Response to a blog post published by Ross Perez of Tableau
In previous BI Update posts, I’ve shared links to Data.gov and expressed my enthusiasm for recent efforts by the Federal Government to expand public access to public information.
So I was thrilled to see a recent blog - US Oil Imports in 2008 – with interactive bar charts that you can click on to analyze US oil imports and exports in 2008. The dimensions you can analyze the data by are:
# Barrels of Oil
By Export Country
By Import State
By Company (Oil Importer)
By Month
When I click on IRAQ in the “Country of Export” chart, I can immediately see which States imported oil from Iraq and through which Companies. I can check out import trends over the past year. The data visualizations compel me to look at the information in a new way.
Below the charts, there are also several buttons that you don’t want to overlook which help make this information actionable and useful to others, including buttons to...
Share
View Data
Print to PDF
Revert All
I highly suggest checking out the Tableau blog archives and Visual Examples site when you have some free time… these resources are bound to get you thinking, and wishing you could look at more information in these ways!
.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Microsoft Case Studies: Microsoft BI vs IBM Cognos
.
Here are links and extracts for a handful of Microsoft Case Studies where PerformancePoint was selected over Cognos. I know there are many many more such stories, but these are well-documented anyway...
Community Health Networks
Overcoming Cognos
GPX Tires
To help find a new BI solution, the company enlisted the help of SHEA Business Solutions. The Microsoft Certified Partner conducted a comprehensive review of available database and reporting products (including solutions from Cognos and Business Objects) before determining that Microsoft Office PerformancePoint™ Server 2007 was the best fit for GPX’s IT environment.
Tyson Foods
Another problem related to company growth was the challenge of making sense of so much data. Tyson used Cognos as its corporate business intelligence (BI) tool, but the program required a steep learning curve. Many employees beyond the Cognos experts could benefit from BI insights, but the IT staff did not have time to develop custom Cognos analysis cubes and dashboards for every department. In fact, the overworked IT staff had far more project requests than it could handle. It was eager to discover and deploy new technologies that would either shorten development cycles or empower users to create their own solutions without IT help.
In the finance department, having data in analysis cubes improves the company’s ability to audit financial data because information is consistent and more secure. Security is also enhanced by the ability to use Excel Services to hide information from unauthorized users. Financial analysts can publish reports to the intranet versus attaching documents to e-mail messages, which speeds access and reduces e-mail volume. Many analysts are using SQL Server Reporting Services in place of Cognos because it is less expensive and easier to use.
Responsiveness of financial analysis has also improved since Tyson began using Office Excel 2007 with SQL Server Analysis Services. “Performance has been amazing—the Analysis Services reports come back instantaneously, whereas the Oracle and Cognos reports could take anywhere from minutes to hours,” Barron says.
Ste Michelle Winery
Ste. Michelle evaluated business intelligence software from IBM Cognos, MicroStrategy, DataJungle (now called Blink Logic), and Oracle but decided that those options were either too expensive or too inflexible to meet its needs over the long term. Instead, the winery turned to a solution based on Microsoft Business Intelligence.
“The Microsoft Business Intelligence solution gave us the best combination of price and performance of any of the options that we considered,” says Alan Stefanin, Database Architect, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. “We have a best-of-breed strategy, and Microsoft Business Intelligence fit into that perfectly. A significant share of our IT infrastructure is based on Microsoft technologies, and this solution would operate easily with what we already used.”
Ste. Michelle put the Microsoft Business Intelligence solution into production for just half the cost of most of the alternatives that it considered, representing a savings of U.S.$100,000 in the first year, according to Gregg. He attributes the savings to several factors.
The Credit Valley Hospital
The Credit Valley Hospital worked with a Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner, Systemgroup Inc., to implement a new business intelligence (BI) solution. After reviewing several options, including tools from Cognos and SAS, Credit Valley decided on Microsoft® Office PerformancePoint™ Server 2007 as the most flexible and cost-effective performance management option.
Swisscom
In seeking an automated solution to replace the paper-based system, Swisscom first evaluated business analytics solutions from some of the major management performance software vendors, including IBM Cognos, SAS, and SAP Crystal Reports. Dörfer says: “These vendors supply big toolsets, but most of them have many functions that we simply did not need. We wanted a business intelligence (BI) environment that met all our needs for flexibility and scalability as well as supporting a simple dashboard solution for performance management of our IT systems.”
The Prime Minister's Office
The first step was to select a technology vendor that could deliver a reliable solution in just two months, in time for the next quarter’s performance report. Another critical requirement was to have an Arabic interface for the solution—Arabic is the official language of the UAE. After testing technologies by rival companies such as IBM-owned and Ontario-based Cognos and Finland-based QPR, the PMO chose Microsoft as its project partner.
Lotte Hotel
“The Cognos Powerplay tool, which we used in the past, was too high-priced so it was expensive to upgrade,” says Kim. “SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services had no cost burden and at the same time it was a strong alternative enabling us to easily convert our existing OLAP [online analytical processing] environment, after which we applied reporting tools to create Lotte Hotel’s overall BI [business intelligence] environment.”
some additional Microsoft BI Case Studies
.
Here are links and extracts for a handful of Microsoft Case Studies where PerformancePoint was selected over Cognos. I know there are many many more such stories, but these are well-documented anyway...
Community Health Networks
Overcoming Cognos
GPX Tires
To help find a new BI solution, the company enlisted the help of SHEA Business Solutions. The Microsoft Certified Partner conducted a comprehensive review of available database and reporting products (including solutions from Cognos and Business Objects) before determining that Microsoft Office PerformancePoint™ Server 2007 was the best fit for GPX’s IT environment.
Tyson Foods
Another problem related to company growth was the challenge of making sense of so much data. Tyson used Cognos as its corporate business intelligence (BI) tool, but the program required a steep learning curve. Many employees beyond the Cognos experts could benefit from BI insights, but the IT staff did not have time to develop custom Cognos analysis cubes and dashboards for every department. In fact, the overworked IT staff had far more project requests than it could handle. It was eager to discover and deploy new technologies that would either shorten development cycles or empower users to create their own solutions without IT help.
In the finance department, having data in analysis cubes improves the company’s ability to audit financial data because information is consistent and more secure. Security is also enhanced by the ability to use Excel Services to hide information from unauthorized users. Financial analysts can publish reports to the intranet versus attaching documents to e-mail messages, which speeds access and reduces e-mail volume. Many analysts are using SQL Server Reporting Services in place of Cognos because it is less expensive and easier to use.
Responsiveness of financial analysis has also improved since Tyson began using Office Excel 2007 with SQL Server Analysis Services. “Performance has been amazing—the Analysis Services reports come back instantaneously, whereas the Oracle and Cognos reports could take anywhere from minutes to hours,” Barron says.
Ste Michelle Winery
Ste. Michelle evaluated business intelligence software from IBM Cognos, MicroStrategy, DataJungle (now called Blink Logic), and Oracle but decided that those options were either too expensive or too inflexible to meet its needs over the long term. Instead, the winery turned to a solution based on Microsoft Business Intelligence.
“The Microsoft Business Intelligence solution gave us the best combination of price and performance of any of the options that we considered,” says Alan Stefanin, Database Architect, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. “We have a best-of-breed strategy, and Microsoft Business Intelligence fit into that perfectly. A significant share of our IT infrastructure is based on Microsoft technologies, and this solution would operate easily with what we already used.”
Ste. Michelle put the Microsoft Business Intelligence solution into production for just half the cost of most of the alternatives that it considered, representing a savings of U.S.$100,000 in the first year, according to Gregg. He attributes the savings to several factors.
The Credit Valley Hospital
The Credit Valley Hospital worked with a Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner, Systemgroup Inc., to implement a new business intelligence (BI) solution. After reviewing several options, including tools from Cognos and SAS, Credit Valley decided on Microsoft® Office PerformancePoint™ Server 2007 as the most flexible and cost-effective performance management option.
Swisscom
In seeking an automated solution to replace the paper-based system, Swisscom first evaluated business analytics solutions from some of the major management performance software vendors, including IBM Cognos, SAS, and SAP Crystal Reports. Dörfer says: “These vendors supply big toolsets, but most of them have many functions that we simply did not need. We wanted a business intelligence (BI) environment that met all our needs for flexibility and scalability as well as supporting a simple dashboard solution for performance management of our IT systems.”
The Prime Minister's Office
The first step was to select a technology vendor that could deliver a reliable solution in just two months, in time for the next quarter’s performance report. Another critical requirement was to have an Arabic interface for the solution—Arabic is the official language of the UAE. After testing technologies by rival companies such as IBM-owned and Ontario-based Cognos and Finland-based QPR, the PMO chose Microsoft as its project partner.
Lotte Hotel
“The Cognos Powerplay tool, which we used in the past, was too high-priced so it was expensive to upgrade,” says Kim. “SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services had no cost burden and at the same time it was a strong alternative enabling us to easily convert our existing OLAP [online analytical processing] environment, after which we applied reporting tools to create Lotte Hotel’s overall BI [business intelligence] environment.”
some additional Microsoft BI Case Studies
.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
December 2009 v.32 - Business Intelligence Update
.
HOT TOPICS
2010 Betas are here, including Office, SharePoint, Project & Visio
PowerPivot Team Blog
Download: PowerPivot for Excel 2010
Blog: The Business User's Perspective
Demo: Extended Outlook - Put your business intelligence reporting inside Microsoft Outlook
CapstoneBI Blog: Analysis Services 2008 Metadata Report Pack
WEBCASTS
All webcast times are in Eastern Time Zone unless otherwise specified
Beat the Competition with the Power of Analytics
Hosted by Panorama
Dec 3, 2pm
Click here for more info
FEDSPUG December Meeting (Webcast)
Hosted by Microsoft
Dec 3, 2pm
Click here for more info
SharePoint 2010 Preview
Hosted by Gig Werks
Dec 8, 1pm
Click here for more info
Is Your Data Warehousing Project Doomed from the Beginning?
Hosted by B2B Technologies
Dec 10, 12:30pm
Click here for more info
Best Practices for Pervasive BI
Hosted by Strategy Companion
Dec 10, 1pm
Click here for more info
Build More Powerful Solutions with Bing Maps
Hosted by Microsoft
Dec 10, 1pm
Click here for more info
Portfolio Management and Capital Planning with Microsoft Solutions
Hosted by Projility
Dec 12, 1pm
Click here for more info
Looping, Moving Files, and Splitting Data Streams: Intermediate SSIS Tasks for the DBA
Hosted by PASS DW/BI Virtual Chapter, with guest speaker Tim Mitchell
Dec 15, 12pm
Click here to attend
Zero to Cube in 60 minutes
Hosted by PASS DW/BI Virtual Chapter, with guest speaker Adam Jorgensen
Dec 18, 12pm
Click here to attend
The Many-to-Many Compression Algorithm
Hosted by PASS DW/BI Virtual Chapter, with guest speaker Eugene Asahara
Dec 21, 12pm
Click here to attend
EVENTS
SoCal BI User Group - featuring Bob Abernathy of Strategy Companion
Hosted by Xelleration
Dec 3, Irvine, CA
Click here for more info
IN-PERSON TRAINING
Deploying, Operating, and Tuning an Analysis Services 2008 Solution
Hosted by Solid Quality Mentors
Feb 1, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info
SQL Server 2008 End-to-End Business Intelligence Workshop
Hosted by Solid Quality Mentors
Feb 15, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info
RESOURCES
Microsoft BI
SQL Server
Business Intelligence: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
Data Mining: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
Whitepaper: New Data Warehouse Scalability Features in SQL Server
Whitepaper: Introducing Microsoft StreamInsight
Blog: Formatting Linked Server MDX Query Results Using CTEs
SharePoint Server 2007
Business Intelligence: Overview, Using BI Features
PerformancePoint: Technical Library
Download PerformancePoint SP2 (64-bit or 32-bit)
Whitepaper: Publishing PerformancePoint Server in Extranet Scenarios
Whitepaper: Accessing large scale ROLAP environments with PerformancePoint 2007
SharePoint Server 2010
Blog: Describing SharePoint 2010 in 1 Sentence, 8 Categories and 40 Feature Areas
Blog: New Features in PerformancePoint 2010
Blog: Excel Services in SharePoint 2010 Feature Support, Dashboard Improvements
Office 2010
PowerPivot
http://www.powerpivot.com/
Blog: Using PowerPivot with Excel 2010
Related BI Resources
Notes from the Field
NEW AND PRESS RELEASES
Microsoft Elevates Mission-Critical Commitment With New SQL Server 2008 R2 Premium Editions, Delivery of November CTP
Bruno Aziza interviews Stephon Elop, President of Microsoft's Business Division
BIDN Launches: Business Intelligence Developer Network (http://www.bidn.com/)
Crossing the Chasm II - Departmental to Enterprise BI
Gartner enters into Agreement to Acquire AMR Research, Inc.
Gartner Says Performance Driven Culture Is One of Four Disciplines Required for a Successful Pattern-Based Strategy
.
HOT TOPICS
2010 Betas are here, including Office, SharePoint, Project & Visio
PowerPivot Team Blog
Download: PowerPivot for Excel 2010
Blog: The Business User's Perspective
Demo: Extended Outlook - Put your business intelligence reporting inside Microsoft Outlook
CapstoneBI Blog: Analysis Services 2008 Metadata Report Pack
WEBCASTS
All webcast times are in Eastern Time Zone unless otherwise specified
Beat the Competition with the Power of Analytics
Hosted by Panorama
Dec 3, 2pm
Click here for more info
FEDSPUG December Meeting (Webcast)
Hosted by Microsoft
Dec 3, 2pm
Click here for more info
SharePoint 2010 Preview
Hosted by Gig Werks
Dec 8, 1pm
Click here for more info
Is Your Data Warehousing Project Doomed from the Beginning?
Hosted by B2B Technologies
Dec 10, 12:30pm
Click here for more info
Best Practices for Pervasive BI
Hosted by Strategy Companion
Dec 10, 1pm
Click here for more info
Build More Powerful Solutions with Bing Maps
Hosted by Microsoft
Dec 10, 1pm
Click here for more info
Portfolio Management and Capital Planning with Microsoft Solutions
Hosted by Projility
Dec 12, 1pm
Click here for more info
Looping, Moving Files, and Splitting Data Streams: Intermediate SSIS Tasks for the DBA
Hosted by PASS DW/BI Virtual Chapter, with guest speaker Tim Mitchell
Dec 15, 12pm
Click here to attend
Zero to Cube in 60 minutes
Hosted by PASS DW/BI Virtual Chapter, with guest speaker Adam Jorgensen
Dec 18, 12pm
Click here to attend
The Many-to-Many Compression Algorithm
Hosted by PASS DW/BI Virtual Chapter, with guest speaker Eugene Asahara
Dec 21, 12pm
Click here to attend
EVENTS
SoCal BI User Group - featuring Bob Abernathy of Strategy Companion
Hosted by Xelleration
Dec 3, Irvine, CA
Click here for more info
IN-PERSON TRAINING
Deploying, Operating, and Tuning an Analysis Services 2008 Solution
Hosted by Solid Quality Mentors
Feb 1, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info
SQL Server 2008 End-to-End Business Intelligence Workshop
Hosted by Solid Quality Mentors
Feb 15, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info
RESOURCES
Microsoft BI
SQL Server
Business Intelligence: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
Data Mining: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
Whitepaper: New Data Warehouse Scalability Features in SQL Server
Whitepaper: Introducing Microsoft StreamInsight
Blog: Formatting Linked Server MDX Query Results Using CTEs
SharePoint Server 2007
Business Intelligence: Overview, Using BI Features
PerformancePoint: Technical Library
Download PerformancePoint SP2 (64-bit or 32-bit)
Whitepaper: Publishing PerformancePoint Server in Extranet Scenarios
Whitepaper: Accessing large scale ROLAP environments with PerformancePoint 2007
SharePoint Server 2010
Blog: Describing SharePoint 2010 in 1 Sentence, 8 Categories and 40 Feature Areas
Blog: New Features in PerformancePoint 2010
Blog: Excel Services in SharePoint 2010 Feature Support, Dashboard Improvements
Office 2010
PowerPivot
http://www.powerpivot.com/
Blog: Using PowerPivot with Excel 2010
Related BI Resources
Notes from the Field
NEW AND PRESS RELEASES
Microsoft Elevates Mission-Critical Commitment With New SQL Server 2008 R2 Premium Editions, Delivery of November CTP
Bruno Aziza interviews Stephon Elop, President of Microsoft's Business Division
BIDN Launches: Business Intelligence Developer Network (http://www.bidn.com/)
Crossing the Chasm II - Departmental to Enterprise BI
Gartner enters into Agreement to Acquire AMR Research, Inc.
Gartner Says Performance Driven Culture Is One of Four Disciplines Required for a Successful Pattern-Based Strategy
.
Friday, November 6, 2009
November 2009 v.31 - Business Intelligence Update
.
HOT TOPICS
SQL Pass - Seattle, Nov 2-5
SQL Server 2008 R2 - Managed Self Service Business Intelligence
http://www.powerpivot.com/ for Excel 2010
Blog: Excel 2010, Interacting with Slicers
Bruno Aziza interviews Stephon Elop, President of Microsoft's Business Division
deFacto... a new alternative to PerformancePoint Planning?
WEBCASTS
All webcast times are in Eastern Time Zone unless otherwise specified
Emerge Stronger with Microsoft Business Intelligence
Hosted by Microsoft
Nov 9, 2pm
Click here for more info
deFacto Performance Management Webinar
Hosted by deFacto Global
Nov 10, 12pm
Nov 19, 2pm
Nov 24, 12pm
Click here for more info
Increase Transparency Through Business Intelligence
Hosted by MicroLink LLC
Nov 12, 2pm
Click here for more info
Emerge Stronger with Microsoft BI: Operational Improvement
Hosted by Microsoft
Nov 17, 2pm
Click here for more info
How Hospitals Use Microsoft Technology to Manage Clinical Trials
Hosted by Quilogy
Nov 18, 1pm
Click here for more info
Turn insight into a winning strategy with cost-effective BI solutions
Hosted by twentysix New York
Dec 1, 2pm
Click here for more info
Emerge Stronger with Microsoft BI: Sales and Marketing
Hosted by Microsoft
Jan 26, 2pm
Click here for more info
EVENTS
TDWI World Conference
Hosted by The Data Warehouse Institute
Nov 1-6, Orlando, FL
Click here for more info
SQL PASS
Hosted by Microsoft
Nov 2-5, Seattle, WA
Click here for more info
SharePoint Unleashed
Hosted by Microsoft
Nov 3, Irvine, CA
Click here for more info
Discover Business Intelligence Capabilities within SharePoint
Hosted by Microsoft
Nov 3, Denver, CO
Click here for more info
SoCal BI User Group
Hosted by Xelleration
Nov 5, Irvine, CA
Click here for more info
Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence Strategies for the New Economy
Hosted by Hitachi Consulting
Nov 5, Denver, CO
Nov 10, San Francisco, CA
Nov 11, Los Angeles, CA
Click here for more info
Los Angeles SQL Server Professionals Group
Nov 19, Los Angeles, CA
Click here for more info
Microsoft Reporting Services and Business Intelligence
Hosted by CSG Professionals
Nov 24, Portland, OR
Click here for more info
TRAINING
Web-based Training
SQL Server: Training Portal
SharePoint Server 2007: Training Portal
PerformancePoint Monitoring & Analytics: Dashboard basics I, Dashboard Basics II
Excel 2007: Training Courses
In-Person Training
Enterprise ETL with SSIS
Solid Quality Mentors
Nov 9, Beaverton, OR
Click here for more info
SQL Server 2008 Fast Track Data Warehouse
Solid Quality Mentors
Nov 13, Irving, TX
Nov 17, Reston, VA
Nov 19, Iselin, NJ
Nov 20, Chicago, IL
Click here for more info
SQL Server 2008 End-to-End Business Intelligence Workshop
Solid Quality Mentors
Dec 7, Bellevue, WA
Click here for more info
Microsoft BI Bootcamp
Solid Quality Mentors
Dec 14, Beaverton, OR
Click here for more info
RESOURCES
Microsoft BI
CapstoneBI Architects
Notes from the Field
SQL Server
Business Intelligence: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
Data Mining: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
Whitepaper: New Data Warehouse Scalability Features in SQL Server
Whitepaper: Predictive Analysis with SQL Server 2008
Whitepaper: Introducing Microsoft StreamInsight
OLAP Heartbeat - monitor activity on Analysis Services
SQL Server 2008: Project "Madison"
Blog: Introduction to SQL Server Project Madison
SSIS: Kimball Method SSIS Slowly Changing Dimension Component
Blog: Formatting Linked Server MDX Query Results Using CTEs
SSAS: SQL Sentry, Performance Optimization Software
SSAS: list of front end applications
SharePoint Server
Business Intelligence: Overview, Using BI Features
PerformancePoint: Technical Library
Download: PerformancePoint SP2 (64-bit or 32-bit)
Whitepaper: Publishing PerformancePoint Server in Extranet Scenarios
Whitepaper: Accessing large scale ROLAP environments with PerformancePoint Server 2007
Office 2010
PowerPivot
http://www.powerpivot.com/ for Excel 2010
Blog: Using PowerPivot with Excel 2010
Related BI Resources
Caveman Forecaster - great resource for data mining/time series formatting
Federal IT Dashboard
http://it.usaspending.gov/ - track Stimulus Spending
Data.gov Catalogs, FAQ
NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES
Microsoft sets SQL Server 2008 R2 preview
Q&A: Business Intelligence gets a facelift in SQL Server 2008 R2
Microsoft Previews SQL Server Upgrades, In-Memory Analysis
End of life comes for SQL Server 2005 SP2
DBA career paths could lead to business intelligence
Peter Drucker as Life Coach: Book Shares His Wisdom
.
HOT TOPICS
SQL Pass - Seattle, Nov 2-5
SQL Server 2008 R2 - Managed Self Service Business Intelligence
http://www.powerpivot.com/ for Excel 2010
Blog: Excel 2010, Interacting with Slicers
Bruno Aziza interviews Stephon Elop, President of Microsoft's Business Division
deFacto... a new alternative to PerformancePoint Planning?
WEBCASTS
All webcast times are in Eastern Time Zone unless otherwise specified
Emerge Stronger with Microsoft Business Intelligence
Hosted by Microsoft
Nov 9, 2pm
Click here for more info
deFacto Performance Management Webinar
Hosted by deFacto Global
Nov 10, 12pm
Nov 19, 2pm
Nov 24, 12pm
Click here for more info
Increase Transparency Through Business Intelligence
Hosted by MicroLink LLC
Nov 12, 2pm
Click here for more info
Emerge Stronger with Microsoft BI: Operational Improvement
Hosted by Microsoft
Nov 17, 2pm
Click here for more info
How Hospitals Use Microsoft Technology to Manage Clinical Trials
Hosted by Quilogy
Nov 18, 1pm
Click here for more info
Turn insight into a winning strategy with cost-effective BI solutions
Hosted by twentysix New York
Dec 1, 2pm
Click here for more info
Emerge Stronger with Microsoft BI: Sales and Marketing
Hosted by Microsoft
Jan 26, 2pm
Click here for more info
EVENTS
TDWI World Conference
Hosted by The Data Warehouse Institute
Nov 1-6, Orlando, FL
Click here for more info
SQL PASS
Hosted by Microsoft
Nov 2-5, Seattle, WA
Click here for more info
SharePoint Unleashed
Hosted by Microsoft
Nov 3, Irvine, CA
Click here for more info
Discover Business Intelligence Capabilities within SharePoint
Hosted by Microsoft
Nov 3, Denver, CO
Click here for more info
SoCal BI User Group
Hosted by Xelleration
Nov 5, Irvine, CA
Click here for more info
Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence Strategies for the New Economy
Hosted by Hitachi Consulting
Nov 5, Denver, CO
Nov 10, San Francisco, CA
Nov 11, Los Angeles, CA
Click here for more info
Los Angeles SQL Server Professionals Group
Nov 19, Los Angeles, CA
Click here for more info
Microsoft Reporting Services and Business Intelligence
Hosted by CSG Professionals
Nov 24, Portland, OR
Click here for more info
TRAINING
Web-based Training
SQL Server: Training Portal
SharePoint Server 2007: Training Portal
PerformancePoint Monitoring & Analytics: Dashboard basics I, Dashboard Basics II
Excel 2007: Training Courses
In-Person Training
Enterprise ETL with SSIS
Solid Quality Mentors
Nov 9, Beaverton, OR
Click here for more info
SQL Server 2008 Fast Track Data Warehouse
Solid Quality Mentors
Nov 13, Irving, TX
Nov 17, Reston, VA
Nov 19, Iselin, NJ
Nov 20, Chicago, IL
Click here for more info
SQL Server 2008 End-to-End Business Intelligence Workshop
Solid Quality Mentors
Dec 7, Bellevue, WA
Click here for more info
Microsoft BI Bootcamp
Solid Quality Mentors
Dec 14, Beaverton, OR
Click here for more info
RESOURCES
Microsoft BI
CapstoneBI Architects
Notes from the Field
SQL Server
Business Intelligence: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
Data Mining: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
Whitepaper: New Data Warehouse Scalability Features in SQL Server
Whitepaper: Predictive Analysis with SQL Server 2008
Whitepaper: Introducing Microsoft StreamInsight
OLAP Heartbeat - monitor activity on Analysis Services
SQL Server 2008: Project "Madison"
Blog: Introduction to SQL Server Project Madison
SSIS: Kimball Method SSIS Slowly Changing Dimension Component
Blog: Formatting Linked Server MDX Query Results Using CTEs
SSAS: SQL Sentry, Performance Optimization Software
SSAS: list of front end applications
SharePoint Server
Business Intelligence: Overview, Using BI Features
PerformancePoint: Technical Library
Download: PerformancePoint SP2 (64-bit or 32-bit)
Whitepaper: Publishing PerformancePoint Server in Extranet Scenarios
Whitepaper: Accessing large scale ROLAP environments with PerformancePoint Server 2007
Office 2010
PowerPivot
http://www.powerpivot.com/ for Excel 2010
Blog: Using PowerPivot with Excel 2010
Related BI Resources
Caveman Forecaster - great resource for data mining/time series formatting
Federal IT Dashboard
http://it.usaspending.gov/ - track Stimulus Spending
Data.gov Catalogs, FAQ
NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES
Microsoft sets SQL Server 2008 R2 preview
Q&A: Business Intelligence gets a facelift in SQL Server 2008 R2
Microsoft Previews SQL Server Upgrades, In-Memory Analysis
End of life comes for SQL Server 2005 SP2
DBA career paths could lead to business intelligence
Peter Drucker as Life Coach: Book Shares His Wisdom
.
Friday, October 30, 2009
deFacto... a new alternative to PerformancePoint Planning?
Last week, I had the pleasure of spending a few days in Las Vegas for Microsoft's SharePoint Conference. I have to admit, I came away drinking the Microsoft 'kool aid' after seeing great attention being paid to the new Business Intelligence (BI) capabilities within SharePoint and Excel. After all, in his keynote speech Ballmer included a demo of PerformancePoint Services within SharePoint and the new PowerPivot capabilities within Excel... over 7,000 attendees were exposed to some very cool BI right there...
BUT, perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the session was discovering deFacto Global, who had a vendor booth and used the SharePoint Conference as an opportunity to "launch" their brand new product, defacto Performance Management.
Here is more information sent to me by the principals at deFacto, including mention of PerformancePoint Planning Migration that is worth checking out if your organization currently uses PerformancePoint Planning and is considering alternatives that align with your current infrastructure...
deFacto Performance Management fulfills the original mission of Microsoft PerformancePoint Server 2007 Planning: a Microsoft-centric budgeting, forecasting, consolidation, reporting and analysis tool that is powerful, scalable, easy to use and implement, and affordable. Built from the ground up by experts behind world-class products from Hyperion Solutions, OutlookSoft, and SAP®, deFacto delivers best-of-the-best performance management capabilities in a single, fully unified product.
deFacto is a highly scalable solution that supports the full range of planning and analysis applications from sophisticated enterprise wide to much more straightforward department level . Built using the vast features of Microsoft’s Excel, and the Relational and Multi-dimensional capabilities of SQL Server, deFacto represents a critical component of any organization’s Microsoft-centric Business Intelligence or Performance Management strategy. It goes far beyond the usual slicing-and-dicing of data to allow instant reporting of user-specific financial and operational data such as finance, marketing, human resources, supply chain, capital planning, profitability, sales, and many others.
deFacto is a completely unified, OLAP-based, analysis and planning product that offers the full range of capabilities users need, including modeling, forecasting, drill-down, drill-through, what-if analysis, reporting, and more. It empowers business users who drive planning processes throughout an organization with the ability to perform real-time analysis by enabling Excel and even SharePoint with data submission capability to its centralized data store. deFacto also complements Microsoft SharePoint Monitoring and Analytics components with powerful capabilities such as cube building, user security, advanced logic, data entry and what-if – all of which can be managed by the business user through the deFacto Modeler.
Migrating to deFacto is Easy….
deFacto offers PerformancePoint Server 2007 Planning customers a straightforward and cost-effective way to realize dramatic improvements in the usability, performance, scalability and support of their investment. Planning customers find moving to deFacto is the best and easiest way to transition to a tool that offers critical, must-have functionality and performance, as well as an exciting future. Since deFacto’s core technology is Microsoft-centric, much like PPS Planning, it offers the added benefit of capitalizing on your’ investment in organization-specific assets such as models, dimensions, business rules, data structures, reports, templates, ETL, security, and others.
Whether they are setting-up a new performance management environment from scratch or migrating from another tool, our customers are up and running quickly and efficiently. deFacto provides all of the functionality user’s need while setting a new standard for performance management.
For more information about deFacto Performance Management please visit http://www.defactoglobal.com/.
BUT, perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the session was discovering deFacto Global, who had a vendor booth and used the SharePoint Conference as an opportunity to "launch" their brand new product, defacto Performance Management.
Here is more information sent to me by the principals at deFacto, including mention of PerformancePoint Planning Migration that is worth checking out if your organization currently uses PerformancePoint Planning and is considering alternatives that align with your current infrastructure...
deFacto Performance Management fulfills the original mission of Microsoft PerformancePoint Server 2007 Planning: a Microsoft-centric budgeting, forecasting, consolidation, reporting and analysis tool that is powerful, scalable, easy to use and implement, and affordable. Built from the ground up by experts behind world-class products from Hyperion Solutions, OutlookSoft, and SAP®, deFacto delivers best-of-the-best performance management capabilities in a single, fully unified product.
deFacto is a highly scalable solution that supports the full range of planning and analysis applications from sophisticated enterprise wide to much more straightforward department level . Built using the vast features of Microsoft’s Excel, and the Relational and Multi-dimensional capabilities of SQL Server, deFacto represents a critical component of any organization’s Microsoft-centric Business Intelligence or Performance Management strategy. It goes far beyond the usual slicing-and-dicing of data to allow instant reporting of user-specific financial and operational data such as finance, marketing, human resources, supply chain, capital planning, profitability, sales, and many others.
deFacto is a completely unified, OLAP-based, analysis and planning product that offers the full range of capabilities users need, including modeling, forecasting, drill-down, drill-through, what-if analysis, reporting, and more. It empowers business users who drive planning processes throughout an organization with the ability to perform real-time analysis by enabling Excel and even SharePoint with data submission capability to its centralized data store. deFacto also complements Microsoft SharePoint Monitoring and Analytics components with powerful capabilities such as cube building, user security, advanced logic, data entry and what-if – all of which can be managed by the business user through the deFacto Modeler.
Migrating to deFacto is Easy….
deFacto offers PerformancePoint Server 2007 Planning customers a straightforward and cost-effective way to realize dramatic improvements in the usability, performance, scalability and support of their investment. Planning customers find moving to deFacto is the best and easiest way to transition to a tool that offers critical, must-have functionality and performance, as well as an exciting future. Since deFacto’s core technology is Microsoft-centric, much like PPS Planning, it offers the added benefit of capitalizing on your’ investment in organization-specific assets such as models, dimensions, business rules, data structures, reports, templates, ETL, security, and others.
Whether they are setting-up a new performance management environment from scratch or migrating from another tool, our customers are up and running quickly and efficiently. deFacto provides all of the functionality user’s need while setting a new standard for performance management.
For more information about deFacto Performance Management please visit http://www.defactoglobal.com/.
Monday, October 5, 2009
October 2009 v.30 - Business Intelligence Update
HOT TOPICS
SharePoint Conference – Las Vegas, Oct 19-22
SQL PASS – Seattle, Nov 2-5
Ballmer: The New Efficiency
SQL Server 2008 R2 – Managed Self Service Business Intelligence
Blog: Excel 2010, Interacting with Slicers
Feds Refresh Stimulus Tracking Site
http://www.recovery.gov/ – track Stimulus Spending
White House set to unleash 100,000 federal data sources via data.gov
Data.gov Catalogs, FAQ
WEBCASTS
All webcast times are in Eastern Time Zone unless otherwise specified
SaaS and BI
Hosted by Strategy Companion
Oct 16, 2pm
Click here for more info
Save Time and Money with the Business Intelligence Capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics GP
Hosted by Microsoft
Oct 20, 1pm
Click here for more info
How to Create a Clear Vision for your Business Intelligence Needs
Hosted by Neudesic
Oct 20, 2pm
Click here for more info
Jumpstart Sales with Business Intelligence
Hosted by Gig Werks
Oct 28, 1pm
Click here for more info
EVENTS
SoCal BI User Group
Speaker: Daniel Upton
Oct 1, San Diego, CA
Click here for more info
Baton Rouge SQL User Group
Topic: Introduction to MDX
Oct 7, Baton Rouge, LA
Click here for more info
SharePoint Conference 2009
Hosted by Microsoft
Oct 18, Las Vegas, NV
Click here for more info
Boulder SQL Server User Group
Topic: SQL Tuning
Oct 20, Broomfield, CO
Click here for more info
Microsoft PerformancePoint Services and Business Intelligence
Hosted by CSG Professional Services
Oct 27, Portland OR
Click here for more info
TDWI World Conference
Hosted by The Data Warehouse Institute
Nov 1, Orlando, FL
Click here for more info
SQL PASS
Hosted by Microsoft
Nov 2, Seattle, WA
Click here for more info
SharePoint Unleashed
Hosted by Microsoft
Nov 3, Irvine, CA
Click here for more info
Los Angeles SQL Server Professionals Group
Nov 19, Los Angeles, CA
Click here for more info
TRAINING
Web: SQL Server Training Portal
Web: SharePoint Server 2007 Training Portal
Web: Excel 2007 Training Courses
Web: PerformancePoint Monitoring and Analytics
Dashboard basics I, Dashboard basics II
Microsoft BI Bootcamp
Solid Quality Mentors
Oct 19, Bellevue, WA
Click here for more info
Enterprise ETL with SSIS
Solid Quality Mentors
Oct 19, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info
Enterprise ETL with SSIS
Solid Quality Mentors
Nov 9, Beaverton, OR
Click here for more info
RESOURCES
Microsoft BI
CapstoneBI Home page
SQL Server
Business Intelligence: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
Data Mining: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
Whitepaper: New Data Warehouse Scalability Features in SQL Server
Whitepaper: Predicative Analysis with SQL Server 2008
OLAP Heartbeat – monitor activity on Analysis Services
Complex Event Processing
SQL Server 2008: Project "Madison"
Blog: Introduction to SQL Server Project Madison
SSIS: Kimball Method SSIS Slowly Changing Dimension Component
SSAS: SQL Sentry, Performance Optimization Software
SSAS: list of front end applications
SharePoint Server
Business Intelligence: Overview, Using BI Features
PerformancePoint: Technical Library
Download: PerformancePoint SP2 (64-bit or 32-bit)
Whitepaper: Publishing PerformancePoint Server in Extranet Scenarios
Whitepaper: Accessing large scale ROLAP environments with PerformancePoint Server 2007
Office 2010
Project "Gemini"
Related BI Resources
Caveman Forecaster – great resource for data mining/time series forecasting
Federal IT Dashboard
NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES
Getting Started with BI
Smart and cheap: How to improve business intelligence on a tight budget
Want to make BI pervasive? It’s the culture, stupid
IT Jobs May Get Left Behind in Recovery
Tracking Carbon Emissions: The Next Big Reporting Challenge
Profiles in Performance: Q&A with Howard Dresner
SharePoint Conference – Las Vegas, Oct 19-22
SQL PASS – Seattle, Nov 2-5
Ballmer: The New Efficiency
SQL Server 2008 R2 – Managed Self Service Business Intelligence
Blog: Excel 2010, Interacting with Slicers
Feds Refresh Stimulus Tracking Site
http://www.recovery.gov/ – track Stimulus Spending
White House set to unleash 100,000 federal data sources via data.gov
Data.gov Catalogs, FAQ
WEBCASTS
All webcast times are in Eastern Time Zone unless otherwise specified
SaaS and BI
Hosted by Strategy Companion
Oct 16, 2pm
Click here for more info
Save Time and Money with the Business Intelligence Capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics GP
Hosted by Microsoft
Oct 20, 1pm
Click here for more info
How to Create a Clear Vision for your Business Intelligence Needs
Hosted by Neudesic
Oct 20, 2pm
Click here for more info
Jumpstart Sales with Business Intelligence
Hosted by Gig Werks
Oct 28, 1pm
Click here for more info
EVENTS
SoCal BI User Group
Speaker: Daniel Upton
Oct 1, San Diego, CA
Click here for more info
Baton Rouge SQL User Group
Topic: Introduction to MDX
Oct 7, Baton Rouge, LA
Click here for more info
SharePoint Conference 2009
Hosted by Microsoft
Oct 18, Las Vegas, NV
Click here for more info
Boulder SQL Server User Group
Topic: SQL Tuning
Oct 20, Broomfield, CO
Click here for more info
Microsoft PerformancePoint Services and Business Intelligence
Hosted by CSG Professional Services
Oct 27, Portland OR
Click here for more info
TDWI World Conference
Hosted by The Data Warehouse Institute
Nov 1, Orlando, FL
Click here for more info
SQL PASS
Hosted by Microsoft
Nov 2, Seattle, WA
Click here for more info
SharePoint Unleashed
Hosted by Microsoft
Nov 3, Irvine, CA
Click here for more info
Los Angeles SQL Server Professionals Group
Nov 19, Los Angeles, CA
Click here for more info
TRAINING
Web: SQL Server Training Portal
Web: SharePoint Server 2007 Training Portal
Web: Excel 2007 Training Courses
Web: PerformancePoint Monitoring and Analytics
Dashboard basics I, Dashboard basics II
Microsoft BI Bootcamp
Solid Quality Mentors
Oct 19, Bellevue, WA
Click here for more info
Enterprise ETL with SSIS
Solid Quality Mentors
Oct 19, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info
Enterprise ETL with SSIS
Solid Quality Mentors
Nov 9, Beaverton, OR
Click here for more info
RESOURCES
Microsoft BI
CapstoneBI Home page
SQL Server
Business Intelligence: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
Data Mining: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
Whitepaper: New Data Warehouse Scalability Features in SQL Server
Whitepaper: Predicative Analysis with SQL Server 2008
OLAP Heartbeat – monitor activity on Analysis Services
Complex Event Processing
SQL Server 2008: Project "Madison"
Blog: Introduction to SQL Server Project Madison
SSIS: Kimball Method SSIS Slowly Changing Dimension Component
SSAS: SQL Sentry, Performance Optimization Software
SSAS: list of front end applications
SharePoint Server
Business Intelligence: Overview, Using BI Features
PerformancePoint: Technical Library
Download: PerformancePoint SP2 (64-bit or 32-bit)
Whitepaper: Publishing PerformancePoint Server in Extranet Scenarios
Whitepaper: Accessing large scale ROLAP environments with PerformancePoint Server 2007
Office 2010
Project "Gemini"
Related BI Resources
Caveman Forecaster – great resource for data mining/time series forecasting
Federal IT Dashboard
NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES
Getting Started with BI
Smart and cheap: How to improve business intelligence on a tight budget
Want to make BI pervasive? It’s the culture, stupid
IT Jobs May Get Left Behind in Recovery
Tracking Carbon Emissions: The Next Big Reporting Challenge
Profiles in Performance: Q&A with Howard Dresner
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
SoCal BI User Group - Oct1, San Diego
For those of you in the SoCal area, take part in the SoCal BI User Group.
Enhancing BI End-User Data Visualizations using MDX
Presented by Daniel Upton
Thursday, Oct 1, 6:30-8:30pm
7480 Mission Valley Road
Suite 100
San Diego, CA 92108
Enhancing BI End-User Data Visualizations using MDX
Presented by Daniel Upton
Thursday, Oct 1, 6:30-8:30pm
7480 Mission Valley Road
Suite 100
San Diego, CA 92108
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Article Update - For Today’s Graduate, Just One Word: Statistics
On Monday I chatted with a friend of mine about data mining. She's a brilliant woman, always makes me laugh, and these days she's swamped working on her PhD dissertation. She studies Psychometrics at Columbia University, a field that involves the study of measurement instruments and procedures, and a field that requires proficient data analysis.
She pointed me to this NY Times article from last month, and I think there are some interesting statements in it worth noting.
excerpts from... For Today's Graduate, Just One Word: Statistics
New York Times
Published Aug 5, 2009
"I keep saying that the sexy job in the next 10 years will be statisticians," said Hal Varian, chief economist at Google. "And I'm not kidding."
The rising stature of statisticians, who can earn $125,000 at top companies in their first year after getting a doctorate, is a byproduct of the recent explosion of digital data.
And the digital surge only promises to accelerate, rising fivefold by 2012, according to a projection by IDC, a research firm.
Yet data is merely the raw material of knowledge. "We're rapidly entering a world where everything can be monitored and measured," said Erik Brynjolfsson, an economist and director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Digital Business. "But the big problem is going to be the ability of humans to use, analyze and make sense of the data."
They are certainly welcomed in the White House these days. "Robust, unbiased data are the first step toward addressing our long term economic needs and key policy priorities," Peter R. Orzag, director of the Office of Management and Budget, declared in a speech in May.
It is the size of the data sets on the Web that opens new worlds of discovery.
"The key is to let computers do what they are good at, which is trawling these massive data sets for something that is mathematically odd," said Daniel Gruhl, an I.B.M. researcher whose recent work includes mining medical data to improve treatement. "And that makes it easier for humans to do what they are good at --explain those anomalies."
She pointed me to this NY Times article from last month, and I think there are some interesting statements in it worth noting.
excerpts from... For Today's Graduate, Just One Word: Statistics
New York Times
Published Aug 5, 2009
"I keep saying that the sexy job in the next 10 years will be statisticians," said Hal Varian, chief economist at Google. "And I'm not kidding."
The rising stature of statisticians, who can earn $125,000 at top companies in their first year after getting a doctorate, is a byproduct of the recent explosion of digital data.
And the digital surge only promises to accelerate, rising fivefold by 2012, according to a projection by IDC, a research firm.
Yet data is merely the raw material of knowledge. "We're rapidly entering a world where everything can be monitored and measured," said Erik Brynjolfsson, an economist and director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Digital Business. "But the big problem is going to be the ability of humans to use, analyze and make sense of the data."
They are certainly welcomed in the White House these days. "Robust, unbiased data are the first step toward addressing our long term economic needs and key policy priorities," Peter R. Orzag, director of the Office of Management and Budget, declared in a speech in May.
It is the size of the data sets on the Web that opens new worlds of discovery.
"The key is to let computers do what they are good at, which is trawling these massive data sets for something that is mathematically odd," said Daniel Gruhl, an I.B.M. researcher whose recent work includes mining medical data to improve treatement. "And that makes it easier for humans to do what they are good at --explain those anomalies."
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
September 2009 v.29 - Business Intelligence Update
.
HOT TOPICS
Office 2010: Project "Gemini"
Demo: Overview
Demo: Creating table relationships in MS Gemini Self-Service Business Intelligence
Microsoft ships the first technology preview for Project code-named "Madison"
SQL Server 2008: Project "Madison"
Federal IT Dashboard
Commentary: Federal CIO Dashboard: We Can and Should Do Better Than This
NY Times: For Today’s Graduate, Just One Word: Statistics
WEBCASTS
All webcast times are in Eastern Time Zone unless otherwise specified
Putting Microsoft BI Tools in the Hands of Business Users
Hosted by Gig-Werks
Sept 2, 1pm
Click here for more info
Best Practices for Pervasive BI
Hosted by Strategy Companion
Sept 3, 2pm
Click here for more info
Building the Business Case for BI/Analytics
Hosted by Xcelligent
Sept 11, 11:45am
Click here for more info
Complete Business Intelligence Solution for your Microsoft Platform
Hosted by Panorama
Sept 15, 1pm
Click here for more info
Using Microsoft Office for Business Intelligence
Hosted by Microsoft
Sept 16, 2pm
Click here for more info
Microsoft Business Intelligence for Oracle Financials
Hosted by Microsoft
Sept 23, 1pm
Click here for more info
Better Operational Efficiency with Business Intelligence
Hosted by Gig Werks
Sept 30, 1pm
Click here for more info
Transforming Analytics in Financial Services
Hosted by Tableau Software
Sept 30, 2pm
Click here for more info
How to Create a Clear Vision for your Business Intelligence Needs
Hosted by Neudesic
Oct 20, 2pm
Click here for more info
Jumpstart Sales with Business Intelligence
Hosted by Gig Werks
Oct 28, 1pm
Click here for more info
EVENTS
SharePoint Conference 2009
Hosted by Microsoft
Oct 18, Las Vegas, NV
Click here for more info
TDWI World Conference
Hosted by The Data Warehouse Institute
Nov 1, Orlando, FL
Click here for more info
SQL PASS
Hosted by Microsoft
Nov 2, Seattle, WA
Click here for more info
TRAINING
Web: SQL Server Training Portal
Web: SharePoint Server 2007 Training Portal
Web: PerformancePoint Monitoring and Analytics:
Dashboard basics I, Dashboard basics II
PerformancePoint Monitoring and Analytics
Solid Quality Mentors
Sept 9, Beaverton, OR
Click here for more info
SQL Server 2008 End-to-End BI Workshop
Solid Quality Mentors
Sept 14, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info
Microsoft BI Bootcamp
Solid Quality Mentors
Sept 21, Beaverton, OR
Click here for more info
Deploying, Operating, and Tuning an SSAS 2008 Solution
Solid Quality Mentors
Oct 5, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info
Enterprise ETL with SSIS
Solid Quality Mentors
Oct 19, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info
Designing and Developing Solutions with SSAS 2008
Solid Quality Mentors
Oct 26, Beaverton, OR
Click here for more info
RESOURCES
Microsoft BI
CapstoneBI Home page
SQL Server
Business Intelligence: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
Data Mining: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
Whitepaper: New Data Warehouse Scalability Features in SQL Server
Whitepaper: Predicative Analysis with SQL Server 2008
OLAP Heartbeat – monitor activity on Analysis Services
Complex Event Processing
SharePoint Server
Business Intelligence: Overview, Using BI Features
PerformancePoint
Technical Library
Download: PerformancePoint SP2 (64-bit or 32-bit)
Whitepaper: Publishing PerformancePoint Server in Extranet Scenarios
Whitepaper: Accessing large scale ROLAP environments with PerformancePoint Server 2007
NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES
Preview SQL Server 2008 R2
Microsoft Unveils Preview Code for Next SQL Server
Microsoft issues SQL Azure, CEP platform previews
Can Business Intelligence Help Save Healthcare?
4 Technologies That Are Reshaping Business Intelligence
Kimball University: Five Alternatives for Better Employee Dimension Modeling
White House set to unleash 100,000 federal data sources via data.gov
.
HOT TOPICS
Office 2010: Project "Gemini"
Demo: Overview
Demo: Creating table relationships in MS Gemini Self-Service Business Intelligence
Microsoft ships the first technology preview for Project code-named "Madison"
SQL Server 2008: Project "Madison"
Federal IT Dashboard
Commentary: Federal CIO Dashboard: We Can and Should Do Better Than This
NY Times: For Today’s Graduate, Just One Word: Statistics
WEBCASTS
All webcast times are in Eastern Time Zone unless otherwise specified
Putting Microsoft BI Tools in the Hands of Business Users
Hosted by Gig-Werks
Sept 2, 1pm
Click here for more info
Best Practices for Pervasive BI
Hosted by Strategy Companion
Sept 3, 2pm
Click here for more info
Building the Business Case for BI/Analytics
Hosted by Xcelligent
Sept 11, 11:45am
Click here for more info
Complete Business Intelligence Solution for your Microsoft Platform
Hosted by Panorama
Sept 15, 1pm
Click here for more info
Using Microsoft Office for Business Intelligence
Hosted by Microsoft
Sept 16, 2pm
Click here for more info
Microsoft Business Intelligence for Oracle Financials
Hosted by Microsoft
Sept 23, 1pm
Click here for more info
Better Operational Efficiency with Business Intelligence
Hosted by Gig Werks
Sept 30, 1pm
Click here for more info
Transforming Analytics in Financial Services
Hosted by Tableau Software
Sept 30, 2pm
Click here for more info
How to Create a Clear Vision for your Business Intelligence Needs
Hosted by Neudesic
Oct 20, 2pm
Click here for more info
Jumpstart Sales with Business Intelligence
Hosted by Gig Werks
Oct 28, 1pm
Click here for more info
EVENTS
SharePoint Conference 2009
Hosted by Microsoft
Oct 18, Las Vegas, NV
Click here for more info
TDWI World Conference
Hosted by The Data Warehouse Institute
Nov 1, Orlando, FL
Click here for more info
SQL PASS
Hosted by Microsoft
Nov 2, Seattle, WA
Click here for more info
TRAINING
Web: SQL Server Training Portal
Web: SharePoint Server 2007 Training Portal
Web: PerformancePoint Monitoring and Analytics:
Dashboard basics I, Dashboard basics II
PerformancePoint Monitoring and Analytics
Solid Quality Mentors
Sept 9, Beaverton, OR
Click here for more info
SQL Server 2008 End-to-End BI Workshop
Solid Quality Mentors
Sept 14, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info
Microsoft BI Bootcamp
Solid Quality Mentors
Sept 21, Beaverton, OR
Click here for more info
Deploying, Operating, and Tuning an SSAS 2008 Solution
Solid Quality Mentors
Oct 5, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info
Enterprise ETL with SSIS
Solid Quality Mentors
Oct 19, Minneapolis, MN
Click here for more info
Designing and Developing Solutions with SSAS 2008
Solid Quality Mentors
Oct 26, Beaverton, OR
Click here for more info
RESOURCES
Microsoft BI
CapstoneBI Home page
SQL Server
Business Intelligence: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
Data Mining: SQL 2005, SQL 2008
Whitepaper: New Data Warehouse Scalability Features in SQL Server
Whitepaper: Predicative Analysis with SQL Server 2008
OLAP Heartbeat – monitor activity on Analysis Services
Complex Event Processing
SharePoint Server
Business Intelligence: Overview, Using BI Features
PerformancePoint
Technical Library
Download: PerformancePoint SP2 (64-bit or 32-bit)
Whitepaper: Publishing PerformancePoint Server in Extranet Scenarios
Whitepaper: Accessing large scale ROLAP environments with PerformancePoint Server 2007
NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES
Preview SQL Server 2008 R2
Microsoft Unveils Preview Code for Next SQL Server
Microsoft issues SQL Azure, CEP platform previews
Can Business Intelligence Help Save Healthcare?
4 Technologies That Are Reshaping Business Intelligence
Kimball University: Five Alternatives for Better Employee Dimension Modeling
White House set to unleash 100,000 federal data sources via data.gov
.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
CapstoneBI, Competing in Analytics
I'm thrilled to now be working for Capstone Consulting Group, this is an experienced team of guys I've worked with for years. I'm particularly happy that my colleagues are passionate about data analysis, predictive modeling, parameters, fact-based decision making, the future technologies of business intelligence.
Having just started with Capstone, I recently came across the book Competing on Analytics, by Thomas Davenport and Jeanne Harris and I read it on one of my trips. Since the book motivated me (yes it got me all pumped up about business intelligence), I have every reason to think the book is great. You should check it out.
Well, I went so far as to incorporate the "Competing on analytics stages model" (page 36) into my initial requirements gathering process as I work with clients to assess how CapstoneBI can support their project plans. There are five stages in this model... what stage is your company at?
1) Analytically Impaired - "flying blind"
2) Localized Analytics - local and opportunistic
3) Analytical Aspirations - begun efforts to integrate data systems
4) Analytical Companies - enterprise-wide perspective, know what to do but not quite there
5) Analytical Competitors - enterprise-wide, big results, sustainable
Like the authors of the book, most companies I meet with are at stages 1 and 2. I find huge opportunities to positively impact company culture by introducing innovation thru data integration and better centralized access.
For companies at stage 3, unforeseen challenges can stump project momentum, political and beauracratic policies slow the project down. Users are hungry for new perspective and new information, an enterprise-wide system will help.
At stage 4, the network is humming, performance dashboards are being developed and used. Now we want to see what the future may bring... what will happen if these trends persist for another year? what will need to happen to reduce our risk?
When it comes to hands-on experience applying the principles found in this book, CapstoneBI experts solve tough BI technology issues daily, with companies at ALL stages listed above. We're on some challenging high-profile projects now. Aside from the technical experience we bring to the table, our team is made up of good people who innately respect and enjoy helping the professionals we work with.
Sync up with us... check out our CapstoneBI website and technical blog, Notes from the Field... if you have questions don't hesitate to be in touch. We're always looking for new clients who have BI implementation challenges we can help solve... and we're looking for skilled and experienced BI consultants to join our team.
Hope to hear from you soon!
Jason Morales
Director, CapstoneBI
Having just started with Capstone, I recently came across the book Competing on Analytics, by Thomas Davenport and Jeanne Harris and I read it on one of my trips. Since the book motivated me (yes it got me all pumped up about business intelligence), I have every reason to think the book is great. You should check it out.
Well, I went so far as to incorporate the "Competing on analytics stages model" (page 36) into my initial requirements gathering process as I work with clients to assess how CapstoneBI can support their project plans. There are five stages in this model... what stage is your company at?
1) Analytically Impaired - "flying blind"
2) Localized Analytics - local and opportunistic
3) Analytical Aspirations - begun efforts to integrate data systems
4) Analytical Companies - enterprise-wide perspective, know what to do but not quite there
5) Analytical Competitors - enterprise-wide, big results, sustainable
Like the authors of the book, most companies I meet with are at stages 1 and 2. I find huge opportunities to positively impact company culture by introducing innovation thru data integration and better centralized access.
For companies at stage 3, unforeseen challenges can stump project momentum, political and beauracratic policies slow the project down. Users are hungry for new perspective and new information, an enterprise-wide system will help.
At stage 4, the network is humming, performance dashboards are being developed and used. Now we want to see what the future may bring... what will happen if these trends persist for another year? what will need to happen to reduce our risk?
When it comes to hands-on experience applying the principles found in this book, CapstoneBI experts solve tough BI technology issues daily, with companies at ALL stages listed above. We're on some challenging high-profile projects now. Aside from the technical experience we bring to the table, our team is made up of good people who innately respect and enjoy helping the professionals we work with.
Sync up with us... check out our CapstoneBI website and technical blog, Notes from the Field... if you have questions don't hesitate to be in touch. We're always looking for new clients who have BI implementation challenges we can help solve... and we're looking for skilled and experienced BI consultants to join our team.
Hope to hear from you soon!
Jason Morales
Director, CapstoneBI
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
