In a previous post I wrote about getting started with PerformancePoint 2010.  In that post you learned about what PerformancePoint is and where to open in in SharePoint 2010.  Your next steps are to configure PerformancePoint which you can find a good guide on TechNet for.  Some of these steps listed may have already been configured if you ran the configuration wizard following the installation of SharePoint.  Many installation guides recommend not using the configuration wizard, like when following the PowerPivot  guide for SharePoint installation.

Once the configuration is complete you are ready to create a data source.  Open the PerformancePoint Dashboard Designer as shown here.  If this is the first time you’ve opened Dashboard Designer the tool will download automatically.  If it doesn’t open be sure that your SharePoint site is listed as a trusted site in your web browser.

When the designer opens you should see a Data Connections folder in the Workspace Browser.  Next you will right-click on this folder and select New Data Source.

You can then select the data source type that will be used in your dashboard design.  For all of the blog posts following this one I will demonstrate the tool using the Adventure Works DW 2008R2 Analysis Server database found at codeplex.com.  If you want to follow along pick the Analysis Services template

After selecting Analysis Services hit OK and the data source editor will open.  For the most part his will look like any other data source you have ever configured.  You will identify the server, database, and Cube.  The one major difference here is how access to the cube will be granted.  You can use either the Unattended Service Account method that was setup in the first paragraph of this post or use the individual user identity.

Once you’ve completed the configuration of the data source you can right-click on it in the workspace browser to rename and save it to the SharePoint site that you are currently connected to.