Using BIDS 2008 to validate Analysis Services 2005 cubes

If you have experimented with cube design in SQL Server 2008, you will probably have run into the new AMO design warnings in Business Intelligence Development Studio 2008 (BIDS). We find that these warnings help customers a lot: they allow them to quickly analyze your cube for classic design mistakes and provide advice on how to correct them. In Analysis Services 2005 you need the best practice analyzer to get the same warnings.

Did you know that you can use BIDS 2008 to connect to Analysis Services 2005 cubes and immediately get the new 2008 AMO warnings feedback on your 2005 design? You can even save the cube back to Analysis Services 2005 with BIDS 2008. If you decide to save back the cube to a 2005 server you should first perform a backup of the 2005 cube.

Please note that you CANNOT use BIDS 2008 to save Integration Services or Reporting Services 2005 projects. If you open an Integration Services 2005 or Reporting Services 2005 project in BIDS 2008 it will be upgraded to the 2008 format instead.