SQL ServerBusiness Intelligence:Courses & Background

By George SquillaceNew Horizons Great LakesHusband, Dad, Coach, MCT, MCSE, MCDBAMCITP – Database AdministrationMCITP – SQL 2008 Business Intelligence DevelopmentMCITP – Enterprise Messaging

Why should you care about Business Intelligence?

» More confidently sell high margin courses that are not provided by many vendors.

» Be able to respond to customer questions more rapidly.

» Make better course recommendations.

» Grow in your career skills.

Definition: What is Business Intelligence (BI)?

» From Wikipedia: Business intelligence (BI) is a business management term which refers to applications and technologies which are used to gather, provide access to, and analyze data and information about company operations.

» Business intelligence systems can help companies have a more comprehensive knowledge of the factors affecting their business, such as metrics on sales, production, internal operations, and they can help companies to make better business decisions.

» BI is about making better decisions.

» Tools ã Facts ã Conclusions ã Changes.

Three Categories of Business Intelligence Functionality in Microsoft SQL Server

» Reporting Services (SSRS)» Analysis Services (SSAS)» Integrations Services (SSIS)

Each one of these categories involves a significant body of knowledge.

Other Microsoft BI Facts of Interest

» The BI capabilities within SQL Server are included with the price of Microsoft SQL Server.

» Including BI capabilities with SQL Server has produced a lot of momentum for Microsoft and this opportunity should be capitalized on while there is time.

» The BI development capabilities are configured within “BIDS”, or Business Intelligence Design Studio, which is Visual Studio with BI-specific project templates.

Observe: the complexity of each of these interfaces in the following screenshots!

Next: We look at each of the three BI areas in greater detail

Reporting Services (SSRS) Overview

» Report Designers use Visual Studio (BIDS) with specific report development templates to design reports. This development tool is called “Report Designer”.

» Users and Administrators connect to a web application through a browser to browse reports and perform administration on Reporting Services. The web application is called “Report Manager”.

» Example of available report features are:˃ Parameterization (where users can pick from available lists, available date ranges, etc.˃ Navigation features, such as Document Maps, Bookmarks, and Linking˃ Drill-down˃ Drill-through˃ Charting and Visualizations (Gauges, and Geographical Data)

» Supported Report Export Formats are:˃ .pdf˃ Excel˃ Webpage/HTML˃ Text file˃ XML˃ Others

Report Designer (BIDS)

Report Manager

SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) Overview

» The Bulk of SSIS Is Used for “ETL”.˃ Extract (connect to a data source)˃ Transform (change data along its path as

necessary)˃ Load (send the data to a destination)

» Very common requirement for database administrators and developers to perform ETL.

» Specifically useful for data warehousing.

» Supports almost any data source and data destination.

» SSIS succeeds “Data Transformation Services” (DTS) in SQL 2000.

Package Designer (BIDS)

Analysis Services Overview – Part 1» The Point: Better Decision Making.

» Usually involves a specially designed (often humongous) relational database, called a data warehouse, populated through SSIS to perform advanced data analysis and data mining.

» The Data Warehouse requires population of a special database design called a Star Schema, which is a Fact Table connected to a number Dimension Tables. The warehouse is populated from other operational databases in the organization. This population requires significant effort.

» The Data Warehouse is used to create an “OLAP Cube” (or more than one Cube).

» An example of supported analysis of an OLAP Cube would permit the rapid answer to the question,… ˃ How many Male, Married, w/Children under 13, w/College Degree, > 40 years

old, Paid by VISA, ordered Product X?

Analysis Services Overview – Part 2» OLAP cubes are non-trivial to design and implement.

» May involve the use of Excel and its Pivot Table capabilities but more likely an OLAP Client program.

» Analysis Services may involve learning additional query languages such as:˃ Multi-Dimensional Expressions (MDX)

˃ Data Mining Extensions (DMX)

˃ XML for Analysis (XMLA)

» Data Mining is its own large functional area within Analysis Services and is used for predictive analyses.

» Again, this component is included with the purchase of Microsoft SQL Server but costs $10,000 or more for other platforms like Oracle

Cube Designer (BIDS)

Cube Browsing in SSAS(in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS))

Notice:Cube Browsing is normally done with a special front-end called an OLAP client. Excel (2007+) can serve as an OLAP client.

The cube browsing capabilities shown here only provide a reality check for your cube design.

Data Mining in SSAS – screenshot 1

The figure reveals one type of data mining usage called a Tree Viewer.

Data Mining in SSAS – screenshot 2

The figure reveals another type of data mining usage called a Decision Tree.

Next: Core BI Courses(The implementation courses)

Analysis Services courses2791A Implementing and Maintaining SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services

or, 6234A Implementing and Maintaining SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services

Describe how SQL Server Analysis Services can be used to implement analytical solutions.

Create multidimensional analysis solutions with SQL Server Analysis Services. Implement dimensions in an Analysis Services solution Implement measures and measure groups in an Analysis Services solution. Query a multidimensional Analysis Services solution. Customize an Analysis Services cube. Deploy and Secure an Analysis Services database. Maintain a multidimensional Analysis Services solution. Implement a Data Mining solution.

Integration Services courses2792A Implementing and Maintaining SQL Server 2005 Integration Services

or, 6235A Implementing and Maintaining SQL Server 2008 Integration Services

» Describe SQL Server Integration Services and its tools.» Create an Integration Services package.» Implement control flow in an Integration Services package.» Implement data flow in an Integration Services package.» Implement logging in an Integration Services package.» Debug and implement error handling in an Integration Services package.» Implement checkpoints and transactions in an Integration Services package.» Deploy an Integration Services package.» Manage and secure an Integration Services package.

Reporting Services courses

2793A Implementing and Maintaining SQL Server 2005 Reporting Servicesor,

6236A Implementing and Maintaining SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services

» Describe SQL Server Reporting Services and its components.» Create a Reporting Services report.» Enhance a Reporting Services report.» Create and manipulate data sets.» Use report models to implement reporting for business users.» Configure report publishing and execution settings.» Implement subscriptions for reports.» Administer Reporting Services.» Implement custom Reporting Services applications.

Implementation Courses v. Design Courses:

» Implementation Courses˃ Hands-on oriented.

˃ Procedural.

˃ Students leave class having had success completing a related series of steps.

» Design Courses˃ Asked during class, “What questions do I need answers to?”

˃ What decisions must I make?

˃ Conceptual, minimally or rarely procedural.

˃ Student participation and involvement (when experienced) is a big value to other students.

SQL 2005 BI Design Courses(Unavailable for SQL 2008)

» 2794A Designing a Business Intelligence Solution for the Enterprise Using Microsoft® SQL Server 2005 (2 days)

» 2795A Designing an ETL Solution Architecture Using Microsoft® SQL Server 2005 Integration Services (2 days)

» 2796A Designing an Analysis Solution Architecture Using Microsoft® SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services (2 days)

» 2797A Designing a Reporting Solution Architecture Using Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services (2 days)

» Availability will be difficult

SQL BI Exams» SQL 2005 BI Exams

˃ MCTS, 70-445˃ MCITP, 70-446

» SQL 2008 BI Exams˃ MCTS, 70-448˃ MCITP, 70-452 (Very challenging…mine was 88 lengthy story problems, three full

hours long)

» Remember, the BI exams cover all three functional BI areas!

Resources (for you and your clients)

» Microsoft SQL Server homepage˃ www.microsoft.com/sql

» Microsoft Learning homepage˃ www.microsoft.com/learning

» My website˃ Homepage

» www.e-Squillace.com (Search button, Test taking tips link)˃ Diagrams

» www.e-Squillace.com/tech/techdiagrams (several SQL and SQL BI diagrams)˃ Screenshot Gallery

» www.e-Squillace.com/tech/screenshotgallery (look in the SQL screenshot category; a SQL BI category exists too)˃ SQL Server reference homepage

» www.e-Squillace.com/tech/techreference/sql (a huuuuge amount of links)˃ SQL Server BI reference homepage

» www.e-Squillace.com/tech/techreference/sqlbi/sqlbi.htm (also a huuuuge amount of links)

» My Library Books (click on this link)˃ SSAS Step-by-Step˃ SSIS Step-by-Step˃ SSRS Step-by-Step˃ Microsoft Data Warehouse Toolkit˃ Data Mining with SQL Server 2008˃ FastTrack to MDX

» User Groups˃ West Michigan SQL ServerUser Group (WMSSUG), wmssug@hotmail.com ˃ Detroit Area SQL ServerUser Group, www.sqlsig.org

What about R2?» Microsoft released SQL 2008 R2 (the second SQL

2008 release) in April 2010.

» As of yet there are no plans to release SQL 2008 R2-specific course versions.

» Miscellaneous note: Microsoft offers free versions of SQL Server and Visual Studio with smaller feature sets. These are called Express Editions.

Suggested BI Course Prerequisites

» Basic Windows Server Operating System knowledge

» Background database experience ˃ (Microsoft Access experience “counts”)

» SQL Server administration and possibly programming experience˃ Course 2780 or 6231˃ Course 2779 or 6232

» Basic query writing knowledge˃ Course 2778

What Are Your Action Items?» Learn & study?

» Download?

» Call a client with a recommendation or new opportunity?

» Other?

Thank you for your time!