1. A method comprising: receiving a selection of a business intelligence report element of a first business intelligence report specification, the first business intelligence report specification in a first file format; creating a serialized description of the business intelligence report element in a second file format based on a business intelligence report element data model; receiving an instruction to add the business intelligence report element to a second business intelligence report specification, the second business intelligence report specification in a third file format; and adding the business intelligence report element to the second business intelligence report specification in the third file format based on the serialized description of the business intelligence report element.