Tom Huguelet Please join me Tuesday for “Ad-hoc Scenario Analysis Using Existing Infrastructure” April 19, 2011 12:00 p.m. ET / 9:00 a.m. PT http://bit.ly/gpyXpr Hosted by SQL Server Magazine, sponsored by Tableau Software. I really had fun creating this webinar. Gave me an opportunity to organize and clarify a lot of previous experience from Business Intelligence… Continue reading Join me for a Webinar: “Ad-hoc Scenario Analysis Using Existing Infrastructure”
Category: Modeling/Architecture
April 2011 ITA BI Roundtable – So what can I do with this “BI” stuff anyway?
April 2011 ITA BI Roundtable – So what can I do with this “BI” stuff anyway? Here are the slides from today’s session.
Is BI ready for Cloud Computing? Is Cloud Computing ready for BI?
The discussion today at the ITA BI Roundtable was “Is BI ready for Cloud Computing? Is Cloud Computing ready for BI?” It was a lively discussion, with participants from both BI Backgrounds and Cloud Backgrounds. We used this following materials to support the discussions: PowerPoint (with links to references throughout) Gartner’s Key Initiatives: Cloud Computing… Continue reading Is BI ready for Cloud Computing? Is Cloud Computing ready for BI?
Time (Not Date) Dimension Table SQL code
I am seeing more call for Time Dimensions. By that I mean Time-of-Day Dimensions. So now I have to retrain myself to call Date Dimensions “Date” and Time Dimensions “Time”.As a follow up to this post, here’s some DDL and a quick routine to generate a time of day table. The resolution is to the… Continue reading Time (Not Date) Dimension Table SQL code
Devils and Angels of BI Architecture
Devil: You don’t need to set up a separate star schema databaseAngel: Yes you do. We don’t want to interfere with the operational systemsDevil: It’s sooo much workAngel: We want to create a simplified schema to benefit our end usersDevil: Phooeh. ETL is BORINGDevil: Just query the source system directlyDevil: What could be better than… Continue reading Devils and Angels of BI Architecture
The “Million Dollar” BI Architecture Diagram
Anyone who has worked with me or taken training from me has seen some variant of this diagram. It’s not an original concept, although this version has been refined to include my personal experience with many Business Intelligence implementations, as well as my bias towards both the Kimball Business Dimensional methodology and using Microsoft SQL… Continue reading The “Million Dollar” BI Architecture Diagram
Example Code to build and populate a Date Dimension
OK, I’ve found myself searching for this code a half dozen times over as many weeks. That tells me that I : a) Need to keep better track of my source code b) Need to share it on my blog Caveats & Comments: This is “warts and all” utility code. It could be optimized, but… Continue reading Example Code to build and populate a Date Dimension
Do as I say, not as I do
Perhaps that should be – Do as I say, not as Adventure Works and Project Real do SSAS modeling question: What’s the best approach to handling header/detail records? Approach #1) Use Measure Groups Approach #2) Consolidate via either ETL or relational operations Most clients I deal with have some form of Header/Details modeled in some… Continue reading Do as I say, not as I do