Micro Strategy 9 White Paper

MicroStrategy 9: Breakthrough Technology
that Supports the Full Range of Business Intelligence

Applications from a Single, Integrated Platform
MicroStrategy 9
I. Overview of MicroStrategy 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
II. The Need for Enterprise BI and Departmental BI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
III. MicroStrategy 9 Extends the Boundaries of Enterprise BI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
IV. MicroStrategy 9 Enables Departmental BI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
V. MicroStrategy 9 Supports the Seamless Migration from Departmental to Enterprise BI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
VI. Detailed List of Enhancements in MicroStrategy 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
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I. Overview of MicroStrategy 9
Enterprises of all types are experiencing a groundswell of excitement and activity around the availability of actionable
information to support their business processes. With the meteoric increase in data that organizations routinely capture,
enterprises can now make that data accessible and useful by tapping into the power of business intelligence (BI) technologies.
Today, business intelligence systems are emerging in every corner of the enterprise, ranging from large scale enterprise BI
environments that are deployed to thousands of people, to smaller departmental BI systems.
MicroStrategy 9 is breakthrough technology that, for the frst time, allows companies to support all levels of BI with one
technology. MicroStrategy 9 builds on MicroStrategys unique strength at the high-end of BI to extend the boundaries of
performance, scalability, and effciency of enterprise BI. At the same time, MicroStrategy 9 brings that same enterprise-caliber
BI technology easily within reach of smaller departmental BI initiatives. Just as importantly, MicroStrategy 9 provides a uniquely
smooth migration path for islands of departmental BI to merge into a cohesive and consistent enterprise-wide framework. With
MicroStrategy 9, even as departmental BI applications are consolidated into the enterprise-wide framework, the departments
can continue to retain signifcant autonomy and nimbleness that they enjoyed previously as an island of BI.
s Extends the Performance, Scalability, and Efficiency of Enterprise BI
s Enables Rapid Deployment of Departmental BI Applications
s Provides a Smooth Migration from Islands of Departmental BI into a
Cohesive Enterprise Framework
MicroStrategy 9 is breakthrough technology that allows companies to support all levels of
BI initiatives, and helps companies to consolidate islands of BI gradually into a cohesive
enterprise BI framework.

Organizations have a mix of enterprise-grade and departmental BI applications. Enterprise BI applications
continue to advance in data scale, user scale, and analytical requirements. MicroStrategy 9 includes new,
advanced features to improve the performance, scale, and effciency of these enterprise BI applications.
In addition, MicroStrategy 9 includes innovative features to enable the rapid development of departmental
BI applications by business users rather than IT professionals. To support consolidation and standardization,
MicroStrategy 9 eases the migration of departmental BI application data and metadata into a unifed,
enterprise BI environment.
Sanju Bansal, COO, MicroStrategy
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II. The Need for Enterprise BI and Departmental BI
The Ideal BI archITecTure Is an enTerprIse BI archITecTure
Enterprise BI Provides a Single Version of the Truth
The ideal architecture for business intelligence is an enterprise BI architecture in which a single and cohesive model of the
business is represented in the BI metadata. The BI metadata provides a business-oriented view of all of the data available to
the enterprise, and gives every business user the building blocks to assemble reports and dashboards or to conduct investigative
analyses using a business viewpoint.
Because the BI metadata presents a single cohesive model of the business, the enterprise can be assured that a single version
of the truth will exist throughout all reports, dashboards, and analyses, regardless of who creates them. A universally-applied BI
security system can uniformly protect the privacy of the data, automatically fltering out data from any report based on the security
profle of each business user.
Operational Database
Finance Marketing Operations Sales HR
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Single Information Interface
Common Model of Business (building blocks)
Data
Marts
Data Warehouse
s
Financial Analysis
s
Customer Reporting
s
HR Analysis
s
Inventory Reporting
s
Sales Reporting
s
Financial Reporting
s
Revenue Forecasts
s
Product Sales
s
Fraud & Risk Analysis
s
Supplier Report Card
Serves All Departments
Serves 10,000s of Business People
Single Information Portal
Single Version of the Truth
Single Set of Building Blocks
Performance-optimized Databases
Consistent Interpretation of the Data
enterprise Business Intelligence can serve the Whole enterprise cohesively
Figure 1: Enterprise BI architectures
are the only approach to BI that can
provide a single version of the truth
across the enterprise and which are
also the most effcient to own
and operate.
Enterprise BI is the Most Effcient Mode of Operation
The other primary beneft of an enterprise BI architecture is that it is highly effcient in the use of corporate resources and
administrative effort. Compared to models of many disparate islands of BI, the enterprise BI model minimizes the number of
IT personnel needed to manage and maintain the technology, minimizes the number of computer servers needed to run the
system, and minimizes the amount of training for business users and IT. Even among enterprise-caliber BI technologies, such as
those from IBM/Cognos or SAP/Business Objects, MicroStrategy is recognized as requiring the least amount of IT personnel and
hardware to deliver a given amount of BI.
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MicroStrategy BI Technology is Designed for Enterprise BI
Enterprise BI is technically possible today and many organizations are pursuing this model. Enterprise BI is based on the well-
understood engineering concepts of data warehousing which continue to be propelled forward by database technology
advances that can support faster queries and greater capacity every year. Enterprise BI is also reliant on enterprise-caliber BI
technology, like MicroStrategy 9, that has been refned over many years to support the most demanding requirements of BI.
MicroStrategys underlying Relational OLAP (ROLAP) architecture gives it the combination of high scalability and high interactivity
that reporting architectures and MOLAP architectures alone cannot deliver.
Relational OLAP
(ROLAP)
Enterprise-caliber Qualities
s Highest Data Scalability
s Highest User Scalability
s Highest Performance at Scale
s Sophisticated Analytics
s Lowest Cost to Operate and
Maintain (lowest TCO)
s Very Rapid Report Creation
s Superior End User Self-service
s Ideal for Data Warehousing
MOLAP
Products
Relational Reporting Products
High User
and Data Scale
Low User
and Data Scale
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Microstrategy Technology is Based on a rOlap architecture

that uniquely provides Both high scalability and high Interactivity
Figure 2: MicroStrategys ROLAP architecture provides both high scalability as well as high interactivity. Other BI architectures can provide one or the other,
but not both. Building on the ROLAP architecture for the past 15 years, MicroStrategy technology is now well recognized for other enterprise-caliber
characteristics, including high performance, sophisticated analytics, low cost of ownership, rapid report creation, and superior end user self-service.
ROLAP is the Core of MicroStrategy Technology
ROLAP is unique among BI architectures in that it can model the entire relational database as if it were a single multi-dimensional
cube. In this case, the cube is virtual since relational databases often contain terabytes of data that could not ft within any real
cube technology. MicroStrategys virtual cube provides MicroStrategy users with the ability to perform OLAP interactions with the
data, including pivoting, page-by, fltering, and most-importantly the ability to drill freely throughout the cube as with MOLAP
technologies, but without the severe size limitations of MOLAP architectures.
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R OL AP S QL E n g i n e
Terabyte
Database
Virtual
Terabyte Cube
9
ROLAP
All popular relational schema are supported:
Star, Snowflake, Sparse Aggregation, Partitioned
All reports and dashboards are created
using the single logical model of business
RELATIONAL OLAP (ROLAP)
ROLAP metadata models the entire relational
database as a single logical multi-dimensional
model of the business (virtual terabyte cube)
rOlap is the core of Microstrategy Technology
Figure 3: ROLAP is based on a
virtual cube that represents the
entire relational database. The
ROLAP virtual cubes provide
dynamic investigative drilling that
is typical of cube models, but
because the ROLAP cube is virtual,
it does not suffer from the severe
size limitations and administrative
burdens of physical multi-
dimensional MOLAP cubes.
deparTMenTal BI Is necessary, TOO
Despite the overwhelming benefts of enterprise BI, it cannot be achieved all at once. Enterprise BI takes many years to achieve
and it must be built incrementally, one application at a time. As each new enterprise-wide BI application project is undertaken, it
consumes inter-departmental political capital and IT attention. Organizations can accommodate only a limited number of these
types of projects at one time. Meanwhile, there are BI needs at the departmental level to be addressed. For every large-scale,
enterprise-signifcant BI application, there are likely to be 10 departmentally-signifcant BI applications that the business needs.
Because of the limited organizational scope of departmental BI applications, they can often be implemented much more quickly
than enterprise-wide BI initiatives. What is even more important is that departmental BI applications can be modifed and adapted
more rapidly than enterprise BI applications because of their smaller size and their limited need for inter-organizational coordination.
deparTMenTal BI applIcaTIOns haVe specIalIzed requIreMenTs
Departmental BI applications typically support 50-200 business users within a single business function like Finance, Marketing,
Sales, or Operations. Departmental BI implementations, which can be thought of as scaled-down versions of enterprise BI
implementations, are typically supported by dedicated decision support databases (data marts) that are populated by some
form of formal ETL technology and are supported by a few dedicated technically-trained personnel. Users of departmental BI
applications need all 5 Styles of BI, ranging from dashboards and reports to investigative analysis and predictions to proactive
alerting and report distribution.
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BI Technology for Departments Must Deliver Speed and Simplicity
BI technology for departments needs to be easy to implement, containing all of the necessary components for a BI system out-
of-the-box. Specifcally, the BI technology should contain an integrated set of functionality, including a database to store the
data; an ETL technology (extract, transform, and load) to move the data into the database; and a BI platform to create reports,
dashboards, and analyses that people can share. Technology for departmental BI must be fast and easy to install on common
desktop-caliber computers by a (technically-literate) business person; easy to use for collecting and storing data from Excel or
databases; and easy to use for designing reports and conducting analyses against the data.
Successful Departmental BI Technology Provides Powerful Self-service Capabilities
Departments have access to only a few IT personnel, usually just enough to manage and maintain the technology, but not
enough to create the reports, dashboards, and analyses that provide business value. With limited IT personnel, business users
need to fll the gap through two modes: (1) with power users acting on behalf of IT personnel and who create reports and
dashboards for others to use, and (2) with average business users serving themselves dynamically with new views of data.
MicroStrategy 9 supports both of these self-service modes through a powerful, yet simple Web interface that lets power users
create any report or dashboard using drag-and-drop functionality. Even more powerful is MicroStrategys ability to allow business
people to drill anywhere throughout the database freely, using point-and-click OLAP commands. As business people drill
throughout the database, they can also add subtotals, calculations, and flters, and rotate the data for the exact perspective they
want to see. After performing these many self-service manipulations, business users can then save the resulting report designs
for later use themselves or share those new report designs with other users in their department.
Departmental BI Technology Needs Access to Many Databases
Another dominant requirement for successful departmental BI is the ability to fexibly access many databases at once. It is
rare that a single department has the technical resources to aggregate all the data it might need from a myriad of operational
databases into its decision support data mart. Moreover, departmental BI requirements change rapidly, evolving as quickly as
business priorities change and as rapidly as managers conceive of new reports they need for greater business insight. If each new
informational need required the laborious task of moving the data from a source operational system into a carefully engineered
departmental data mart, many business users would be too frustrated with the delay to fnd value in the BI system.
MicroStrategy 9 addresses this problem directly with a new multi-source capability that allows departments to quickly incorporate
new databases into the BI model without going through the effort of moving the data into the data mart or data warehouse.
Once the new databases are identifed in the BI metadata model, their physical storage location becomes completely transparent
to both BI users and report developers.
The aBIlITy TO cOnsOlIdaTe Islands OF deparTMenTal BI InTO enTerprIse BI Is crITIcally IMpOrTanT
FOr The lOng TerM
MicroStrategy 9 Makes it Easy to Consolidate Islands of BI into a Cohesive Enterprise-wide Model
MicroStrategy 9 is designed to help organizations gracefully consolidate disparate islands of BI into a cohesive enterprise-
wide BI model. When all of the BI islands are comprised of MicroStrategy 9 technology, the new MicroStrategy 9 multi-source
capability provides a frst easy step in merging the island by allowing the enterprise BI installation to quickly incorporate
the islands database. All of the reports and metadata originally created in the departmental island can be consolidated to
the larger enterprise model. Over time, the IT organization will want to move selected data items incrementally from their
existing multiple database sources into the more cohesive and high-performing data warehouse. MicroStrategy 9 supports
this evolution in an elegant way by simply re-pointing the metadata from the former data source (island database) to the
new data source (data warehouse), thereby preserving all of the business defnitions and reports that had been built using the
former database.
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MicroStrategy 9 Allows Departments to Enjoy Autonomous Operation, Even within an Enterprise-wide Framework
MicroStrategy 9 has a sophisticated metadata architecture and security architecture that allows departments to continue to
have independent control over their piece of the enterprise BI environment. With MicroStrategy 9, departments can create
reports and metadata that only affect their group and thus avoid or postpone inter-departmental coordination typically
required in an enterprise-wide BI utility. Departments can incorporate new data sources solely for their own use, without
affecting any other group using the enterprise BI resource. Over time, as the departments create new business defnitions,
calculations, or reports that would be useful to the entire enterprise, these items can be moved from the departmental-only
area into an enterprise-wide accessible area. Once combined for enterprise use, MicroStrategys universal data privacy system
continues to enforce departmental security confgurations.
III. MicroStrategy 9 Extends the Boundaries of Enterprise
Business Intelligence
Since its early beginnings, MicroStrategy technology has been associated with the high-end of business intelligence, supporting
the most demanding BI applications across all industries. Companies select MicroStrategy technology when they need the
highest performance at high scale and when they want to standardize on a single BI infrastructure capable of supporting all of
the BI needs of the enterprise.
MicroStrategy 9 is extending the boundaries of enterprise BI by:
1. Delivering Dramatically Faster Performance at the Highest Data Scale
2. Supporting Thousands of Users
3. Delivering More BI with Less IT Effort
4. Supporting Global Applications and Distributed Operations
1. delIVerIng draMaTIcally FasTer perFOrMance aT The hIghesT daTa scale
As BI systems grow to thousands of users and hundreds of terabytes of data, maintaining fast query performance becomes
the dominant technical hurdle. MicroStrategy technology has long been the performance leader at high scale. MicroStrategy 9
continues and extends that leadership with new adaptive caching technology called In-memory ROLAP and new SQL generation
optimizations that can deliver the highest query performance even when accessing hundreds of terabytes of data.
In-memory BI Offers a Powerful New Way to Increase BI Performance
The query performance of a BI system is fundamentally governed and limited by the query performance of the underlying
databases. Over the years, MicroStrategy has developed more sophisticated SQL optimizations to improve query performance
for all major database technologies. Additionally, MicroStrategy has developed a sophisticated system of multi-level caching that
can avoid many database interactions. Cache reuse between users depends heavily on users running the exact same report and
having the same security privileges. When these two conditions are not met, the BI systems direct their queries to the database.
In-memory BI offers a new architectural approach for increasing query performance on a very broad basis. In-memory BI operates
like a database, but has the performance characteristics of a memory-based caching system.
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BEFORE IN-MEMORY BI AFTER IN-MEMORY BI
Output
Caching
In-memory On-Disk
Caching Query
Database
Query
Slower
Response Time
Data Set
Caching
Report
Caching
Output
Caching
Database
Query
Data Set
Caching
In-memory
Query
Report
Caching
In-memory On-Disk
Caching Query
Faster
Response Time
In-memory BI Fills a Void in the performance curve of a BI system
Figure 4: In-memory BI technology provides another performance stage in a BI system. In-memory BI operates like a database that is queried and hence can
be applied to many reports, but it has the performance characteristics of a memory-based caching system.
MicroStrategy 9 Introduces In-memory ROLAP to Improve the Performance of Enterprise BI Systems
In-memory ROLAP takes advantage of the huge addressable memory space now available on 64-bit computers to provide high
performance middle-tier databases that can respond directly to data requests from reports, dashboards, and OLAP analyses.
Since the new middle-tier databases are stored in computer memory, they avoid disk access delays of traditional databases.
Typical ROLAP systems exhibit a performance profle in which query time ranges from very fast, sub-second response times to minutes
or even hours. MicroStrategy ROLAP is supplemented with dynamic caching technology that saves report instances in memory so
that the next user of the same report can be served the result directly from memory, avoiding database delays. This creates a
performance profle with two response-time distributions one for the database queries and one for the cache-based responses.
When in-memory ROLAP is introduced, the performance profle changes dramatically. It acquires a third response-time distribution
for in-memory queries that resides between the very fast caching distribution and the slower database distribution. In fact, the
addition of in-memory ROLAP technology redirects many database queries to be served directly from in-memory ROLAP databases.
Performance Profile
Typical ROLAP Operation
Performance Profile
In-memory ROLAP Operation
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BEFORE AFTER
adding In-memory rOlap Improves user response Time
Figure 5: The performance profle for a typical ROLAP system shown on the left presents two clusters of performance: one for the queries that are directed
to the database and one for the queries directed to cache. The performance profle for In-memory ROLAP operation on the right shows the addition of a
performance cluster for queries that are directed to the in-memory database from queries that were previously directed to the disk-based database.
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In-memory ROLAP is a Seamless Extension of the MicroStrategy ROLAP Architecture
In-memory ROLAP extends MicroStrategys ROLAP architecture by creating mid-tier databases called ROLAP Cubes that contain
selected portions of the data warehouse. These ROLAP Cubes are seamlessly interwoven in the ROLAP architecture as they
populate portions of the global multi-dimensional metadata model with actual data.
Terabyte
Database
Terabyte
Database
Global
Virtual Cube
Terabyte
Database
Physical In-memory
ROLAP Cubes
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ROLAP
Architecture
Cube
Architecture
In-memory ROLAP
In-memory rOlap is an architectural extension of rOlap
in which physical rOlap cubes reside In-memory within
the global Virtual cube
Figure 6: In-memory ROLAP creates
ROLAP Cubes that reside in the
memory of the Intelligence Server.
The ROLAP Cubes contain selected
components of warehouse data and ft
seamlessly into the global virtual cube.
In-memory ROLAP Can Improve the Performance of the Most Time-consuming Queries
BI designers must choose which data to populate in memory to gain the maximum performance improvements. In a properly-
designed system, the In-memory ROLAP Cubes contain the data needed to avoid the most database processing time and hence
the most user waiting time. This means that BI designers need to identify which data is involved in the most time-consuming
queries or frequently-used queries. Using MicroStrategys new Cube Advisor tool and Enterprise Manager, MicroStrategy system
administrators can analyze the query workload over an extended time period to determine which database areas consume the
most database processing time. The Cube Advisor tool can then recommend combinations of attributes, metrics, and flters that
should be consolidated into ROLAP Cubes and placed into memory that will reduce database processing the most.

Same Report
Run many times by
many people
Many Similar Reports
Overlapping content in
different reports
Complex Queries
Span many attributes
and metrics
Complex Queries
Span multiple
databases
BEFORE AFTER
In-memory rOlap can smooth database usage
Figure 7: In-memory ROLAP Cubes can offoad the most time-consuming and processor-consuming queries from the database and serve them to the users
much more quickly, directly from memory. The result is a faster average query time and much more evenly utilized database system.
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In-memory ROLAP Can Free Up Capacity on Database Servers
The MicroStrategy 9 In-memory ROLAP feature allows companies to shift database processing from interactive daylight hours to
the batch processing window overnight. This shifting improves user response time since the most time-consuming or repetitive
queries are ready to be served directly from in-memory databases when the users want them. In-memory ROLAP also frees up
database capacity during interactive hours, providing better response time for database-directed queries. This additional database
capacity has the added beneft of potentially allowing enterprises to delay purchasing additional database capacity to meet peak
demand volumes.

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BEFORE AFTER
In-memory rOlap Improves user Wait Time and Frees up database capacity
Figure 8: MicroStrategy 9 In-memory ROLAP can shift database processing to off-hours, freeing up database capacity during peak interactive hours and
improving user response time.
MicroStrategys new In-memory ROLAP option is game changing. Unlike other in-memory approaches on
the market today, it is fully integrated with an enterprise BI environment and provides high performance
transparently to business users. The way in which large amounts of data are stored and accessed in-memory
is so seamless that I was skeptical until I saw the actual SQL generated and witnessed the performance.
Cindi Howson, Founder, BIScorecard
We look forward to using MicroStrategy 9 In-memory ROLAP technology to help us improve our user
experience with faster response times and to take unnecessary pressure off our Teradata system.
Mark Govostes, Manager of BI Architecture, eBay
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MicroStrategys SQL Generation Engine is the Most Sophisticated in the Industry
MicroStrategys SQL Generation Engine is the core of the MicroStrategy ROLAP architecture and can translate complex queries
into the most sophisticated multi-pass SQL statements. Over the years, MicroStrategy has refned and enhanced the SQL
Generation Engine, and today it is comprised of three distinct layers of optimization.
MicroStrategy 9 introduces a new global optimization algorithm that optimizes queries involving complex conditional metrics
and can reduce the number of SQL passes by 66% and reduce database query time by as much as 75%. This new capability
works transparently with reports, dashboards, and analyses, providing an immediate performance improvement to many existing
MicroStrategy applications.
MicroStrategy 9 SQL Generation Engine
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Multi-pass SQL Optimizations
General Metrics Optimizations
Conditional Metrics Optimizations
VLDB Optimizations
Multi-pass SQL Engine
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Logical Query Generator
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Microstrategys Multi-layered sql generation engine creates the
Most sophisticated and Optimized sql in the Industry
Figure 9: MicroStrategy 9
introduces a new layer of Global
SQL Optimization designed to
reduce query response time for
complicated reports involving
conditional metrics by as much
as 75%.
2. suppOrTIng ThOusands OF users
Successful BI systems often experience dramatic growth in user populations. It is increasingly common for a single MicroStrategy
BI installation to support thousands and even tens of thousands of business users. The technical challenge here is to effciently
accommodate thousands of concurrent Web user sessions, while providing high performance and easy administration.
64-bit Web Servers Can Support More Users per Server
MicroStrategy now supports 64-bit Java Virtual Machines (JVMs) in both J2EE Web servers as well as ASP.net Web Servers. Each
user session consumes memory on the Web servers. The dramatically expanded memory that is available in 64-bit JVMs supports
many more concurrent user sessions than does the limited memory space available in 32-bit JVMs. The added memory also
provides each user with greater working space to display and interact with larger reports and dashboards.
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BEFORE AFTER
Web Browsers Web Browsers
Web Server
32-bit JVM 64-bit JVM
Web Server
64-bit Memory Space
Supports More Concurrent Users
with Larger Reports
32-bit JVM Operation 64-bit JVM Operation
The expanded Memory available in 64-bit JVMs allows Microstrategy 9 to
support More concurrent users with larger reports
supports 64-bit JVMs, which offer
much greater memory space.
Vastly increased memory space
allows each Web server to support
many more concurrent user
sessions and larger reports.
Extreme AJAX Code Structure for MicroStrategy Web
In MicroStrategy 9, MicroStrategy re-engineered its Web server code set to adhere to the Extreme AJAX coding model. In
Extreme AJAX, processing is shifted from the shared Web server to the Web browsers using JavaScript and other techniques that
minimize the frequency and volume of data transfer between server and browser. These enhancements deliver a much faster and
more responsive experience for business users. Extreme AJAX has the added beneft of offoading processing workload from the
shared Web servers, freeing up capacity on Web servers so that each server can support more concurrent user sessions.
Web Browsers Web Browsers
Processing Workload
Shifts from Shared
Web Server to
Workstation Browsers
Web Server
32-bit JVM 64-bit JVM
Web Server
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AJAX Operation Extreme AJAX Operation
extreme aJaX coding delivers greater responsiveness
Figure 11: MicroStrategy 9 employs
new Extreme AJAX coding disciplines
within its Web architecture. Extreme
AJAX shifts processing from the
shared Web servers to the individual
Web browsers, thus spreading the
processing workload and providing
the most responsive user experience
while still preserving a true zero-
footprint Web interface.
14
3. delIVerIng MOre BI WITh less IT eFFOrT
The total cost of ownership of a BI system is dominated by the costs for IT personnel to develop and maintain the system.
Minimizing the work done by IT personnel minimizes the total cost of ownership of a BI system. In fact, requiring only half as
many IT personnel reduces the three-year cost of ownership by 35%.
Three-Year Total Cost of Ownership Breakdown
Staffing (60%)
Downtime User
Productivity
(15%)
IT Staff Training
(8%)
Server Hardware
(7%)
Software (7%)
Outsourced Costs
(3%)
Source: IDC 2007.
Three-year Total cost of Ownership is dominated by IT personnel costs
Figure 12: Three-year total cost
of ownership for BI systems is
dominated by costs related to
IT personnel: IT personnel costs
account for 71% of total costs =
Staffng (60%) + Outsourcing Costs
(3%) + Staff Training (8%).
MicroStrategy BI Requires the Least Amount of IT Effort to Support a Given User Population
Compared to competing BI technologies, MicroStrategy can deliver more BI to more users with the least number of IT personnel.
MicroStrategys metadata architecture is inherently maintainable since, unlike other BI technologies, each metadata object exists only
once and is re-used dynamically throughout the system. When a metadata object changes, BI administrators need to change that
object in only one place and that change will be immediately represented each time the object is used by any report or dashboard.

Number of BI Users for Each IT Administrator
536
349
336
323
255
222
218
120
M
i
c
r
o
S
t
r
a
t
e
g
y
I
B
I
O
r
a
c
l
e
B
u
s
.

O
b
j
.
S
A
S
C
o
g
n
o
s
M
i
c
r
o
s
o
f
t
Q
l
i
k
T
e
c
h
Source: Gartner Group survey of customers in support of the 2009 Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence Platforms Report, January 2009.
Microstrategy Technology is recognized for its ability to support Many
More users for each IT administrator
Figure 13: MicroStrategy
technology requires far fewer IT
personnel for a given amount of
BI users because its metadata is
inherently easier to maintain and
because end users have more
self-service capabilities that
offoad work from the IT staff.
15
MicroStrategy 9 Introduces Major New Features for Business User Self-service
Even more important than BI change management and object reuse is the fact that MicroStrategy puts more control in the hands
of business users than any BI technology. With MicroStrategy 9, MicroStrategy introduces several new and enhanced features that
further empower business users, thereby minimizing the need for IT personnel to perform the same functions.
Manipulate Reports
Other BI
Technologies
Manage the System
Develop Database Metadata
Develop Business Metadata
Administer Applications
Administer Users
Create Report Distributions
Design New Reports
Design New Dashboards
Create New Reports via Drill Anywhere
I
T

P
e
r
s
o
n
n
e
l
U
s
e
r
I
T

B
u
s
i
n
e
s
s

U
s
e
r
Microstrategy 9 supports a greater range of Business user self-service
than any BI Technology
Figure 14: MicroStrategy 9 puts
even more control in the hands of
business users, thereby minimizing
the need for IT personnel to
perform the same functions.
Business Users Can Rapidly Design Reports Themselves
MicroStrategy 9 introduces major new capabilities for business personnel to create their own ad hoc report designs easily from their
Web browser. Using drag-and-drop actions through the new MicroStrategy 9 Web interface, any business person can assemble
virtually any report by adding attributes and metrics to a simple report template. The newest design features include a simplifed
mechanism for browsing the attributes and metric building blocks; drop zones that provide visual cues to users as to where to
drag-and-drop these building blocks; and formatting controls that are familiar to all users common offce productivity products.
Business people do not need to know any technical details about the data or the underlying databases because MicroStrategys
metadata masks the complexities of the data defnitions, and the SQL generation engine can resolve even the most technically
complex queries that result from the users report designs. With MicroStrategy 9, business users also have the ability to
interactively build graph-style reports with dozens of visualization options. To enhance usability, MicroStrategy 9 includes a
redesigned Web user interface that adopts many familiar Microsoft paradigms, including ribbon toolbars, accordion controls,
control-click multi-select capability, and context-sensitive right-click actions.
16
COLUMNS
Drag-and-Drop Run
Format
ROWS
Attribute
Attribute
Attribute
Attribute
Metric
Metric
Metric
Metric
Metric
Attribute
Category: Books
Subcategory Metrics
Art & Architecture
PAGE-BY:
$859,358 $201,412
$132,117
$59,491
$87,148
$310,489
$120,039
$589,246
$295,385
$366,250
$1,375,727
$538,269
$4,024,235
$857,945
$457,129
$235,894
$299,102
$1,065,238
$418,230
$3,133,539 $890,696
Business
Literature
Books - Miscellaneous
Science & Technology
Sports & Health
Total
Profit Cost Revenue
1
2
3
9
Web
Business people can easily assemble reports from Metadata Building Blocks
Figure 15: The MicroStrategy 9 Web interface lets business users easily create any report by dragging and dropping metadata building blocks (attributes and
metrics) onto a template. Formatting is easy using the intuitive Offce-like formatting controls. MicroStrategys powerful SQL engine can generate whatever SQL
is necessary to get the data for the users new report designs.
Extensive Report Interactivity Lets Business Users See New Combinations of Data and Create New Reports, without
Having to Design Reports
Empowering business people to create their own reports reduces reliance on IT personnel and increases the speed of information
creation. ROLAP enables users to freely investigate the data without ever having to design a report. One of the unique features
of the ROLAP architecture is that it is based on a logical multi-dimensional model of the entire data warehouse (or an entire
collection of databases using the MicroStrategy 9 new Multi-source ROLAP capability). Having a logical multi-dimensional model
lets business people surf throughout the entire data warehouse using the ROLAP drill anywhere feature. In fact, by combining
drill anywhere with the other ROLAP features of prompting, pivoting, page-by, fltering, sorting, subtotaling, calculated metrics,
and transformations, business users can completely transform their reports to entirely new report designs, without ever actually
designing a report. These new report designs can be saved and shared with others for future use. MicroStrategys security system
ensures that all users only see the data that they are allowed to see, regardless of who saves and shares a new report design.

17
ROLAP Prompting Allows
Users to Land Somewhere
in the Database
ROLAP Drill Anywhere Allows
Users to Surf to Entirely
New Combinations of Data
Saving New Report Designs
Lets All Users Share
New Information
Shared Reports
My Reports Saving New
Report
Designs
SINGLE
REPORT
DEFINITION
SINGLE
REPORT
DEFINITION
Microstrategy 9 rOlap capability allows users to surf Interactively
Throughout the entire data Warehouse
Figure 16: Using ROLAP core features
of prompting and drill anywhere,
users can start from a single report
design and create innumerable new
combinations of data simply by
clicking on the report. These new
combinations of data can be saved
as new report designs and shared
with others to be run in the future.
The MicroStrategy 9 security system
ensures that all users only see the
data that they are allowed to see
regardless of who created the report.
MicroStrategy Dynamic Dashboards Let Users Consolidate the Information from Dozens of Individual Reports
MicroStrategys Dynamic Dashboards allow business users to consolidate dozens of reports into a single dashboard. Dynamic
Dashboard users can fip through many different views of the information using selector controls like drop-down boxes and radio
buttons that are placed directly on the dashboards themselves, so users do not need to learn any commands or menus. By placing
many individual reports on a single dashboard, business people can see much more data than ever before. Instead of opening and
closing dozens of reports sequentially, now business people can see all of the primary and related data in a single view.
Revenue Contribution by Subcategory Detailed Table
$0
$100
$200
$300
$400
$500
$600
$700
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Revenue Profit
2006 Monthly Revenue and Profit Trends Detailed Table
Supplier Analysis Graph Summary
Supplier Revenue Profit
Profit
Margin
Supplier
Share
McGraw Hill
Bantam Books
John Wiley & Sons
Warner Books
Simon & Schuster
Scribner
Perigee
Prentice Hall
Vintage Books
$1,253 $338 26.98% 19.2%
$1,011 $284 28.09% 15.5%
$892 $252 28.25% 13.7%
$810 $210 25.93% 12.4%
$744 $195 26.21% 11.4%
$644 $150 23.29% 9.9%
$438 $118 26.94% 6.7%
$376 $101 26.86% 5.8%
$358 $94 26.26% 5.5%
Subcategory Performance Graph Summary
Subcategory Revenue Profit
Profit
Margin
End on
hand
Art & Architecture
Business
Literature
Books -
Miscellaneous
Science &
Technology
Sports & Health
Total
$918 $261 28.43% 1,980
$1,024 $275 26.86% 2,558
$826 $201 24.33% 3,328
$28 $7 25.00% 284
$439 $120 27.33% 857
$371 $97 26.15% 1,341
$3,606 $961 26.65% 10,348
25.0%
25.1%
20.3%
3.3%
17.2%
9.1%
Art &
Architecture
Business
Literature
Books -
Miscellaneous
Science &
Technology
Sports &
Health
KPIs - 2006 Alerts
This report shows revenue and profit data for a particular product category. It includes subcategory-level
data as well as supplier data.
Revenue
Profit Margin
Sell-through
Revenue LY
$4,078
$5,015
26.7%
24.3% Alert: Forecasted revenue is $ 4,363 vs. revenue of $4,078 -- 6.5% under forecast.
CATEGORY PERFORMANCE DASHBOARD
Books in Northeast
Select Region Northeast Select Category Books
Click on any revenue bar to view the Monthly Revenue and Profit
Trends for that Subcategory.
A Dozen or More Reports
Executed Sequentially and Repeatedly by the User
Single Dynamic Dashboard
Synchronized Views of Data with On-dashboard
Selector Controls
consolidate Information from dozens of Individual reports
Figure 17: MicroStrategy 9 Dynamic Dashboards employ on-screen user controls called selector controls that allow users to interactively fip through many
different views of data all on a single dashboard page. This allows dashboard designers to embed the equivalent of dozens of individual reports within the
screen real estate of a single dashboard.
18
MicroStrategy 9 Multi-layout Dashboards Let Users Combine Multiple Dashboards into a Single Dashboard Book
With MicroStrategy 9, the information density of Dynamic Dashboards has become even greater through a new feature called
Multi-layout Dashboards. Multi-layout dashboards allow business users to consolidate multiple dashboards into a single
tabbed dashboard design so that their most-used dashboards can be conveniently assembled into a single dashboard book.
Business people can run their consolidated dashboard books overnight so that all of the data they need for the day is on their
screens waiting for them when they arrive in the morning, or can be e-mailed to them for consumption while they are away
from the offce.
$0
$100
$200
$300
$400
$500
$600
$700
Revenue Profit
Profit
Margin
Supplier
Share
McGraw Hill
Bantam Books
John Wiley & Sons
Warner Books
Simon & Schuster
Scribner
Perigee
Prentice Hall
Vintage Books
$1,253 $338 26.98% 19.2%
$1,011 $284 28.09% 15.5%
$892 $252 28.25% 13.7%
$810 $210 25.93% 12.4%
$744 $195 26.21% 11.4%
$644 $150 23.29% 9.9%
$438 $118 26.94% 6.7%
$376 $101 26.86% 5.8%
$358 $94 26.26% 5.5%
Profit
Margin
End on
hand
Art & Architecture
Business
Literature
Books -
Miscellaneous
Science &
Technology
Sports & Health
Total
$918 $261 28.43% 1,980
$1,024 $275 26.86% 2,558
$826 $201 24.33% 3,328
$28 $7 25.00% 284
$439 $120 27.33% 857
$371 $97 26.15% 1,341
$3,606 $961 26.65% 10,348
25.0%
25.1%
20.3%
3.3%
17.2%
9.1%
Art &
Architecture
Business
Literature
Books -
Miscellaneous
Science &
Technology
Sports &
Health
KPIs - 2006 Alerts
Revenue
Profit Margin
Sell-through
Revenue LY
$4,078
$5,015
26.7%
Books in Northeast
$0
$100
$200
$300
$400
$500
$600
$700
Revenue Profit
Profit
Margin
Supplier
Share
McGraw Hill
Bantam Books
John Wiley & Sons
Warner Books
Simon & Schuster
Scribner
Perigee
Prentice Hall
Vintage Books
$1,253 $338 26.98% 19.2%
$1,011 $284 28.09% 15.5%
$892 $252 28.25% 13.7%
$810 $210 25.93% 12.4%
$744 $195 26.21% 11.4%
$644 $150 23.29% 9.9%
$438 $118 26.94% 6.7%
$376 $101 26.86% 5.8%
$358 $94 26.26% 5.5%
Profit
Margin
End on
hand
Art & Architecture
Business
Literature
Books -
Miscellaneous
Science &
Technology
Sports & Health
Total
$918 $261 28.43% 1,980
$1,024 $275 26.86% 2,558
$826 $201 24.33% 3,328
$28 $7 25.00% 284
$439 $120 27.33% 857
$371 $97 26.15% 1,341
$3,606 $961 26.65% 10,348
25.0%
25.1%
20.3%
3.3%
17.2%
9.1%
Art &
Architecture
Business
Literature
Books -
Miscellaneous
Science &
Technology
Sports &
Health
KPIs - 2006 Alerts
Revenue
Profit Margin
Sell-through
Revenue LY
$4,078
$5,015
26.7%
Books in Northeast
Customer Analysis Customer Segmentation and Profitability Cross-sell Analysis
Quarterly Customer Analysis for Q4 2006
Acquisition, Attrition, and Retention
Performance Summary: 3.01% Acquisition Rate, 0.62% Attrition Rate, and 96.99% Retention Rate
Customer Analysis by Age Range and Income Range
Age Range Income Range Revenue $
Avg Transaction
Size $
Revenue per
Customer $ Profit $
< 21
21-40
41-60
0 - 20K
20K - 40K
40K - 60K
60K - 80K
> 80K
0 - 20K
20K - 40K
40K - 60K
60K - 80K
> 80K
0 - 20K
20K - 40K
40K - 60K
60K - 80K
> 80K
$41,183.10 $298.43 $686.39 $2,428.18
$54,498.44 $465.80 $1,028.27 $3,538.64
$23,178.17 $246.58 $551.86 $1,406.37
$51,844.68 $518.45 $1,205.69 $3,091.98
$23,783.53 $247.75 $540.53 $1,479.12
$46,635.75 $376.09 $790.44 $2,960.92
$33,312.13 $350.65 $812.49 $1,717.86
$49,186.10 $341.57 $768.53 $2,762.07
$37,477.31 $312.31 $749.55 $2,324.83
$23,826.98 $187.61 $458.21 $1,375.57
$44,158.71 $304.54 $679.36 $3,219.34
$55,093.39 $326.00 $734.58 $3,345.29
$43,422.04 $269.70 $578.96 $2,455.90
$43,336.86 $390.42 $866.74 $2,736.80
$33,851.87 $266.55 $573.76 $2,136.33
20.6%
22.1%
16.0%
18.4%
23.0%
0 - 20K
20K - 40K
40K - 60K
60K - 80K
> 80K
Customer Distribution by Income Range
Document Execution Time: 12/29/2006 9:48:25 AM Document Author: John Smith
New
Customers
Active
Customers
Acquisition
Rate
% New to
All New
Oct 2006
Nov 2006
Dec 2006
39 1,299 3.00% 32.23%
42 1,333 3.15% 34.71%
40 1,363 2.93% 33.06%
Lost Active
Customers
Attrition
Rate
% Lost to
All Lost
7 1,299 0.54% 28.00%
8 1,333 0.60% 32.00%
10 1,363 0.73% 40.00%
Attrition Acquisition
Retained
Customers
Active
Customers Retention Rate
1,260 1,299 97.00%
1,291 1,333 96.85%
1,323 1,363 97.07%
Retention
Quarterly Acquisition Trend Quarterly Attrition Trend Quarterly Retention Plan
Customers
Q4 2006 Select a Quarter
Quarterly Analysis Year-to-date Analysis
Dashboard 1
Dozens of Reports
Frequently Used Together
Dynamic Dashboards
Consolidates Dozens of Reports
Multi-layout Dashboard Book
Consolidates Multiple Independent Dashboard Designs
Dashboard 2 Dashboard 3
1 2 3
Microstrategy 9 dynamic dashboards can consolidate Many Independent reports and Many
dashboards into a single dashboard Book
Figure 18: MicroStrategys Dynamic Dashboards can consolidate a dozen or more individual grid and graph reports into a single dashboard where the
various views of data across graphs and grids are synchronized using selector controls placed directly on the dashboards. With MicroStrategy 9, multiple
independent dashboards can be further consolidated into a single dashboard book using the new Multi-layout feature that places each dashboard design on
a single tab of the dashboard book.
19
New Dynamic Dashboard Interactivity Delivers Even More User Self-service
MicroStrategy Dynamic Dashboards already have an immense range of user interactivity provided through the on-dashboard
selector controls. These selector controls are uniquely able to make all of the tables and graphs within the dashboard present
different views of the same data with just a click of the mouse. What is even more noteworthy is that the selector controls do
not require any programming. They are set up with drag-and-drop actions by an end user.
Revenue Profit Profit Margin # Customers Transactions Per Customer
Monthly
$800K
$700K
$600K
$500K
$400K
$300K
$200K
$100K
$0K
$70K
$60K
$50K
$40K
$30K
$20K
$10K
$0K
Audio Equipment
Cameras
Video Equipment
TVs
Computers
Electronics -
Miscellaneous J
a
n
0
7
F
e
b
0
7
M
a
r 0
7
A
p
r 0
7
M
a
y
0
7
J
u
n
0
7
J
u
l 0
7
A
u
g
0
7
S
e
p
0
7
O
c
t 0
7
N
o
v
0
7
D
e
c
0
7
Quarterly Monthly
Northwest
Northeast
West
Central
Southeast
Mid-Atlantic
South
Southwest
Quarterly
Category Country
Revenue Performance
Monthly Quarterly
Audio Equipment
Revenue
Cameras
Revenue
TVs
Revenue
Regional Revenue Performance
PRODUCT PERFORMANCE
Product Revenue
J
a
n
0
7
F
e
b
0
7
M
a
r 0
7
A
p
r 0
7
M
a
y
0
7
J
u
n
0
7
J
u
l 0
7
A
u
g
0
7
S
e
p
0
7
O
c
t 0
7
N
o
v
0
7
D
e
c
0
7
$200K
$160K
$120K
$80K
$40K
$0K
J
a
n
0
7
F
e
b
0
7
M
a
r 0
7
A
p
r 0
7
M
a
y
0
7
J
u
n
0
7
J
u
l 0
7
A
u
g
0
7
S
e
p
0
7
O
c
t 0
7
N
o
v
0
7
D
e
c
0
7
Mid-Atlantic Revenue
USA Electronics
Intuitive selector controls
placed directly on the
dashboard let users flip
through many different
views of the data.
dynamic dashboards contain selector controls that allow users to Flip Through Many
different Views of the data
Figure 19: MicroStrategy Dynamic Dashboards support a wide range of selector controls from radio buttons, to check boxes, drop-down boxes, time sliders,
and buttons. All of these selector controls are exposed directly on the dashboards for easy access by users and selector controls are added to dashboards
using just drag-and-drop actions no programming required.
MicroStrategy 9 Dynamic Dashboards Inherit OLAP Drilling Capability
With MicroStrategy 9, dashboard interactivity becomes even richer. The tables and graphs within Dynamic Dashboards
become immediately and automatically enabled with full OLAP drilling. The OLAP capability means that dashboard users are
no longer constrained to view just the data that has been designed into a dashboard. Instead, they can use OLAP drilling
commands to drill throughout the full depth and breadth of the data warehouse to obtain more detailed information or view
related information. With MicroStrategy dashboards, users have the drilling capability without requiring any extra effort by
dashboard designers.
20
$0
$100
$200
$300
$400
$500
$600
$700
Revenue Profit
Profit
Margin
Supplier
Share
McGraw Hill
Bantam Books
John Wiley & Sons
Warner Books
Simon & Schuster
Scribner
Perigee
Prentice Hall
Vintage Books
$1,253 $338 26.98% 19.2%
$1,011 $284 28.09% 15.5%
$892 $252 28.25% 13.7%
$810 $210 25.93% 12.4%
$744 $195 26.21% 11.4%
$644 $150 23.29% 9.9%
$438 $118 26.94% 6.7%
$376 $101 26.86% 5.8%
$358 $94 26.26% 5.5%
Profit
Margin
End on
hand
Art & Architecture
Business
Literature
Books -
Miscellaneous
Science &
Technology
Sports & Health
Total
$918 $261 28.43% 1,980
$1,024 $275 26.86% 2,558
$826 $201 24.33% 3,328
$28 $7 25.00% 284
$439 $120 27.33% 857
$371 $97 26.15% 1,341
$3,606 $961 26.65% 10,348
25.0%
25.1%
20.3%
3.3%
17.2%
9.1%
Art &
Architecture
Business
Literature
Books -
Miscellaneous
Science &
Technology
Sports &
Health
KPIs - 2006 Alerts
Revenue
Profit Margin
Sell-through
Revenue LY
$4,078
$5,015
26.7%
24.3%
Alert: Forecasted revenue is $ 4,363 vs. revenue of $4,078 -- 6.5% under forecast.
Books in Northeast
Dynamic
Dashboards
Have Drilling
Capability
Microstrategy 9 dynamic dashboards are Fully
Interactive Out-of-the-Box, Because They Inherit
rOlap drilling capability
Figure 20: With MicroStrategy 9, all grids and graphs on Dynamic
Dashboards will automatically inherit ROLAP drilling capability that allows
users to interactively investigate data throughout the data warehouse.
MicroStrategy 9 Dynamic Dashboards Can Display Real-time Information Directly from the Internet
With MicroStrategy 9, Dynamic Dashboards have the ability to access and display live content from the Internet. Any Internet
content that is HTTP-accessible can now be displayed and interacted with directly from within a Dynamic Dashboard. This means
that users can see real-time data from the Internet streaming across their dashboards alongside corporate information, thus
providing a one-stop-shop for information.
Internet
Microstrategy 9 dynamic dashboards can access real-time Information
Feeds directly from the Internet

Figure 21: With MicroStrategy 9
Dynamic Dashboards, users can
paste any HTTP-accessible Web
content directly into a Dynamic
Dashboard, thus providing real-time
access to Internet-based information
and Internet functionality.
21
Business Users Can Create Great-looking Dynamic Dashboards

MicroStrategy Dynamic Dashboards currently boast Pixel Perfect
design capabilities with desktop publishing quality for perfect

on-screen appearance and perfect printing. With MicroStrategy 9, this powerful design capability has been harnessed and made
accessible to average business users with little or no dashboard layout expertise. MicroStrategy 9 introduces new dashboard
template technology that provides starting points with sophisticated formatting that can make any business user a dashboard
designer. Additionally, MicroStrategy 9 offers a set of on-screen design assistants that help guide user design, including a smart-
placement assistant that automatically sizes and aligns dashboard elements, new visual cues that help users add new analytics,
new data sets, new tabs without going to menus, and a new dashboard map that helps users see all of the items on a dashboard
and switch between them quickly during design.
We were amazed at how much information we could consolidate into one of MicroStrategys new dashboards.
Every day, our executives rely on our information dashboards for a snapshot of our business performance.
Prashanth Narella, Engineering Manager, Data Services, Yahoo! Inc.
Powered by
Year to Date Sales Review
YEAR TO DATE SALES SUMMARY 2007
Revenue by Supplier Monthly Revenue
Revenue by Region
December 31, 2007
FolioBOOKSTORES
McGraw Hill
Bantam Books Simon & Schuster
16.9%
$523,765
26.2%
$811,991
26.8%
$830,585
30.1%
$932,859
Prentice Hall
Month
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
DEC
Revenue
$149,500
$137,200
$210,400
$244,800
$353,500
$387,500
$125,800
$218,700
$225,600
$256,000
$300,100
$490,100
Region
Mid-Atlantic
Southwest
Northeast
Southeast
Central
West
Northwest
South
Revenue
$680,700
$545,600
$407,800
$381,200
$301,600
$291,300
$247,100
$243,900
$3,099,200
$3,099,200
TOP SELLING PRODUCTS (ITEM) UNITS SOLD UNIT PRICE REVENUE
100 Places to Go While Still Young at Heart 3,200 $552 $147,200
Foundation Analysis and Design 1,400 $810 $113,400
Working with Emotional Intelligence 5,600 $228 $106,400
TOTAL 10,200 $1,590 $367,000
JAN
FEB
M
AR
APR
M
AY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
O
CT
NO
V
DEC
$500,000
$400,000
$300,000
$200,000
$100,000
$0
Mid-Atlantic
Southwest
Northeast
Southeast
Central
West
Northwest
South
$0 $200,000 $400,000 $600,000 $800,000
Supplier Detail Sales Representative Analysis
Dashboard Templates
Blank
Dashboard
Four Contents Four Titles and
Four Contents
One Content Left Two
Contents Right
One Content Top Two
Contents Bottom
Three Contents Title and Content
Two Contents Left
One Content Right
Two Contents Top
One Content Bottom
Two Titles and
Two Contents
Title and Four
Contents
Title and Two Contents Two Contents
. . . Are Now Easy to Achieve by Business
Users Using New Dashboard Templates
Pixel Perfect Desktop Publishing
Quality Dashboards . . .
Customer Analysis Customer Segmentation and Profitability Cross-sell Analysis
Acquisition, Attrition, and Retention
Performance Summary: 3.01% Acquisition Rate, 0.62% Attrition Rate, and 96.99% Retention Rate
Customer Analysis by Age Range and Income Range
Age Range Income Range Revenue $
Avg Transaction
Size $
Revenue per
Customer $ Profit $
< 21
21-40
41-60
0 - 20K
20K - 40K
40K - 60K
60K - 80K
> 80K
0 - 20K
20K - 40K
40K - 60K
60K - 80K
> 80K
0 - 20K
20K - 40K
40K - 60K
60K - 80K
> 80K
$41,183.10 $298.43 $686.39 $2,428.18
$54,498.44 $465.80 $1,028.27 $3,538.64
$23,178.17 $246.58 $551.86 $1,406.37
$51,844.68 $518.45 $1,205.69 $3,091.98
$23,783.53 $247.75 $540.53 $1,479.12
$46,635.75 $376.09 $790.44 $2,960.92
$33,312.13 $350.65 $812.49 $1,717.86
$49,186.10 $341.57 $768.53 $2,762.07
$37,477.31 $312.31 $749.55 $2,324.83
$23,826.98 $187.61 $458.21 $1,375.57
$44,158.71 $304.54 $679.36 $3,219.34
$55,093.39 $326.00 $734.58 $3,345.29
$43,422.04 $269.70 $578.96 $2,455.90
$43,336.86 $390.42 $866.74 $2,736.80
$33,851.87 $266.55 $573.76 $2,136.33
20.6%
22.1%
16.0%
18.4%
23.0%
0 - 20K
20K - 40K
40K - 60K
60K - 80K
> 80K
Customer Distribution by Income Range
Document Execution Time: 12/29/2006 9:48:25 AM Document Author: John Smith
New
Customers
Active
Customers
Acquisition
Rate
% New to
All New
Oct 2006
Nov 2006
Dec 2006
39 1,299 3.00% 32.23%
42 1,333 3.15% 34.71%
40 1,363 2.93% 33.06%
Lost Active
Customers
Attrition
Rate
% Lost to
All Lost
7 1,299 0.54% 28.00%
8 1,333 0.60% 32.00%
10 1,363 0.73% 40.00%
Attrition Acquisition
Retained
Customers
Active
Customers Retention Rate
1,260 1,299 97.00%
1,291 1,333 96.85%
1,323 1,363 97.07%
Retention
Quarterly Acquisition Trend Quarterly Attrition Trend Quarterly Retention Plan
Customers
Q4 2006 Select a Quarter
Quarterly Analysis Year-to-date Analysis
Human Resources Dashboard - Benefits
Last Updated on 12/31/07
Powered by
Benefit Costs
1/1/2007 $1,600 Vison
1/7/2007 $3,450 401k
1/20/2007 $18,250 Medical
1/31/2007 $7,875 Dental
1/31/2007 $3,000 Dental
2/5/2007 $15,625 Medical
2/1/2007 $1,315 Vision
2/12/2007 $6,010 401k
2/15/2007 $3,550 401k
2/27/2007 $2,370 Vision
2/28/2007 $12,568 Medical
3/1/2007 $5,800 Vision
3/15/2007 $23,000 Medical
3/31/2007 $4,800 401k
3/31/2007 $2,750 Vision
4/5/2007 $1,100 Vision
4/15/2007 $800 Vision
4/19/2007 $6,000 Dental
4/28/2007 $15,230 Medical
4/28/2007 $6,550 Dental
5/1/2007 $3,850 Dental
5/1/2007 $17,275 Medical
5/10/2007 $6,400 401k
5/15/2007 $3,515 401k
5/15/2007 $11,235 Medical
5/15/2007 $2,200 Dental
5/20/2007 $6,500 401k
5/31/2007 $5,300 Medical
6/5/2007 $560 Dental
6/5/2007 $1,420 Vision
6/10/2007 $2,500 Vision
EMPLOYEE CLAIMS Medical Dental Vision Total
Thomas Jones
Dave Moran
Hugo Martinez
Gordan Leigh
Shannon Bryant
Carrie Porter
Mike Douglas
Finance
IT
Marketing
HR
Field Sales
Field Sales
Development
IT
Field Sales
Field Sales
Human Resources
IT
Central Region
Central Region
Central Region
Central Region
Central Region
Central Region
Central Region
10/6/2007
7/14/2007
5/12/2007
7/5/2007
8/24/2007
5/28/2007
6/22/2007
10/23/2007
7/16/2007
5/19/2007
7/14/2007
8/31/2007
6/5/2007
6/28/2007
LEAVE OF ABSENCE
EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION CLAIMS
Personal - Vacation
Personal - Vacation
Personal - Vacation
Personal - Vacation
Personal - Vacation
Personal - Vacation
Personal - Vacation
0 2 4 6 8 10
West
Corporate
Central
East
4 6 8 10
Jan Feb Mar Apr
2006 Actual 2007 Actual 2007 Budget
May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
12
$0M
$5M
$1M
$1.5M
$2M
Departmental Regional
pixel perfect dashboards can Be created by Business users using the new dashboard Templates
Figure 22: MicroStrategy 9 enables business users to create sophisticated dashboard designs easily using the new dashboard template feature and a range of
design assistants that accelerate and simplify the dashboard design process.
MicroStrategy 9 Business Users Can Control Report Distribution and Information Flow
MicroStrategy 9 introduces a new capability called Distribution Services that puts control of report distribution directly into
the hands of business users. Users can set up report distributions for themselves or for other users, sending reports via e-mail,
networked printers, or directly to recipients computers or servers. Business users are empowered to create and manage their
own information subscriptions, without the intervention of a centralized IT administrator.
22
Send Now On Event
On Schedule On Alert
S
u
b
s
c
r
i
b
e

S
e
l
f
S
u
b
s
c
r
i
b
e

O
t
h
e
r
s
E-m
ail | Printers | Folders
Reports | Dashboards
Enterprise
Department
Workgroup
Microstrategy distribution services enables
Business users to set up automated
Information distributions for Themselves
and for co-workers
Figure 23: MicroStrategy 9 Distribution Services is a high-volume automated
distribution system for reports and dashboards. It is designed to provide
business users with the ability to subscribe themselves and subscribe others
to receive distributions. Business users can set up their own personal
alert conditions that, when met, will trigger distributions to occur.
MicroStrategy 9 Business Users Can Set Up Personal Alert Thresholds to Trigger Report Distributions
The newest report distribution feature in the MicroStrategy 9 platform is the ability of users to set up their own personal
alert triggers. With this feature, business users can establish personal thresholds on metrics on any report or dashboard.
MicroStrategy 9 periodically scans all of its databases checking all personal alert thresholds, and when it detects a personal
threshold has been exceeded, it automatically distributes reports and dashboards according to the users desires.
Today, organizations need a business intelligence solution that can support user self-suffciency and can
respond more quickly and effectively to local business needs. MicroStrategy 9 provides end users with
more control over the analysis and reports they create and helps them to be more self-suffcient, require
far less IT support, and quickly adapt to changing business requirements.
Wayne Eckerson, Director of TDWI Research, The Data Warehousing Institute
4. suppOrTIng glOBal applIcaTIOns and dIsTrIBuTed OperaTIOns
With large enterprises, it is common to have development teams from North America, Europe, and India working on the same
BI applications. The challenge is supporting this distributed development so that the effort of coordination does not exceed the
beneft of having multiple development teams.
23
As companies merge and expand, there is an increased urgency for business intelligence to span all operations, across business
units, across departments, and across the globe. This expansion introduces new requirements on the BI systems to support
global deployments.
MicroStrategy 9 Supports Internationalized Reporting and Dashboards
MicroStrategy 9 offers the ability to present every report, dashboard, or OLAP analysis in the local language of each business
user viewing the information. This new internationalization capability can support an unlimited number of languages in both
single-byte and double-byte (Asian) alphabets. When a user logs on to MicroStrategy 9, the BI system reads the users language
preference from their browser and dynamically renders reports and dashboards in the preferred language. In MicroStrategy 9,
each report and dashboard design is automatically enabled for internationalization without requiring any additional design work
by report authors.
SINGLE
REPORT
DESIGN
Microstrategy 9 supports global BI applications with Full Internationalization
Figure 24: MicroStrategy 9 allows
every report and dashboard to be
rendered in the local language
of each user according to their
preference.
Change Journaling Maintains Consistency When Many Developers Contribute Updates to BI Applications
MicroStrategy 9 offers a range of features to support distributed development teams, including a new Change Journaling
feature. This feature captures all changes to metadata objects and automatically logs those changes into a centralized system
allowing enterprises to monitor the activities of the disparate development teams. The change journaling system allows
developers and teams to communicate with one another about their changes through a persistent commenting capability.
This level of change tracking is also crucially important for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.
24
NAME
USER
NAME
TIME
STAMP
OBJECT
ID
COMMENTS
TRANSACTION
TYPE
TYPE
BI Applications Are Defined in Metadata
The Change Journal Records Every Modification
Change Journal
Multiple Developers Make Application Modifications
Microstrategy 9 change Journaling Feature captures all changes and
coordinates Multiple development Teams
Figure 25: The Change Journaling
capability captures all changes
made to the metadata and
is particularly valuable when
there are multiple independent
development teams contributing
to a single common metadata or
BI application.
Metadata Update Packages Support Distributed Development with Multiple Development Environments
MicroStrategy 9 allows multiple and independent development teams to coordinate the inclusion of their new developments
into the global operational BI system. A new feature called Update Packages allows each development team to independently
submit updates, additions, and changes to an existing operational system. MicroStrategys Object Manager system uses the new
update packages to incrementally install each teams updates into the test environment while reconciling all overlaps or conficts
that might arise.
Dev 1
US
Dev 2
India
Test
Environment
Synchronize Development Environments
Dev 3
China
Data
Warehouse
Production
Environment
Distributed
Development
Environments
Create Update
Packages
Apply Update
Packages
Migrate to
Production
Microstrategy 9 update packages enable development across Multiple distributed development environments
Figure 26: The MicroStrategy 9 Update Package feature allows multiple development teams in different locations to each work on a local copy of the
metadata. Periodically they submit their updates to a centralized Test Environment where overlaps are reconciled. A fnal update package is then sent to the
Production Environment and is also sent back to the development environments to keep them in sync.
25
Complex Statement-type Reports Can Be Maintained by Multiple Development Teams
MicroStrategy 9 offers a major structural enhancement to its Report Services offering that allows enterprises to design and
maintain extremely complex enterprise reports and statements by multiple developers. The primary enhancement is the support
for multi-part document reports, where each part can be independently designed and maintained by different developers
and then seamlessly assembled into a report book or statement document. When exported to PDF for printing or publishing,
MicroStrategy 9 automatically applies consistent pagination across all report parts and automatically creates a table of contents
for the aggregate assembly. Additionally, the formatting of these complex documents has been enhanced through the inclusion
of watermarks, horizontal repeating sections, dynamic images, and conditional formatting.
KPIs - 2006 Alerts
Books in Northeast
KPIs - 2006 Alerts
Books in Northeast
Multi-layout
Assembly
Perfect Online
Page-by Navigalion
Seleclor Conlrols
lnleraclive Crids
Independent
Dashboard Design
Multi-layout
Assembly
Page Perfect
Output
Perfect PDF Print
lull Paginalion
Table ol Conlenls
Watermarks
Monthly Statement
Table ol Conlenls
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . !
8anking . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
8rokerage. . . . . . . . . . !2
Credil . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

complex Multi-part statement applications can Be Built using new Microstrategy 9 reporting Features
Figure 27: MicroStrategy 9 provides new features designed specifcally to meet the needs of complex reporting applications typifed by customer
statements. These types of BI applications require multiple developers to design and maintain the reports, and they need Pixel Perfect behavior both
on-screen and in print.
MicroStrategy 9 Supports Distributed Administration
A new administrative capability in MicroStrategy 9 allows the subsetting of administrative duties and the distribution of
administrative responsibilities to business units and departments. This capability will allow central IT groups to relinquish routine
administrative duties, such as user administration, project administration, and user security administration, to individuals within
the departments or business units who can be more responsive to their business user constituencies.
26
Marketing Finance Sales HR
BI Applications
BI Applications
Centralized IT Admin Distributed Departmental Admin
administrative responsibility can Be distributed to departmental Business people
Figure 28: MicroStrategy 9 allows
user and application administration
responsibilities to be distributed to
business people within individual
departments using a Web interface.
This offoads that task from
centralized IT personnel and is
generally more responsive to local
departmental business requests.
MicroStrategy 9 Supports Distributed Governance of Shared Services BI
Increasingly, departments want their own islands of departmental BI because they need the fexibility and speed offered by
smaller systems that are unencumbered by inter-departmental coordination, budgeting allocations, and project prioritization. On
the other hand, CFOs and CIOs want enterprise BI systems because they offer a single version of the truth and the lowest cost of
ownership. With MicroStrategy 9, companies can now have both. MicroStrategys security architecture, metadata architecture,
and administrative system support the simultaneous environment of centralized / common metadata foundations on which each
department can autonomously create their own metadata extensions and BI applications.
Enterprise Data
Warehouse
Enterprise
BI Applications
Centralized
Governance
Committee
Departmental Governance
Enterprise Data
Warehouse
Departmental
Databases
Enterprise
BI Applications
Dept
BI Apps
Dept
BI Apps
Dept
BI Apps
Dept
BI Apps
Microstrategy 9 supports distributed governance Operational Models
Figure 29: MicroStrategy 9 is
designed to support distributed
governance models of operation
where departments retain
autonomous control over their
piece of the overall BI system. This
gives departments the ability to
have their own databases, their
own BI applications, and their
own metadata within the same
infrastructure as the enterprise
BI applications and metadata.
This provides departments with
enterprise-caliber BI technology,
but also the nimbleness that comes
from autonomous control.
27
The improved administrative features in MicroStrategy 9 should allow us to reduce signifcantly the time it
takes to move deliverables from one environment into another. This will help us to improve even further
our total cost of ownership and speed our delivery efforts.
David Egan, Senior Group Manager, Idearc Media
IV. MicroStrategy 9 Enables Departmental BI
MicroStrategy 9 is designed specifcally to bring MicroStrategys enterprise-caliber technology to within easy reach of smaller
departmental BI applications.
MicroStrategy 9 enables departmental BI by:
1. Providing easy access to multiple data sources without requiring a data warehouse
2. Delivering departmental BI quickly, with little or no support
3. Providing all of the technology needed for departmental BI out-of-the-box
1. MIcrOsTraTegy prOVIdes easy access TO MulTIple daTa sOurces WIThOuT requIrIng a daTa WarehOuse
The biggest difference between a departmental BI system and an enterprise BI system is the lack of IT resources. Departments
generally do not have the IT personnel or the IT infrastructure of servers and databases to implement a fully confgured BI system.
Fortunately, most departmental BI applications do not need the full power of a properly engineered enterprise system. They do
not need full ETL control, nor do they need a high-performance, high-capacity database system. What they really need is a BI
technology that lets them access all of the data and get their BI system running quickly without signifcant technical expertise or
infrastructure. MicroStrategy 9 now brings enterprise-caliber BI capabilities within easy reach of departmental BI application needs.
Enterprise BI Configuration Departmental BI Configuration
Operational Databases Operational Databases
BI Architects
Report
Designer
DBAs
ETL Engineers
BI Platform
Reporting
Database
ETL
BI Architect
Report
Designer
Departmental
BI Solution includes:
s ")0LATFORM
s 3IMPLE$"
s 3IMPLE%4,
departmental BI systems require less data engineering
than enterprise BI systems
Figure 30: Departmental BI systems
lack the breadth of IT resources
that enterprise BI systems enjoy,
so departmental BI technology
must be able to access operational
databases directly and provide all of
the necessary technical components
out-of-the-box.
28
MicroStrategy 9 Introduces New Multi-source ROLAP Capability
As part of the MicroStrategy 9 release, MicroStrategy has added a new multi-source engine into its ROLAP architecture
that extends MicroStrategys metadata model to be able to span multiple database sources, including data warehouses, data
marts, operational databases, and departmental databases. Previously, MicroStrategys ROLAP engine provided a unifed multi-
dimensional model for just a single relational database.
Within MicroStrategys metadata model, each instance of data is modeled only once, regardless of whether it exists in one
or many separate databases. When that data item is required for a report, MicroStrategys new Multi-source ROLAP engine
automatically chooses which data source can best deliver the data for each and every pass of SQL.
9
Multi-source ROLAP
Mu l t i - s o u r c e E n g i n e R OL AP S QL E n g i n e
Multi-dimensional
Business Model
Multi-dimensional
Business Model
Using the Multi-source Engine,
Multiple Databases are
Modeled as a Unified
Multi-dimensional Source
9
ROLAP
Microstrategy 9 Multi-source rOlap Models Multiple databases as if They were a single database
Figure 31: MicroStrategys new Multi-source ROLAP capability allows the MicroStrategy metadata to span many databases and treat that collection of
databases as if it were one large logical database. The MicroStrategy multi-source engine examines every data request and determines the optimum
database from which to retrieve the data for every pass of SQL.
Multi-source ROLAP is a Seamless Extension of the ROLAP Architecture
The new multi-source capability is a seamless extension to MicroStrategys ROLAP architecture and its use is completely
transparent to both end users and to report designers. Multi-source ROLAP can support the same user interaction with reports,
dashboards, and OLAP grids that single-source ROLAP provides, and it does so without a user being aware that data is coming
from multiple sources. Designers can create reports and dashboards without any knowledge of where the data might come
from. In fact, one query might create individual passes of SQL that source data from multiple different database technologies.
Multi-source ROLAP allows companies to easily incorporate data from multiple databases into a single report, increasing the
richness and relevance of any report or dashboard. Even more striking is the fact that the multi-dimensional nature of multi-
source ROLAP allows users to seamlessly drill across and throughout multiple databases, allowing them to easily investigate any
information they need, regardless of where it is housed. Unlike other BI technologies, MicroStrategy architecture uses a single
unifed metadata model for all styles of BI which ensures that all reports, dashboards, and OLAP sessions are entirely consistent
with one another, promoting a single version of the truth across the enterprise.
29
Drilling Anywhere Across
the Data Warehouse
Drilling Anywhere Across
Multiple Databases
9
ROLAP Multi-source ROLAP

Mu l t i - s o u r c e E n g i n e
Multi-source rOlap allows users to seamlessly Traverse Multiple databases
Multi-source ROLAP is completely
transparent to users and developers.
Users have the same interactive
access to data and drilling across
multiples sources as they do when
accessing and drilling within a single
database. Moreover, Multi-source
ROLAP is completely transparent
to report designers. When users
drag attributes and metrics onto a
report, they cannot tell from which
database those attributes and
metrics will be sourced.
MicroStrategy Multi-source ROLAP is Engineered for High Performance
MicroStrategys new multi-source capability is engineered with a unique and powerful characteristic that sets it apart from other
technologies and allows it to operate at the highest possible performance levels. MicroStrategy 9 Multi-source ROLAP employs a
push-down architecture for joining data across multiple database servers. Unlike other BI technologies, which join data from
multiple databases by frst moving large data sets into the middle-tier BI server and conducting the joining and fltering there,
MicroStrategy 9 uses the database engines themselves to execute joins and fltering. This push-down architecture moves the least
amount of data, conducts the most data-intensive tasks (joining and fltering) close to the data source, and takes advantage of
decades of research by the database vendors to optimize these tasks.
With MicroStrategys sophisticated multi-source multi-pass SQL, data is accessed and fltered in each pass of SQL and then moves
only the result sets from one database to another database and instructs the target database to execute the join. The target
database is automatically chosen by the Multi-source ROLAP engine based on which location will deliver the best performance.
MicroStrategy
BI Server
Multi-pass
SQL
Multi-source ROLAP
Push-down Joining Uses the DBMS Engine
Other BI Technologies
(Business Objects, Cognos, Oracle)
SQL SQL
Basic
BI Server
Microstrategy Multi-source rOlap uses a unique high performance
push-down architecture to Join data using the database engines
Figure 33: MicroStrategys Multi-
source ROLAP joins data using
the database engines, rather than
transferring all of the data into the
middle-tier BI server as with other
BI technologies. This is called push-
down joining and it requires very
sophisticated SQL generation that
is only possible with true ROLAP
engines. Push-down joining delivers
high performance because it moves
the least amount of data and
utilizes the tremendous power of
the modern database engines.
30
MicroStrategy Multi-source ROLAP Can Improve Operation of Enterprise BI Environments
While Multi-source ROLAP has special relevance to departmental BI needs, it is also highly valuable for enterprise BI environments,
too. Multi-source ROLAP can be used to implement a hub and spoke database architecture. In this scenario, the multi-source
engine models the hub (data warehouse) and spokes (subject area data marts) as one large logical database, but intelligently directs
queries to the lower cost and high performing data marts whenever it can. It only directs queries to the data warehouse when they
cannot be satisfed by the data marts. Similarly, Multi-source ROLAP can be used to balance the workload between a high capacity /
high cost database appliance and lower cost general purpose databases. In this scenario, data engineers can spread simpler queries
like lookups and aggregations to lower cost database engines, preserving the larger database engines for more complex queries
that need its power.
MicroStrategy Virtual Cube
Marketing
Data Mart
MicroStrategy Virtual Cube
Mfg
Data Mart
Enterprise
Data Whse
Sales
Data Mart
Financial
Data Mart
Lookups, Aggregates,
Summary Data
Enterprise Data Warehouse
Supporting Hub and Spoke Data Architectures Balance the Workload Across Databases
SQL
Server
Teradata
MySQL
DB2
SQL
Server
Netezza
Sybase
IQ
Microstrategy 9 Multi-source rOlap allows data environments to be Optimized for performance and cost
Figure 34: Multi-source ROLAP is useful even for enterprise BI implementations where data engineers want to distribute data across a range of database
servers to optimally match database power with data workload. MicroStrategys Multi-source ROLAP engine automatically selects the best database for each
query when the data is accessible from more than one source. This helps free up capacity on expensive, high capacity database servers.
2. MIcrOsTraTegy can delIVer deparTMenTal BI sOluTIOns quIckly, WITh lITTle Or nO IT suppOrT
The biggest hurdle in any BI system is setting up the data warehouse or data mart. It is widely understood that this diffcult step
is necessary for enterprise-scale BI systems. However, departmental BI needs are smaller and often do not require such extensive
data engineering to satisfy requirements. For these departmental BI systems, MicroStrategy 9 offers two solutions based on the
new Multi-source ROLAP and In-memory ROLAP extensions to the MicroStrategy architecture.
Multi-source ROLAP Offers a Powerful and Simple Solution for Departmental BI
With MicroStrategy 9, organizations can access and combine data from databases and Excel spreadsheets using Multi-source
ROLAP. Multi-source ROLAP eliminates the requirement to move data from multiple source databases into a purpose-built data
warehouse or data mart. Instead, Multi-source ROLAP allows companies to access the data directly from where it resides, with
no special data engineering or data movement, which radically reduces the time to set up the BI environment and lowers the
technical expertise required.
31
In-memory ROLAP Cubes Can Serve as Decision Support Databases for Departmental BI
In-memory ROLAP offers an additional solution for departmental BI when the BI system is not permitted to interactively access
the source databases or when the data source is Excel. In these cases, In-memory ROLAP Cubes can serve as the interactive
database for reporting, dashboards, and OLAP analyses. Building In-memory databases does not require special set up or data
modeling. MicroStrategy 9 automatically designs and confgures the in-memory database based on the relationships between
the attributes and metrics specifed by the business user. The in-memory database technology operates in the computer
servers main memory for high-speed performance, but is also stored on disk for greater permanence and offers the ability to
swap in and out of memory based on usage.
Enterprise BI
Fully Engineered Configuration
Requires: BI Expertise
Database Expertise
ETL Expertise
Requires: BI Expertise
Departmental BI
Rapid Deployment Configurations
Operational Databases
BI Platform
ETL
Reporting
Database
Mu l t i - s o u r c e
Interactive Access
to Databases
Using Multi-source ROLAP Using In-memory ROLAP
In-memory
ROLAP Cube
Databases
Load Data
BI Platform
Microstrategy 9 can provide departmental BI quickly and Without the need for separate eTl
and database Technology
Figure 35: MicroStrategys Multi-source ROLAP and In-memory ROLAP provide critical components to support the need for fast and simple departmental BI
solutions that require little or no IT support. Using just Multi-source ROLAP, businesses can set up the simplest BI environment where the BI system directly
accesses the operational databases. Adding In-memory ROLAP lets businesses create simple in-memory databases to be used for decision support queries.
Basic scheduled queries can be used to periodically load the cube databases with the latest operational data.
MicroStrategy 9 Supports the Rapid Creation of Departmental BI Systems
There are fve steps for rapidly creating a departmental BI system with MicroStrategy 9, starting with software installation and
fnishing with report and dashboard design.
32
Mu l t i - s o u r c e Mu l t i - s o u r c e Mu l t i - s o u r c e
Connect to DBs
(Multi-source ROLAP)
Create Metadata
(Graphical Architect)
Create Databases
(In-memory ROLAP)
Schedule ETL
(Query Scheduler)
1 2 3 4
Query Scheduler
Create Reports &
Dashboards
(Web Professional)
5
Query Scheduler
using Microstrategy 9, the Five steps to Implement a departmental BI system can Be
accomplished within a day
Figure 36: With MicroStrategy 9, companies can quickly create a departmental BI system. The frst step is to install the software and connect to the source
databases. MicroStrategy Multi-source ROLAP can integrate the data from multiple sources, including Excel. The second step is to create the metadata abstraction
of the databases using MicroStrategys Graphical Architect. The third step is to create the decision support databases using MicroStrategys In-memory ROLAP
feature. The fourth step is to populate the in-memory databases and to schedule future updates using MicroStrategys Query Scheduler. The ffth and fnal step
is to begin creating the reports and dashboards. Business users can create their own reports and dashboards using MicroStrategys Web Professional product.
1. Install Software and Connect to Databases
The frst step is to install the MicroStrategy software on a laptop or desktop computer. MicroStrategy can run on a wide range
of computers, including Microsoft Windows, Red Hat Linux, Suse Linux, IBM AIX, Sun Solaris, and HP-UX. The MicroStrategy 9
installation wizard makes installation easy. Once installed, standard MicroStrategy software can connect to a single database, or
Multi-source ROLAP can be used to connect to multiple databases.
M u l t i - s o u r c e
9
Installation
9
Installation Wizard
Software
&
Hardware
MicroStrategy 9
Software
Windows
LINUX
AIX
HP-UX
SOLARIS
1 2 3 4
step 1: Install Microstrategy 9 and connect to
the databases using Microstrategy Multi-source
rOlap capability
Figure 37: MicroStrategys installation wizard takes the user through
a guided process to install all of the necessary MicroStrategy software
components. MicroStrategy Multi-source ROLAP allows the user to
connect to multiple databases, including Excel.
33
Mu l t i - s o u r c e Mu l t i - s o u r c e Mu l t i - s o u r c e
Connect to DBs
(Multi-source ROLAP)
Create Metadata
(Graphical Architect)
Create Databases
(In-memory ROLAP)
Schedule ETL
(Query Scheduler)
1 2 3 4
Query Scheduler
Create Reports &
Dashboards
(Web Professional)
5
Query Scheduler
using Microstrategy 9, the Five steps to Implement a departmental BI system can Be
accomplished within a day
Figure 36: With MicroStrategy 9, companies can quickly create a departmental BI system. The frst step is to install the software and connect to the source
databases. MicroStrategy Multi-source ROLAP can integrate the data from multiple sources, including Excel. The second step is to create the metadata abstraction
of the databases using MicroStrategys Graphical Architect. The third step is to create the decision support databases using MicroStrategys In-memory ROLAP
feature. The fourth step is to populate the in-memory databases and to schedule future updates using MicroStrategys Query Scheduler. The ffth and fnal step
is to begin creating the reports and dashboards. Business users can create their own reports and dashboards using MicroStrategys Web Professional product.
1. Install Software and Connect to Databases
The frst step is to install the MicroStrategy software on a laptop or desktop computer. MicroStrategy can run on a wide range
of computers, including Microsoft Windows, Red Hat Linux, Suse Linux, IBM AIX, Sun Solaris, and HP-UX. The MicroStrategy 9
installation wizard makes installation easy. Once installed, standard MicroStrategy software can connect to a single database, or
Multi-source ROLAP can be used to connect to multiple databases.
9
Installation
9
Installation Wizard
Software
&
Hardware
MicroStrategy 9
Software
Windows
LINUX
AIX
HP-UX
SOLARIS
1 2 3 4
step 1: Install Microstrategy 9 and connect to
the databases using Microstrategy Multi-source
rOlap capability
Figure 37: MicroStrategys installation wizard takes the user through
a guided process to install all of the necessary MicroStrategy software
components. MicroStrategy Multi-source ROLAP allows the user to
connect to multiple databases, including Excel.
2. Rapidly Create the Metadata
MicroStrategy 9 offers multiple features that enable the rapid creation of BI metadata. MicroStrategys new Graphical Architect
makes it possible for non-IT people to select one or more source databases, identify the tables and columns desired, load
them into the BI system, and transform them into business-oriented defnitions that business people can understand and use
to assemble into reports and dashboards. Graphical Architect also includes a series of smart assistants to help streamline the
process, including auto-recognizing attributes and metrics and auto-recognizing the same data in multiple databases.
9
Graphical Architect
Select Tables
Define
Attributes
M e t a d a t a
Define
Hierarchies
Define
Metrics
step 2: create the Business Model (Metadata)
using graphical architect
Figure 38: The next step is to create the multi-dimensional business model
(metadata) based on the rows and columns presented by the databases.
MicroStrategys Graphical Architect provides a simple palette for identifying
which tables and columns from the various databases are to be used and
describes the relationships between the columns. At the end of the
process, the user has a list of attributes and metrics objects that can be
dragged-and-dropped onto reports or dashboards.
3. Design the Databases Using In-memory ROLAP Cubes
MicroStrategys new In-memory ROLAP Cubes can serve as databases to store the data that will be queried by reports and
dashboards. Designing In-memory ROLAP Cubes is simple. It follows the same familiar paradigm as creating reports. Users simply
drag combinations of attributes and metrics metadata objects onto a cube template, and the system will do the rest. Unlike
relational database design that requires many steps in table defnitions, indices, keys, and data types, in-memory database design
is no more complicated than report design.
COLUMNS
DATA ROWS
Attribute
Attribute
Attribute
Attribute
Metric
Metric
Metric
Metric
Metric
Attribute
In-memory ROLAP
Report Design = Database Design
step 3: design the databases using In-memory
rOlap cubes
Figure 39: Designing In-memory ROLAP Cubes is no more complicated than
designing reports. Users simply drag-and-drop whatever combinations of
attributes and metrics they want onto a cube design template and then
save the result. There are no tables to defne, keys to specify, or data types
to defne. The MicroStrategy software takes care of everything needed to
create the cube database, based only on the attributes and metrics that
users want to include in their reporting.
34
4. Schedule Simplifed Extract and Load Capability
MicroStrategy 9 supports a simplifed extract and load capability to periodically repopulate the in-memory databases with the latest
information from the source databases. Using MicroStrategys out-of-the-box query engines and scheduling systems, departments
can schedule data extractions from relational databases, Excel workbooks, fat fles, and multi-dimensional databases, including
Microsoft Analysis Services and Hyperion/Oracle Essbase. When combined with the MicroStrategy 9 Multi-source ROLAP capability,
the query system can even join data across multiple relational databases and Excel to populate the in-memory database.
9
Intelligence Server Scheduler

Query Scheduler
Pick Schedule
Every Day at 2am
Every Saturday at 2am
Every Sunday at 2am
Every Monday at 2am
Every Tuesday at 2am
Every Wednesday at 2am
Every Thursday at 2am
Every Friday at 2am
step 4: schedule simplifed extract and load
capability using Microstrategy query scheduler
Figure 40: MicroStrategys native scheduling system is all that is needed
to periodically repopulate the ROLAP Cubes with fresh data from the
source databases.
5. Design Reports and Dashboards
MicroStrategys Web Professional interface is all that is needed by business users to create grid and graph style reports. Users
simply drag attributes and metric objects onto a grid or graph template from the library of metadata objects previously modeled.
Users can add their own formatting to the report using Offce-like formatting toolbars, or they can apply any one of a dozen
different autostyles to rapidly format a report. Once reports are created and saved, they can be run immediately by any user.
The reports are also automatically enabled with full OLAP interactivity capability, so users can pivot, sort, flter, and drill on every
report, and they require no extra work by the report creator.
COLUMNS
Drag-and-Drop Run
Format
ROWS
Attribute
Attribute
Attribute
Attribute
Metric
Metric
Metric
Metric
Metric
Attribute
Category: Books
Subcategory Metrics
Art & Architecture
PAGE-BY:
$859,358 $201,412
$132,117
$59,491
$87,148
$310,489
$120,039
$589,246
$295,385
$366,250
$1,375,727
$538,269
$4,024,235
$857,945
$457,129
$235,894
$299,102
$1,065,238
$418,230
$3,133,539 $890,696
Business
Literature
Books - Miscellaneous
Science & Technology
Sports & Health
Total
Profit Cost Revenue
1
2
3
9
Web
step 5 part 1: Build reports using Microstrategy Web professional
Figure 41: Users can design reports in MicroStrategy 9 using the simple Web Professional interface or the more feature-rich Desktop Designer interface.
In either interface, the act of creating a report is the same simply drag-and-drop attributes and metrics onto a blank report template, then format the
template and run the report.
35
Once several grid or graph reports are created, users can use them as the building blocks for designing MicroStrategy Dynamic
Dashboards. Dashboard design has been dramatically simplifed in MicroStrategy 9 with the addition of pre-packaged dashboard
templates and smart-design assistants that help automatically align and size dashboard components. As with grid reports, once
a dashboard is created and saved, it is immediately available for other people to run. Also, dashboards are automatically enabled
with full interactivity whenever they are run. This gives users the ability to perform OLAP operations on grids and graphs like
drilling for greater detail. All of this interactivity is automatic so no extra work is needed by dashboard designers to program it
into their dashboard designs.
Tab 1 Tab 2
Attribute
Attribute
Metric
Metric
Metric
Metric
Attribute
$0
$100
$200
$300
$400
$500
$600
$700
Revenue Profit
Profit
Margin
Supplier
Share
McGraw Hill
Bantam Books
John Wiley & Sons
Warner Books
Simon & Schuster
Scribner
Perigee
Prentice Hall
Vintage Books
$1,253 $338 26.98% 19.2%
$1,011 $284 28.09% 15.5%
$892 $252 28.25% 13.7%
$810 $210 25.93% 12.4%
$744 $195 26.21% 11.4%
$644 $150 23.29% 9.9%
$438 $118 26.94% 6.7%
$376 $101 26.86% 5.8%
$358 $94 26.26% 5.5%
Profit
Margin
End on
hand
Art & Architecture
Business
Literature
Books -
Miscellaneous
Science &
Technology
Sports & Health
Total
$918 $261 28.43% 1,980
$1,024 $275 26.86% 2,558
$826 $201 24.33% 3,328
$28 $7 25.00% 284
$439 $120 27.33% 857
$371 $97 26.15% 1,341
$3,606 $961 26.65% 10,348
25.0%
25.1%
20.3%
3.3%
17.2%
9.1%
Art &
Architecture
Business
Literature
Books -
Miscellaneous
Science &
Technology
Sports &
Health
KPIs - 2006 Alerts
Revenue
Profit Margin
Sell-through
Revenue LY
$4,078
$5,015
26.7%
Books in Northeast
Attribute
Attribute
Metric
Metric
Metric
Metric
Attribute
Blank
MicroStrategy
Template
Corporate
Template
(Custom)
Imported
Dashboard
Design
Title
Grid
Advanced Visualization
Graph
1 2 3 4
Pick a Template
to Start
Select Some
Reports for Data Sets
Lay Out the Dashboard
& Format as Desired
Done
step 5 part 2: design dashboards using Microstrategy Web professional and
new dashboard Templates
Figure 42: The MicroStrategy Report Services component handles both dashboards and enterprise report designs. MicroStrategy 9 dashboards now include
new capabilities to create dashboards more quickly and easily than ever before. Using new dashboard templates, business users are guided through a
process of populating and formatting their dashboards without programming or specialized skills.
36
3. MIcrOsTraTegy 9 cOnTaIns all OF The TechnOlOgy needed FOr deparTMenTal BI, OuT-OF-The-BOX
MicroStrategy 9 includes the complete set of technology and tools needed to implement a departmental BI system. With one
software installation, companies can get all of the products, tools, and interfaces necessary to deploy a fully functional, multi-
layered BI system that can potentially scale up to any size. MicroStrategy Multi-source ROLAP provides a seamless database
connection layer that allows data to be extracted from multiple databases, including Excel. MicroStrategys Architect tool can
create metadata models for all data, while MicroStrategys Designer tool lets users create all of the business-oriented metadata.
MicroStrategys Intelligence Server houses the metadata and the SQL engine that taps into the databases. MicroStrategys In-
memory ROLAP technology allows companies to set up high-performance mid-tier databases. MicroStrategys Desktop and Web
products let users design reports and graphs, while MicroStrategy Report Services allows users to create dashboards and Pixel
Perfect reports. The MicroStrategy Web interface gives users with any Web browser the ability to run and interact with reports
and dashboards. And fnally, MicroStrategy Distribution Services lets companies distribute reports on a mass basis.

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Microstrategy 9 contains all of the Technology needed for departmental BI, Out-of-the-Box
Figure 43: With MicroStrategy 9, departments have all the technology they need to implement a comprehensive BI system out-of-the-box. MicroStrategy
9 technology covers all layers of a complete BI system, including the data access layer, metadata layer, database layer, reporting layer, dashboard layer, user
layer, and distribution layer.
V. MicroStrategy 9 Supports the Seamless Migration from
Departmental to Enterprise BI
Almost all organizations have a mix of independent BI systems, and face the problem of having multiple versions of the truth
across these BI islands that can undermine the credibility of their BI systems. The solution is to consolidate the islands of BI
into a more cohesive, enterprise-wide BI system gradually and incrementally. MicroStrategy 9 was designed specifcally to
enable a seamless and incremental consolidation of independent islands of MicroStrategy BI into a larger, more expansive
enterprise BI system. MicroStrategy 9 supports a three-stage process of consolidation.
37
Enterprise DW
HR Dept Sales Dept
HR Sales
Enterprise
Finance Dept
Fin
HR Dept Sales Dept
Enterprise HR Sales
Finance Dept HR Dept Sales Dept
Enterprise DW Enterprise DW
HR Dept Sales Dept Finance Dept
Fin
Finance Dept Finance Dept
Fin
Finance Dept
Enterprise
Stage 1
Disparate Islands of BI
All Running on MicroStrategy BI
Stage 2
Merging Islands of BI
Using MicroStrategy Multi-source
Stage 3
Consolidating Data
Re-pointing Metadata to the EDW
HR Sales
Microstrategy 9 supports a gradual and Incremental Migration from Islands of BI into a consolidated
enterprise BI system
Figure 44: With MicroStrategy 9, companies can follow a three-stage process for consolidating islands of BI gradually into a cohesive enterprise BI
architecture. The frst stage requires that all islands of BI are built using MicroStrategy BI technology so that there is metadata compatibility for future
consolidation. The second stage is to consolidate metadata for departmental islands into the enterprise system. Using Multi-source ROLAP, this stage can be
done without any disruption to users or their reports. The fnal stage is to consolidate the data from disparate databases into the enterprise data warehouse
and re-point the metadata to the new data source.
sTage 1: supporting disparate Islands of BI with a single BI Technology
The core of MicroStrategys ability to consolidate islands of BI is to use MicroStrategy BI technology at all levels of the
organization. This creates a foundation of common technology for metadata and report designs that is critical to the seamless
merger of metadata and report designs at some point in the future.
sTage 2: consolidating BI Metadata using Multi-source rOlap
Using Multi-source ROLAP, metadata and reports from departmental BI islands can be consolidated into enterprise BI servers,
while still providing access to the original data source. This frst step is simple because it does not require the movement of
data from departmental data sources to an enterprise data warehouse, but it starts the process of consolidating BI servers and
metadata. The multi-source capability allows the previously-distinct metadata defnitions to be merged gradually into a single
cohesive metadata.
sTage 3: consolidating data using Microstrategy graphical architect
MicroStrategy Graphical Architect allows companies to take the third major step in consolidating islands of BI by supporting
the transparent movement of data from the disparate databases into fewer higher-performance data warehouses and data
marts. Graphical Architect allows companies to re-point the metadata to access the data at its new location, and all of the
reports, dashboards, and OLAP analyses automatically will begin using the new data location, with no disruption to reports or
redesign required.
38
Organizations need to gradually and incrementally consolidate their departmental islands of BI into
a cohesive enterprise framework that ensures a single version of the truth and low cost of operation.
MicroStrategy is directly addressing this challenge with MicroStrategy 9, which contains an In-memory
BI and Multi-source BI capability that will make MicroStrategys enterprise-caliber technology suitable
for departmental BI. MicroStrategys new platform includes capabilities that allow consolidation
and transformation of departmental islands of BI without having to redo reports or dashboards as
consolidation takes place.
Mark Smith, CEO & EVP Research, Ventana Research
MicroStrategy 9 is breakthrough BI technology that builds on MicroStrategys unique strength at the high-end of BI to extend the
boundaries of enterprise BI. At the same time, MicroStrategy 9 offers these same enterprise-caliber capabilities to departmental
BI initiatives by offering rapid, out-of-the-box solutions for smaller-scale BI requirements. Most importantly, MicroStrategy 9
provides new and uniquely powerful capabilities to help organizations gradually consolidate their islands of BI into more cohesive
enterprise consolidations.
s Extends the Performance, Scalability, and Efficiency of Enterprise BI

s Enables Rapid Deployment of Departmental BI Applications
s Provides a Smooth Migration from Islands of Departmental BI into a
Cohesive Enterprise Framework
MicroStrategy 9 is breakthrough technology that allows companies to support all levels of
BI initiatives, and helps companies to consolidate islands of BI gradually into a cohesive
enterprise BI framework.
39
VI. MicroStrategy 9: 50+ Technological Breakthroughs
MicroStrategy 9 features over 8,000 new enhancements that build upon the already world-class architecture and
usability of the platform. The MicroStrategy 9 platform consists of the following products:
MicroStrategy Intelligence Server
An industrial-strength analytical server optimized for enterprise querying, reporting, and OLAP
analysis
MicroStrategy Report Services
An extension to MicroStrategy Intelligence Server, MicroStrategys enterprise reporting engine

delivers the full range of report formats, including scorecards and dashboards, fnancial reports,
customer invoices and statements, and highly detailed operational reports
MicroStrategy OLAP Services
An extension to MicroStrategy Intelligence Server, OLAP Services enables MicroStrategy Web,

Offce, and Desktop users to perform intuitive OLAP analysis with Intelligent Cubes
MicroStrategy Distribution Services
An extension to MicroStrategy Intelligence Server, Distribution Services enables high volume,

managed report distribution through e-mail, printers, and fle systems on a scheduled basis
MicroStrategy MultiSource Option
An extension to MicroStrategy Intelligence Server, MultiSource Option enables users to

seamlessly report, analyze, and monitor data across multiple data sources through a single
business model
MicroStrategy Web
An interactive environment for reporting and analysis through an all-HTML and zero-footprint
Web client
MicroStrategy Offce

Delivers the full power and sophistication of the MicroStrategy industrial-strength business
intelligence platform to the Microsoft Offce Productivity suite
MicroStrategy Mobile
An interactive user interface for monitoring, reporting, and analysis for BlackBerry devices
MicroStrategy Desktop
Provides an integrated development, administration, and run-time business intelligence

environment on the personal computing desktop
MicroStrategy Architect
A rapid development tool that maps the physical structure of the data warehouse into a logical
business model
MicroStrategy Object Manager
Manages business intelligence applications between development, testing, and production

systems
MicroStrategy Command Manager
Enables the creation and execution of text-based commands from a command line and a
graphical interface
MicroStrategy Enterprise Manager
A monitoring tool that provides usage and resource information about the business
intelligence environment
MicroStrategy Integrity Manager
A report comparison tool that provides automated information integrity assurance and
regression analysis
MicroStrategy SDK
Exposes the functionality of the MicroStrategy architecture via an open API for customization
of the Web interface and integration with third-party applications
MicroStrategy Clustering Option
An extension to MicroStrategy Intelligence Server, Clustering Option adds load-balancing and

fault-tolerance to mission-critical MicroStrategy BI implementations
40
The following list contains 50+ technological breakthroughs, which is a small cross-section of the over 8,000
enhancements available in MicroStrategy 9. These features are each specifcally designed to support all levels of BI.
MaJOr archITecTural changes and neW prOducTs In MIcrOsTraTegy 9:
1. Microstrategy Multisource Option With MultiSource Option, business users can surf-and-save across multiple
databases and seamlessly access data from any source. Completely transparent to both end users and report designers,
MultiSource Option enables a unifed model of an organizations data that spans the many individual data warehouses,
marts, and departmental databases within the BI environment. Any user can create and analyze reports and dashboards
that contain data from any and all sources in the enterprise.
2. Microstrategy Olap services and In-Memory capabilities MicroStrategy OLAP Services provides the enhanced
Intelligent Cube
, a dynamic in-memory cache that leverages the strength of the MicroStrategy Intelligence Server
Security and Personalization Engines, and provides analytical fexibility by leveraging the MicroStrategy Intelligence
Server Analytical Engine. Users can analyze the full depth and breadth of their data warehouse with OLAP Services,
since no limits are set on data scalability, analytical scope, or drill-through capability. In-memory operation delivers faster
overall performance, improves performance for the most time-consuming queries (from hours to seconds), and shifts
the load onto the database, freeing up database capacity.
3. Microstrategy distribution services Distribution Services provides high-volume, automated distribution of reports,
documents, dashboards, and business performance alerts via e-mail, fle servers, and networked printers. Distribution
Services enables greater user self-service for all report distribution and business monitoring needs, reducing reliance on IT.
MOre BI / less IT eFFOrT: enhanced WeB InTeracTIVITy
4. More user-friendly Web Interface A re-designed Web user interface that leverages many familiar, user-friendly
paradigms, including folder-tree navigation, ribbon toolbars, accordion controls, control-click multi-select capabilities,
and context-sensitive right-click actions.
5. prompt and Filter creation Create stand-alone, reusable prompt and flter objects directly from Web, using
intuitive interfaces.
6. Multi-select Filtering and drilling Select individual rows and columns on a grid to quickly and easily format, drill,
pivot, and perform other tasks on-the-fy.
7. Threshold creation Quickly apply predefned thresholds, such as the top 5% performing products, or defne your
own detailed thresholds and conditional formatting using new editors.
8. Flash content in dhTMl Display and interact with Flash content, such as widgets or fash-enabled selectors, in
Interactive, View, or Flash modes.
9. Full Function library Instantly create complex derived metrics using the Function Wizard, which includes a
documented library of functions available for any calculation imaginable.
10. complete subtotal control Calculate the exact subtotals you need for reports using an improved Subtotal Editor
that enables the defnition of more advanced subtotals.
11. link editor Easily defne connections between one report or document and another report or document while
passing parameters to answer any prompts in the target object.
12. 64-bit Web server support Maintain far more concurrent user sessions and run much larger reports, all within the
same server. This is achieved via full support for 64-bit Java Virtual Machines (JVMs) in both J2EE Web servers as well
as ASP.net Web Servers. The expanded memory available in 64-bit JVMs allows for optimal Web performance across
the enterprise.

41
13. extreme aJaX code structures Leverage a re-engineered Web server that adheres to an Extreme AJAX model,
delivering a much more responsive, interactive Web experience for business users. In Extreme AJAX, processing is
shifted from the Web server to the Web browser, freeing up Web servers so they can support additional user sessions.
With Extreme AJAX, MicroStrategy Web supports more users with faster performance using the same Web servers,
resulting in a lower cost of departmental and enterprise BI.
MOre BI / less IT eFFOrT: enhanced dashBOard and enTerprIse repOrTIng
14. Out-of-the-Box statement printing New Report Services features allow business users to develop complex
enterprise reporting and customer statements, without programming, through fexible, automatic formatting features,
such as horizontal repeating sections, dynamically-selected images, vertical text layout, multi-layout reports, automatic
table of contents generation, automatic pagination, and watermarks.
15. Multi-layout documents Combine frequently-used dashboards into a single convenient dashboard book that can
be run once and quickly referenced throughout the day. Or, include multiple document layouts in a single document to
simply provide an integrated view of business data.
16. hTMl containers Add depth and perspective to your dashboards by incorporating live Web content such as stock
tickers and real-time feeds.
17. dashboard Templates Create or use out-of-the-box dashboard templates to decrease document design time. A
dashboard template is a predefned structure that can contain data sets, layouts, and controls, such as titles, panels,
and panel stacks.
18. Instant document creation from reports Instantly create a document or dashboard from an existing report, which
is displayed as a Grid/Graph on the document.
19. document autostyles Employ a varied collection of new autostyles to quickly apply a set of fonts and colors to an
existing dashboard.
20. dashboard drilling Perform OLAP manipulations, such as drilling, directly on grids and graphs contained within dashboards.
21. linked Formatting Link a Grid/Graph to the original report by adding it to the document as a shortcut. Any changes
made to a report, such as formatting a metric or changing the graph type, are passed to the Grid/Graph in the document.
MOre BI / less eFFOrT: enhanced BusIness user selF-serVIce
22. streamlined report design for Business users Assemble reports more quickly and easily via intuitive, self-service
features, such as the simplifed browsing of available dimensions, attributes, and metrics; drop zones that provide visual
cues to users as to where to drag-and-drop these building blocks; and a formatting control for report formatting that is
intuitive to Microsoft Offce users.
23. new graph report designer Interactively build graph reports with dozens of visualization options using a new and
intuitive graph design tool that makes it easier for designers to visualize the fnal output of their graphs. Drag-and-
drop elements into metrics, categories, and series zones; use right-click options to quickly format graph elements; and
quickly apply a variety of colors and styles to graphs.
24. derived elements A new feature of MicroStrategy OLAP Services that can be used to enhance the analysis on
Intelligent Cube reports and Report Service documents. Elements of an attribute can be combined on-the-fy to create
and save reusable flters, groups, lists, and calculations.
25. collaboration and notes Add notes and comments to reports and documents to provide instructions to other
users, share information, and more. Every report and document can maintain and display a set of notes, with details on
who left the note and when.
42
26. personalized prompt answers Store personalized answers for a prompt and reuse them wherever the prompt is
present, saving time and ensuring effcient prompt handling while running documents and reports.
27. new, Faster prompt Interface More user friendly and responsive prompt interface, delivering vastly improved
performance for both the display and use of prompts.
28. complete Olap analysis Freely investigate data and surf through the data warehouse without having to design
a new report for each new combination of data you want to see. Perform OLAP manipulations, such as pivoting and
drilling, directly on graph reports.
29. create and edit Microstrategy reports and documents in Microsoft excel, powerpoint, and Word with
Microstrategy Offce Edit and create reports and documents directly from MicroStrategy Offce, through a seamless
integration with MicroStrategy Web.
MOre BI / less eFFOrT: IMprOVed analyTIcal capaBIlITIes
30. new, Improved Widgets Analyze and control advanced visualizations such as the Heat Map widget in new,
innovative ways.
31. greater range of analytics Leverage a wide range of new data mining algorithms; statistical, predictive, and OLAP
functions; as well as improved metric grouping capabilities. Integrate with these analytics to develop complex statistical
calculations, more effective forecasting metrics, and many different forecast models for the same metrics.
32. report directly against salesforce.com Available as part of MicroStrategy MultiSource Option, a Salesforce.com
ODBC driver allows users to seamlessly create and run BI reports and dashboards using Salesforce.com data.
glOBal applIcaTIOns and dIsTrIBuTed OperaTIOns
33. Multi-lingual Metadata and data Deploy a single project in multiple languages, ensuring that employees and
customers all over the world can always access essential business information in their own language. Business users
can view MicroStrategy interfaces, as well as their own reports, metrics, attributes, and data in their own language,
enabling more convenient and collaborative analysis across the enterprise.
34. repository Translation Wizard A component of MicroStrategy Object Manager, the Repository Translation Wizard
facilitates the translation of metadata objects by copying the object strings into a translation repository to assist with
the translation process.
35. update packages Available in MicroStrategy Object Manager, Update Packages enable multiple and independent
development teams to coordinate the inclusion of their new developments into the global operational BI system. Each
development team can independently submit updates, additions, and changes to an existing operational system. The new
Update Packages are then used to incrementally install each teams updates and reconcile all overlaps or conficts that
might arise.
36. distributed administration A new administrative capability that allows the sub-setting of administrative duties
and the distribution of administrative responsibilities to business units and departments. This enables central IT groups
to relinquish routine administrative duties, such as user administration, project administration, and user security
administration, to other administrators in the system.
37. Web-based administration Administrators can create, modify, and manage users, groups, and security roles from
MicroStrategy Web, allowing them to manage the BI system from anywhere, at any time.
43
TIMe-TO-Value: rapId prOJecT desIgn
38. graphical architect A new version of MicroStrategy Architect that allows users to map their business model into a
MicroStrategy metadata from a single interface that can be used to build metadata objects through simple drag-and-
drop and right-click operations. MicroStrategy Graphical Architect streamlines the project modeling experience, making
it interactive and visual, thereby drastically reducing the time required to build and deploy complex project models.
39. cube advisor A new tool that allows users to create and support a dynamic sourcing strategy that can best support
the reports in their projects. Cube Advisor helps achieve this by analyzing reports to determine if their report defnitions
can support the use of dynamic sourcing, and recommending and creating Intelligent Cubes that can provide data to
reports using dynamic sourcing.
lOWesT TOTal cOsT OF OWnershIp: adMInIsTraTIOn and perFOrMance
40. support for 64-bit Windows MicroStrategy Intelligence Server, and its integrated technologies (OLAP Services,
Report Services, Distribution Services), are now supported on the Microsoft Windows 64-bit Operating System.
41. sql engine Optimization A new level of SQL optimization designed to improve performance by eliminating
unnecessary SQL passes and optimizing multi-pass SQL generation. This delivers the fastest report performance at
all times, at any scale, to all business users in the enterprise.
42. change Journaling A new change journaling feature in MicroStrategy Object Manager, designed to track and audit
changes made to any metadata object in the BI system. This is a major feature of object versioning that will ensure that
companies successfully complete audits and remain Sarbanes-Oxley compliant.
43. security enhancements Ensure enterprise-wide data security and login fexibility via improved password strength
requirements, encryption, and out-of-the-box single sign-on capabilities, supporting Microsoft Active Directory (LDAP
and Kerberos), Tivoli, and SiteMinder. The enhanced security integration signifcantly speeds up user confguration.
44. Intelligent clustering Improved job distribution and Intelligence Server clustering delivers higher throughput, better
asset utilization, and enhanced system performance. Scheduled jobs can now be shared across clustered Intelligence
Servers and are distributed by job load.
45. Improved caching Experience minimal report and document wait times as a result of a new, automatic report
caching level and the caching of Report Services documents in their fnal formatted output, including PDF, Excel, XML,
CSV, and HTML.
46. Flexible history list Management Store History List messages, along with their entire caches, in a database, as
opposed to a fle system. This fexibility improves the reliability of retrieving the messages and data, and also improves
scalability since there can be an infnite storage of history lists in the database.
47. Improved enterprise Manager Take advantage of new operating system performance counters, and report on In-
Memory ROLAP cube usage, Distribution Services, and prompt answer statistics.
48. Improved command Manager Command Manager now runs on all supported platforms, and includes new
Java programming capabilities, including conditions, loops, and variables. Where no graphical user interface is
available, Command Managers new text-based interface allows script creation and execution. New procedures
allowing for the creation of custom extensions and a large number of usability enhancements result in a rapid
script development experience.
49. Improved Integrity Manager Take advantage of the improved prompt resolution functionality in Integrity Manager
by prioritizing prompt resolution strategies or specifying report-level prompt answers to be used in each Integrity Manager
test. Integrity Manager also enhances integrity testing by comparing the PDF output of reports and documents.
44
lOWesT TOTal cOsT OF OWnershIp: easIly eXTend yOur MIcrOsTraTegy BI TO MOre peOple
50. portlet-to-portlet communication Portal Integration is available out-of-the-box and included free with every Web
server. Integrate your BI easily with Microsoft SharePoint, SAP NetWeaver Portal, Oracle WebLogic, and IBM Websphere.
Portal integration enables greater user scale and easier user adoption for your business intelligence using your existing
enterprise portals.
51. plug-in architecture The Customization Upgrade Wizard facilitates the management of customizations by creating
portable pieces of software, called plug-ins. These plug-ins can be easily installed and deployed in MicroStrategy Web,
so that compilation or modifcation of the source code is no longer required. Sample applications such as the External
Security Sample Application are now available as plug-ins.
52. Improved composite applications and Mash-ups Improved integration with Adobe Flex 3 and Adobes Air
Engine eases the development of fully-functional and fully-disconnected fash-based applications that can download
and store all necessary data, but run on the desktop without any Web connectivity.
53. eclipse ready
Web confguration editor Organize, streamline, and simplify customizations in MicroStrategy

Web. Eliminate the need to manually modify default confguration fles such as the Page Confguration fle, the Style
Catalog Confguration fle, or presentation fles such as JSP or ASP.NET fles.
54. Integration with FlexBuilder Ide Create a variety of Adobe Flash-based RIA Applications, Adobe AIR applications,
and more, via a tight MicroStrategy integration with Adobe Flex.
45
All Contents Copyright 2009 MicroStrategy Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
MicroStrategy, MicroStrategy 6, MicroStrategy 7, MicroStrategy 7i, MicroStrategy 7i Evaluation Edition, MicroStrategy 7i Olap Services, MicroStrategy 8, MicroStrategy 9, MicroStrategy Distribution
Services, MicroStrategy MultiSource Option, MicroStrategy Command Manager, MicroStrategy Enterprise Manager, MicroStrategy Object Manager, MicroStrategy Reporting Suite, MicroStrategy
Power User, MicroStrategy Analyst, MicroStrategy Consumer, MicroStrategy Email Delivery, MicroStrategy BI Author, MicroStrategy BI Modeler, MicroStrategy Evaluation Edition, MicroStrategy
Administrator, MicroStrategy Agent, MicroStrategy Architect, MicroStrategy BI Developer Kit, MicroStrategy Broadcast Server, MicroStrategy Broadcaster, MicroStrategy Broadcaster Server,
MicroStrategy Business Intelligence Platform, MicroStrategy Consulting, MicroStrategy CRM Applications, MicroStrategy Customer Analyzer, MicroStrategy Desktop, MicroStrategy Desktop
Analyst, MicroStrategy Desktop Designer, MicroStrategy eCRM 7, MicroStrategy Education, MicroStrategy eTrainer, MicroStrategy Executive, MicroStrategy Infocenter, MicroStrategy Intelligence
Server, MicroStrategy Intelligence Server Universal Edition, MicroStrategy MDX Adapter, MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server, MicroStrategy Objects, MicroStrategy OLAP Provider, MicroStrategy SDK,
MicroStrategy Support, MicroStrategy Telecaster, MicroStrategy Transactor, MicroStrategy Web, MicroStrategy Web Business Analyzer, MicroStrategy World, Alarm, Alarm.com, Alert.com, Angel,
Angel.com, Application Development and Sophisticated Analysis, Best In Business Intelligence, Centralized Application Management, Changing The Way Government Looks At Information,
DSSArchitect, DSS Broadcaster, DSS Broadcaster Server, DSS Offce, DSSServer, DSS Subscriber, DSS Telecaster, DSSWeb, eBroadcaster, eCaster, eStrategy, eTelecaster, Information Like Water, Insight
Is Everything, Intelligence Through Every Phone, Your Telephone Just Got Smarter, Intelligence To Every Decision Maker, Intelligent E-Business, IWAPU, Personal Intelligence Network, Personalized
Intelligence Portal, Query Tone, Quickstrike, Rapid Application Development, Strategy.com, Telepath, Telepath Intelligence, Telepath Intelligence (and Design), MicroStrategy Intelligent Cubes,
The E-Business Intelligence Platform, The Foundation For Intelligent E-Business, The Integrated Business Intelligence Platform Built For The Enterprise, The Intelligence Company, The Platform
For Intelligent E-Business, The Power Of Intelligent eBusiness, The Power Of Intelligent E-Business, The Scalable Business Intelligence Platform Built For The Internet, Industrial-Strength Business
Intelligence, Offce Intelligence, MicroStrategy Offce, MicroStrategy Report Services, MicroStrategy Web MMT, MicroStrategy Web Services, Pixel Perfect, MicroStrategy Mobile, MicroStrategy
Integrity Manager and MicroStrategy Data Mining Services are all registered trademarks or trademarks of MicroStrategy Incorporated.
All other products are trademarks of their respective holders. Specifcations subject to change without notice. MicroStrategy is not responsible for errors or omissions. MicroStrategy makes no
warranties or commitments concerning the availability of future products or versions that may be planned or under development.
Patent Information
This product is patented. One or more of the following patents may apply to the product sold herein: U.S. Patent Nos. 6,154,766, 6,173,310, 6,260,050, 6,263,051, 6,269,393, 6,279,033, 6,501,832,
6,567,796, 6,587,547, 6,606,596, 6,658,093, 6,658,432, 6,662,195, 6,671,715, 6,691,100, 6,694,316, 6,697,808, 6,704,723, 6,707,889, 6,741,980, 6,765,997, 6,768,788, 6,772,137, 6,788,768,
6,792,086, 6,798,867, 6,801,910, 6,820,073, 6,829,334, 6,836,537, 6,850,603, 6,859,798, 6,873,693, 6,885,734, 6,888,929, 6,895,084, 6,940,953, 6,964,012, 6,977,992, 6,996,568, 6,996,569,
7,003,512, 7,010,518, 7,016,480, 7,020,251, 7,039,165, 7,082,422, 7,113,993, 7,181,417, 7,127,403, 7,174,349, 7,194,457, 7,197,461, 7,228,303, 7,260,577, 7,266,181, 7,272,212, 7,302,639,
7,324,942, 7,330,847, 7,340,040, 7,356,758, 7,356,840, 7,415,438, 7,428,302, 7,430,562, 7,440,898 and 7,457,397. Other patent applications are pending.
MicroStrategy Incorporated 1861 International Drive McLean, VA 22102 703.848.8600 www.microstrategy.com info@microstrategy.com COLL-0859 0209

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MicroStrategy 9: Breakthrough Technology

that Supports the Full Range of Business Intelligence

Microstrategy Technology is Based on a rOlap architecture

Business Users Can Create Great-looking Dynamic Dashboards

design capabilities with desktop publishing quality for perfect

ROLAP Multi-source ROLAP

Intelligence Server Scheduler

s Extends the Performance, Scalability, and Efficiency of Enterprise BI

An extension to MicroStrategy Intelligence Server, MicroStrategys enterprise reporting engine

An extension to MicroStrategy Intelligence Server, OLAP Services enables MicroStrategy Web,

An extension to MicroStrategy Intelligence Server, Distribution Services enables high volume,

An extension to MicroStrategy Intelligence Server, MultiSource Option enables users to

Provides an integrated development, administration, and run-time business intelligence

Manages business intelligence applications between development, testing, and production

An extension to MicroStrategy Intelligence Server, Clustering Option adds load-balancing and

Web confguration editor Organize, streamline, and simplify customizations in MicroStrategy

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