Best Practices

• When connecting to a data source, use the Unattended Service Account option for authentication. If using the other option, Per-User Identity, you may find that the dashboard components that use the data source load when you log in but fail to connect for other users visiting your page.

• With PerformancePoint Services, the quality of the dashboard is all about the data. To that end, some additional planning needs to go into the types of data sources you want to leverage. Well-designed transactional databases and data cubes are key to a successful BI implementation.

• Give some thought to which indicator sets you want to use for each KPI. Different image sets convey different messages. Comparisons of metrics from one time period to those from another warrant use of one of the trending indicators. Some indicators are appropriate to show at the end of a measurable time period, whereas others make more sense in the middle of a measurable time period.

• If starting a new Dashboard Designer workspace, check the SharePoint tab of Dashboard Designer to see which dashboard components have already been defined. If one exists that you want to use, simply double-click the component to include it in your workspace.

• It is not necessary to create a site using the Business Intelligence Center site template to use PerformancePoint Services. Simply activating PerformancePoint Site Features will be sufficient.