Hello from Seattle! We're at PASS Summit 2015 where things are about to kick off and we'll be unveiling more of the exciting investments we're making in Reporting Services. Stay tuned to this blog for more news, but first things first: SQL Server 2016 CTP 3.0 will be available for download within the next few days and includes another round of eagerly-anticipated enhancements to Reporting Services.

In case you missed it…

With our monthly CTPs of SQL Server 2016, we've already released a number of Reporting Services features (see CTP 2.3 and CTP 2.4). You can now

• Position report parameters the way you want
• Export reports to PowerPoint
• Create Treemap and Sunburst charts
• Design reports in an updated version of Report Builder with a modern theme
• View and interact with reports in modern browsers (thanks to a new HTML5-based renderer)
• Print reports from modern browsers (without installing an ActiveX control)

Pin to Power BI dashboards

In addition to using Reporting Services on-premises, more and more of you are now using Power BI in the cloud, and in particular, Power BI dashboards to monitor the metrics and trends that matter to you.

Now, with SQL Server 2016 CTP 3.0, you can pin visuals from your existing, on-premises Reporting Services reports to your Power BI dashboards. When you browse to a report server that's registered with Power BI, you'll notice a new Pin to Power BI Dashboard button in the Report Manager toolbar:

After clicking that button and signing into Power BI, you'll see the report items on the page that you can pin. You can pin charts, gauge panels, maps, and images:

Then choose the dashboard where you'd like to pin the visual (and optionally adjust how often you'd like to update the tile):

And you're done! You'll now see that Reporting Services visual on your Power BI dashboard:

You'll always see up-to-date information thanks to a Reporting Services subscription that runs on a schedule and updates the tile. When you need the details, simply click the tile to open the complete Reporting Services report.

With this "hybrid" cloud + on-premises integration, you don't need to move all your existing reports to the cloud or recreate all your existing charts in Power BI; you can use Power BI while tapping into your existing, on-premises investments in Reporting Services.

Enabling this feature is easy; in Reporting Services Configuration Manager on the Power BI Integration tab, click Register with Power BI, sign into your Power BI tenant, and you're all set:

Read more in our preview documentation.

Design reports in Visual Studio 2015

Yes, the SQL Server Data Tools October 2015 Preview for Visual Studio 2015 includes Reporting Services design tools! Design reports for SQL Server 2016 report servers and take advantage of the latest features like parameter positioning, Treemaps, and Sunburst charts, or target report servers running previous versions of Reporting Services.

Now you can get all the tools you need - for database development, ETL (Integration Services), modeling (Analysis Services), and reporting (Reporting Services) - in one lightweight download.

Use .NET Framework 4.x code

Programmability and extensibility are key strengths of the Reporting Services platform. Using the .NET Framework, you can include sophisticated expressions and code in your reports, reference external assemblies, or develop custom extensions for security, data processing, report rendering, or report delivery. We're pleased to announce that Reporting Services now runs on CLR 4, so you can take advantage of the latest .NET Framework 4.x libraries and code.

Don't miss these PASS Summit sessions

If you're at PASS Summit (videos will be available too), you won't want to miss these sessions. In addition to demos of the new features as of CTP 3.0, we'll unveil what's coming next for Reporting Services beyond CTP 3.0 - something we haven't yet unveiled on this blog.

• Wednesday 10:15 AM (Pacific): Foundation Session: Microsoft Business Intelligence [BID-204-M] in 6E
  by James Phillips and Kamal Hathi
• Wednesday 3:15 PM (Pacific): Business Intelligence Updates in SQL Server 2016 [BIA-315-M] in TCC 304
  by Frank Weigel
• Thursday 1:30 PM (Pacific): What’s New in SQL Server 2016 Reporting Services [BIA-321-M] in TCC 304
  by Riccardo Muti

And join the conversation on Twitter with the hashtags #summit15 and #SSRS.

Try it and send us your feedback

• Download SQL Server 2016 CTP 3.0 (available within the next few days)
• Download SQL Server Data Tools October 2015 Preview for Visual Studio 2015 (available within the next few days)
• Check out the preview documentation: What's new in Reporting Services (SQL Server 2016)
• Post in the Reporting Services forum (or if you prefer, send us an email)
• Follow @SQLServerBI on Twitter