PowerPivot for SharePoint and Power View for SharePoint are add-ins that can extend BI functionality for SharePoint users. These add-ins integrate with SSRS, SSAS and Excel 2013 to deliver visualization of complex data models. PowerPivot for SharePoint PowerPivot is an add-in that organizations can use to do data analysis and create data models. PowerPivot for SharePoint provides the functionality of PowerPivot for Excel on a centralized SharePoint Server. This service requires running SQL Server Setup on each application server on the SharePoint farm, that creates a PowerPivot instance of Analysis Services on which the PowerPivot data models can be created when using the application. The SQL setup installs a tool named PowerPivot for SharePoint 2013 Configuration, that deploys solutions and features, provisions the service applications and so forth. Power View for SharePoint Power View is a Silverlight application that is built on SQL Server 2012 Reporting Services.
Power View is a new tool for spontaneous reporting that provides an interactive data exploration, visualization and presentation experience to the business users. Business users can quickly and easily create and interact with various views of data from different angles. Power View reports can be based on data models on PowerPivot workbooks or tabular models or multi-dimensional models.
As you know Power view was introduced in SQL Server 2012 as Reporting Services Add-in for SharePoint 2010 and 2013 as thin browser-based Silverlight application that worked on data models based on PowerPivot workbooks or tabular models deployed to SQL Server 2012 Analysis Services (SSAS) instances. With the release of SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 Cumulative Update 4 we can create Power View reports based on multi-dimensional models.
Installing SQL Server 2012 Reporting Services in SharePoint Integrated mode installs the Reporting Services Add-in for SharePoint, that contains the content types, data sources and entry points that enable Power View functionality. The add-in also contains the Power View Silverlight application itself. Power View reports use the tabular data models in PowerPivot workbooks or in Analysis Services tabular databases as a data sources. You can access these tabular data models to create Power View reports by using the PowerPivot Gallery Web page hosted in PowerPivot for SharePoint 2013.
If you want to create a Power View report from a tabular SSAS source, you need to define a BISM Connection. Power View is designed for use as a self-service data analysis tool. It complements the functionality of other Microsoft reporting and data analysis tools, such as Performance Point Services and PowerPivot for Excel, as well as other tools, such as Report Builder 2.0, Report Builder 3.0 and SQL Server Data Tools. Power View was available for SharePoint Server 2010. There have been a number of enhancements and additions, including:
- Additional visualization options, including themes with more palettes and increased font support.
- Embedded hyperlink support.
- Enhanced language support.
- Improved printing.
- Improved integer support.