Search results matching tags 'Developer Community' and 'ETL'

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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I Am Here To Help™

andyleonard — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 13:30:00 GMT

Introduction

This isn’t a trick. It’s not a gimmick. It’s not bait-and-switch. It is selfish; please allow me to explain:

I Am Here To Help™

This has been my motto for the past few years. How can I serve you today? Are you thinking about starting a User Group and don’t know where to begin? I can help. Are you planning an event and encountering obstacles? I can help. Having trouble getting an SSIS package to do what you want? I can help. Trying to troubleshoot a SQL Server issue? I can help. Have a question about raising chickens or guinea fowl? I can help.

For things with which I cannot personally help you, I know someone who can either answer your question, put you on the correct and best path for an answer, or who knows someone who can help.

“How Do I Contact You?”

There’s an Email link in the upper right corner of this blog. Or you can email me at andy.leonard@gmail.com. Or contact me on Twitter.

“Why is this Selfish?”

I’m glad you asked! Because I enjoy helping you. I believe everyone is put into life for a purpose, and serving you is my purpose. I am thrilled each time I get to help someone.

Helping others makes you feel awesome. People can give you money and things, but no one can give you the satisfaction that comes from contributing.

Helping others is contagious. I’ll talk about this more in a future installment of my series on Managing Teams.

You can get in on this too. How? Pull over next time you see someone stopped on the side of the road with the hood of their car up or standing next to a flat tire. Help someone struggling to load their groceries from the shopping cart into their car. Call someone and tell them you’re thinking about them. Add an encouraging comment to a blog post or send a friend or co-worker or enemy or competitor an email just to say “Hi” and catch up. If you have nothing left due to the economy – financial, emotional, intellectual, social, or any economy – offer the next person you see a smile. Smiles are free in every currency. Be nice.

Conclusion

Try it. And holler if you need a hand. I’m here for you.

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Presenting at Hampton Roads SQL Server and SharePoint Users Group Tomorrow!

andyleonard — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:58:14 GMT

I am honored to present Designing an SSIS Framework to Hampton Roads SQL Server and SharePoint Users Group tomorrow, 20 Jul 2011! You can register here.

Details:

Infotec
100 Constitution Dr
Virginia Beach, VA 23462

Wednesday, July 20, 2011 at 6:30 PM (ET)

If you read this blog and will be there, introduce yourself! I’m the fat guy with a fu.

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PASS Precon Information: A Day of SSIS in the Enterprise

andyleonard — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 11:00:00 GMT

Matt Masson, Tim Mitchell, and I are presenting A Day of SSIS in the Enterprise Monday 10 Oct 2011! The following is cross-posted from the PASS Blog:

Today's post is from Andy Leonard who, along with Tim Mitchell, will be presenting "A Day of SSIS in the Enterprise". You can read more about his session here: http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2011/Speakers/CallForSpeakers/SessionDetail.aspx?sid=1508.

Is there an audience that would benefit especially from this session?
Yep. Those getting started in SQL Server Integration Services development will get a jump start from topics presented by Matt Masson of the SSIS Developers Team at Microsoft, Tim Mitchell, SQL Server MVP, and me. Experienced SSIS developers are sure to pick up a tip or eight. And we'll be talking about features in SSIS Denali!
After having attended your seminar, what are two or three things that an attendee will be able to take back to the office and put to use right away?
Best Practices has to top that list. Tim, Matt, and I share from years of experience building solutions using SSIS. We three are also 60% of the author team of the upcoming book: SSIS Design Patterns, and we will be demonstrating patterns from the book. Finally, we'll be talking a lot about managing SSIS in the enterprise. After deploying SSIS solutions, developers often realize maintenance and support challenges. Some design decisions facilitate SSIS care and feeding, and we'll cover those!
What background should attendees ideally have to be fully prepared for your seminar?
Ideally, the attendee should have experience with SQL Server and a thirst for more data integration knowledge.
What experience are you, as a speaker, bringing to this session?
Tim , Matt, and I have decades of database integration experience. As a developer on the SSIS Team at Microsoft, Matt has visibility into myriad data integration use cases. As a consultant and trainer, Tim has delivered SSIS solutions to enterprises large and small. My experience spans consulting and managing a team of SSIS developers as we built a multi-year SSIS solution. I understand the challenges unique to developer teams that are part of an enterprise.

Go here to register for the 2011 PASS Summit.

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SSIS Training (from me!)

andyleonard — Tue, 03 May 2011 11:00:00 GMT

Introduction

I’m going to be talking about SSIS a lot in June!

From Zero To SSIS!

Need to learn SQL Server Integration Services? Got a week? I’m delivering From Zero To SSIS! in Farmville Virginia 6-10 Jun 2011. Class size is limited to 8 students. Five full days of SSIS goodness. And, Christy’s catering lunch! Email me if you’re interested!

SQL Saturday #77 – Pensacola

I’m presenting a full-day SQL Saturday pre-con 3 Jun 2011 at SQL Saturday #77 in Pensacola Florida! The early bird pricing – $99 – expires in less than two weeks. Go register today.

CodeStock 2011

I am again honored to be selected by the community to present Designing an SSIS Framework at CodeStock 2011 3-4 Jun 2011! My session is in the last slot of the conference 4 Jun because I do not own or have access to a transporter and I need to get from Pensacola to Knoxville in less than 24 hours!

Conclusion

If you can make it to one of these exciting events and read this blog, introduce yourself! I’m the fat guy with a fu talking about ETL…

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Presenting at Roanoke Code Camp Saturday!

andyleonard — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 17:00:00 GMT

Introduction

I am honored to once again be selected to present at Roanoke Code Camp!

An Introductory Topic

One of my presentations is titled "I See a Control Flow Tab. Now What?" It's a Level 100 talk for those wishing to learn how to build their very first SSIS package.
This highly-interactive, demo-intense presentation is for beginners and developers just getting started with SSIS. Attend and learn how to build SSIS packages from the ground up.

Designing an SSIS Framework

I'm also presenting a Level 400 talk about designing an SSIS Framework.
In this “demo-tastic” presentation, SSIS trainer, author, and consultant Andy Leonard explains the what, why, and how of an SSIS framework that delivers metadata-driven package execution, connections management, and centralizes logging. Key takeaways: 1) Developers can migrate packages from Development, through their lifecycle, to Production without editing SSIS Connection Managers properties. 2) A metadata-driven approach to SSIS package execution. 3) Demonstration of a centralized logging reporting application.

Conclusion

If you're going to be near Roanoke Virginia Saturday 12 Mar, register! I hope to see you Saturday!

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SQLRally Pre-Conference Voting Is Open!

andyleonard — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 16:00:00 GMT

SQLRally

The SQLRally team has been working overtime and you can now vote on the pre-conference session you'd most like to see. What a great idea. This is a much better way to select pre-cons. This way, the SQL Server Community wins.

I submitted a pre-conference session called A Day of SSIS. You can cast your vote here.

A Day of SSIS

My session isn't a survey of the Microsoft Business Intelligence stack that hops around from topic to topic; this is a deep dive into pragmatic SSIS design, development, management, and maintenance. If you want to focus on SSIS, I encourage you to vote for and then attend my session. I share from my experiences as a one-developer shop building SSIS packages as a consultant, but I've also led a team of over 20 SSIS developers for two years. If you're the lone-gun SSIS developer, I share best practices for building and maintaining SSIS... been there and done that. If you're part of a team of developers, I feel your pain - and share in this session ways to develop SSIS that address many enterprise concerns from SDLC to source control to performance management.

You don't have to worry about me selling stuff; I am here to help. My day job keeps me plenty busy and I have no product or service other than SSIS training to promote.

Conclusion

There are two other good Business Intelligence sessions out there for you to consider. You get to select which sessions you'd like to see. I like this a lot! Like I said, this way the SQL Server Community wins.

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SQL Saturday #48 Recap

andyleonard — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 11:00:00 GMT

Introduction

I got to attend SQL Saturday #48 2 Oct 2010 and was honored to present.

"I'm Andy, and I'm a session-hopper." There. I said it. When I'm not presenting, I often wander between sessions. I want to learn a little something from everyone. Here are some sessions I wandered through and some notes from them:

Alejandro Mesa - Parameter Sniffing

I started in Alejandro Mesa's session on Parameter Sniffing. I actually got to speak with Alejandro before his session started. We spoke about family and the importance of feedback. Alejandro is cool. He's friendly and cares about delivering quality presentations. His passion for SQL Server and the community is evident - even if you only spend a few minutes with him.

I listened to the beginning of his session. In the portion I heard, he shared a good definition of parameter sniffing. He summarized the benefits and performance hit of parameter sniffing, and stated he would show how to detect and tune for various sniffing scenarios. I wanted to hear the remainder, but Andy Warren was presenting at the same time...

Andy Warren - DBA 101: The Basics

I skipped over to Andy Warren's (Blog | @sqlAndy) talk on DBA 101: The Basics. Andy is a great presenter who's passion for education and SQL Server are obvious to anyone with a pulse.

From what I heard Steve Jones (Blog | @way0utwest) wrote this presentation. There were 25 people in the room with 27 seats. The number of people in the room are a testament to the popularity of introductory material. It's a cool presentation to introduce people to SQL Server. Andy (and Steve) did a good job covering the objects of SQL Server: tables, views, stored procedures, and triggers. There were good questions from various attendees - evidence they were following and thinking about what they learned.

Introducing any topic in SQL Server in 60 minutes is tough. If you know someone brand new to SQL Server and databases in general, this is a good talk for them.

Julie Smith - Cool Tricks to Pull from your SSIS Hat

Meeting Julie Smith (Blog | @Datachix1) was a cool surprise for me. Julie is a great presenter with years of Business Inteliigence experience. Her presentation covered SSIS Expression Language and Variables. She did a good job with the "gotchas" of Variable scoping - accidentally creating a variable at a lesser scope than intended is a big-ee. She demonstrated the constraint options of the precedence constraint - which is a powerful and under-represented topic in many SSIS training sessions. I learned to use the Preview Pane in Windows Explorer!

I liked her presentation style and the material. Plus she provided some feedback on my SSIS Design Patterns talk that I will incorporate in future 60-minute versions of this talk.

Unfortunately, I needed to leave for the long trek back to Farmville before her session completed. I look forward to learning more cool SSIS tricks from Julie in the future!

Conclusion

SQL Saturday #48 was a huge success. The Columbia community responded to this awesome event by turning out in droves. I found the attendees of my sessions engaged - even right after lunch - and I received awesome questions throughout.

The organizers of the event are to be commended. They organizd an awesome event - from the Speaker Dinner through the After-Event party. About 90% of those in my sessions were attending their first SQL Saturday event.

:{> Andy

It's Official, I'm a Geek

andyleonard — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:00:00 GMT

I'm honored to join Glen Gordon (Blog - @glengordon) and G. Andrew Duthie (Blog - @devhammer) today at 3:00 PM EDT for an MSDN Webcast entitled GeekSpeak: Inside SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS). This is a LiveMeeting and you can join in the fun as an attendee here. It's a live show, so bring your questions!

:{> Andy

Speaking at RichmondSQL Tonight!

andyleonard — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:17:00 GMT

I am honored to present SSIS Design Patterns tonight at RichmondSQL! If you're in ther area, stop by for some free food and networking.

:{> Andy