Microsoft adds smarts to Visio
idg.com | at | by Mike
Hoping to expand its use beyond the desks of technical users and into corporate offices, Microsoft Corp. is adding features to Visio that aim to turn it into a business intelligence tool, and said a beta of the product will be available midyear.
IT professionals are familiar with Visio and use the software for such tasks as network diagramming and Web site mapping. Microsoft Office Visio 2003, due out in the third quarter, has a host of new features that connect the application to enterprise applications and help companies analyze their business processes, Microsoft said.
"One way to think about it is as a business intelligence tool," said Jason Bunge, product manager for Visio at Microsoft. "Our objective is to broaden that understanding and become more relevant in the enterprise."