Microsoft has announced the availability of a new product debuted under the Office 2007 brand umbrella. Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 is an example of the Redmond company's Business Intelligence solution and an application designed to enable the increase of the performance level in corporate environments via the centralization and integration of monitoring, analyzing and planning process into a single program. Microsoft has advertised Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 as a one-stop solution permitting not only the harnessing and sharing of business knowledge, but also the analysis and monitoring of information and centralization of corporate performance management data. But most of all, the Redmond company is focused on delivering customers with a solution to help them plan ahead in terms of development and budgets.

"Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 is a performance management application that customers can use to develop strategies, set plans and goals expressed as metrics and key performance indicators, cascade them across the organization to groups and individuals, and enable people to track business results day in and day out, letting them understand and analyze whether and why their business plans are off course or above target. Unlike traditional business intelligence offerings, which tend to focus on historical information, Office Performance Point Server 2007 is much more about helping manage the business into the future - that is, taking a forward view by setting goals that look out a quarter, a year, or several years - then helping people play a role in developing plans and contribute to business results," stated Chris Caren, general manager of Microsoft's Office Business Applications division.

Microsoft is in no way shy of leveraging the near-monopoly it has with the Office system in order to push PerformancePoint Server 2007 to business customers. One of the main advantages that PerformancePoint Server 2007 has over rival Business Intelligence solutions is the familiar look and feel of the Office suite. In the end, the simple aspect of a common graphical user interface across the Office products will go a long way for Microsoft. The Redmond company was included in the recent Magic Quadrant for Information Access Technology, 2007 put together by Gartner. PerformancePoint Server is just another step taken by Microsoft to ensure that it indeed belongs in the Gartner Magic Quadrant.

"A core part of Microsoft's strategy is overcoming the hurdles that have limited the usage and deployment of business intelligence to many more individuals that are involved in the performance of a business, namely through delivering much greater ease-of-use and a lower cost alternative - cost to license, deploy and manage the solution. Our goal is to reach every information worker and add value to every decision - we want giving business intelligence to everyone in an organization to be a "no-brainer." To help overcome the hurdles associated with ease of use, we have built business intelligence capabilities into the productivity tools that people already use - namely, Microsoft Office applications such as Microsoft Office Excel and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server", Caren added.