Microsoft BI Conference

Ok so I have not blogged in a long while. So time for an update!

I have been very busy working on a few data warehouse projects and have not had the time to blog. So I am glad to get sometime out to go to Microsoft's first BI conference in Seattle next week.

It's a Conference of many firsts, first time Microsoft has created a forum for BI using Microsoft products. Sure there has been many a 'TechEd Session' on SSRS, SSAS and SSIS. But this is the real deal best practices, case studies and the like. And I am not talking about project real either. The big difference with this conference is there is not mix bag of sessions.

As a part of the trip I am going to blog every day of the conference to let you know what went to.

It's very exciting.

Microsoft and Teradata Collaborate

Microsoft and Teradata have formally announced a partnership. It looks like SSIS, AS2005 and RS2005 will be able to access Teradata enterprise warehouse. This will help Tetra data access Performance Point.
check out:

Microsoft and Teradata Collaborate to Offer Business Intelligence Solutions
http://www.teradata.com/t/

Business Intelligence with SQL Server 2005: Transform Data into Decisions

Just came across a set of PerformancePoint webcasts on http://thesource.ofallevil.com/events/series/sqlserverbi.mspx. Check out:

TechNet Webcast: Performance Management 101 with PerformancePoint Server 2007 (Level 200)
Thursday, January 18, 2007
1:00 P.M.–2:00 P.M. Pacific Time
Join us and learn how Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 enables businesses to deliver performance management capabilities broadly by providing an application that is easy to use and less costly to deploy than traditional solutions.

TechNet Webcast: Microsoft Business Intelligence: Introduction to PerformancePoint Server 2007 (Level 200)
Friday, January 19, 2007
8:00 A.M.–9:00 A.M. Pacific Time
Discover how Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 provides you with critical visibility into the factors that affect your business, allowing you to make decisions and take actions that drive better business outcomes.

Round up for 2006

Happy New Year! I am sorry I have not blogged in awhile. It’s largely due to a house we are building in Auckland. Building a house is very similar to building a data warehouse, best left to the experts.

What a year 2006 it has been. I have to say Business Intelligence on SQL server has definitely seen some big changes this year. After the release of SQL Server 2005, big things had to happen to top the release and what a year it has been.

Service Pack 1 Was not long in coming after the November release of SQL, helped a lot of companies to get of over the ‘not until SP1’ issue. The release was not without controversy. The removal of the ‘Select All Parameter’ caused some developers concern. Microsoft removed it due to performance issues. At the same time MS released the feature pack with a series of great free add-ons. Such as a SAP .Net OLE DB driver and data mining viewer controls. Check out:

Rather Ripped (Select All in Service Pack 1)

Feature Pack for Microsoft SQL Server 2005


The acquisition of Proclarity has shown Microsoft continued commitment to build its BI platform. Seeing the direction and integration of Proclarity, Balance Scorecard Manager, etc into Performance Point is very exciting and will start to give some of the Analytical BI vendors a run for their money. Check Out:

Performance-Point-Screenshots

Performance Point Home

Office 2007 was shown off at TechEd and is very exciting from a BI point of view. The new excel features are going to continue Excels front-end dominance. Although the new Excel front-end may take some getting use to for some users the new BI features are well worth the upgrade. Check out:
Business Intelligence in Excel 2007

Service pack 2 CTP is going to continue to enhance the BI features of SQL 2005. Report builder will now support Oracle as a data source. The ‘Select All’ parameter is now back in en-vogue. Of course there will be the standard bug fixes. So best get to testing and seeing the new fixes/enhancements. Check out:

A list of the bugs that are fixed in SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 Community Technology Preview (CTP)

How to obtain the latest service pack for SQL Server 2005

Microsoft have just release SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 CTP. Check out: How to obtain the latest service pack for SQL Server 2005

MCITP: Business Intelligence Developer

Microsoft has just released an update to the Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) with the creation of Business Intelligence Developer credential. It looks like you only need to sit two exams to become a Business Intelligence Developer.

This qualification is a step up from the Microsoft Certified Technology Specialists in Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence (MCTS: SQL Server 2005 BI).

The training material is available but the exams are not available until early 2007. It might be a good time to start looking into getting this certification.

Check out:
MCITP: Business Intelligence Developer
MCTS: SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence

Tips, Tricks, and Advice from the SQL Server Query Optimization Team

A colleague of mine has just introduced me to one of the best blogs I have seen in along while. The Tips, Tricks, and Advice is brought to you by the SQL Server Query Optimization Team.

Here are some of my favourite posts on the performance features of SQL 2005 Query Optimizer. Check out the following:

• Why should I create an index?
  
• I Smell a Parameter!
  
• Fun for the day - Automated Auto-Indexing!

SQL Server 2005 Skill Assessments

Microsoft has released a series of free skill tests that are well worth trying. There are tests covering most Microsoft products. There are two categories that I have given a go.

• Introduction to SQL Server 2005 (DBA, Developer, BI): SQL 2005
• Introduction to SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services: RS 2000

This Months Book Recommendation: Microsoft Data Warehouse Toolkit

After TechEd I realised that in my slide deck I did not recommend The Microsoft Data Warehouse ToolKit by Joy Mundy and Warren Thornthwaite as required reading before starting a BI project.

If you are new to BI or new to the SQL Server 2005 BI platform this book is a great starting point. This book covers an end to end BI solution on the SQL server 2005 platform. The book covers a Reference Architecture for implementing a Microsoft BI Solution.

The book also includes a case study using the Adventure works example database as the source for an end to end BI solution. All the sample code can be downloaded from www.msftdwtoolkit.com

My TechEd session Ready for download

My TechEd session on Delivering an End to End Business Intelligence is now up on Microsoft for download.

Check out: BIN213.ppt