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Paper 024-2012
A New Outlook into Your Business
Anand Chitale and Mike Barnhart, SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC
ABSTRACT
Business users rely on e-mail for communication and collaborative decision making. Have you ever wondered if you
could use your Microsoft Outlook environment beyond a simple communication tool and get added value that keeps
you more informed about your business?
The integration of SAS

into Microsoft Outlook provides a new outlook into your business. This integration of SAS

Business Intelligence and Microsoft Outlook increases informed decision making by giving business users intuitive
access to reports, stored processes, and dashboards. Business users obtain contextual information from SAS
Business Intelligence while performing daily tasks in Microsoft Outlook.
This paper highlights the key capabilities provided by seamless integration of SAS with Microsoft Outlook and the
application of these capabilities available with SAS

Add-In for Microsoft Office.

INTRODUCTION
Most users in an organization, from executives to managers to analysts, likely use Microsoft Outlook. According to a
Forrester Research study, e-mail applications are the first application most users open at the beginning of their day;
they are the desktop applications that stays open and in use for the longest periods. As the leading e-mail client,
Microsoft Outlook is an interface most users are already very familiar with. The SAS Add-In for Microsoft Office has
already been bringing the power of SAS to Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. Now, the SAS Add-In for
Microsoft Office introduces new Microsoft Outlook (2007 and higher) integration capabilities that enable better
decision-making, increased productivity, and decreased costs by taking full advantage of SAS Enterprise Business
Intelligence through the Microsoft Outlook environment. This integration of SAS Business Intelligence and Microsoft
Outlook increases informed decision-making by giving users intuitive access to reports, stored processes, and
dashboards, all within an interface that they are familiar with and use for most of their day.

THE SAS ADD-IN FOR MICROSOFT OFFICE
The SAS Add-In for Microsoft Office enables business users to transparently use the power of SAS for reporting and
analytics. Users can access data and reports directly from Microsoft Office through integrated menus and toolbars.
The SAS Add-In for Microsoft Office revolutionizes the world of business intelligence by providing easy access to
SAS softwares broad and deep set of analytic, reporting, and data access functionality in key Microsoft Office
applications (Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Microsoft Outlook). The SAS Add-In for
Microsoft Office is designed for business users, analysts, and decision makers who want to view, analyze, and share
business intelligence directly from Microsoft Office.
The release of the SAS Add-In 5.1 for Microsoft Office continues to bring the power of SAS business analytics to
popular Microsoft applications and further enhances the integration with Microsoft Outlook. In addition, the SAS add-
in that is available in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint has been enhanced with an improved user interface, new
additional tasks, and improved integration with SAS

Enterprise Guide

and SAS

Web Report Studio. This paper

focuses on the capabilities within Outlook. For more details about enhanced capabilities in Excel, Word and
PowerPoint, please refer to some of referenced papers or contact your SAS representative.
INTEGRATION WITH MICROSOFT OUTLOOK
Like all of the add-ins in the SAS Add-In for Microsoft Office, the Outlook add-in integrates with a very familiar
interface using the same types of behaviors expected in the application. Reports, stored processes, and dashboards
are accessible from folders, similar to e-mail, organized under a special folder called SAS Central.
In the release of SAS Add-In 4.3 for Microsoft Office for SAS 9.2, business users can access SAS reports directly in
Microsoft Outlook. Instead of having to open a new application, users are able to check their reports whenever they
check e-mails. As a result, users are empowered with ready access to key information toget answers to their
questions via existing reports without leaving Outlook.
With the release of SAS 9.3, the SAS Add-In 5.1 for Microsoft Office has further enhanced the integration with
Microsoft Outlook versions 2007 and 2010, bringing more interactions with reports and the ability to view and interact
with dashboards.
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A New Outlook into your Business with SAS

Add-In for Microsoft Office

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INTERACTIVITY WITH REPORTS INSIDE OUTLOOK
The SAS Add-In for Microsoft Office adds to the Outlook folder structure a SAS Central folder (the default folder
name can be customized) where the user can access SAS Web Report Studio reports and SAS stored processes.
Under the SAS Central folder, users can view the metadata folders and the reports that are accessible to them.
Figure 1 shows the SAS Central folder in the Mail Folders section of Outlook. Content for the selected SAS report
appears in the preview pane. Preview pane options enable the user to interact with the report.

Figure 1: Viewing a SAS Report in the Preview Pane
When the user selects a report, a query is sent to the SAS server for processing, and the results are sent directly
back to the Outlook client. As a result, the user sees a report with the most up-to-date information, which reduces
latency and dependency on IT for updates. Users can add frequently viewed reports to their Favorites list, making
often-referenced information easy to find and view.
Running SAS reports in Outlook bypasses the Microsoft Exchange Server, as all processing is done on the SAS
servers and not impacting Exchange Server performance.
Basic interactions are supported, such as prompting within a report to dynamically filter the content. Users can also
take advantage of Outlook capabilities, such as flagging the report for follow-up or e-mailing the report to a colleague.
The colleagues authorization to view the content is validated on the SAS metadata server. Alternatively, the
capabilities from the SAS add-in enable users to send add-in output directly to another Microsoft Office application,
such as PowerPoint, for inclusion in a presentation.
Collaborative Decision Making: The interactivity with SAS reports is not limited to viewing, running and sharing the
reports, but also includes collaboration capabilities that allow users to add comments to reports, view existing
comments, and have a discussion with other online viewers in real-time.
Figure 2 shows an e-mail that shows comments in the Comments pane at the bottom of the report. The example
shows a few existing comments where user comments are shown for different discussion topics associated with the
same report.
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Figure 2: Viewing a SAS Report with Report Comments

With SAS Add-In 5.1 for Microsoft Office, users can view the existing comments associated with SAS Web Report
Studio reports. Users can then reply to these existing comments or create new comments and generate a discussion
thread.
The SAS add-in now also leverages the integration with Microsoft Office Communicator, providing a real-time media
for online users to share and discuss their thoughts with each other.
Figure 3a shows the online status of the report author. The interface provides a menu which can be used to start a
Microsoft Office Communicator session with the online user.
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Figure 3a: Online Status of the Report Author with the Integrated Communicator Menu

Figure 3b show the Office Communicator dialog between the report author and the report viewer.

Figure 3b: Microsoft Communicator window launched from Outlook
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Add-In for Microsoft Office

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Such great capabilities provide an environment that promotes a collaborative decision making process.

INTERACTIVITY WITH BUSINESS INDICATORS INSIDE OUTLOOK
A quick view of key performance indicators (KPIs) can help users keep on top of the information they need to make
fact-based decisions quickly. The SAS Add-In for Microsoft Office brings these KPIs into easy reach via Outlook.
Please note that this capability to view and interact with SAS

BI Dashboard is released as experimental and not all

types of dashboards or indicators are supported to view inside Outlook.
The Gadget Pane enables users to view thumbnails of reports and KPIs alongside their regular e-mails. Users can
add their favorite indicators to the Gadget Pane to monitor important KPIs.
Figure 4 shows the Gadget Pane containing several indicators and docked on the right side of the Outlook window.


Figure 4a. Gadget Pane in Outlook Showing Key Performance Indicators

The Gadget Pane offers thumbnail views of favorite reports and dashboards; from here, users can open these in full
view by clicking the image. The Gadget Pane can be displayed whenever Outlook is open, so users have immediate
access to the information they regularly require. Spending less time searching for information gives them more time
to focus on key information, enhancing their productivity.
Users can securely browse through the metadata to find the reports and dashboards of their choice, and control
which reports and dashboards are displayed in the Gadget Pane in a more refined and simplified way.
To provide a personalized view, the Gadget Pane can be kept floating within the Outlook client or it can be docked to
the preferred location



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Figure 5 shows the SAS menu Gadget Pane option and the new SAS Gadget Manager window.




























Figure 5. The SAS Menu Gadget Pane Option and the SAS Gadget Manager Windowfor Managing the Content
in the Gadget Pane


From an administrative point of view, there is limited impact on the Microsoft Exchange Server. The only Exchange
Server impact of including the SAS Gadget Pane is for usual Outlook features, such as e-mailing and scheduling a
meeting. Because the SAS content inside of Microsoft Outlook is provided from the SAS server, there is no
additional overhead on the Microsoft Exchange Server.
Users can also view these interactive dashboards inside the View pane the same way as they viewed the SAS Web
Report Studio reports in Outlook. Using the SAS Central folder, users can view the dashboards and indicators, and
carry out some limited interactions such as data filtering. These dashboards can also be forwarded to other e-mail
users as well. When you send a dashboard, the e-mail message contains a link to the dashboard. Clicking on the e-
mail link will open SAS BI Dashboard in the browser, enable the user to view the dashboard if they have access to
the dashboard, and to view the most updated information in an interactive Web browser.
As mentioned above, all dashboards and indicator types available with SAS BI Dashboard are not available to view or
interact inside Outlook. SAS will continue to enhance this capability and bring enhanced integration in future releases.

Figure 6. below shows a typical dashboard inside Outlook with one of the supported indicator types.




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Figure 6. SAS BI Dashboard Viewed in the View Pane of Outlook


MULTI-DIMENSIONAL DATA VIEW INSIDE OUTLOOK
With SAS Add-In 5.1 for Microsoft Office, SAS also brings the capability to interact with business data stored as
multidimensional SAS OLAP Cubes, enabling users to have an interactive and visual channel for looking and
exploring their business data from within Outlook.

SAS brings this capability as an experimental pre-production capability in the 5.1 release and looks forward to further
enhance the same in the future releases.

Using this capability, a user can browse through SAS metadata and open a SAS OLAP cube, which opens Trend
Calendar, a highly interactive and visual way to interact with SAS OLAP cubes.

Figure 7 shows a SAS cube opened inside Outlook with a calendar view by months, showing Sum of Quantity by
products:

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Figure 7. SAS OLAP Cubes Viewed In Microsoft Outlook


Using this interface, user can graphically analyze OLAP data in a time series calendar format and interact to change
dimensions and/or measures of analysis; view information in different chart formats including bar charts, line charts,
area and pie charts; drill-down or rollup the hierarchies and create bookmarks for various analysis.

CONCLUSION
The SAS Add-In for Microsoft Office provides deep integration with Microsoft Office tools and brings enhanced
capabilities for providing the users of Microsoft Office tools with an enriched user experience for data analysis. These
capabilities help users to analyze their data easily and in an interactive manner using the power of SAS.
The unique SAS integration with Microsoft Outlook provides a new way of using business intelligence to improve
productivity and to expand the reach of business intelligence across the organization.

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Add-In for Microsoft Office

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REFERENCES
Myers, Keith. 2011. Using Enterprise-Level Solutions to Meet Department-Level Goals. Proceedings of the SAS
Global Forum 2011 Conference. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc. Available at
http://support.sas.com/resources/papers/proceedings11/037-2011.pdf

Chitale, Anand. 2011. Turbocharging Your Microsoft Office Environment with version 4.3 of SAS Add-In for Microsoft
Office. Proceedings of the SAS Global Forum 2011 Conference. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc. Available at
http://support.sas.com/resources/papers/proceedings11/053-2011.pdf

Barnhart, Mike. 2010. Better Decision Making with SAS Enterprise Business Intelligence and Microsoft Outlook.
Proceedings of the SAS Global Forum 2010 Conference. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc. Available at
http://support.sas.com/resources/papers/proceedings10/296-2010.pdf


CONTACT INFORMATION
Your comments and questions are valued and encouraged. Contact the authors:
Anand Chitale
SAS Campus Drive
SAS Institute Inc.
E-mail: [email protected]

Mike Barnhart
SAS Campus Drive
SAS Institute Inc.
E-mail: [email protected]



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Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies.
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