Jason Morales' Microsoft BI Update Blog

I think many readers of this blog are already on the distribution list for the email-based BI updates that Microsoft's Jason Morales has been sending out regularly since last year. Jason now has a blog on which he is now posting his BI updates.

I believe the email version will be around for a while but will be phased out in favour of the blog version. Well worth subscribing in your favourite feed reader.

...but can I print it?

Many businesses these days are making a concerted effort to access as much BI data as possible through the browser. Funny thing is that once this wonderfully dynamic, interactive data is available in a thin-client environment all some users (still) want to do is print everything out (not just the summary page, everything) and then circle the important bits with a red pen.

The printability of an interactive dashboard or report and all the data that lies beneath still seems to find itself located high on the list of deliverables for many projects. Making a web-based BI solution printable can add a great deal of unnecessary complexity to something that should be kept as simple as possible.

It's ironic in these days of "going green" that organisations who pride themselves on their environmental friendliness and sustainable business practices are the ones who want to print out reams of report data. Now, please don't mistake me for an environmental zealot desperately trying to save trees; printing a page or two of report data is fine and can be very useful. But printing an entire "pack" that literally flattens out all that interactive, drillable goodness that that we work so hard to build really seems to be a waste, not so much of trees but of technology.

In this day and age where wireless hotspots and 3G cards abound, VPNs are commonplace and most employees work off a laptop why is there still a need to print large chunks of dynamic, highly-accessible, web-based data? Often the need to print everything is accompanied by requests for the data be available in the BI environment as close to real time as possible. This is a very reasonable request in many cases. Naturally the contents of the printed report is out of date very quickly as a result. Hmmm, maybe that's the reason Google haven't produced a book of their work yet. Pity. If they did then I'd to be able to bring my printed copy of the internet with me wherever I (and my staff of Google-book-carriers) go! I could even fold over the corner of the pages that I like and use my red pen to mark the interesting bits.

The short shelf life of printed report data reminded me of a classic sketch from an old radio program that I am certain some readers of this blog may have heard of - The Goon Show. Others may have no clue what I am talking about. Either way I am sure you'll get a kick out out of it *.

Bluebottle: What time is it Eccles?

Eccles: Err, just a minute. I've got it written down here on a piece of paper. A nice man wrote the time down for me this morning.

Bluebottle: Then why do you carry it around with you, Eccles?

Eccles: Well, if anybody asks me the time, I can show it to them.

Bluebottle: Wait a minute Eccles, my good man...

Eccles: What is it fellow?

Bluebottle: It's writted on this bit of paper, what is eight o'clock, is writted.

Eccles: I know that my good fellow. That's right. When I asked the fella to write it down, it was eight o'clock.

Bluebottle: Well then, supposing when somebody asks you the time, it isn't eight o'clock?

Eccles: Then I don't show it to them.

Bluebottle: Well how do you know when it's eight o'clock?

Eccles: I've got it written down on a piece of paper!

* copied from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goon_Show#Surreality

If you want to listen to the audio of this sketch it can be found on the same Wikipedia page as the text above.

MCITP BI Exam Prep Guides

The breakdown of requirements for the two MCITP BI exams has been posted on Microsoft Learning. Nothing surprising on the contents of each, really, but it's good to know that things are finally moving forward on the third of the SQL 2005 MCITP certs.

Here they are:

• Exam 70-446 - Designing a Business Intelligence Solution
• Exam 70-445 - Implementation and Maintenance

The beta for exam 70-445 has begun so we can probably still expect general release some time early next year.

Where is this BI thing headed?

The IT industry is dynamic, that's its nature and is what keeps me interested in my chosen profession on a day-to-day basis. From Mr Moore's ever-consistent law to the fact that there's always something new to learn on the horizon. The Business Intelligence part of the IT world is no less dynamic than any other, possibly more dynamic. Just when you think it is going to calm down and everyone comes to grips with the latest technology and ideas along come more mergers & acquisitions, new products, design paradigms many of which make us reassess the direction we (personally or the companies we work for) are headed. If you have access, Gartner's hype cycles are an interesting read when it comes to what new technologies are just currently fashionable or coming into their own as something seriously useful.

There have been lots of blips on the BI radar in recent years. In early 2003 MS said it was "really going to give this BI stuff a shot" on top of their already solid market position and one year later released Reporting Services and about 20 months after that SQL 2005. I remember reading the initial press release about RS (then codenamed Rosetta) and watching stocks in several major BI companies immediately dip 5%. Several months later we saw Brio and Crystal disappearing inside Hyperion and BO respectively. More recently we heard the news that ProClarity is to be acquired by MS. There have been so many others but these are the ones that stick in my mind.

Recently Google threw their hat into the BI ring so to speak. Not directly but through a partnership of sorts with Cognos, SAS and others. I share Chris Webb's sentiments on just how useful GoogleBox will be when it comes to presenting BI data to users. Nonetheless I am curious to see what will be on offer there and know that we should not underestimate Google. In Mark Miller's recent post he discusses what he calls the Second Generation of BI and also wonders what real value GoogleBox can offer from a BI sense. This will be an interesting space to watch.

BI has not gone unnoticed by the Open Source community either. Pentaho has been moving ahead with development of its toolset and management team in recent times. This is definitely something to watch out for. Update: JasperSoft is also making waves in this area.

Open source products along with development and integration of open standards like Web Services and XML/A are leveling the playing surface somewhat and are putting the focus back on grass roots BI & DW methodology. We're getting back to how you build your BI infrastructure as opposed to what you build it with or on - a good thing.

The Next Generation of BI?

The almost religious debate of Inmon vs Kimball seems to be calming down a bit these days with many taking a more Switzerland-style "best of both worlds" approach. However! Just when you thought the BI architecture paradigms were staying still, along come some new ones to leverage the new technology (and several Moore's & Kryder's years worth of power & storage) now available to us since Messrs. Inmon and Kimball put their ideas down on paper quite a few years back.

Bill Inmon has published quite a bit recently on what he calls DW 2.0 (requires free registration to read the articles, but there is a lot of detailed information here). For more of an overview have a look at this article.

Jamie Thomson's colleague Rob Grigg has been working with several MSFTies and recently published a paper on SoBI (Service Oriented Business Intelligence) which makes for very interesting and thought-provoking reading. They describe it as "an architectural framework that leverages the strengths of BI and SO". Great stuff.

So where's Ralph in all this? I wonder if he is working on his own version-next of the Kimball data warehousing methodology. We'll see...

Considering all of the above it seems that we're moving into a new phase; one where (hopefully) BI is always an essential, seamlessly integrated part of the enterprise, not just a bolt-on that is added as an afterthought because it will probably be useful. Some may argue that, in many businesses, this is already the case but I feel that these are still in the minority, especially when we're talking about mid-sized businesses.

On a lighter, but vaguely related, note. I had a bit of a laugh recently when checking my blog stats to find that someone had found my blog after doing a Google search on the phrase "bi curious". Somehow I don't think they were looking for more information on Business Intelligence.

A New BI Sales Blog

This is a shameless plug for my friend and colleague, Mark Miller, who has recently begun blogging. Mark is one of those rare folk who comes a long way to bridging that (sometimes very wide) gap between the developers and those in the sales team. The blog looks like it will provide some useful stuff for anyone who is actively trying to sell BI - a good one to flick to your sales people. I know Mark has a lot to contribute to the BI blogosphere, maybe a few new subscribers will encourage him to post more ;)

Have a look at http://millermark.blogspot.com/

Australian BI position

I have been quite snowed under during the last couple of weeks so my apologies for lack of recent posts. I have just changed employers and am now working with a new MS gold partner, Strategic Data Management. We are growing fast and are looking for new BI people in Melbourne and / or Adelaide. The ad below will be appearing on-line later this week. If you're interested, drop me a line - nick[dot]barclay[at]gmail[dot]com

Technical Product Specialist (SQL/BI )
- Do you want to work with a Microsoft Gold Partner that is well respected by Microsoft?
- Are you enthusiastic about being at the forefront of technology (SQL2005)?
- Do you want to work with some of Australia's best?

SDM, one of Australia's fastest growing companies, are recognised leaders in the Microsoft software development community. Our team has grown to nearly 60 and we're looking for more technical staff. Our staff are crucial to our continued growth and success, and therefore SDM is strongly committed to being an Employer of Choice.

This position will primarily involve implementing high quality corporate reporting solutions by developing and creating data warehouse and reporting solutions.

Our ideal candidate will be passionate about, and experienced with SQL Server (2 years), and will ideally have had some experience developing with .NET (VB or C#) and Analysis Services.

Working exposure to the following would be desirable:
- SQL Reporting Services
- ASP-based web development
- MCSD/MCDBA would also be a bonus.

You will need to:
- Be an excellent communicator
- Have a strong work ethic, balanced with a great sense of humour
- Have an easy going, friendly manner, and be a valuable team-member
- Be able to manage time and delivery schedules
- Be experienced with MSF software development methodologies

Another BI blogger south of the equator

Myles Matheson, a New Zealand BI Consultant, has been blogging on Microsoft BI for some time now. I found him through Brian Welker's blog roll recently. Myles has a lot of good stuff on his blog but up until yesterday it was missing the most important thing: a feed! He's created one now so pay him a visit at http://bi-on-sql-server.blogspot.com/

Myles has also asked for suggestions on a good RSS aggregator. Personally, I use RSS Bandit which has (for those who use it) recently released a new version with a few cool new features.

SQL 2005 - more on "MS Data Warehouse Toolkit" book

A while back I posted about the upcoming Microsoft Data Warehouse Toolkit by Joy Mundy and Warren Thornthwaite. Well, there has been some movement on the book's official site. Amazon lists the book as coming available on around Feb 10 , 2006. In the meantime the two authors have begun dangling the virtual carrot by posting some useful stuff on the site. There is a dimensional modeling Excel spreadsheet complete with DDL-generating macros, there are also two example SSIS packages and some wizard-built warehouse metadata SSRS reports.

Looks like this is going to be a very hands-on book from The Kimball Group, I believe this will be the first vendor-specific book on data warehousing they have produced. The other Kimball titles I have read have been vendor agnostic. I think it says a lot about the breadth of the new BI capabilities of SQL 2005 if the Kimball Group feel that there can be an entire "... Warehouse Toolkit" flavoured book based on the new product through which they can impart their data warehouse methodology. Looking forward to getting my hands on a copy!

MCITP - Business Intelligence Developer

Chris Webb has posted about the new certifications that are going to become available for BI developers. This is great news. Certification for BI professionals is something I have always hoped MS Learning would bring out. Originally I had heard that there would simply be a couple of extra BI modules which could be used work towards earning an MCDBA. I hope this will now cement BI competency as a recognised skillset unto itself, not just an extra-curricular topic that DBAs learn about when they have time.

MS says the new courses and the new-style simulation exams will be available early next year.

SQL 2005 - Joy Mundy's book

In a previous post I added a few of my own suggestions to Chris Webb's SQL 2005 book list. Among them was Joy Mundy's upcoming work, The Microsoft Data Warehouse Toolkit. I was told by a friend who recently attended PASS that there will be a site to go along with the book. It looks pretty sparse now but I'm sure, once published (ca end of Jan 2006), the book and the site will have tons of good stuff. I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on a copy. Remember, this is coming from the Kimball Group. If you have never read one of Ralph Kimball's books and you do a lot of data warehousing work you should certainly have a look at The Data Warehouse Toolkit and The DataWarehouse ETL Toolkit - two great books.

Ralph Kimball is the man who pioneered the Slowly Changing Dimension concept (among many others). SSIS now includes a specific transform which makes handling SCDs a breeze. I was really happy to see this transform as part of the product and created a demo package that I sent to Jamie Thomson as I didn't have a blog at the time. Jamie has it posted here.

More Project REAL stuff

There are a few more Project REAL white papers now available from their site

Among the newer papers are:

• Predictive modeling using SSAS
• SSIS Custom Component Development
• SSAS Best Practices

If you haven't made a visit to the REAL page recently I would thoroughly recommend spending time doing so. Set aside a day or two, though - lots of good stuff there.

SQL 2005 Books

One of my favourite bloggers and MDX guru, Chris Webb, has beaten me to posting a list of some of the most interesting soon-to-be-released SQL 2005 books. He as also listed what I agree are probably the best books on AS2000 and MDX in 2000.

I just wanted to add a couple of others I also have on my Amazon wish list:
Professional SQL Server 2005 Integration Services by Brian Knight
The Microsoft Data Warehouse Toolkit : With SQL Server 2005 and the Microsoft Business Intelligence Toolset by Joy Mundy
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services 2005 by Brian Larson
The Rational Guide to Scripting SQL Server 2005 Integration Services Beta Preview (Rational Guides) by Donald Farmer (got this one a couple of weeks ago - great book!)

I am especially looking forward to the 2nd edition of MDX Solutions which Chris is co-authoring with George Spofford and others. No question that the 1st edition of this book is the AS2000 "MDX Bible". I'm sure the next edition will not disappoint.