Business Intelligence

Do You Know the Easy Way to Microsoft BI Certification?

Tue, 05 May 2009 20:33:17 GMT

Trond Brande writes "...as long as you have the MCITP: Business Intelligence Developer on SQL Server 2005, you can forget taking these two new exams. Instead, go for the upgrade exam called 70-455 and magically get both 2008 certifications...With the 2005 certification and some experience with SQL Server 2008 you should..."

Bloggers : Trond Brande

Will Windows Azure Succeed?

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:48:06 GMT

Stephen Forte writes "...It may take years for the shift to be complete, but it will happen. It just makes sense to have your applications hosted in the cloud...NET Services (formerly BizTalk Services) in the cloud will get adopted by developers as it matures and as apps get moved to the cloud. SQL Services will get adopted in version 2 when you can do more relational features...Bottom line is that Azure will succeed, but it will take time..."

Bloggers : Stephen Forte
InDepthTalk.net : Editors Picks

Azure Deployment Portal - Use IE

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:39:07 GMT

Steven Smith writes "Ran into a small bug in the Azure deployment portal today using Firefox. The "swap" button to swap out a staging with a production environment was non-responsive."

Bloggers : Steven Smith

How to Best Implement Business Rules Across Tiers

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 20:37:48 GMT

Jonas Folleso writes "There are different techniques to achieve sharing of some logic between server and client. An old trick is to move all your business entities into a separate assembly and use this on both server and client. After Visual Studio...generated a web service proxy you remove any generated types and include a using statement to the namespace containing your business entities...When working with Silverlight this is a little bit harder..."

Bloggers : Jonas Folleso

Is Failure of Rhetoric Causing SOA Confusion?

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:24:14 GMT

Andrew Brust writes "...Microsoft does speak to the "connected business” in their messaging, and they absolutely speak to the necessity of helping developers build Web Services at scale... At first blush, this critique sounds spot on, because Microsoft has made this alleged error before. In fact, when the first version of BizTalk launched, it was hampered by Microsoft’s selling it as a developer tool... But is that what’s really going on here?"

Bloggers : Andrew Brust
InDepthTalk.net : Editors Picks

BI Data Rat Hole: Databases and Table Prefixes

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:35:06 GMT

Greg Low writes "The more I've been working with Analysis Services lately, the more it grates on me that the BI community still seem to be the last ones hanging onto table prefixes. They're not doing "tblSomeTable" but they are using "dim", "fact", etc. Hasn't the time for this long gone now? Most of the argument seems to be about finding tables in a list of tables..."

Bloggers : Greg Low
InDepthTalk.net : Editors Picks

Integrating BizTalk with EDI

Wed, 07 May 2008 18:39:27 GMT

Carl Franklin writes "....how BizTalk can be utilized without development and how Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) has improved in BizTalk Server 2006 R2."

Bloggers : Carl Franklin

Two big MSFT moves sensible, shrewd, brave!

Fri, 02 May 2008 16:46:47 GMT

Andrew Brust writes "....NET and WCF can now work with both messaging servers, and that’s a win for the whole Microsoft platform. So the two moves together are, I think, sensible, shrewd, and even brave. The tacit admission of Tibco’s dominance in certain spheres of SOA message bus implementations shows good market insight on Microsoft’s part. The investment in BizTalk’s EDI..."

Bloggers : Andrew Brust

SOA in 10 Steps

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:15:40 GMT

Bill Evjen writes "...You will find a lot of articles out there that define the reasoning for moving to a service-oriented architecture, but you will find very little out there that talks about how you should go about taking your first steps into this new world....Doing this is good for your business...Now, onto the steps you can take to bring your company to an SOA...."

Bloggers : Bill Evjen
InDepthTalk.net : Editors Picks

Updated BizTalk Labs SDK Resolves Issues

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 20:11:26 GMT

Scott Golightly writes "....I found that my code was failing with the error "ID3037: The specified request failed." I tried some of the sample applications and one worked and one got the same error...."

Bloggers : Scott Golightly

Giving Birth to the WF MapperActivity

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 18:07:04 GMT

Christian Weyer writes "....had a lot fun building this baby: being able to have an activity to graphically map source and destination objects and properties and not having to resort to a CodeActivity. A little bit like the Biztalk Server mapping editor in a light version."

Bloggers : Christian Weyer
TechEdBloggers.net : TechEd : Tracks : Business Intelligence

Is the future of BizTalk about a technology and architecture shift?

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 17:29:14 GMT

Anko Duizer writes "....educated guess about BizTalk Server in the "Oslo" time frame....part of the "Oslo" project is the delivery of repository. This repository stores workflows, service contracts and other components of composite applications....this repository is implemented upon SQL Server. A repository is an important element inside a SOA. We are missing this element today."

Bloggers : Anko Duizer
InDepthTalk.net : Editors Picks

Debunking the Analysts on Microsoft SOA Strategy

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:15:49 GMT

Chris Auld writes "....As Microsoft moves from a Desktop and Operating Systems company to being a broader vendor of both those tools and more vertically focused platforms it is inevitable that those teams, at the very least, will see the value in exposing their revenue generating applications for use by other vendors platforms. To ignore the need to have Sharepoint Server or Microsoft CRM participate in a broader Serviced ecosystem is to ignore a good portion of the market who don’t buy into the Windows Everywhere vision...."

Bloggers : Chris Auld
TechEdBloggers.net : TechEd : Tracks : SOA and Business Processes

Leveraging the Dynamics enviornment with VS expertise

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 18:31:46 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "....Microsoft has done a great job of opening up the development of their CRM 4.0 product through the use of Visual Studio and I am expecting the same treatment for AX. Another great thing they are doing with these products and their whole line is integrating Business Intelligence (BI) as a core component. Instead of requiring the customer...."

Bloggers : Joe Homnick

Why BI Projects Succeed half the time

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 16:11:36 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "....it appears that the successful BI implementations have one main thing in common. They have someone who is well versed in business process and analysis involved in the planning, training, mentoring and review of the projects progress....To make your BI project successful be sure"

Bloggers : Joe Homnick
TechEdBloggers.net : TechEd : Tracks : Business Intelligence

This one little CTP Changes Everything, Honest

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 14:07:30 GMT

Stephen Forte writes "....Microsoft released BizTalk Services CTP to the public....BizTalk services and ultimately all of the Software plus Services (including other vendors, not just Microsoft) will change the way we do business in 5-10 years."

Bloggers : Stephen Forte
InDepthTalk.net : Editors Picks
TechEdBloggers.net : TechEd : Tracks : Business Intelligence

Pretty Big Deal: BizTalk Services CTP

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 16:25:03 GMT

Ciprian Jichici writes "Connected System Division @ Microsoft just released the first CTP of Biztalk Services....There are several very interesting blog entries that explain the ISB concept and help you get started with consuming Biztalk Services. Among them,"

Bloggers : Ciprian Jichici

Excel Spreadsheets in the BI Services World

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 14:00:27 GMT

Ciprian Jichici writes "....In the archive you will also find the source code for the demos and also a document I am currently working on that describes all the steps you need to perform in order to redeliver the demo"

Bloggers : Ciprian Jichici
TechEdBloggers.net : TechEd : Tracks : Business Intelligence

Business value of Team System

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:15:38 GMT

Richard Hundhausen writes "Occasionally I'm asked about the business value of VSTS and TFS. I think it's pretty obvious, but I guess others need more convincing than just my word. I've pulled together some links below that will help with this:"

Bloggers : Richard Hundhausen
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : Visual Studio Team Systems

SP2 was released today... and, did you know about the Feature Pack?

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 04:42:36 GMT

Kimberly L Tripp writes "....Some exciting new features and some great new directions in which the tools are headed. I like the way they're thinking and I especially like the options that are now in place to discover, use and customize the "reports" feature within Management Studio (just to name one!). What I learned (that was the highest on my "I didn't know that" list) is that quite a few gems are released as part of the Feature Pack for SQL Server. The Feature Pack...."

Bloggers : Kimberly L Tripp
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : SQL Server

Reporting Services Plus Vista Equals Pain

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 15:13:07 GMT

Steven Smith writes "I spent quite a few hours yesterday trying to get Reporting Services to work on my Vista laptop. It didn’t end up working. For quite a long time I got a login prompt when trying to go to localhost/reports, which would bomb after 3 tries and had references to several KB articles, including this one:"

Bloggers : Steven Smith
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : SQL Server

New SQL Server 2005 White Papers

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 17:54:19 GMT

Kimberly L Tripp writes "....there are some great and NEW resources that were posted just this week by some of my SQLskills colleagues....Bob Beauchemin's....Whitepaper: Planning, Implementing, and Administering Scaleout Solutions with SQL Server 2005 Liz Vitt's ....Whitepaper: Analysis Services 2005 Performance Guide"

Bloggers : Kimberly L Tripp
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : Suggested Reading

SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services Performance Guide released!

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 00:06:26 GMT

Richard Hundhausen writes "The much anticipated and eagerly awaited Analysis Services 2005 Performance Guide has been released and is available...."

Bloggers : Richard Hundhausen
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : SQL Server

BI to be a new thing for years to come

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 19:06:08 GMT

Mauro SantAnna writes " Right now I am in Redmond attending a BI (Business Intelligence) class ad I got a surprise: I’ve always thought of BI as being only a strategic tool used to analyze historic data in order to drive future initiatives. Well, that use is alive and well, but the use of BI has been going “down the food chain” and now affects even operational activities. For instance,"

Bloggers : Mauro SantAnna

COPY One Table Row in SQL

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 18:24:01 GMT

Steven Smith writes "I have a table with a bunch of columns in it that I wanted to be able to duplicate so that I could just change a couple of columns and not have to re-enter all of the columns and their values. I did some searching and the closest I came to what I wanted was this. So, working with Gregg on IM we came up with a more flexible solution that doesn’t require typing in the 20–some column names one might have (twice)...."

Bloggers : Steven Smith
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : SQL Server

Fun with Service Broker

Sun, 14 Jan 2007 23:20:30 GMT

David Yack writes "Had a chance recently to do a little work with Service Broker and thought I would share a few of the key things if for no other reason so I won't forget the again. First, if you create a new database basic service broker is enabled however, if you have a SQL 2000 DB that comes along for the ride to SQL 2005 you must enable it first....The other things I will pass along are regarding troubleshooting - assuming you defined your message types, contracts , routes and queues - what do you do when nothing shows up!"

Bloggers : David Yack
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : SQL Server

Answers to questions about DB Pro

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 19:29:20 GMT

Chris Menegay writes "I recently did 9 Team Edition for Database Professional launch events in 9 different cities (in 3 weeks - yikes!). As I told all of the attendees, I would gather all of the unanswered questions, and post the answers...."

Bloggers : Chris Menegay
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : SQL Server

Having Trouble with SQL Server 2005 Remote Connectivity?

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 21:50:54 GMT

Venkatarangan Tnc writes "If you are using SQL Server 2005 and not able to connect to it remotely, then check out:"

Bloggers : Venkatarangan Tnc
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : SQL Server
InDepthTalk.net : Editors Picks

Privacy Guidelines

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 01:12:22 GMT

Kate Gregory writes "Microsoft is offering a 49 page Privacy Guidelines whitepaper you may find helpful....It discusses categories of information, retention, consent, notice, and a few things that are web-specific like cookies. A good place to start your thought process."

Bloggers : Kate Gregory
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : Security

IT Project Caveats - No. 6: UI, Help and Documentation

Tue, 12 Dec 2006 18:30:19 GMT

Fernando G Guerrero writes "Everybody knows a good UI is important; everybody adds help and documentation to his or her solution. Well, are you sure? In my opinion, it is worth repeating the importance of those three things. You can start with UI. Web applications are now fashionable; many Windows applications are converted to thin-client versions. Many times the new interface means pain for end users...."

Bloggers : Fernando G Guerrero
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : ASPNET

How LINQ to SQL Behaves

Tue, 12 Dec 2006 19:21:16 GMT

Bill Wagner writes "Well, it’s been quite a while since I examined LINQ to SQL. This installment will show you what LINQ to SQL does when you have some form of errors in the database. Those errors could be caused by multiple users making modifications, or by a change that violates one of the database constraints. The first example shows a path where you read and write the data after another user has modified it:"

Bloggers : Bill Wagner
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : SQL Server
InDepthTalk.net : Editors Picks

Great tool: BDC Metadata Generator on Codeplex

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 18:11:15 GMT

Joel Semeniuk writes "I'm a huge fan of the business data connector in Sharepoint 2007. I was thinking about writing a tool that would help to generate some metadata given a SQL Database... I'm a little late.. If you are doing any work with the BDC, check out Database Metadata Generator for the Business Data Catalog:"

Bloggers : Joel Semeniuk
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : SQL Server
InDepthTalk.net : Editors Picks

Doing DB backup before upgrading to Xpe FP 2007

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 20:52:57 GMT

Alexander Wechsler writes "Backing up Your XPe component DB might be a very wise decision before upgrading to FP 2007. This is easy if you installed it on a "real" SQL Server and not just MSDE, because SQL Enterprise Manager gives you all the tools for it. It is somehow harder to do running MSDE...."

Bloggers : Alexander Wechsler
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : SQL Server

Caveat No. 4: The Database Design

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 19:42:42 GMT

Fernando G Guerrero writes "Those who read my blogs regularly could complain that I am repeating myself this time. Of course, I have written comments about design couple of times. Nevertheless, I think there is never enough emphasizing how important a good database design is. Relational design, suitable for OLTP applications, is based on science, namely on set theory. This is one of the rare spots where application development can rely on mathematics."

Bloggers : Fernando G Guerrero