PowerPivot

PowerPivot (or PwP or PP) is a free add-in to the 2010 version of the spreadsheet application Microsoft Excel. 

It extends the capabilities of the PivotTable data summarisation and cross-tabulation feature by introducing the ability to import data from multiple sources.

PowerPivot complements the SQL Server core BI components under the vision of one Business Intelligence Semantic Model (BISM), which aims to integrate on-disk multidimensional analytics previously known as Unified Dimensional Model, or UDM, with a more flexible, in-memory "tabular" model.


 * Key Features
 * Warehousing analytics and Business Intelligence within Excel
 * Sort and filter are sped up by performing operations with a local Analysis Services VertiPaq processor.
 * Support for a variety of datasources
 * Provides the foundation to load and combine source data from any location for mass data analysis on the desktop, including relational databases, multidimensional sources, cloud services, data feeds, Excel files, text files, and data from the Web.
 * SharePoint Integration
 * Enables users to share data models and analysis with the solutions in SharePoint;
 * users can configure refresh cycles to ensure the data remains current automatically.
 * Creating portable and reusable data;
 * data stays inside the workbook. Users do not have to manage external data connections. The user has a single workbook (.xlsx) file that contains embedded data extracted and processed by an internal processor, but rendered exclusively through Excel.
 * When users publish, move, copy, or share a workbook, all the data is transported inclusively;
 * saved data is stored inside the Excel workbook.
 * Once the data is loaded the user can work in disconnected mode – no further connectivity is required to any server.
 * Support for Data Analysis eXpressions, which allow users to perform analytical calculations.
 * DAX includes functions dealing with time intelligence, data aggregation and statistical calculations in general.