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.
Thanks to everyone who attended my session “Top BI Enhancements for SQL Server 2012” at the Houston Area SQL Server User Group Monthly Meeting. Here is the PowerPoint presentation: Top BI Enhancements for SQL Server 2012 Top BI Enhancements for SQL Server 2012 What are … Continue reading →
Version 2 of Parallel Data Warehouse (PDW) is apparently due this month (and can be ordered as of March 1st). The official name is Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Parallel Data Warehouse. Info on HP’s version: HP AppSystem for Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Parallel … Continue reading →
Next Tuesday, March 12th at 1:15pm CST, I will be presenting the session “Top BI Enhancements for SQL Server 2012” at the Houston Area SQL Server User Group Monthly Meeting. Below is the abstract. I will be presenting in person but you … Continue reading →
I have been using Microsoft’s Master Data Services (MDS) on a daily basis for the last 8 months. I also have been using Microsoft’s Data Quality Services (DQS) for the last couple of months. While both products are very good and … Continue reading →
My most popular blog has been Visual Studio 2012 does not support BI. In short, this means VS 2012 does not support SSAS, SSIS, or SSRS. Well, not anymore! Just released is Microsoft SQL Server Data Tools – Business Intelligence for … Continue reading →
UPDATE 10/21/13: Data Explorer is now called Power Query (download). Data Explorer (download), which I first mentioned in my blog about PASS Summit 2011 (SQL Server 2012 and other PASS announcements), has finally taken the next step and is now … Continue reading →
Thanks to everyone who attended my session “Data Warehouse Architecture” to the PASS DBA virtual chapter. There were over 200 attendees! The recording of the session is available here. Here is the PowerPoint presentation: Building an Effective Data Warehouse Architecture Data Warehouse Architecture You’re a … Continue reading →
I will be presenting the session “Data Warehouse Architecture” this Wednesday, Feb 27th at 11:00am CST to the PASS DBA virtual chapter. Below is the abstract. It will be a remote presentation that you can join online. Details are here. This … Continue reading →
I have been selected to present at the SQL Saturday in Chicago on April 13th. This works out nicely as the previous day I will be presenting the same session at the PASS Business Analytics Conference, so if you can’t make that … Continue reading →
Team Foundation Service (TFS) is the “cloud” version of Team Foundation Server 2012. Up to 5 users are free, plus for a limited time all use is free (more info). Below is my experience setting up Team Foundation Service and uploading my … Continue reading →
Thanks to everyone who attended my presentation “DBA: Transitioning to a BI Role” at the PASS Professional Development Virtual Chapter. The recording of the session is available here. Here is the PowerPoint presentation: DBA: Transitioning to a BI Role I had some excellent questions … Continue reading →
Thanks to everyone who attended my presentation “Introduction to Microsoft’s Master Data Services (MDS)” at the Houston Area SQL Server User Group Monthly Meeting. Here is the PowerPoint presentation: Introduction to Microsoft’s Master Data Services (MDS). Introduction to Microsoft’s Master Data Services (MDS) … Continue reading →
Tomorrow (Wednesday, Feb 13th) at Noon CST I will be presenting the session “DBA: Transitioning to a BI Role” at the PASS Professional Development Virtual Chapter. Below is the abstract. It will be a remote presentation that you can join online. … Continue reading →
Tomorrow (Tuesday, Feb 12th) at 11:30am CST, I will be presenting the session “Introduction to Microsoft’s Master Data Services (MDS)” at the Houston Area SQL Server User Group Monthly Meeting. Below is the abstract. I will be presenting in person but you … Continue reading →
On January 30, BA and BI experts took to the virtual stage for the 24 Hours of PASS: Business Analytics Edition to deliver a series of one-hour webcasts, digging deep into the world of business analytics over five tracks. All session recordings … Continue reading →
My experience installing Team Foundation Server (TFS) 2012 to house my business intelligence projects built in Visual Studio 2010: I am installing TFS 2012 on Windows Server 2012. I am using Visual Studio 2010. I will be using the standard installation … Continue reading →
This is an annoying problem I have had a few times: I open a SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) project in SSDT, and see that the Toolbox pane is empty, displaying a “There are no usable controls in this group. … Continue reading →
The Master Data Services add-in for Excel has Data Quality Services functionality to help you match data before publishing it to the MDS repository. When you make a connection, if a DQS database is installed on the same instance of … Continue reading →
I am fortunate enough to have been selected to give a presentation at the PASS Business Analytics Conference in Chicago on April 10-12. Below is my presentation abstract along with more info about the conference. My session will be on … Continue reading →
After installing SP1 to SQL Server 2012 (11.0.3000) on one of our servers, I noticed higher than normal CPU loads due to msiexec.exe running non-stop. The cpu percentage would bounce from 0% to 13%, and the application log would have five new … Continue reading →