Contagious Curiosity : BI

Report from TechEd – What’s new with SQL Server BI?

llangit — Mon, 18 May 2009 23:45:23 GMT

During the day, whenever I could I hung out in the SQL Server Business Intelligence world (another main site – here) – sessions, floor booth, also I did a book signing for my BI book. I was also fortunate enough to have a long lunch with Gemini PM Donald Farmer. So, what did I see?

1. GEMINI! What the heck is this? “Self-service BI” (delivered from within Excel) is the shortest description. This really doesn’t do it justice though. From Mosha’s blog:

In the couple of hours since the announcement here at MS BI conference, I talked with few people already and saw few threads and comments in the Web, and (as expected), there is plenty of confusion about what “Project Gemini” is and isn’t etc. Here are the facts:

A. Project Gemini is the Analysis Services

B. It is next version of Analysis Services, which will ship before SQL11, as part of SQL Server “Kilimanjaro”

C. It uses column oriented processing and in memory storage as core technological principals

Out of all coverage on the Web, that I saw so far – the best explanation comes from Doug Henschen article “Microsoft Will Bow In-Memory Analysis, Appliance-Ready Database in 2010” in Intelligence Enterprise. Here is the key quote from this article: “It's essentially another storage mode for Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services with access via MDX, so existing applications will be able to take advantage of the performance enhancements”

Just to repeat it in other words: Existing applications that work today with Analysis Services through XMLA and MDX will be able to work with Gemini, because Gemini is Analysis Services. In fact, in “SQL 2008 and beyond” session today, Thierry demonstrated how Report Builder worked with Gemini seamlessly. And because column oriented (and in-memory) are used as a foundation of storage engine, the performance and scalability by data volumes is much better.

Take a look at Donald’s demo – at TechEd during the ‘BI Power Hour’ he did the demo on a NETBOOK – just to show off!

2. Master Data Services – so what is this? Essentially it’s a system for enterprise data management (universal types if you will) – more from the announcement “Master Data Services provides customers with master data management (MDM) capabilities that help manage the data organizations rely on to create a "single version of the truth”– for more detail take a look here. We announced at TechEd that Master Data Services for SQL Server will ship as part SQL Server 2008 R2. The first CTP will be available in H2 of 2009.

3. BI in action – I just love it when we use our own stuff. Check out this short video about the use of a mobile BI application at TechEd that the BI team used to monitor session and speaker scores at the show. The takeaway is that BI doesn’t have to be HUGE or ENTERPRISE, rather it has to be relevant and appropriately sized.

SoCalDevGal is heading over to Europe

llangit — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 08:37:34 GMT

Yup, I am taking a little work trip - leaving shortly for 20 days in Europe. During this time I'll be speaking at TechDays Belgium in Antwerp, TechDays Sweden in Vasteras and more. Although I've been to other European countries in the past, this will be my first trip to both Belgium and Sweden. I'll be taking a bit of a break from blogging, other than to post my slide decks after presenting for this month.

Catch up with my European adventures by following me on facebook or twitter.

Big shout out to my counterpart in Belgium, Microsoft Developer Evangelist Katrien De Graeve (whom I met in person at PDC08 in LA last year) and who was kind enough to get my trip approved.

I have to say the conference logos are pretty cool too - first for Belgium

then for Sweden

Oh, if you are wondering just what topic(s) I am speaking on - here's the list:

1) SQL Server 2008 New Features for .NET Developers

2) SQL Server 2008 SSAS Data Mining

3) Using Kodu to Introduce Programming to Kids

4) Best Practices around DigiGirlz Events

5) WomenBuild SeriousPlay - new directions in Women's Networking events at Microsoft

I also have some tentative talks setup with customers and more. So it will be a busy and fun trip! Immediately after I return, I'll head up to Microsoft's SVC campus in San Jose, to teach some classes for their DigiGirlz event on March 24. Then I'll be heading over to Tuscon to record some presentations on SharePoint and SQL Server 2008 Business Intelligence integration for the SSWUG (SharePoint Virtual Conference).

'How Do I...BI?' screencasts available

llangit — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 21:16:54 GMT

33 parts - 5 to 15 minutes - every feature of SQL Server Analysis Services - enjoy!

'How Do I...BI?' screencast series

Microsoft Technet 杂志: Microsoft Press Flash - New books for February

llangit — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 23:31:26 GMT

I don't even care that the cover image is incorrect. It just makes me so happy to see this. Wow, China! Wow, my book "Smart Business Intelligence Solutions with Microsoft SQL Server 2008" is finally publishing this week!

Microsoft Technet 杂志: Microsoft Press Flash - New books for February

PPS scorecarding & dashboarding now become part of SPS Enterprise

llangit — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 08:08:52 GMT

The headline: "PerformancePoint scorecarding and dashboarding capabilities will now become part of SharePoint Enterprise CAL and available to customers who are on SharePoint SA. This means that customers who want to deploy PerformancePoint can do so today at no additional cost. "

Read the details on the SharePoint blog.

Microsoft SharePoint Team Blog : Microsoft Business Intelligence strategy update and SharePoint

Deck for SoCalCodeCamp presentation on SQL Server 2008 BI

llangit — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 23:36:09 GMT

Bi2008 Plus Cloud Preview

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: bi cloud)

Check out the main SQL Server 2008 Data Mining site

geekSpeak Channel9 developer-to-developer webcasts

llangit — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 07:36:46 GMT

Now, that my BI book is nearly done (yes, you read it here first!), I am getting back into geekSpeak in a big way. We've got two great shows booked for December and we'll soon announce shows for EACH week in Jan/Feb/Mar.

geekSpeak: Cloud Services 101 with Aaron Skonnard 12/3/08; 12:00 PM (PST)
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032397078&Culture=en-US

geekSpeak: Silverlight Video Players with Corey Schuman 12/10/08; 12:00 PM (PST)
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032397084&Culture=en-US

Check out the MSDN landing page (below) to listen to past geekSpeaks.

geekSpeak: Join a Discussion Like No Other

Business Intelligence Visualization via Microsoft Surface

llangit — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:14:49 GMT

From the demo shown at the Microsoft BI conference last week. This gives me lots of ideas about data visualization possibilities for BI - what about you?

Also if you've not seen a Microsoft Surface device and you'd like to - let me know. If you weren't able to attend the conference but would like to get updated on all of the BI announcements made there, then listen to these podcasts.

THE BI Blog

BI in SQL Server 2008 for Architects

llangit — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:56:44 GMT

BI in SQL Server 2008 for Architects

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: bi sql)

Here's the deck from my presentation tonight to the SoCal .NET Architect's User Group

BI in SQL Server 2008 for Architects

Two weeks in Seattle with SoCalDevGal

llangit — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 21:08:21 GMT

I've just returned from a trip to Seattle. Many of you have asked, "What are you doing there?" So, here you go....

The overall purpose of the trip was technical readiness. To that end I (mostly) attended a MS-internal conference called TechReady. Nearly all sessions are presented by the product group and are delivered at deep, technical level. Many sessions focus on future technologies. Of course, I LOVED this. The entire conference is private. So, no, I can not release any information. However, I can tell you that you should PAY ATTENTION around the time of PDC (session list) . Better yet, if you can attend PDC, you won't be sorry. Here's more PDC Buzz.

In addition to TR, I had the good fortune to be invited to a session at the Microsoft Research Faculty Summit held in Redmond by MSR. There I spoke with a panel, representing women academics in computing. I was invited because I've been accepted to speak on my Africa (personal volunteer work for SmartCare - electronic medical records collection system) work at the Grace Hopper conference in October in Keystone, CO. It was quite an honor to meet Telle Whitney there. She is the CEO of the Anita Borg Institute and chairs the GHC.

I am wearing my iGive Microsoft limited-edition shirt in the picture with her. Asli and I launched iGive for a couple of reasons:

1) We were tired of getting ugly, man-sized swag at each conference

2) We wanted a cool-looking shirt that showed how much we (Microsoft) cared. To get the shirt you must donate to a selected charity that benefits women and kids.

To that end, she and I ran the third iteration of the iGive program at TR7. The recipient charity was the MONA Foundation. Because this group has both financial and infrastructure needs, we are distributing shirts for money or technical volunteering time (web programming, etc..). If you wish to volunteer, pls ping me and I'll connect you to Jason Ward from the MS VS-team. He is leading the technical volunteers for this project.

We have also gained approval for running iGive at GHC and PDC. It was great to see how many men wanted shirts for their daughters!

While at the MSR Faculty summit, I met with a group from MSR that is taking a look at StoryTelling Alice. As part of my work with Microsoft DigiGirlz, I have been asked to advise on a global curriculum repository for them. I have been investigating various visual programming environments - StoryTelling Alice, PopFly, OpenSim for SecondLife, MS Robotics (RoboChamps) and more. The group at MSR asked me to write a synopsis of my work and submit it for presentation at next year's MS Academic Days Conference (April 2009). This conference is actually held on a cruise ship!

This month I am leading a group to implement the first-ever DigiGirlz camp (in SoCal) based on the visual programming theme. On the plane home from Seattle, I bumped into one of the co-leads, Cindy Palmer, who had been in Seattle for MS-Surface training. It is quite possible that the SoCal DigiGirlz will be the first to see the new surface for our Irvine, CA MTC!

Oh, and I won't be neglecting my SoCal Developers this month either. I am scheduled to speak at 3 UGs this month. LA.NET on Monday, Aug 4; OC SQL (new UG!) on Thursday, Aug 14; SoCal Architects on Thursday, Aug 21. For a complete list of all SoCal UGs, see this link.

Also Glen and I will be resuming our weekly Channel9 / MSDN geekSpeak shows, starting Wednesday August 6th.

And, oh yeah, I've got a a book to finish too. :)

Thanks to SouthBay.NET UG

llangit — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:21:44 GMT

Thanks to the great team that runs the South Bay.NET UG in Torrance, CA for inviting me to speak last night. I am really impressed by the quality of the UG that your team has grown in such a short period of time (a little over a year). If you haven't joined a local UG in SoCal yet, you should, here's a list of all UGs in the SoCal area. More pictures on facebook - here

SouthBay.NET - Home

SQL Server 2008 Business Intelligence New Features

llangit — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 08:05:21 GMT

| View | Upload your own

From my talk delivered at SoCalCodeCamp in San Diego today - enjoy! Please also see my link page on DM resources (right side of blog)

BI2008newFeatures

Smart Business Intelligence Solutions with Microsoft SQL Server 2008: Lynn Langit

llangit — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 05:53:22 GMT

Isn't the cover pretty? I have no idea what the tool that was selected to be featured on the cover actually is - do any of you? Anyway the important thing is that you CAN pre-order the book already from Amazon. Yes, the co-authors are 'a-changing', Matthew Roche is no longer associated with this project. Kevin Goff's name will be corrected shortly on the cover, but I was just so excited to see it that I wanted to blog it! We are looking to publish later this fall. This book covers SSAS (OLAP cubes and Data Mining Structures), SSIS, SSRS and more. The target audience is .NET and database developers. We plan for approximately 650 pages of BI goodness.

Amazon.com: Smart Business Intelligence Solutions with Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008: Lynn Langit

Introduction to SQL Server 2008 Business Intelligence for .NET Developers

llangit — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 08:49:07 GMT

Thanks to the LA .NET Developer's user group for inviting me to speak on my favorite topic. Here are the slides from tonight's presentation.

| View | Upload your own

Also you can search on this blog, using the 'BI' tag for more information.

link to BI slide deck

I'll be @ SoCalDotNet in LA on Wednesday 6/4

llangit — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 20:04:31 GMT

I'll be speaking at the SoCalDotNet Developer's User Group this Wednesday, June 4 from 6:30 to 9:00 pm. I'll be speaking on 'Why BI for .NET Developers?' and doing my (usual) demorama. I'll be covered SQL Server 2208 SSAS mostly and also showing the Data Mining Add-ins for Excel 2007. I am looking forward to seeing you there. Be sure to RSVP if you plan to attend. You need not belong to the UG to do so.

SoCal Tech Events > Home > Lynn Langit @ SoCalDotNet on Wednesday 6/4