The BI Presentation Layer (Presentation of Knowledge)

The presentation layer is a logical tier in the architecture where business intelligence client software is used by the business users. The responsibility of these visual tools is to surface the data cleanly from a data warehouse or data mart to the user. This tier is sometimes referred to as the presentation of knowledge, as it is responsible for presenting not just data but insight in an easy-to-consume format.

In a typical BI implementation, usually there isn’t just one type of presentation software used. BI client software includes specific tools for different audiences. For example, a company executive may be interested in a high-level overview of the business and prefer looking at the data in a highly visual format such as a dashboard or a report. Conversely, a financial analyst who is very familiar with the data might prefer the power of a spreadsheet-like format, forgoing some of the simplicity of charts and graphs. This is why most BI software implementations provide a mixed bag of tools that is tailored to not only specific tool functionality but the audience as well.

Presentation tools can take many different forms, including web, desktop, and mobile.
Furthermore, they can be homegrown, custom-developed pieces of software or third-party pieces of software that sit on top of data warehouse structures. For example, Microsoft Performance Point Server is a piece of software that exposes multidimensional data that is found in Analysis Services cubes.
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