What are SSAS, SSIS, and SSRS?
Microsoft SQL Server provides many tools to manage and utilize your data.
SSAS is Microsoft SQL Server’s Analysis Services which is an online analytical processing (OLAP), data mining and reporting tool used in Business Intelligence to make your data work for you.
SSIS stands for Sql Server Integration Services. The key power of SSIS is its data transformation and migration capability. When building a data warehouse or a data mart, the data needs to be extracted out of the various transactional systems and flat files, transformed and loaded to where it can then be analyzed and reported on. The data extraction, transformation and loading are known as ETL and is a common term in data migration and Business Intelligence.
SSRS stands for Sql Server Reporting Services. Once data is in its final state, either in the native transactional system or transformed into a datamart or datawarehouse, SSRS provides the tools necessary to create reports to better understand your data. These three tools are often used together to support your data analysis needs and come part of Microsoft Sql Server and the Microsoft Business Intelligence package.
Why Use SSAS, SSIS & SSRS?
Combining the MSBI SQL stack with other tools like Visual Studio will help you to get a 360 view on your business, allowing you to make better business decisions. These tools combined with others can also help you with the process of data visualization, they offer quality dashboards and scorecards, provide full support with .NET web service and more. SQL applications can be deployed either stand-alone or as part of a SharePoint system and can be fully integrated with the MS Office desktop products such as Excel.
SSAS enables the discovery of data patterns that may not be immediately apparent through the data mining features built into the product. In projects, this enables you to take your business data and turn it into SSAS cubes allowing you to make sense of and better organize data. SSIS helps you implement an information management foundation that can deliver integrated, accurate, and timely data across your organization.
On a project that has a lot of data from many sources that are in different file formats, SSIS could help ensure you have the appropriate data architecture to create accurate reports. SSRS helps you empower your users to make effective, informed decisions based on trusted data delivered in formats appropriate for the user. If your business is looking to create a BI strategy to help assess your processes and analyze performance, SSRS can help.