
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