Media Release 12 May 2011

Industry leaders showcase Business Intelligence at its best

Microsoft New Zealand hosts Business Intelligence Summits to help businesses improve productivity and profitability.

Earlier this week at two Business Intelligence Summits held in Auckland and Wellington, Microsoft New Zealand revealed the power and potential of Microsoft Business Intelligence, as well as the next generation of SQL Server - codename Denali.

Using real-life scenarios, International Business Intelligence expert Michael Tejedor, Senior Product Manager, Microsoft Business Intelligence, demonstrated how organisations can leverage Microsoft technology solutions to improve business efficiencies, productivity and profit.

"Business Intelligence is the process of understanding the data within your organisation, employees these days spend far too long looking for information rather than analysing it to make more effective business decisions. With the latest offering from Microsoft Business Intelligence, the functionality exists to provide employees with flexible access to information they need, when they need it."

Microsoft is the fastest growing Business Intelligence vendor with 24 percent year-on-year growth - twice the rate of the market average, according to a recent Market Share Report from Gartner. This industry leadership was highlighted throughout both Summits, where discussions centred on how organisations can implement a cost effective Data Warehouse solution tailored to meet their needs - as well as how the latest release of SQL can cut costs, save time and reduce risks with reliable, balanced Data Warehousing hardware and best practices.

"These solutions can be customised to suit individual business needs, while remaining cost effective and quick to deploy," says Steve Haddock, Head of Marketing for Server and Tools for Microsoft New Zealand.

"Microsoft is passionate about improving workforce productivity, and as seen at the Summits, we are working with a number of organisations to ensure this becomes a reality."

The Bank of New Zealand is one such organisation that has recently implemented a Business Intelligence solution.

"The Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 solution has enabled our employees to generate their own reports using their own selection criteria, whenever they need them. Empowering employees with self-service Business Intelligence relieves the burden on the Business Intelligence department of the bank," says Dave Thompson, Head of Business Intelligence, Finance for Bank of New Zealand.

Two industry big hitters, Microsoft New Zealand and Hewlett Packard New Zealand, launched the new Hewlett Packard Business Intelligence appliance and the High Performance Data Warehouse Fast Track Reference Architecture. This first-ever self-service business intelligence appliance optimised for SQL Server 2008 R2 and SharePoint 2010 was demonstrated at the Summits, while robust methodologies for empowering staff with independent self-service access to relevant company data were revealed. A new Business Data Warehousing appliance, launching in June, was highlighted for its relevance in the New Zealand market.

Another Microsoft Business Intelligence expert, Anna Tarasoff, covered best practices for data presentation and preparation for Business Intelligence projects. She revealed how to design user-friendly and visually appealing digital dashboards. Summit attendees also learned techniques to structure queries for best performance, tips for effective presentation of information and how best to support self service analysis.

To view any of these presentations online, or for further information about the Business Intelligence solution that would best suit your business, please visit: http://www.microsoft.com/nz/events/bisummit/default.mspx .

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realise their full potential.

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