Data is the lifeblood of modern business. As computerized systems have spread throughout all facets of business, the amount of data collected has exploded. Data is captured in almost every consumer activity, and most of this data ends up in some kind of transaction processing system, but it only has value if it can be used to make better decisions. Business intelligence allows you to pull all of this data together to help form a unified view of your enterprise that executives and analysts can use to generate insights and make better decisions. Making this data accessible, however, is a challenge facing all businesses. The commercial tools available do not always address all of the issues of particular data, so most companies create their own solutions. Building Business Intelligence Applications with .NET provides a practical guide to creating these tools, by teaching corporate software developers how to use .NET technologies to build applications for data mining, statistical analysis, or OLAP, and explains how to integrate them with existing transactional applications. By using the compelling technologies offered by .NET (such as Web Services, Smart Clients, and XML for Analysis) developers can construct BI applications that address their critical data, analytical, and flexiblity issues. Key Features * Discusses how business intelligence plays a crucial role in managing risk by discovering trends in data before situations become critical * Details the steps to take to create business intelligence in any organization * Covers key topics such as data warehousing, OLAP Cubes, ADOMD.NET, Windows SharePoint Services, and Crystal Reports * Helps developers make the transition from creating transactional applications to BI applications * Includes a CD-ROM with all of the source code from the book, as well as URLs for relevant standards documents (XML, Web services, etc.) On the CD! * Code Contains all of the ready-to-use source code from the book * Projects Contains all of the sample projects from the various examples in the book SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS PC: 450 MHz Pentium II-class processor; 600 MHz Pentium III-class or better processor recommended. Memory requirements vary by operating system with 160MB of RAM as the minimum requirement for Windows Server 2003 or XP Professional, 192MB of RAM for Windows 2000 Server and 96MB of RAM for Windows 2000 Professional. More RAM will yield better performance. In addition to the space required by the prerequisite applications, the sample applications require 25MB of free disk space. To use the sample applications, you will need to have access to the following software: Windows 2000 or better, Microsoft SQL Server 2000, Microsoft Analysis Services, Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2002 or better