About James Serra
I am an independent consultant with the title of Business Intelligence/Data Warehouse/Master Data Management Architect and Developer, specializing in the Microsoft SQL Server BI stack.Need some help?
If you are looking for help in building a data warehouse or end-to-end BI solution, send me an email and we can discuss your needs. I am available for short or long-term projects.Follow Me!
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Recent Posts
- Low-rate recruiters – The bane of my existence
- Presentation Slides for Building an Effective Data Warehouse Architecture
- Levels in IT consultancy
- Building an Effective Data Warehouse Architecture Presentation
- Business Intelligence Maturity Assessment
- IT recruiter’s response
- SQL Server 2014!
- Power View for Multidimensional Models Released
- Ralph Kimball Books
- Business Intelligence Requirements Gathering
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- James Serra on Low-rate recruiters – The bane of my existence
- Scot on Low-rate recruiters – The bane of my existence
- James Serra on Low-rate recruiters – The bane of my existence
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- James Serra on Low-rate recruiters – The bane of my existence
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Top Posts & Pages
- Low-rate recruiters - The bane of my existence
- Microsoft SQL Server Parallel Data Warehouse (PDW) Explained
- SQL Server 2014!
- Presentation Slides for Building an Effective Data Warehouse Architecture
- Data Warehouse Architecture - Kimball and Inmon methodologies
- SQL Server 2012: Multidimensional vs tabular
- Performance tips for SSAS
- Installing Team Foundation Server (TFS) 2012
- What is Microsoft TAP and RDP?
Favorite Blogs
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Category Archives: Career
Consulting company: Perm/Salaried vs 1099/W2
One of my pet peeves is seeing a top-notch BI architect/developer working as a salaried/perm employee of a consulting company where they are making a good salary but are being billed out to the client at a rate that is … Continue reading
Posted in Career, Consulting, SQLServerPedia Syndication
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Should placement companies use a markup %?
To expand on what I talked about in Should a placement firm tell you what they are billing the client?: If you are a consultant working through a placement firm, should the markup percentage (client bill rate divided by consultant … Continue reading
Posted in Career, Consulting, SQLServerPedia Syndication
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Billing rates – other side of the fence, part 2
Here is another response to my blog “Should a placement firm tell you what they are billing the client?” (the first response was Billing rates – other side of the fence). My purpose of these blogs is to give more understanding … Continue reading
Posted in Career, Consulting, SQLServerPedia Syndication
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Enhance your career by blogging!
When I started my blog two years ago, I never would have thought how much it would help my career. I can’t stress enough the importance of blogging to enhance your career. And it’s a lot easier to do than you … Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Career, SQLServerPedia Syndication
15 Comments
Consultants – Why pay more?
As an independent consultant who has a higher bill rate than average, I would hope it is obvious to clients that the extra money spent would be well worth it. But that is not always the case, and sometimes who have to … Continue reading
Posted in Career, Consulting, SQLServerPedia Syndication
1 Comment
PASS Business Analytics Conference: the ultimate networking
I went to the PASS Business Analytics Conference last week, and had an absolute blast. I presented two sessions, and attended many more, and was also part of the live blogging panel at both keynotes. I learned a lot, but … Continue reading
Posted in Career, PASS, SQLServerPedia Syndication
6 Comments
Billing rates – other side of the fence
The following is a guest post by Tim Morgan from Sullexis in response to a resent blog of mine: Thanks for letting me reply to your last post, “Should a placement firm tell you what they are billing the client?“. This … Continue reading
Posted in Career, Consulting, SQLServerPedia Syndication
4 Comments
Should a placement firm tell you what they are billing the client?
As a 1099 consultant, I usually use a placement firm to find a contract job. I always ask the placement firm what rate they are billing the client. They usually tell me. When they don’t, it’s a sure sign that … Continue reading
Posted in Career, Consulting, SQLServerPedia Syndication
7 Comments
Syncing your contacts
In the same vein as my blog post about Syncing your calendars, I wanted to post how to sync your contacts in Outlook, Gmail (Google Contacts), and iPhone: – Transfer your Outlook contacts to Gmail via Transfer contacts between Outlook and … Continue reading
Posted in Career, SQLServerPedia Syndication
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How to use LinkedIn to enhance your career
LinkedIn is a great resource to improve your career. It has definitely worked for me as the last 5-6 jobs I have been hired for was because a recruiter found me through LinkedIn or I noticed a job posting on LinkedIn. And … Continue reading
Posted in Career, SQLServerPedia Syndication
2 Comments
