SSWUG.org Business Intelligence Virtual Conference
Session List
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Day 1 Day 2 Day 3
Day 1
Date/Time Session Description Speaker Rm
5/13 10:00:00 AM
-to-
5/13 10:05:00 AM
Keynote Day 1 Keynote for today. Stephen
Wynkoop
A
5/13 10:10:00 AM
-to-
5/13 10:59:00 AM
Maiden Voyage: Exploring XMLA in Analysis Services So you are in Management Studio and you go to script one of your cubes. Your screen shows a long string of weird characters as opposed to a nice Create Cube statement…what gives. This gibberish (XML) is really a flavor of the XMLA standard, which is used to define the objects that make up your cube. In this session we will review the main elements and namespaces that make up this structure. We will also make minor modifications to demonstrate the ease of changing data sources and processing objects without having to go into BIDS. Anthony
D'Angelo
A
5/13 10:10:00 AM
-to-
5/13 10:59:00 AM
The Accidental SQL Business Intelligence Administrator This session is designed for SQL Server DBAs who find themselves having to support SQL Server Business Intelligence projects using Reporting Services, Integration Services or Analysis Services. We’ll talk about the lifecycle of projects using these tools, how they impact your SQL Server infrastructure, and what adaptations you might need to make as a production DBA in order to maintain and secure them. Along the way, you might just learn what all those “other” services do that are listed in the SQL Server Configuration Manager. Chris
Randall
B
5/13 10:10:00 AM
-to-
5/13 10:59:00 AM
Analysis Services 2008 End-to-End Are you interested in designing, building, and deploying an Analysis Services database that follows best practices and best delivers value to your organization? This session goes through the process of optimizing cube creation through the proper design of dimensions, measure groups, aggregations, calculations, perspectives, security, and more. The areas of source code control, deployment, promotion from test to production, processing efficiency, and other areas will be discussed. Craig Utley has experience designing, implementing, and troubleshooting Analysis Services databases at dozens of companies worldwide through his more than 11 years of experience with the Microsoft BI stack. Far from a theoretical discussion, this seminar will present real-world lessons learned about what works in production environments. By attending this session, you will learn the proper design and implementation of your Analysis Services databases, allowing you to avoid common pitfalls while delivering the maximum value to your clients. Craig
Utley
C
5/13 10:10:00 AM
-to-
5/13 10:59:00 AM
SQL 101 -- The Essentials If you are new to SQL or a DBA interested in learning the t-sql language, this is a great place to start. We will cover the basics, as time allows for. Topics to include DML statements (select, insert, update, and delete). Jeremy
Lowell
D
5/13 11:00:00 AM
-to-
5/13 11:29:00 AM
Exhibit Hall Exhibit Hall -- Please take a few minutes to visit our Sponsors Exhibit
Hall
A
5/13 11:30:00 AM
-to-
5/13 12:19:00 PM
Keeping it Simple: Using AMO to manage SSAS As a developer using the Microsoft Analysis Service, library is as easy as pie. But for a SQL Server DBA using any .NET, library can be a daunting task. This session will shed some light on using this library in performing clean-up routines, processing objects, and setting security. A high-level overview of the Object Model will be provided as well as reviewing code samples that can be used in any SSAS environment. Anthony
D'Angelo
A
5/13 11:30:00 AM
-to-
5/13 12:19:00 PM
Introduction to SQL Server Reporting Services This session is designed for business intelligence developers and report writers from other environments who want to learn how to design, deploy and manage reports in a SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) environment. We’ll look at the lifecycle of an SSRS project, the tools used, and how to take full advantage of the capabilities of SSRS to provide online interactivity, offline delivery and rich content in your reports, no matter what the data source happens to be. This session will walk you through the process of starting an SSRS project, connecting to data, designing report layouts for various output formats and interactivity scenarios, through to deploying, managing and securing your reports on the server. Chris
Randall
B
5/13 11:30:00 AM
-to-
5/13 12:19:00 PM
Do It Right: Best Practices for Analysis Services 2005 and 2008 Are you seeking practical, in-depth technical advice for building a BI solution using SSAS? Analysis Services changed tremendously with the advent of SQL Server 2005. It introduced a new way of building dimensions and cubes that required a new way of modeling the solution. This session examines the best practices for properly designing cubes for performance and usability. It discusses some high-level topics but also looks at advanced topics such as alternative approaches to many-to-many dimensions, SCOPE statements, aggregation design, scalability issues, processing techniques, server properties, and more. Craig Utley has been working with Microsoft’s BI products for 11 years and is a former Program Manager with the SQL Server Customer Advisory Team (SQLCAT), where he worked with some of the largest Analysis Services installations worldwide. In this session he brings his real-world experience with large, complex SSAS projects and presents best practices uncovered as companies deploy and use Analysis Services. Craig
Utley
C
5/13 11:30:00 AM
-to-
5/13 12:19:00 PM
SQL 102 – The Essentials – Beyond the basics: A great follow-up to SQL 101 or a refresher if it’s been a while since you’ve written a join statement that looks like this: “Where a.id *= b.id” We will also begin to explore Stored Procedures, CTE’s and some built in functions like Sum, GetDate, Group by and order by. Jeremy
Lowell
D
5/13 12:20:00 PM
-to-
5/13 12:29:00 PM
Break Please enjoy a short break Session
Break
A
5/13 12:30:00 PM
-to-
5/13 1:19:00 PM
Deep Dive: Extending SSIS with .NET Development After going through the basics this session will go through some helpful techniques during the development process. Specifically, take advantage of custom data adapters, component UI, and code integration with SSIS Events. We will review a custom logging solution that utilizes .NET code, Microsoft Best Practices, and the SSIS Events. Anthony
D'Angelo
A
5/13 12:30:00 PM
-to-
5/13 1:19:00 PM
Integrating SQL Server Reporting Services with Sharepoint This session is designed for business intelligence developers and administrators who want to take advantage of SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) ability to integrate itself and its content with a SharePoint environment. Beginning in SQL Server 2005 SP2 and extending into the current 2008 release, SSRS goes beyond its initial steps using Sharepoint web parts, into fully integrated management and content delivery hosted seamlessly in Sharepoint. We’ll look at what we need to do on the SSRS installation and configuration side, what we need to do and where we need to go inside Sharepoint to build an integrated BI solution. Chris
Randall
B
5/13 12:30:00 PM
-to-
5/13 1:19:00 PM
Avoid Slow SSAS Queries: MDX Query Troubleshooting Do you have SSAS queries that you feel should be faster? Multidimensional Expressions, or MDX, is the language used to work with Analysis Services. Similar to SQL for the relational engine, MDX is a language for queries and DDL statements on multidimensional cubes in Analysis Services. Troubleshooting slow MDX queries is often challenging because the level of support provided by the tools and the Analysis Services engine is not as mature as that found in the relational engine. This session covers the methods for examining slow queries using the SQL Profiler and Performance Monitor to determine the need for aggregations, caching problems, memory constraints, and so forth. Best practices for optimizing MDX will be examined, and various server properties will be discussed as necessary to help correct query issues. Attendees will leave armed with a practical approach to locating bottlenecks and strategies for speeding up queries. Craig
Utley
C
5/13 12:30:00 PM
-to-
5/13 1:19:00 PM
SQL 103 – The Essentials – DMV’s & t-sql for internals. If you have ever wondered what some of those 286 system views are in your user database, this is for you! We will cover a handful of these views, also known as DMV’s. They contain data that every DBA should smile about and be able to understand. We will also look at some t-sql that will provide you with information about what’s going on with your SQL Server. Jeremy
Lowell
D
5/13 1:20:00 PM
-to-
5/13 2:19:00 PM
Agile Business Intelligence - Proven Techniques that move BI Development into the Agile World As more and more organizations embrace agile development methodologies, tools and agile processes are becoming more mainstream and almost transparent to the developer; however, the problem of embracing agile development is still an issue for those working on Business Intelligence projects. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that tools for BI development haven’t quite caught up to the unique problems presented by Business Intelligence development. This session will discuss Agile techniques as they relate to Business Intelligence Projects, with a particular focus on Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) and Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) development. Attendees will learn how to adapt the Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) for Agile process template for Business Intelligence, and will show how to integrate Visual Studio Team System and Team Foundation Server into your agile BI projects. Attendees will leave this session with a good understanding of how agile can apply to the BI world. Ted
Malone
A
5/13 2:19:00 PM
-to-
5/13 2:59:00 PM
Q&A Live Chat Questions and Answers: Live Chat Stephen
Wynkoop
and
Christopher
Shaw
A
 
5/13 3:00:00 PM
-to-
5/13 3:05:00 PM
Keynote Day 1 Keynote for today. Stephen
Wynkoop
A
5/13 3:10:00 PM
-to-
5/13 3:59:00 PM
Maiden Voyage: Exploring XMLA in Analysis Services So you are in Management Studio and you go to script one of your cubes. Your screen shows a long string of weird characters as opposed to a nice Create Cube statement…what gives. This gibberish (XML) is really a flavor of the XMLA standard, which is used to define the objects that make up your cube. In this session we will review the main elements and namespaces that make up this structure. We will also make minor modifications to demonstrate the ease of changing data sources and processing objects without having to go into BIDS. Anthony
D'Angelo
A
5/13 3:10:00 PM
-to-
5/13 3:59:00 PM
The Accidental SQL Business Intelligence Administrator This session is designed for SQL Server DBAs who find themselves having to support SQL Server Business Intelligence projects using Reporting Services, Integration Services or Analysis Services. We’ll talk about the lifecycle of projects using these tools, how they impact your SQL Server infrastructure, and what adaptations you might need to make as a production DBA in order to maintain and secure them. Along the way, you might just learn what all those “other” services do that are listed in the SQL Server Configuration Manager. Chris
Randall
B
5/13 3:10:00 PM
-to-
5/13 3:59:00 PM
Analysis Services 2008 End-to-End Are you interested in designing, building, and deploying an Analysis Services database that follows best practices and best delivers value to your organization? This session goes through the process of optimizing cube creation through the proper design of dimensions, measure groups, aggregations, calculations, perspectives, security, and more. The areas of source code control, deployment, promotion from test to production, processing efficiency, and other areas will be discussed. Craig Utley has experience designing, implementing, and troubleshooting Analysis Services databases at dozens of companies worldwide through his more than 11 years of experience with the Microsoft BI stack. Far from a theoretical discussion, this seminar will present real-world lessons learned about what works in production environments. By attending this session, you will learn the proper design and implementation of your Analysis Services databases, allowing you to avoid common pitfalls while delivering the maximum value to your clients. Craig
Utley
C
5/13 3:10:00 PM
-to-
5/13 3:59:00 PM
SQL 101 -- The Essentials If you are new to SQL or a DBA interested in learning the t-sql language, this is a great place to start. We will cover the basics, as time allows for. Topics to include DML statements (select, insert, update, and delete). Jeremy
Lowell
D
5/13 4:00:00 PM
-to-
5/13 4:29:00 PM
Exhibit Hall Exhibit Hall -- Please take a few minutes to visit our Sponsors Exhibit
Hall
A
5/13 4:30:00 PM
-to-
5/13 5:19:00 PM
Keeping it Simple: Using AMO to manage SSAS As a developer using the Microsoft Analysis Service, library is as easy as pie. But for a SQL Server DBA using any .NET, library can be a daunting task. This session will shed some light on using this library in performing clean-up routines, processing objects, and setting security. A high-level overview of the Object Model will be provided as well as reviewing code samples that can be used in any SSAS environment. Anthony
D'Angelo
A
5/13 4:30:00 PM
-to-
5/13 5:19:00 PM
Introduction to SQL Server Reporting Services This session is designed for business intelligence developers and report writers from other environments who want to learn how to design, deploy and manage reports in a SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) environment. We’ll look at the lifecycle of an SSRS project, the tools used, and how to take full advantage of the capabilities of SSRS to provide online interactivity, offline delivery and rich content in your reports, no matter what the data source happens to be. This session will walk you through the process of starting an SSRS project, connecting to data, designing report layouts for various output formats and interactivity scenarios, through to deploying, managing and securing your reports on the server. Chris
Randall
B
5/13 4:30:00 PM
-to-
5/13 5:19:00 PM
Do It Right: Best Practices for Analysis Services 2005 and 2008 Are you seeking practical, in-depth technical advice for building a BI solution using SSAS? Analysis Services changed tremendously with the advent of SQL Server 2005. It introduced a new way of building dimensions and cubes that required a new way of modeling the solution. This session examines the best practices for properly designing cubes for performance and usability. It discusses some high-level topics but also looks at advanced topics such as alternative approaches to many-to-many dimensions, SCOPE statements, aggregation design, scalability issues, processing techniques, server properties, and more. Craig Utley has been working with Microsoft’s BI products for 11 years and is a former Program Manager with the SQL Server Customer Advisory Team (SQLCAT), where he worked with some of the largest Analysis Services installations worldwide. In this session he brings his real-world experience with large, complex SSAS projects and presents best practices uncovered as companies deploy and use Analysis Services. Craig
Utley
C
5/13 4:30:00 PM
-to-
5/13 5:19:00 PM
SQL 102 – The Essentials – Beyond the basics: A great follow-up to SQL 101 or a refresher if it’s been a while since you’ve written a join statement that looks like this: “Where a.id *= b.id” We will also begin to explore Stored Procedures, CTE’s and some built in functions like Sum, GetDate, Group by and order by. Jeremy
Lowell
D
5/13 5:20:00 PM
-to-
5/13 5:29:00 PM
Break Please enjoy a short break Session
Break
A
5/13 5:30:00 PM
-to-
5/13 6:19:00 PM
Deep Dive: Extending SSIS with .NET Development After going through the basics this session will go through some helpful techniques during the development process. Specifically, take advantage of custom data adapters, component UI, and code integration with SSIS Events. We will review a custom logging solution that utilizes .NET code, Microsoft Best Practices, and the SSIS Events. Anthony
D'Angelo
A
5/13 5:30:00 PM
-to-
5/13 6:19:00 PM
Integrating SQL Server Reporting Services with Sharepoint This session is designed for business intelligence developers and administrators who want to take advantage of SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) ability to integrate itself and its content with a SharePoint environment. Beginning in SQL Server 2005 SP2 and extending into the current 2008 release, SSRS goes beyond its initial steps using Sharepoint web parts, into fully integrated management and content delivery hosted seamlessly in Sharepoint. We’ll look at what we need to do on the SSRS installation and configuration side, what we need to do and where we need to go inside Sharepoint to build an integrated BI solution. Chris
Randall
B
5/13 5:30:00 PM
-to-
5/13 6:19:00 PM
Avoid Slow SSAS Queries: MDX Query Troubleshooting Do you have SSAS queries that you feel should be faster? Multidimensional Expressions, or MDX, is the language used to work with Analysis Services. Similar to SQL for the relational engine, MDX is a language for queries and DDL statements on multidimensional cubes in Analysis Services. Troubleshooting slow MDX queries is often challenging because the level of support provided by the tools and the Analysis Services engine is not as mature as that found in the relational engine. This session covers the methods for examining slow queries using the SQL Profiler and Performance Monitor to determine the need for aggregations, caching problems, memory constraints, and so forth. Best practices for optimizing MDX will be examined, and various server properties will be discussed as necessary to help correct query issues. Attendees will leave armed with a practical approach to locating bottlenecks and strategies for speeding up queries. Craig
Utley
C
5/13 5:30:00 PM
-to-
5/13 6:19:00 PM
SQL 103 – The Essentials – DMV’s & t-sql for internals. If you have ever wondered what some of those 286 system views are in your user database, this is for you! We will cover a handful of these views, also known as DMV’s. They contain data that every DBA should smile about and be able to understand. We will also look at some t-sql that will provide you with information about what’s going on with your SQL Server. Jeremy
Lowell
D
5/13 6:20:00 PM
-to-
5/13 7:19:00 PM
Agile Business Intelligence - Proven Techniques that move BI Development into the Agile World As more and more organizations embrace agile development methodologies, tools and agile processes are becoming more mainstream and almost transparent to the developer; however, the problem of embracing agile development is still an issue for those working on Business Intelligence projects. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that tools for BI development haven’t quite caught up to the unique problems presented by Business Intelligence development. This session will discuss Agile techniques as they relate to Business Intelligence Projects, with a particular focus on Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) and Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) development. Attendees will learn how to adapt the Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) for Agile process template for Business Intelligence, and will show how to integrate Visual Studio Team System and Team Foundation Server into your agile BI projects. Attendees will leave this session with a good understanding of how agile can apply to the BI world. Ted
Malone
A
 




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