PI DataLink

Business Challenge
Manufacturing companies demand a high level of control and insight into their
processes, so they can maintain consistent quality levels, verify regulatory and
environmental compliance, follow best practices, and implement necessary process
improvements rapidly. Process owners and business decision makers need to be able
to use their preferred data analysis and reporting functions within Microsoft Office
Excel

with the most relevant and current data from operations. Providing an easy way
to incorporate the required data sources into familiar software tools facilitates the
creation and publication of reports based on current data. This results in greater
efficiency and elimination of inconsistent reporting and analytics.

PI DataLink Overview
PI DataLink establishes a direct connection between the OSIsoft PI System

and
Microsoft Excel. Process managers can display real-time as well as historical data in
Microsoft Excel so they can create and publish reports and perform complex data
analysis. By providing direct access to PI System data, PI DataLink makes the
performance of such tasks as data gathering, reporting, modeling, analysis, forecasting,
and process planning fast and dependable. PI DataLink is a key component of the
OSIsoft RtPortal suite of smart clients.

PI DataLink provides a simple way to monitor process conditions including equipment status


DataLink for Excel 2007 and DataLink for Excel Services
Many features introduced for Office 2007 will improve the user experience and
capabilities of DataLink including:
Faster Excel Calculation Engine
Row and Column Limits Increased
New Formatting Features and Chart Types
DataLink and BatchView Functions on the Web
FEATURES
Import, export, and manipulation
of data from multiple servers.
Produce insightful, relevant reports
with extended analysis of data from
different operating areas or sites.

Flexible reports.
Produce the reports you want, in
the formats you like, based on
multiple independent variables in a
single spreadsheet.

Performance Equations.
Execute PI performance equations
with a wide range of functions for
complex data analysis including
current or time-specific values,
sampled data, archived data, tag
attributes, and more.

Current, comprehensive
information.
Report on current data, work with
an archive of historical information,
or combine the two approaches.

DataLink functions on the Web.
DataLink for Excel Services enables
users to retrieve data from the PI
System and view it in Microsoft
Excel spreadsheet format using only
a Web browser.
PI DataLink


www.osisoft.com
Copyright 2008 OSIsoft, Inc., all rights
reserved. OSIsoft, and the OSIsoft logo, are
trademarks of OSIsoft, Inc. All other trademarks
are the property of their respective owners.
OSIsoft, Inc. 777 Davis Street, Suite 250 San Leandro, CA 94577

The introduction of Excel Services is a key feature, enabling DataLink to be deployed at
the enterprise level. DataLink will be installed at the server level and not the client
machine resulting in easier administration, Spreadsheets can be uploaded to Microsoft
Office SharePoint portal so users can view the current data in a Web browser. Web
users can also enter named parameters such as time range or tag name and recalculate
the spreadsheet; however, they will be not be able to directly edit cells in spreadsheets -
ensuring data integrity and "one version of the truth".

Benefits
Control your processes. Users can report, analyze, understand, and implement
changes in quality control, production, compliance, and any other aspect of their
organization's business processes, by immediately and easily accessing process data
and working with it in spreadsheets and frequently used analytical tools.
Realize the value of process information. With PI DataLink, process owners can
extract current, real-time as well as historic process information from PI and rapidly get
to the bottom of the information's meaning for the organization.
Publish reports the way you prefer. PI DataLink facilitates efficient publishing and
distribution of reports with the publishing capabilities of Microsoft Excel over the Internet,
in e-mail messages, or in print.
Develop routines and programs for enterprise reporting and analysis. Since PI
DataLink is based on OSIsoft's programming tools, users familiar with Microsoft Excel
and Visual Basic for Applications can easily build routines within Excel that call on PI
SDK functions.
About OSIsoft
OSIsoft (www.osisoft.com) delivers the PI System, the industry standard in enterprise
infrastructure, for management of time series data and events. A global base of more
than 14,000 installations across manufacturing, energy, utilities, life sciences, data
centers and process industries relies upon the OSIsoft PI System to safeguard data and
deliver enterprise-wide visibility into operational and business data in order to manage
assets, mitigate risks, improve processes, drive innovation, make business decisions in
real time, as well as identify competitive business and market opportunities.
Founded in 1980, OSIsoft, Inc. is headquartered in San Leandro, California, with
operations worldwide and is privately held.
For additional information about PI DataLink and other products from OSIsoft, please
visit our web site at www.osisoft.com or call us at (01) 510-297-5800, option 2.
TECHNICAL COMPONENTS
System Requirements
DataLink:
Microsoft Excel 2000 or later
with the latest service pack
Windows 2000 or later with
the latest service pack

DataLink for Excel Services:
On the PI Server:
PI 3.3 or later with sufficient
trust set up between the
target Web server and the PI
Server

On the SharePoint Server:
Microsoft Office SharePoint
Server 2007

On the workbook-generating
client:
Microsoft Excel 2007 or Excel
2000, XP, or 2003 with the
Office Compatibility Pack
DataLink with corresponding
version number

On the end-user client:
Internet Explorer 6 or later with the
latest service pack is recommended,
although other browsers such as
Mozilla Firefox may provide limited
functionality
PN: OS4405