Mapping the Scorecard in Font

Painting PDF-417 2d barcode in Font Mapping the Scorecard

Once the scorecard is defined, it must be mapped to a cube data source. The data sources were defined earlier, so all you have to do is associate the cube measures with the scorecard KPIs. This task is accomplished on the Scorecard Data Sources page. On this page, clicking the Scorecards link will show a list of all the scorecards you have defined. You can then select a scorecard and choose Map Scorecard from the menu. Figure 6-10 shows the menu item selected for a scorecard.

When you map a KPI to a measure, you must specify the source for the actual value and the target value. The data for these values can be specific entries you type in or can come from a cube measure or an MDX formula. MDX is the language used to query cubes. Writing these formulas will allow you greater control over how data is mapped to a KPI. You might, for example, use MDX to filter out certain values that could skew the scorecard in an unacceptable manner.

Strategy maps are another way of viewing scorecard elements that can help analysts to create scorecards that better reflect business goals. Strategy maps are a particular feature of the balanced scorecard methodology and are not strictly required to create scorecards with BSA. BSA supports using strategy maps to create scorecard elements as well as using scorecard elements to create strategy maps. Whether or not you use strategy maps will depend on how strongly your organization has adopted the balanced scorecard methodology. You create strategy maps on the Strategy Map Builder page. If your scorecard is already defined, then you can choose the scorecard and select Create Strategy Map from the menu. All you need to do is give the new map a name and BSA will create a strategy map based on the scorecard definition. Figure 6-11 shows a typical strategy map. If you compare the strategy map in Figure 6-11 to the scorecard definition shown in Figure 6-9, you ll see how the strategy map relates to the scorecard. Once the strategy map is created, you can open it in Microsoft Visio and edit it. These edits can then be used to create scorecard elements.

Once scorecards are created, BSA allows you to specify whether they are available for public view or just for certain users. You can set the security levels for a scorecard on the Application Settings page by selecting Administration Manage Users for Scorecard Views. Using this page, you can designate a scorecard as private and select the users who have permission to view it.

BSA uses cubes as data sources to generate scorecards. Cubes in turn are created using SQL Analysis Services and use SQL databases as inputs. Typically, the database used as the basis for a cube is created with fact tables, measures, and dimensions in a star schema. In this exercise, however, you will create a cube based on the pubs database that ships with SQL Server. While this database is not designed with a star schema, we can use several of the related tables to show the basics of creating cubes.

Before you can build a cube, you must create a new database to hold the data sources, cubes, and dimensions that support cube creation. In this section you will create the new database and designate the data source for the cube. Once this basic structure is available, you can move on to define dimensions and build a cube.

Follow these steps to set up a new database: 1. Select Start All Programs Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services Analysis Manager to start Analysis Manager. 2. In Analysis Manager, expand the tree until your analysis server node is visible. 3. Right-click the server name and select New Database from the context menu. 4. In the Database dialog, name the new database PubsMart and click the OK button. 5. Expand the PubsMart folder. 6. Right-click the Data Sources folder and select New Data Source from the context menu. 7. In the Data Link Properties dialog, select Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server from the Provider list. 8. Click the Next button. 9. Select the name of the SQL Server where the pubs database is located from the dropdown list on the Connection tab. 10. Enter appropriate credentials to access the database.

Note If you use SQL Authentication for the database credentials, you must check the Allow Saving Password box or the connection will fail later in the exercise.