Search results matching tag 'Business Intelligence'

Geoflow? Is that it, Microsoft?

jamiet — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 15:42:21 GMT

I didn’t travel to the SQL Pass Business Analytics conference this week but I keenly followed what was going on via the #passbac hashtag on Twitter. Seemingly the big announcement was Geoflow Preview for Excel 2013, an add-in for Excel that visualises data over space and time (read more at Public preview of project codename “GeoFlow” for Excel delivers 3D data visualization and storytelling). Geoflow certainly looks compelling at first glance though I must say I found it rather strange that it got top billing given that Microsoft were talking about it at some SharePoint conference five months ago but nonetheless the keynote demo was apparently very impressive indeed. Here’s a screenshot of Geoflow:

I think Geoflow looks great, I really do; the questions I immediately had about it were:

Can I share my Geoflow’d Excel workbooks and have people view them on SharePoint? Answer: No, there’s no SharePoint collaboration story.
Is Geoflow part of Power View? Answer: No, its a separate installation.
OK so I have to install it. I presume then that its available in the Office App Store given that’s the new model for distributing Excel add-ins? Answer: No, you have to download it from Microsoft’s download site.

So the big reveal from Microsoft at this conference was an Excel add-in that does something very very cool but had already been announced, is only a preview, doesn’t fit with Microsoft’s BI collaboration strategy, doesn’t use their modern distribution platform and isn’t part of their Excel-based data visualisation tool. Well thank god I didn’t stump up the cost of travel, accommodation, loss of income and time away from the family for that! Doubtless there were a lot of other good reasons to go to the conference but I would have been going with high expectations of news from Microsoft that is going to be compelling and help me sell Microsoft’s BI offering to my clients – Geoflow doesn’t do that, not by a long chalk.

What I was hoping for, nay expecting, was a concrete announcement regarding Microsoft’s mobile BI strategy. We first saw Power View demonstrated on an iPad at the PASS 2011 conference and I assumed that in the intervening eighteen months they might have built something we could actually install and play around with. Apparently not.

Microsoft are getting killed in this area. At my current client all the management folk walk around with iPads glued to their hands – this is the tool on which they consume information and Microsoft doesn’t have anything for them. I was working for a client two years ago that had just invested in a product called RoamBI because it enabled them to view Reporting Services reports on an iPad. Two years ago for pity’s sake, and Microsoft haven’t released anything mobile-BI-related since!

@Jamiet

First spring conference: PASS Business Analytics Conference and SQL Bits #passbac #sqlbits #sqlpass

sqlbi — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 15:50:00 GMT

Spring is a conferences’ season and the upcoming one is no exception. I will be speaking at PASS Business Analytics Conference 2013, which will be the first event this year, so I’d like to spend a few words about my sessions.

PASS Business Analytics Conference 2013
April 10-12, 2013 | Chicago, IL – United States

This conference is targeted to Business Analytics professionals. Thus, I expect to meet both BI Developers, Excel Advanced Users, Data Analyst and, of course, the new Data Scientist role (if you have a business card with such a definition, please drop me one, so I can demonstrate to skeptic people that this figure actually exists!). I have two sessions:

Modern Data Warehousing Strategy

April 11th, 2013 – 1:30 pm – Chicago Ballroom VIII
Track: Strategy and Architecture
The recent introduction of new technologies such as PowerPivot, the BI Semantic Model, and columnstore indexes in SQL Server and advances in self-service business intelligence and big data might be considered threats to the classic data warehouse ecosystem. In reality, a good data warehouse is still the best starting point for any kind of analysis, but we do need to update our strategy for data warehouse implementation to fit the requirements of this new era. This session will start the conversation about what a modern strategy for data warehousing can and should be. What type of data modeling should we use for the data warehouse? What is the role of data marts? Does the use of technologies such as PowerPivot or Analysis Services Tabular affect the way we should model our data? Do columnstore indexes remove the need for an analytical server like Analysis Services? We will discuss these and other questions, offering an updated approach to the data warehouse modeling methodology.

Self-Service Data Modeling

April 12th, 2013 – 1:30 pm – Sheraton Ballroom I & II
Track: Data Analytics and Visualization
Self-service business intelligence looks promising, empowering information workers to grab amazing insights from data. But are Excel 2013 and DAX language knowledge enough to analyze data? The answer in most cases is no – information workers will also need an ability to properly model their data and the skill to use some new tools to reshape data in the correct way. In this session, we will analyze some common problem scenarios where data analysis is difficult due to the shape of the model and see how to solve them.

In theory, I expect two different audiences at the two sessions, but I know that there will be people attending both, especially who provides tools to end users. I’d like to receive feedback about what you would expect to see in such sessions (regardless you will attend or not!), so that I check if I defined the correct expectations for the audience.

If you want to attend, register before March 15 in order to get a discounted price. You can also save $200 by using the code BAC228BL. See you in Chicago!

24 Hours of PASS - BA Style

RickHeiges — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 16:04:00 GMT

Tomorrow will mark another chapter in the 24 Hours of PASS series.I am involved once again - this time in a moderator role. The event begins at 8am ET for me. I will be introducing Alberto Ferrari who will be speaking on "Excel 2013 Power Pivot in Action" which is a great self-service BI story.

This 24hop event will be in a different format. 12 hours of Live webcasts followed by 12 hours of on-demand webcasts from the previous 12 hours. All sessions will be available for viewing on Feb 11, 2013. There is also a new hashtag to follow on twitter - #PASS24hop. And there is a new website as well... http://www.24hoursofpass.com/

I am excited about the event tomorrow and hope that you will join me to learn more about Business Analytics and ramp up for the PASS Business Analytic Conference being held in Chicago this April. Check out www.sqlpass.org for more information.

Want to Learn SQL Server 2012?

andyleonard — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 13:00:00 GMT

Or SSIS 2012? SSRS 2012? SSAS 2012? There’s no substitute for getting your hands on the product, in my opinion.

I can hear you thinking, “But Andy, I can’t afford to purchase a copy of SQL Server 2012.” Are you sure? What if I told you that you can get a full-feature version of SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Edition for $50? Well, you cannot… it’s actually less than $50! SQL Server 2012 Developer Edition is available at Amazon on the day of this writing for $41.24USD. That’s about the price of eight cups of fancy coffee.

SQL Server releases follow a cycle. SQL Server 2005 was a major release with big changes from SQL Server 2000. SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2 were not drastic departures from SQL Server 2005. Take it from me: SQL Server 2012 is a major release.

Is taking your career to the next level worth the price of eight cups of coffee?

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New Book! SQL Server 2012 Integration Services Design Patterns!

andyleonard — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 11:00:00 GMT

SQL Server 2012 Integration Services Design Patterns has been released!

The book is done and available thanks to the hard work and dedication of a great crew:

Michelle Ufford (Blog | @sqlfool) – co-author
Jessica M. Moss (Blog | @jessicammoss) – co-author
Tim Mitchell (Blog | @tim_mitchell) – co-author
Matt Masson (Blog | @mattmasson) – co-author
Donald Farmer (Blog | @donalddotfarmer) – foreword
David Stein (Blog | @made2mentor) – technical editing
Mark Powers – editing
Jonathan Gennick – editorial director
Michael Coles – for suggesting we submit a writing proposal Apress
Friends and family who put up with us while we were writing
A bunch of other important people I cannot remember right now…

It is a pleasure to write and an honor and privilege to be published. We hope this book helps those who want to learn more about SSIS.

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Parallelize incremental processing in Tabular #ssas #tabular

sqlbi — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 12:30:00 GMT

I recently came in a problem trying to improve the parallelism of Tabular processing. As you know, multiple tables can be processed in parallel, whereas the processing of several partitions within the same table cannot be parallelized. When you perform an incremental update by adding only new rows to existing table, what you really do is adding rows to a partition, so adding rows to many tables means adding rows to several partitions. The particular condition you have in this case is that every partition in which you add rows belongs to a different table.

Adding rows implies using the ProcessAdd command; its QueryBinding parameter specifies a SQL syntax to read new rows, otherwise the original query specified for the partition will be used, and it could generate duplicated data if you don’t have a dynamic behavior on the SQL side. If you create the required XMLA code manually, you will find that the QueryBinding node that should be part of the ProcessAdd command has to be moved out from ProcessAdd in case you are using a Batch command with more than one Process command (which is the reason why you want to use a single batch: run multiple process operations in parallel!).

If you use AMO (Analysis Management Objects) you will find that this combination is not supported, even if you don’t have a syntax error compiling the code, but you might obtain this error at execution time:

The syntax for the 'Process' command is incorrect. The 'Bindings' keyword cannot appear under a 'Process' command if the 'Process' command is a part of a 'Batch' command and there are more than one 'Process' commands in the 'Batch' or the 'Batch' command contains any out of line related information. In this case, the 'Bindings' keyword should be a part of the 'Batch' command only.

If this is happening to you, the best solution I’ve found is manipulating the XMLA code generated by AMO moving the Binding nodes in the right place. A more detailed description of the issue and the code required to send a correct XMLA batch to Analysis Services is available in my article Parallelize ProcessAdd with AMO. By the way, the same technique (and code) can be used also if you have the same problem in a Multidimensional model.

Agile Data Warehousing with SQL Server 2012 Q&A

manowar — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 13:38:33 GMT

Yesterday has been published my Q&A interview on my Pre-Conference Workshop at SQL Pass 2012. It’s a good way to understand what will be discussed in the workshop, so if you’re interested or you’re into the Data Warehouse / Business Intelligence field and want to understand how the Agile approach can help you, you can read it here:

http://bit.ly/PASS2012DMInterview

SSIS Design Patterns, the Book

andyleonard — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 16:37:43 GMT

For the past two years, I have had the honor and privilege or authoring SSIS Design Patterns alongside Jessica Moss, Michelle Ufford, Tim Mitchell, and Matt Masson. Publication of the book – like many projects of this scope – has been delayed. The current publication date is 27 Aug 2012 and I have high confidence in this date.

I take responsibility for publication delays and apologize to those who pre-ordered the book. The reasons for the delays are not important. I have built a career as a software developer and architect based on the following maxim:

Deliver quality late, no one remembers.
Deliver junk on time, no one forgets.

The shared goal of everyone working on this project has been to deliver quality. Proofing the manuscripts, I believe we have achieved that goal.

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PASS Summit Preconference and Sessions

manowar — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 08:41:10 GMT

I’m very pleased to announce that I’ll be delivering a Pre-Conference at PASS Summit 2012. I’ll speak about Business Intelligence again (as I did in 2010) but this time I’ll focus only on Data Warehouse, since it’s big topic even alone. I’ll discuss not only what is a Data Warehouse, how it can be modeled and built, but also how it’s development can be approached using and Agile approach, bringing the experience I gathered in this field.

Building the Agile Data Warehouse with SQL Server 2012
http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2012/Sessions/SessionDetails.aspx?sid=2821

I’m sure you’ll like it, especially if you’re starting to create a BI Solution and you’re wondering what is a Data Warehouse, if it is still useful nowadays that everyone talks about Self-Service BI and In-Memory databases, and what’s the correct path to follow in order to have a successful project up and running.

Beside this Preconference, I’ll also deliver a regular session, this time related to database administration, monitoring and tuning:

DMVs: Power in Your Hands
http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2012/Sessions/SessionDetails.aspx?sid=3204

Here we’ll dive into the most useful DMVs, so that you’ll see how that can help in everyday management in order to discover, understand and optimze you SQL Server installation, from the server itself to the single query.

See you there!!!!!

Have You Downloaded SQL Server 2012 Evaluation Edition? Why Not?!

andyleonard — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 19:00:00 GMT

I am installing SQL Server 2012 Evaluation Edition on a virtual machine as I type.

You can do this. Here’s one way:

Grab some virtual machine software. I like Oracle VirtualBox. It’s cool. It’s free.
Install VirtualBox.
Download the 180-day free trial of Windows Server 2008 R2. Also cool. Also free.
Once Windows Server 2008 R2 is downloaded, build a VirtualBox VM.
Download and install SQL Server 2012 Evaluation Edition!

That’s all there is to it. You can get started today, no need to wait until 1 Apr 2012 for media to ship. And, you don’t have to worry about making changes to your laptop or workstation (other than installing VirtualBox).

You can explore the cool new features of SQL Server 2012 for the next six months… for free! What are you waiting for?

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