MOSS 2007 includes Excel Services that enables you to specify trusted locations for Excel 2007 workbooks. By using Excel Services, information workers can view and access charts, data, and other objects directly from the SharePoint Web pages. Developers can also create applications that programmatically access Excel 2007 calculation services. The integration of MOSS 2007 with the Excel 2007 functionality provides users a UI similar to that of Excel 2007 in Web pages. In addition, this integration is the foundation for many solutions that information workers and business decision makers can employ for their organizations.
Excel Services are a key component in the Microsoft Business Intelligence strategy, which involves delivering key information, in real time, to the right audience, and in the format they can most easily work with. One of the challenges in complex organizations is the need to aggregate and display mission-critical information about the business pipeline—figures that help decision makers understand where the organization is succeeding in its stated objectives and where it is falling behind. Much of that information is often maintained in Microsoft Office Excel workbooks that are continuously updated by the information workers responsible for day-to-day operations in the organization.