SQL Server BI Tools - Confusing...

The happy beginning:
·       The BI Tool in SQL Server 2005 uses the Visual Studio 2005 Shell.
·       The BI Tool in SQL Server 2008 uses the Visual Studio 2008 Shell.
·       The BI Tool in SQL Server 2008 R2 uses the Visual Studio 2008 Shell as well.

The separation starts:
SQL Server 2010 did not get released, but Visual Studio 2010 was released, and it includes SQL Server Data Tools. However, although it sounds it is, it is NOT for SQL Server BI projects. It appears that Visual Studio 2010 can install either the add-in tools for building Integration Services (SSIS), Analysis Services (SSAS) & Reporting Services (SSRS) solutions (let’s call that suite SSDT-BIDS) or the add-in tools for building SQL Server database solutions/projects (let’s call that suite SSDT-DB), but not both. More importantly, the SSDT in Visual Studio 2010 is NOT real BI tool. For instance, if you needed to create a reporting services project, you still need Visual Studio 2008. The SQL Server Data Tools team on Visual Studio was a separate product team that just worked on the database development features. The business intelligence tools were not their priority.

When SQL Server 2012 was released, its installation has “SQL Server Data Tools” on the Feature Selection page, this option installs SSDT-BIDS as well as the Visual Studio 2010 Integrated Shell, but does not include SSDT-DB – the VS programming languages and the features that support their respective project systems. Instead of installing SSDT-DB it installs a pointer to a web install that you will see when you try to create a new database project in Visual Studio 2010 (in other words it installs a “stub project” that allows SQL Server 2012 users to acquire the latest SSDT version from the web).  So to install SSDT-DB, follow Install SQL Server Data Tools (that’s from the VS team).

If you have not installed SQL Server 2012 (or you did install it but did not select  “SQL Server Data Tools” on the Feature Selection page), and go to http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/data/gg427686 to download and install SSDT, it will automatically install the Visual Studio 2010 Integrated Shell, apply SP1, and install SSDT-DB, but does NOT install SSDT-BIDS.  Then you install SQL Server 2012 and choose “SQL Server Data Tools” on the Feature Selection page, now the installation will install SSDT-BIDS.  It will notice that you already installed the Visual Studio 2010 Integrated Shell and won’t install it again.

If you have Visual Studio 2010 Professional Edition or above installed before you perform an installation of SSDT through SQL server 2012 or on its own, then you must install SP1 manually before installing SSDT.  The SSDT installation will integrate all the functionalities of SSDT into your existing VS environment.

Please note that the Visual Studio 2012 version of SQL Server Data Tools, like their 2010 predecessor were just for database development projects and not business intelligence. To their credit, Microsoft’s SQL Server Data Tools team maintained the ability to download and install the tool in two flavors, Visual Studio 2010 and Visual Studio 2012. However, neither contained the BI tools.

Things have been changing…the re-union is on the way
Recently, Microsoft releases SQL Server Data Tools - Business Intelligence for Visual Studio 2012, which includes business intelligence project authoring tools and project templates for SQL Server Analysis Services, Reporting Services, and Integration Services integrated into a Visual Studio 2012 shell.

You can install SQL Server Data Tools - Business Intelligence for Visual Studio 2012 as a standalone business intelligence authoring environment or side-by-side with an existing SQL Server Data Tools installed with SQL Server 2012.

If you already have Visual Studio 2012 or SQL Server Data Tools installed, running SQL Server Setup to install SQL Server Data Tools - Business Intelligence for Visual Studio 2012 will not overwrite your existing Visual Studio 2012 installation or SQL Server Data Tools installation. Setup will install only the additional business intelligence feature tools and project templates.

In short, the confusion comes from the same term with different meanings. It appears that there is an SQL Server Version of SSDT and a Visual Studio version of SSDT. The SQL Server version focuses on BI, whereas the Visual Studio version concentrates on database projects. In other words, you cannot do database projects or VS programming in SQL Server SSDT, and you cannot do BI in the VS version of SSDT. But the picture has changed. For instance, with the release of SQL Server Data Tools - Business Intelligence for Visual Studio 2012, we can create BI projects starting from Visual Studio 2012. We no longer need to maintain multiple versions of Visual Studio to support classic development projects and business intelligence projects. 

SQL Server 2014 basically resembles SQL Server 2012. What you need is to install SQL Server Data Tools for Visual Studio 2013 and/or SQL Server Data Tools - Business Intelligence for Visual Studio 2013.

 For SQL Server 2016 (up to CTP 3.3 so far), what you need is to 

Download and Install Server Data Tools Preview in Visual Studio 2015.


References:
http://www.jamesserra.com/archive/2012/04/ssdt-installation-confusion/