Overview of PerformancePoint Dashboard Designer

PerformancePoint Dashboard Designer, which is included with PerformancePoint Services in Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010, is a tool that you can use to create powerful dashboards in your organization. If PerformancePoint Services is configured and you have the necessary permissions, you can create and use a dashboard to display performance across an organization, such as the one shown in the following image:

 

Although you can create dashboards by using other methods -- such as by using Microsoft Excel or adding a SharePoint Web Part Page that includes the Chart Web Part and Status Indicators -- you can enjoy certain advantages by using Dashboard Designer. Here are a few examples:

· The powerful key performance indicators (KPIs), scorecards, reports, and filters that you create for your dashboards are reusable across multiple dashboard pages and across multiple dashboards. PerformancePoint dashboard content is stored in SharePoint lists and libraries, where it accessible to all dashboard authors.

· You can copy and paste dashboard items in Dashboard Designer, so you don't have to recreate everything from scratch. This can save a lot of time and rework for you and other dashboard authors.

· As you set up your dashboards, you can link dashboard items (such as scorecard KPIs) to other reports (such as analytic charts and grids and SQL Server Reporting Services reports).

· Your dashboards can include Time Intelligence functionality, so you can easily display information for dynamic time periods, such as Year to Date or Last Six Months.

· Depending on how you set up your dashboard content, dashboard users can drill up and down in the data to see higher or lower levels of information, and export most kinds of reports and scorecards to PowerPoint or Excel.

Ready to get started? Here are some resources to get you going:

  1. Learn the basics. See Getting Started with PerformancePoint Dashboard Designer.
  2. Create a sample dashboard that includes a variety of reports and filters. See Corporate Dashboards: Sales Solution.
  3. Get more detailed information on how to use Dashboard Designer. View the articles in PerformancePoint Services Administration.

 

Happy dashboarding,

Denise Stendera

Writer, PerformancePoint Services

P.S. We are always interested in your feedback. Please leave us a comment and let us know if information like this is helpful, and tell us what else you’d like to see. And thank you for visiting our blog!