Event Location:
Australian Institute of Management
Cnr Boundary Rosa Streets
Spring Hill, QLD, Australia
Abstract:
Within every Data Warehouse project there is always ETL development that is very repetitive in nature, for example, you need to import 20 different flat file exports from the ERP system, you need to load 15 dimensions into the data warehouse and so on. With Microsoft SSIS out-of-the-box, you are forced to create multiple individual packages which is very time consuming due to the lack of easy code reuse. In a typical BI project, the ETL implementation can easily take up 60% of the project time, so it is beneficial if the development time of similar SSIS packages can be cut down. Business Intelligence Markup Language (Biml) is an XML dialect for defining Business Intelligence assets across the Microsoft SQL Server platform In this session Craig will introduce you to Biml BimlScript, providing those new to Biml with a foundational understanding of what BIML is and what the benefits of using Biml are.
Speaker(s): Craig Bryden,
Abstract:
Power BI is a Microsoft's self-service BI platform for both on-premise and cloud-based data. It enables business Power Users to make the most of their data by using the new data discovery, analysis and visualisation features in Excel and Office 365, in an easy to use environment that they are already familiar with. In this session we will go through the new features and capabilities of Power BI. We will also discuss best practices and tips along the way that will enable you to get the best out of this exciting technology. Topics include: Overview, real-life demo, hybrid-cloud scenarios with Data Management Gateway, DMG tips and tricks, custom map demo, QA tips, licensing overview, Power BI roles in an enterprise environment, how this could fit your organisation, lessons learned from our 1.5 year journey, dashboard designer, SSAS connector, etc.
Speaker(s): Iman Eftekhari,
Abstract:
Historically, users have been constrained to consume data in fixed platforms, with one specific dimension for digital viewings and a couple of printed layouts. Nowadays, with the ubiquitous mobile devices available, Management expects to know key business indicators and day-to-day operation performance on the go. Using well-designed data models and visualization techniques, Power View can leverage timely and quick dashboards for analysis on the go. This session will discuss how to design the appropriate data model to enable self-service data exploration and insightful analysis in Power View, and how to create pixel perfect visualization for mobile devices. You will also learn how the techniques differ from traditional platforms. Using live demo, we will walk through ways to channel users focus on actionable analytics.
Speaker(s): Julie Koesmarno,
Abstract:
It’s often the case that your budget doesn’t stretch far enough for all the great third party tools that help manage your SQL Servers. So, how can the in-built components of SQL Server help you with your daily tasks? Policy Management, Data Collector and Extended Events, all included in both Enterprise and Standard Editions, provide a framework to keep your configurations consistent and give you some insights into the performance of your SQL Server instances. In this session, we will see how to make use of these components to formalize your configuration and track some performance attributes. After this session you’ll be able to build out an effective management and monitoring toolkit using only “out-of-the-box” features.
Speaker(s): Martin Cairney,
Abstract:
UNLOCKING THE FIGHTER PILOT IN EVERY DBA – Let’s discuss how piloting tactical jets and flying SQL Servers requires similar psychology, skills and composure, especially during emergencies! DBA performance in production environments matters greatly, even on the easiest of days. But when things go wrong, that’s when you really earn your money and discover the depth of your knowledge and your poise in emergency response. We’ll focus on improving successful handling of critical situations. Content is based upon the collective knowledge gained by many people over many years in high performance aircraft. We’ll investigate examples of how to, and how not to, handle extremely difficult situations. We will look at bullet proof techniques for improving DBA crisis management. We’ll dig into teamwork/crew coordination during critical scenarios. Get ready for takeoff as you’ll see some captivating flight video and, if you have the courage to, participate in a live exercise.
Speaker(s): Nicholas Loghides,
Abstract:
In this double session using a live-typing approach, we will show the overall structure of a Biml file and the core syntax patterns. Then he will demonstrate how the power of BimlScript is amplified by the availability of rich metadata sources to drive the automatic creation of your Data Vault solution. We will demonstrate a flexible and reusable framework for storing and managing the metadata that you will use as an input to your BimlScripts. We will bring it together with a walking through a fully featured production framework and the code it generates. We will add unit test and continuous integration using MSBuild and the BimlCompiler allowing for changes in the source to drive the re-factoring of your Data Vault development.
Speaker(s): Peter Avenant,
Abstract:
As organizations look to lower infrastructure costs and increase worker productivity, two industry trends have emerged: the shift to the cloud and self-service. How will these trends change the way we build BI solutions, without compromising on security, manageability and governance? Join this session and find out! We will explore the following questions: What is Power BI? What do you need to run Power BI? How does Power BI differ to traditional BI? Where does Power BI fit in a broader enterprise BI strategy? And, finally, how can on-premises data sources be used in cloud-based Power BI solutions? In addition to answering these questions, we will build a Power BI solution from scratch using both on-premises and cloud-based data sources. We will use Power Query, Power Pivot, Power View and Power Map, before deploying the solution to a Power BI site in the cloud, and interacting with it using Q A, the new natural language query technology.
Speaker(s): Rod Colledge,
Abstract:
In this session we will discuss Data Warehouse Automation, how it can improve you productivity as a developer and, at the same time, produce a consistent and flexible Data Warehouse that's easy to change. In the session we will build a Data Warehouse using a Data Warehouse Automation tool, so you can see the process in action. We will also look at EzAPI an alternative to BIML, that you can use to generate SSIS packages. Using EzAPI you can save time by starting with a standard SSIS package as a template, and then modify through code. Data Warehouse Automation lets you stay focused on what really matters... producing valuable analytics and reporting for your business users
Speaker(s): Adam Gilmore,
Abstract:
Much of the fanfare for Microsoft SQL Server 2014 has been around the new In-Memory Optimization features. However SQL Server 2014 introduces a number of new Data Platform features for managing SQL Server. These new management features have been designed to assist with diagnosing and resolving common performance issues. This session demonstrates how to troubleshoot various scenarios using the new features in SQL Server 2014. In this session you will learn how to monitor the performance of your severs over time and provide a greater insight into SQL Server.
Speaker(s): Peter Ward,
Abstract:
"A Festivus for the rest of us!". That was how Seinfeld character Frank Costanza described his alternative to the Christmas tradition. In this session, I'll describe an alternative to the traditional approach to Data Science. Armed with nothing but a browser and an internet connection, I'll show you how easy it is to use Azure Machine Learning to build cloud-powered predictive models and deploy them as web services for application integration. After setting the context of where predictive modelling fits in the overall analytics spectrum, we'll dive into the Azure offering, before building and deploying a machine learning model from scratch using Azure Machine Learning Studio.
Speaker(s): Peter Myers,
Abstract:
Well, you can tell by the way I use WAIT STATS, I’m a DBA, and I like the DAC. PERFMON’s on and PAL is warm, I check LOCKS and BLOCKS for not the norm. Whether you’re a brother or whether you’re a mother, this session will have your SQL Servers stayin’ alive. Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive. All critical features and tools that you must know and use to keep your SQL Servers stayin’ alive.
Speaker(s): Heidi Wilson,
Abstract:
Data Recovery is a major part of a DBA’s job. As a DBA how can we ensure our mission critical data is available and recoverable in a timely manner when disaster strikes. As a production support DBA how can you ensure you’re mission critical data is protected? With the release of SQL Server 2014, changes were made to the AlwaysOn Availability Group feature set. In this session Warwick will introduce you to what Availability Groups are, breaking the confusion of DB Mirroring, FCI’s and AG’s, Introduce the new AG functionality and show you how this feature set can be used to extend your mission critical disaster recovery capabilities to cloud city.
Speaker(s): Warwick Rudd,
Abstract:
Azure SQL Database has been out for a while now, but the limited feature set has proved a barrier for adoption. Well, the latest additions to the TSQL surface area bring the offering more into line with SQL Server 2014 and the gap will only get smaller over time. Come along to this session and fin out more about the new features and how to go about managing Azure SQL Database with your tool of choice, weather that is SSMS, Powershell or Visual Studio.
Speaker(s): Martin Catherall,
Abstract:
Over the last 5 years Powershell has become the “go to” tool for the automation and management of the Windows platform and SQL Server. In this session we will walk through a number of Powershell functions, code snippets and techniques that can help fast track the development of automation and management DBA scripts. The examples in the session will show case Powershell building blocks like logging, exclude/include lists, read/validate INI files, retries, report generation, data load of performance data etc.
Speaker(s): Rob Risetto,
Abstract:
With Azure data centres located in Australia, will your company be looking more at cloud options? The Azure VM approach doesn't change your day to day role much, but Azure SQL Database certainly does. This session will look at the DBA functions for an Azure SQL Database instance and compare that with your regular on-premise approach. We'll demo some of techniques that can be used.
Speaker(s): Martin Cairney,
This is a list of speakers from the XML Guidebook records. The details and URLs were valid at the time of the event.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/juliekoesmarno
Contact: http://www.mssqlgirl.com
Julie Koesmarno, MCSE Data Platform, and MCSE Business Intelligence, MCT, is a Senior Program Manager at Microsoft, with a Bachelor’s degree in IT. She has over 10 years of experience working with SQL Server for large-scale and multi-million-dollar OLTP and ETL projects as a SQL Server developer and system analyst/designer. Her past projects include delivering a SQL Server 2012 data warehouse and BI solutions in the US and Australia. She now works with hybrid, cloud and on-prem SQL projects.
Contact: http://www.varigence.com.au
Peter Avenant is the Technical Director at Varigence Australia, an SSIS Developer, Trainer and Consultant, and SQL Server data warehouse specialist. His background includes developing a cloud metadata framework that integrates with BimlScript to create both data vault and dimensional data warehouses.
LinkedIn: http://au.linkedin.com/in/petersward/
Contact: http://wardyit.com/blog
Peter Ward is WARDY IT Solutions Chief Technical Architect. Peter's credentials and achievements include being a highly regarded speaker at SQL Server events; a sought after SQL Server consultant and trainer providing solutions for some of the largest SQL Server sites in Australia. Peter has been recognised as a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his technical excellence and commitment to the SQL Server Community.
LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/ieftekhari
Contact: http://www.agilebi.com.au
Iman Eftekhari (MCSE BI, MCITP, CSP) has been involved in many successful BI implementations mainly with financial services, health and the public sectors. He has presented at number of events such as PASS SQLSaturday Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Copenhagen,Sydney BI User Group, SQL Server User Group, etc. Iman is the co-founder of the Agile BI consulting, co-organiser of the Sydney BI Social group (SYBIS) and Sydney Power BI User Group (PUG).
LinkedIn: http://au.linkedin.com/pub/warwick-rudd/0/956/718
Contact: http://www.sqlmastersconsulting.com.au/Blog
Warwick Rudd is a Microsoft Certified Master – SQL Server 2008 and Principal Consultant at SQL Master Consulting. He is a frequent speaker at local SQL Server User Groups and SQLSaturday events in Australia. When not playing with the SQL stack, Warwick likes to get away to the cold and spend time snowboarding.
Contact: http://dbinsight.com.au
Rob Risetto is founder and technical director of DBInsight, a Queensland based SQL Server consulting company. Rob has over 24 years’ experience in managing and designing database environments with over 15 years’ SQL Server experience. Rob is passionate about the SQL Server Engine, and the techniques to maximise performance, scalability and high availability. Away from the SQL Server world, Rob likes to relax with his family and enjoys “Sideline Coaching” of his daughter’s hockey matches.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loghides
Cross a former Navy tactical jet pilot, Combat Air Medal recipient, Jet flight instructor, adversary pilot, and Certified Airline Transport Pilot with a current MCSE DP, SQL Server DBA and consultant with 15 years of technical experience and the result is … Nick, a seasoned DBA with nerves of steel and a unique perspective who blends the paradigms of aviation with DBA work, bringing lessons learned (some in blood) from both worlds to bear on critical situation handling.
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/rodcolledge
Contact: http://www.rodcolledge.com
Rod Colledge is the national BI practice lead for DWS, a leading publicly listed Australian IT Services company. With 15+ years of SQL Server experience, Rod#39;s commitment and depth of knowledge was recognized in 2010 with a Microsoft MVP award for SQL Server. This is Rod#39;s 6th consecutive year as an MVP. Rod has authored or contributed to three books, including the “SQL Server MVP Deep Dives” series. He#39;s a sought-after speaker at both local and international SQL Server conferences.
LinkedIn: http://au.linkedin.com/in/martincairney
Martin has 20 years’ experience in SQL Server technologies. His experience spans both the Database Engine and infrastructure requirements, and Data Warehousing and BI implementations. He has worked across many industry sectors including London’s global financial institutions and both State and Federal Government Departments. He is a SQL Server MVP, MCT and an experienced conference presenter, having presented at PASS Summit, SQLBits, and SQLSaturday events and User Groups round the world
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/adam-gilmore/3/902/576
Contact: http://www.dimodelo.com/blog
Adam Gilmore is a Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence Architect with 10+ years experience using Microsoft technologies to deliver BI and DW Solutions. Adam is the Founder of Dimodelo Solutions, an Agile Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence consultancy. Dimodelo Solutions is the developer of 'Dimodelo Architect' an Agile Data Warehouse development tool built on the Microsoft Visual Studio platform. Adam has presented at a number of SQL Server events in Brisbane including the SQL Server User Group and SQL Server Saturday.
LinkedIn: http://au.linkedin.com/in/martincairney
Martin has 20 years’ experience in SQL Server technologies. His experience spans both the Database Engine and infrastructure requirements, and Data Warehousing and BI implementations. He has worked across many industry sectors including London’s global financial institutions and both State and Federal Government Departments. He is a SQL Server MVP, MCT and an experienced conference presenter, having presented at PASS Summit, SQLBits, and SQLSaturday events and User Groups round the world
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martincatherall
Contact: http://martincatherall.com
Martin is a data consultant in Melbourne, Australia, a Microsoft Data Platform MVP, and PASS Regional Mentor for the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Martin founded the Christchurch, New Zealand PASS Local Group and lead the group for a number of years before relocating to Melbourne. He has been using SQL Server in various roles since 2000. In addition to anything data related, he enjoys playing the guitar and having fun with his family.
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/peterjsmyers
Peter Myers is a consultant, trainer and presenter, and has worked with Microsoft database and development products since 1997. Today he specializes in all Microsoft Business Intelligence products and also authors training course content for Microsoft products and services. He has a broad business background supported by a bachelor’s degree in applied economics and accounting, and he extends this with extensive experience backed by current MCSE certifications. He has been a Data Platform MVP since 2007.
Contact: http://sqlskirt.com
Heidi Wilson is an independent SQL Server Consultant and Microsoft Certified Trainer. Heidi has over 10 years of experience working with SQL Server and specialises in the design and implementation of highly available and disaster recoverable SQL Server solutions. Heidi regularly presents and volunteers at various events including SQLSaturday and SQL Server User Groups across Australia.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigbryden/
Craig has been working with SQL Server for over 20 years and currently holds several SQL Server based certifications. He has also previously held an MCT certification. Craig's contribution to the SQL Server community was recognised in 2018 with a Microsoft MVP award. He was involved with Microsoft Learning to set some of the current SQL server Exams. Craig is the Chief Data Strategist at BiTQ. Craig is an organiser of the QLD Power BI User Group
The following is a list of sponsors that helped fund the event.