RSAAD – “Reporting Services as a Dashboard”

Some might think that the SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) is only for creating static and standardized reports with simple charts like the following picture describes:

This can be the most common feeling about SSRS but I can tell you that is not the case. Thanks to the acquisition of Dundas chart components SSRS has to provide fully parametrized, nice-looking and fresh Gauge panels and other chart components that can be used to create dashboards without making investments to platforms such as SharePoint PerformancePoint Services as they can be used straight from the Reporting Services portal just like any other report. Here is one example from my projects, a weather conditions dashboard made with SSRS:

Weather conditions dashboard made with SSRS

Once in a while you hear business deciders struggling with how they want to have some simple dashboards where they can see in one glance how the business is performing. The problem often is that people think that they need to make (big?) investments in a specific dashboard tools or bigger platforms that provide the dashboard capabilities. That is not the case because with the latest SSRS Gauge panels and charts you can provide fresh insights to your data and have the dashboard look-and-feel. They can also be easily integrated to existing sites and portals.

SSRS Gauges collection

I’m not telling you to get rid of or totally ignore products like SharePoint PerformancePoint Services etc. but often you can also get nice results without them. So, next time when you hear someone telling you about how one needs to invest lots of money to get dashboard capabilities you should first see what SSRS has to offer and see if it already fits to his needs.