Month: November 2014

SQL Pass Summit 2014 Great Success!

Posted on November 10, 2014 by - Blog, Conferences, SQL

MDX, aggregations, scope assignments… SQL Pass Summit 2014 was data nerd heaven in terms of having access to uber experts who you can ask and learn from. Some learn from white papers only or maybe a book. Personally, I prefer face to face with real examples and it has been completely refreshing here at SQL Pass Summit 2014. Speakers this year have been completely focused on the tips and tricks.

I want to shout out to the following speakers:

Chris Webb, Peter Myers, Brian Larson, Kesper De Jong, Devin Knight, Miguel Llopis, Tessa Palmer, and David Peter Hansen. Really enjoyed your sessions. Hope you’ll be back!

 It will be interesting to see what happens next year. Not a lot of new work on SSAS multidimensional models (re: none) and some of the sheen is off the tabular model as its limitations are more and more known and not all that acceptable in some key places. Where is SQL Server 2016(?) going? There has been no word on it. Count on Microsoft to continue to empower the power user.

Here’s hoping:

  • that Power Query comes together to improve SSIS
  • that the difference between on-prem and cloud goes away
  • for data residence or delivery; there are too many “it works on prem but not in Power BI or you can use this in Power BI but not on prem”
  • that support for NON technical people continues. In talking to Power Query people, I kept hearing about M and connections with JSON. Those are not mainstream items when making a mainstream product.
  • MDX / DAX can become friends.

 

What is Ross EPM? Our 2nd video in the series.

Posted on November 7, 2014 by - Blog, Ross

Are you confused as to where things are going with your Ross EPM (Enterprise Performance Management) Business Intelligence solution?  If you have second guessed what you own with Aptean’s Ross EPM, what value you currently have with the solution, and what the future holds for EPM, watch the second video in the series as Business Impact breaks down the components, defines what you have, and lays out what is valuable within your  current EPM solution.

Watch this short video to learn some of the critical items you should know about EPM.

A few things you’ll learn in the second video in the series:

  • Clarification on BI terms.  ETL, WhereScape, TARGIT, Cubes – what is all this stuff?
  • What have I licensed with Ross EPM?  Is this a tool that I should keep? We think so, and let us walk through what you own and what your investment is worth.
  • What am I paying maintenance for? And what am I getting? Should I continue?
  • Do I have anything worth saving? Of course you do, and we’ll explain what and how to get the most out of it.

By the way, if you missed the introductory video… check out the first video in the series here!

SQL Pass continues with more exciting Power BI

Posted on November 6, 2014 by - Blog, Conferences, SQL

Day 2 at SQL Pass. Couple logistical things that have been a challenge. The sessions have staggered starts. Like some sessions at 10:30 and some starting at 10:45. It’s a pain for sure. Also it rains a lot in Seattle. Who knew?

After an evening of reflection, some summary thoughts on Day 1. The last year has been spent tying together a lot of the promise shown on Power BI and Power View and Power Query and delivering on these things. The sessions have been more focused on tips and tricks on what it can do and how to get there. Personally, I love it. I like living in the real world with real examples.

Previous years have been focused on what Power BI would do someday or the next things that Power View would do. While there are some new additions in terms of features, the speakers have been showing how to use Power Query, or Power View. And also exposing the limits with tips on working around.

Note, to real world, there are plenty of limits. It is not as simple as the demos. Incremental loads. Fiscal year to date without making this for every measure.

I imagine that when SQL 2016 or whatever it will be called is put on the timeline, Summit will revert to what is coming and not how to use it, but for now I’m excited for what comes today.

SQL Pass Demos Power BI and Power Query – looking good!

Posted on November 5, 2014 by - Blog, Conferences, SQL

First day coming to an end here in Seattle at SQL Pass Summit. One more session today. Lots of demos of Power Query and Power BI, and these tools continue to mature. It is hard to tell what is “about to be released” and what is actually out, but the demos are fun to watch. Power Query has really come a long way. It now can connect to quite a few things – web pages, Salesforce.com, Business Objects, documents, Power Pivot models, databases – and you can do basic transformations like splitting columns. It looks cool for good Excel users who then want to make a Power View in Excel. Downside, well, it is in that one Excel sheet, not published yet.

Power BI has also come quite a ways. Released in February, it shows great with Power Maps but these are again simple demos, not necessarily useful demos. Overall the dashboards can be set up at a relatively lower cost for licensing. Entry level cost is $40/user/month if someone doesn’t have Office 365, plus the cost of consulting to set it up (or do it yourself). However, some big things are missing – like connecting to on-premise cubes, providing ad hoc access to people who don’t know how to set up dynamic time frames, and working with anyone who doesn’t have Office 365.

More reviews to come as we power through SQL Pass.

 

We are here – SQL Pass 2014!

Posted on November 5, 2014 by - Blog, Conferences, SQL

Hello customers… one thing that defines us at Business Impact is our commitment to stay on top of what is happening in the world of business intelligence. We can do this dozens of ways, but our largest investment comes when we attend the SQL Pass 2014 Summit. Guess where Michele and I are today?

SQL updates and best practices are on display plus new technologies, sessions and more. It means we have to take a week out of our schedule to get here at SQL Pass 2014… but YOU get the benefit.

And while we’re here, please take advantage of us. If you have any questions on SQL Server, BI or products that have come up or that we haven’t been able to answer, please write me or Michele May.

Plus take a look at what sessions are offered while we are here!