Reason #1 (of a list of thousands of reasons) why MDX is important

During our PerformancePoint Server class in the SetFocus Business Intelligence Master's Program, we cover analytic charts and analytic grids - two powerful ways to incorporate image-style output (i.e., output that can fit on a single screen) into a PerformancePoint Server dashboard. We also cover the role of MDX in coding the necessary calculations to support the charts/grids.

One example is the screen shot below, where we create a dashboard page that allows the user to select any product in the Product Hierarchy (either a high level category or a detail level SKU). The page then generates a chart that shows the following: