Common Extensions | Features | Benefits | Available Starter Kits | FAQs
Common Extensions of the MicroStrategy Platform
Embed MicroStrategy Web in Other Web Applications or a Portal
The full functionality of MicroStrategy Web can be embedded into any web application or portal, combining third-party content, security and collaboration together with MicroStrategy’s business intelligence. Out-of-the box portal integration with IBM WebSphere®, Oracle WebLogic, Microsoft® SharePoint, and SAP® Enterprise Portal is available free with the MicroStrategy Web server. Fully interactive portlets with OLAP-style manipulations (such as changing the report view to grid or graph, adding or removing subtotals, and drilling for more information), can be made available in the same window. In addition, the MicroStrategy SDK includes a Portal Integration Kit that provides details on how to further customize these portals, and integrate with other portals, such as Oracle® AS.
Create Advanced Visualizations and Other Applications
The MicroStrategy Visualization SDK is a framework that is tightly integrated with Adobe Flex Builder, allowing developers to build any type of visualization or Rich Internet Application and include it in their applications, or plug any Flash widget into the MicroStrategy platform. Thanks to the Visualization API, Adobe Flex developers can extend existing widgets and visualizations, or build completely new widgets, visualizations, applications, interactivity, and workflows to suit any business need.
Perform Look-and-Feel Customizations
The Web Customization Editor, a MicroStrategy SDK tool, enables users to quickly perform some of the most typical customizations on MicroStrategy Web through a user-friendly interface, without requiring any programming skills. The look-and-feel of your organization’s applications, including corporate logos and colors, custom icons and other formats, can quickly be incorporated and deployed across the application without requiring a recompilation or restarting the application. This results in the fastest time to value with a minimal use of valuable resources.
Writeback to your Data Source
Writeback functionality allows users to modify or record data values in external systems, including database warehouses, XML files, discussion groups, and blogs. This feature gives users the flexibility to update forecasts, add annotations, or revise goals for performance reporting, amongst other usage scenarios. Writeback controls such as text boxes, buttons, and lists can be used to input the information, and users can easily submit the information back to the Web server for processing.
Integrate with Identity Management Applications
Enterprise systems often include a separate, third-party mechanism for user authentication that can be applied to all applications. MicroStrategy Web includes a customizable External Security Module (ESM) that allows you to integrate access to MicroStrategy BI data with an existing security system, and add any logic or security characteristics required in your environment. In addition, the out-of-the-box MicroStrategy portlets support security integration with a number of authentication mechanisms, and they also leverage portal authentication and provide ways for you to customize this integration.
Display MicroStrategy Web Pages from any Context
MicroStrategy’s flexible URL API allows you to directly request MicroStrategy Web to perform actions by using specific arguments in the request. This is useful in the context of the out-of-the-box MicroStrategy Web, as well as when integrating MicroStrategy Web with an external Web site, portal, or other third-party application. With this feature, much of the functionality becomes available by simply passing the appropriate parameters through a URL. For example, you can link to a specific MicroStrategy Web page from any external Web site by passing appropriate parameters such as a report or folder name, as well as optionally including credentials for authentication by a specific MicroStrategy Intelligence Server.
Create Mashup Applications with Embedded BI Content
Mashups combine content from multiple, independent resources into a single integrated application experience. These composite applications have become a popular way to rapidly assemble new applications and can be built using many technologies, such as Flex, Portals, Java, and AJAX. They access third-party data and process that data in such a way that it provides enhanced value to users. The MicroStrategy Visualization Framework makes it easy to create mashups that include both MicroStrategy and non-MicroStrategy widgets, helping business users gain insight, collaborate, make well-informed decisions, and take action in a timely manner.
Map Mashup
iGoogle Mashup
Portal Mashup
Dashboard Mashup
Extend MicroStrategy Out-of-the-Box Functionality
MicroStrategy Web has been carefully architected to make customization simple and easy and to take full advantage of the newest web technologies and techniques. In addition to look-and-feel changes, more advanced extensions and customizations can be incorporated into the MicroStrategy Web application thanks to its access to the entire set of services and utilities required for building a robust, feature-filled business intelligence-enabled application. The MicroStrategy Developer Library (MSDL) was specifically created with this purpose, and explains, in detail, how to use the SDK to build sophisticated and highly-functional customized solutions.