Microsoft to lay out business intelligence game plan

Jeff Raikes, the president of Microsoft's Business Division, will detail the company's roadmap in business intelligence next week.

The company is hosting a news conference Tuesday June 6 to discuss its "business intelligence product roadmap."

For an idea of what Microsoft might announce, look no further than Microsoft Office.

Specialized business intelligence tools tend to be used by trained professions.

But Microsoft executives have said that the company aims to democratize business intelligence by letting users analyze data, run reports, and build scorecards from Office.

In fact, Office System Solution 2007 will have a separate Business Intelligence version, which has close integration between Excel and SharePoint Server.

For another hint at where Microsoft is going with business intelligence, consider Raikes' cohert on the press call next week: Lewis Levin, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Office business applications group.