Earlier this month the latest version of BI xPress was released. There are several new features in this latest release of BI xPress, but one of the coolest is the SSRS Performance Monitoring.

The BI xPress SSRS Performance Monitor has four performance monitoring panels.

• Average Run Time

  The Average Run Time panel displays the average run times of your report. This is a great place to figure out which reports are taking the longest to execute. This is the place to start if you’re trying to figure out why a report is taking a long time to run. There are three different very helpful metrics displayed in the panel:

• Avg. Data Retrieval Time: This number shows how long it took to retrieve the data from the source system. If the Avg. Data Retrieval time is the majority of the report run time, take a look at the source query and find ways to optimize it.
• Avg. Processing Time: This is the time the SSRS server takes to calculate and process the retrieved source data. Any formulas or expressions in the report are calculated during this time.
• Avg. Rendering Time: This is the amount of time it takes to paint the graphics, charts, text, etc.

• Longest Running Reports on Average

  
  This panel provides you a chart that can be read quickly and easily to allow you to see if a report’s execution is taking too long, which could negatively effect the performance of the entire SSRS server.

• Frequent Reports

  
  The Frequent Reports panel displays the reports that are most frequently run. If your reports are being executed more than expected, this could lead to scalability issues. Tracking the number of executions is a good way for you to begin to determine if its time to scale up or out.

• Active Users
  

  The Active Users panel displays report executions by users.

This newest feature is one I’ve been waiting for a long time since I first saw it during the development phase. To read more about BI xPress and the numerous other features included, head over to PragmaticWorks.com and check it out.