In late 2007, Bruno Aziza and Joey Fitts got together to write the book titled Drive Business Performance: Enabling a Culture of Intelligent Execution (Wiley,

2008). As they were completing their text, they saw an opportunity for a second book that directly applied the concepts presented in their book with the software capabilities in Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007. They envisioned this companion book as a unique bridge between business and technology, focusing on applying the principles of performance management through the framework of a software application. Subsequently, Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 was born.

Unlike many software books, Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007focuses on the business user, the person who needs to understand how a particular technology can help his or her organization succeed by adopting the principles of performance management. Although written for business users, the book doesn’t focus exclusively on business concepts or theories. Instead, it presents the concepts needed to be successful with performance management as an integrated discussion with the capabilities of PerformancePoint Server. Like the software itself, this approach bridges the technology and the business areas to ensure that organizations see the return on their investments in greater overall organizational accountability and alignment. We hope the benefits of this approach will be twofold: Readers will understand both the technology investments and the organizational investments they need to make to successfully implement performance management in their organizationwith PerformancePoint Server 2007.