James works at Microsoft as a big data and data warehousing solution architect where he has been for most of the last eleven years. Before that he was an independent consultant working as a Data Warehouse/Business Intelligence architect and developer. He is a prior SQL Server MVP with over 40 years of IT experience. Check out his book Deciphering Data Architectures: Choosing Between a Modern Data Warehouse, Data Fabric, Data Lakehouse, and Data Mesh.
As a consultant I am often starting from the ground floor on a new data warehouse/business intelligence project, and usually one of the first tasks is to interview business users from various groups. During these interviews I am doing an … Continue reading →
Thanks to everyone who attended my session “Transitioning to a BI role” at the PASS SQL Saturday Charlotte. The abstract is below. Another packed room with a number of people standing! Here is the PowerPoint presentation: Transitioning to a BI role. Transitioning to a … Continue reading →
Thanks to everyone who attended my session “Building an Effective Data Warehouse Architecture” at the PASS Summit 2013. The abstract is below. It was a packed room with many people having to stand. Maybe next year I’ll get a bigger room 🙂 I … Continue reading →
The PASS Summit 2013 is almost here! Check out all the great sessions and speakers. I feel very fortunate to be able to speak alongside many of the experts in the industry. I will be arriving Sunday night in Charlotte and attending a pre-conference … Continue reading →
I have talked about the Business Intelligence Maturity Model (see Business Intelligence Maturity Assessment), but I wanted to dig further into one area and talk about the Data Warehouse Maturity Model. The graphic below, from Wayne Eckerson, is very accurate based on my … Continue reading →
I have seen many times at clients where the terms business intelligence and data warehousing are used interchangeably. In reality, these are two separate disciplines. This is especially true for enterprise data warehouses due to an EDW’s scope, complexity, and large volumes … Continue reading →
I have been honored to be chosen a Microsoft SQL Server Most Valuable Professional (MVP). Here is a video on my reaction: I’m a Microsoft MVP and I feel great! The Microsoft MVP Award is an annual award that recognizes exceptional … Continue reading →
SQL Server 2014 has enhancements to two common database maintenance operations:Partition Switching and Online Index Rebuild. This will greatly increase enterprise application availability by reducing maintenance downtime impact. The two new features are: Managed Lock Priority: This allows you to manage the … Continue reading →
Sometimes I see confusion on the difference between a data warehouse (DW) and master data management (MDM). Below is a good list of how they differ. Note the typical scenario is the data in a MDM database is fed into … Continue reading →
I first blogged about Power BI for Office 365 two months ago (see Power BI for Office 365) when it was announced. Microsoft has started inviting participants subscribed to the Power BI for Office 365 Preview to test the prerelease version … Continue reading →
SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) has a new update: VS 2010: August 2013 version: 10.3.30822.0, June 2013 version: 10.3.30618.1, December 2012 version: 10.3.21208.0, November 2012 version: 10.3.21101.1, September 2012 version: 10.3.20905.0, initial version: 10.3.20225.0 VS 2012: August 2013 version: 11.1.30822.0, June 2013 version: 11.1.30618.1, December … Continue reading →
The Certified Master and Architect community was collectively notified Friday, August 30, at 10PM PST that the Certified Master (MCM/MCSM) and Certified Architect (MCA) programs are dead. The email transcript has been reported by Neil Johnson. For those of you who … Continue reading →
Thanks to everyone who attended my session “Building an Effective Data Warehouse Architecture” at the Houston Area SQL Server User Group Monthly Meeting. The abstract is below. I hope you enjoyed it! Here is the PowerPoint presentation: Building an Effective Data Warehouse Architecture Building … Continue reading →
All the videos for this popular conference are online (69 of them). Take a look at the recorded sessions at http://sqlbits.com/content/Event11. All are free to watch!
Continue reading →A vendor management system (VMS) is a web-based application that acts as a mechanism for businesses to manage and procure staffing services (temporary and permanent) as well as outside contract or contingent labor. Typical features of a VMS application include … Continue reading →
Thanks to everyone who attended my session “Building an Effective Data Warehouse Architecture” for the PASS DBA Fundamentals Virtual Chapter. The abstract is below and the recording of the session will be available soon here. I hope you enjoyed it! Here is the … Continue reading →
I will be presenting the session “Building an Effective Data Warehouse Architecture” today at 11am CST for the PASS DBA Fundamentals Virtual Chapter. Info about watching the presentation online is here, and the abstract for my session is below. I hope … Continue reading →
Unfortunately in my line of work as a consultant, I am contacted far too often by resume hoarders, who are “recruiters” who sole job is to collect resumes, with no attempt at all to try to match the right person … Continue reading →
Every week I get a bunch of emails from recruiters about jobs that I am not qualified for (see Low-rate recruiters – The bane of my existence). Some obviously use keyword searches and just spam any person who has that … Continue reading →
If a recruiter sends me a job description, the first question I ask is, “What is the pay rate”. If it is not in the ballpark of what I make, I shut the conversation down as continuing would just be … Continue reading →