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Business intelligence software is a billion-dollar market, but is traditionally the domain of enterprise-scale organisations. Microsoft, however, is using its Office strengths to try to bring data analysis systems to smaller-scale businesses.

The new product, Business Scorecard Manager 2005 (pictured), uses Microsoft's heavy duty database system SQL Server, as well as the Office front end. It is intended to simplify the building of 'personalised dashboards' that combine data and charts from several sources. In other words aggregating data in more meaningful ways, linking key report data and spreadsheets for further investigation. For example, the Scorecard Manager could enable the tracking of what are considered key performance indicators.

Available 1 November, Business Scorecard Manager 2005 has an estimated retail price of $5,000 for the server and $175 for a client access license. Exact UK pricing has not yet been confirmed.

More details are available on the Microsoft website.

The BI features in Office 12 relate to Excel and Sharepoint Technologies. 'We're building BI into Excel so people can securely access, work with, and share business information all within a tool they know,' said Microsoft's

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corporate VP for Office Business Applications, Lewis Levin.

To this end, the new Excel will feature style galleries and new 'visualization capabilities', said Levin. There will also be full support for SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services for strengthening the connection spreadsheets and database data.

In terms of Sharepoint, Levin describes the products as having become 'a comprehensive BI Portal for all of the BI content and end-user capabilities in SQL Server Reporting Services and Microsoft Office, providing secure access to business information in one place'. As well as a new 'Report Centre' for data and report services, there will also be integration with the previously mentioned Business Scorecard Manager.

Its all a long way from the original .doc and .xls files of the original Office, but as Microsoft seeks to develop the long-established suite, extending the support for business services is an obvious development.

'Until now, BI software has been too complex, costly and disconnected from the software tools people use every day to do their jobs,' said the president of the Microsoft Business Division, Jeff Raikes. 'But the investments we're making in Microsoft Office, from significant extensions in existing products such as Office Excel and SharePoint Products and Technologies, to new server investments such as the Office Business Scorecard Manager, will make BI and the business insights gleaned from it more pervasive.'

Other previous announcements regarding Office 12 include the adoption of XML and PDF formats: Microsoft anoints XML as Office 12 format and Office 12 to support Adobe's PDF format.

Microsoft has said that the first pre-release beta versions of Office 12 will appear in the first half of 2006, with the full release expected before the end of 2006.