Silverlight 4 Business Intelligence Software

Business Intelligence (BI) software allows you to view different components of a business using a single visual platform, which makes comprehending mountains of data easier. BI is everywhere. Applications that include reports, analytics, statistics, and historical and predictive modeling are all examples of BI. Currently, we are in the second generation of BI software—called BI 2.0—which is focused on writing BI software that is predictive, adaptive, simple, and interactive.

As computers and software have evolved, more data can be presented to end users with increasingly visually rich techniques. Rich Internet Application (RIA) technologies such as Microsoft Silverlight can be used to transform traditional user-interfaces filled with boring data into fully interactive analytical applications that quickly deliver insight from large data sets. Furthermore, RIA applications now include 3D spatial-design capabilities that move beyond a simple list or grid and allow for interesting layouts of aggregated data. BI 2.0 implemented via an RIA technology can truly bring out the power of BI and deliver it to an average user on the Web.

Next-Generation Business Intelligence Software with Silverlight 4 provides developers, designers, and architects with a solid foundation in BI design and architecture concepts for Microsoft Silverlight. This book covers key BI design concepts and how they can be applied without an existing BI infrastructure. Author Bart Czernicki provides you with examples of how to build small BI applications that are interactive, highly visual, statistical, predictive—and most importantly—intuitive to the end-user.

BI isn’t just for the executive branch of a Fortune 500 company—it is for the masses. Let Next-Generation Business Intelligence Software with Silverlight 4 show you how to unlock the rich intelligence you already have.

What you’ll learn

• Design rich BI solutions for the masses
• Discover tips for using engaging BI designs for application presentation
• Consume BI data as a service
• Understand and create SaaS models in BI
• Craft BI solutions using the most advanced Silverlight 4.0 technology through C# 4.0 and Visual Studio 2010

Who this book is for

There are four core audiences for this book:

Table of Contents

1. Business Intelligence 2.0 Defined
2. Advantages of Applying BI 2.0 Using Microsoft Silverlight
3. Silverlight as a BI Client
4. Adding Interactivity to BI Data
5. Introduction to Data Visualizations
6. Creating Data Visualizations for Analysis
7. Enhancing Visual Intelligence in Silverlight
8. Applying Collective Intelligence
9. Predictive Analytics
10. Improving Performance with Concurrent Programming
11. Integrating with Business Intelligence Systems
12. Delivering Mobile Intelligence with Silverlight
13. Silverlight Business Intelligence in SharePoint 2010
14. Working with Interactive Pivot Collections
15. Appendix A - Prototyping Applications with Dynamic Data
16. Appendix B - Creating a Bullet Graph user control