Event Location:
Sydney University - New Law Annex
New Law Annex, Eastern Ave, Camperdown NSW
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Abstract:
DBA always faces challenges in troubleshooting live performance issues. In SQL Server 2016, the two new features introduced to help a DBA to be more productive. The Query Store is a feature that will help in visualizing what is happening with your executing queries, which otherwise is hard to collect with DMVs. The UI rich interface makes it easier to troubleshoot live scenarios as well has collect data for troubleshooting. Have you ever felt a need to see the execution plan when executing a query while troubleshooting? Live Query Statistics helps you view the live execution plan rather than waiting till end of the execution of query to see the actual execution plan. This session is recommended for advanced users as you will need basic understanding of troubleshooting using execution plans.
Speaker(s): Manohar Punna,
Abstract:
With Azure data centres located round the globe, 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. In this session we will compare the core features of Azure SQL Database against SQL Server in an Azure VM, including the limitations and how to create, access and configure it. We'll then compare scaling-up and scaling-out and the change in perspective that a DBA needs to manage a mixed environment. Finally, we'll look at some of the DBA activities that are still needed on Azure SQL Database and how these can be achieved easily.
Speaker(s): Martin Cairney,
Abstract:
Although Availability Groups are relatively easy to implement, there are many complexities when it comes to administering and optimizing them--especially if you are familiar with Failover Clustering. In some cases, your existing database solutions perform slower. In this session, we examine the various potential problems you can have when implementing Availability Groups and the potential solutions to these problems. This session covers areas such as performance, administration, and security management. You learn how to manage complex jobs, backup strategies, and logins within an Availability Group environment. You also learn how Availability Groups might dramatically affect your application performance, how to recognise such performance problems, and how to resolve them. With a number of real-world examples, this practical session enables you to maximize the benefits of Availability Groups.
Speaker(s): Victor Isakov,
Abstract:
Testing software is hard work. Testing BI solutions is even harder;there's lots of moving parts, the tools are thin and it takes a lot of time and effort. Software development uses unit testing and while this can be applied to the different parts of a BI solution, most people are more interested in the numbers the solution produces and proving that they are right. So can you validate the numbers in your BI solution? And can you do it quickly and easily? In this session we will cover an approach for automating the validation of your BI solution covering multiple scenarios with a hand full of demos. We will be using nUnit as a framework and some free codeplex tools, so we can run a suite of tests every time we load data into our BI platform. This is not continuous integration, and it is not unit testing in the true sense either. It is, instead, "continuous validation", and it can provide you with an awful lot of assurance for not very much extra effort.
Speaker(s): Dan de Sousa,
Abstract:
Big Data is a phrase used to describe large, possibly complex datasets. With today's data explosion of devices and sensors, technology is responding with new ways to practically and economically store and process the resulting Big Data. This session describes the fundamentals of Big Data and Hadoop, leading to the introduction of Microsoft’s cloud-based Big Data service: Azure HDInsight. The session includes numerous demonstrations to show how files can be archived in the Azure Blob Store and then efficiently processed with a cluster of servers. The demonstrations will introduce Hive, a query language designed to ensure that Big Data remains approachable to database developers, and the integration of Big Data into a conventional Business Intelligence (BI) solution. This session will be of interest to those new to the concept of Big Data and interested to understand the challenges that it is designed to solve.
Speaker(s): Peter Myers,
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:
How do you optimize a DAX expression? This session will introduce you to the useful tools to measure performance, gathering data to find the bottlenecks and helping you in writing new optimized versions of DAX. Starting from SQL Profiler, you will learn which events are relevant for DAX, and how to collect them in different environments (Analysis Services, Power Pivot, Power BI). We will show DAX Studio, which simplify and speed-up the data collection process, and makes it easy to find bottlenecks in storage engine and formula engine. VertiPaq Analyzer and other small tools will be also used to collect other useful information. The goal of the session is to provide you a methodology to analyze performance of your DAX measures, to find the bottleneck and to identify the main reason of a performance issue.
Speaker(s): Marco Russo,
Abstract:
In this session James will use his experience building large cubes for large organisations and show how you can optimise all aspects of the process - preparing data for load, processing tips and how to get the thing to perform as users expect.
Speaker(s): James Beresford,
Abstract:
Maintaining a solid set of information about our servers and their performance is critical when issues arise, and often help us see a problem before it occurs. Building a baseline of performance metrics allows us to know when something is wrong and help us to track it down and fix the problem. This session will walk you through a series of PowerShell scripts you can schedule which will capture the most important data and a set of reports to show you how to use that data to keep your server running smoothly.
Speaker(s): Allen White,
Abstract:
Martin has seen life from a few different sides of the database environment. Often the world of TSQL and DBA are seen from vastly different viewpoints – but it doesn’t have to be this way. Join Martin to find out some ways that these two groups can enhance each other’s life and work as efficiently as possible. We’ll examine a range of tip during this presentation that most SQL professionals should get value from.
Speaker(s): Martin Catherall,
Abstract:
In this session you will see how to solve a number of business scenarios using DAX and Power Pivot, including: #183; Taking real time user input to change the calculations in a pivot table/report - changing the results of your DAX calculations using slicers #183; Changing the visualisation experience of charts and tables using user input from slicers #183; Grouping customers into age groups for reporting and analysis using 2 different Banding techniques #183; Displaying the "latest survey result" in a Pivot Table for any date selected.
Speaker(s): Matt Allington,
Abstract:
Get a sneak preview of my USA 2016 PASS Analytics Conference session - creating an Activity-Based Costing System with Power BI. Having the final report model in Power BI gives you the ultimate control over reporting, including adding other information possibly not even held with Information Technology. We will use a real-world health care model to show how we replaced an expensive, difficult to understand and maintain SAS system, with a simple, elegant, and auditable solution based on the Microsoft stack. The rules are table-driven with allocated costs handling built in.
Speaker(s): Grant Paisley,
Abstract:
SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) is a mature on-premise ETL and data-transformation tool. Azure Data Factory is a cloud ETL and data-consolidation tool that was recently released as part of Microsoft Azure services. In this session, learn themain differences between these two tools and learn how to determine which works best in specific scenarios. We compare Azure Data Factory and SSIS on many factors; demos will help illustrate the differences.
Speaker(s): Reza Rad,
Abstract:
Do you want to test hardware upgrades, index tuning or multi-client applications? Would you like to do this with data specific to your organization? Distributed Replay, introduced in SQL Server 2012, is a tool that will allow you to accomplish exactly that. In this session, we will cover why you should use it, how to set it up, and what types of data to collect for testing and replay. This session will demonstrate tangible methods and undocumented tidbits, that you can take back to your environment to create immediate, and measurable tests.
Speaker(s): Melody Zacharias,
Abstract:
The R language is one of the key programming languages used in Azure Machine Learning. During this session we will introduce the basic programming constructs of the language and get you started on the road to detailed data analysis. We describe the language, data structures and libraries used in R development and show how your completed code can be deployed to a Azure Machine Language environment and executed through the web API. At the completion of this session, you may not be an R hotshot, but you will hopefully have accelerated your journey toward becoming one.
Speaker(s): Glyn LLewellyn,
Abstract:
Tempdb is an integral part of SQL Server, and is often overlooked when trying to get the most out of your system. In this session we will go over what tempdb is used for, why it is a special type of database and how to use it to tune the performance of your overall system. We will start with determining the best configuration, number of database files to use and the common performance issues that tempdb can indicate. We will then use these best practices to optimise our instance and performance tune our queries to make your system faster.
Speaker(s): Hamish Watson,
Abstract:
Mark will be flying over from the states to give the latest updates from the engineering team with respect to the Microsoft data platform. With the upcoming release of SQL Server 2016 around the corner you will get a drill in on the product including the latest on performance and customer experiences. Mark will also give you an update on the other important pieces of the platform including Azure SQL DB, Azure SQL DW, Data Lake, Hybrid capabilities, etc.
Speaker(s): Grant Paisley,
Abstract:
Internet of Things (IoT) is now even more practicable with the power of the cloud analytics. Now with Cortana Analytics which have included components across a broad set of Azure Services, Power BI and APIs, you can connect your sensors and devices to the cloud to do more intelligent stuff and “Connect the Dots”. In this session you will get an overview of the capabilities in Cortana Analytics, and Iman will show you an outlook of the future.
Speaker(s): Iman Eftekhari,
Abstract:
A look at the options for providing High Availability and Disaster Recovery using the native features available in SQL Server. This session will cover the basis of how the technologies work, what is(and isn't) protected and a list of the advantages and disadvantages of each technology. We'll also look at the why of High Availability, Disaster recovery and how to get the business to commit to a design to provide Business Continuity when disaster strikes.
Speaker(s): Rob Douglas,
Abstract:
Presenter: Kale Temple, Iman Eftekhari, Jixin (Gin) Jia Abstract: in this half-an-hour session we will show you real-life dashboards for 4 scenarios, no Adventure Works! BIO: Agile BI is a Sydney based consulting firm that specialises in Microsoft Data Analytics. As a Microsoft Gold partner, we have built up a reputation as one of Australia’s most respected service providers in the Microsoft Business Intelligence arena especially Power BI.
Speaker(s): Iman Eftekhari,
Abstract:
Having your SQL Server databases not available for business to be making money is not a good way to stay employed. Do you understand what features and options can assist you with keeping SQL Server Databases Available? In this session we will look at the options available to you currently to meet your Availability requirements using features being released in SQL Server 2016 to better provide high availability
Speaker(s): Warwick Rudd,
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://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 SQL Saturday events and User Groups round the world
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/victorisakov
Contact: http://www.victorisakov.com
Victor Isakov (MCA, MCM, MCSM, MCT, MVP) is a Database Architect and trainer who provides consulting and training services to various organizations in the public, private, and NGO sectors globally. He regularly speaks at international conferences such as Microsoft TechEd/Ignite, PASS Summit, IT/Dev Connections, and SQLSaturdays. Victor has written a number of books on SQL Server and has worked with Microsoft to develop the SQL Server exams and certification. In 2017 he authored "Exam Ref 70-764 Administering a SQL Database Infrastructure (1st Edition)". He is one of only three non-Microsoft, Microsoft Certified Architects in the world.
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.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/allen-white-sql-server-mvp/5/784/b08/
Contact: http://dataperfpro.com/blog/
Allen White is a Data Platform consultant. He has been both a developer and an administrator, so he understands both perspectives towards database technology. He loves sharing his experiences and helping people learn how to use SQL Server. Allen has spent over 40 years in IT, using SQL Server since 1992, and has been awarded Microsoft’s MVP Award for the last 13 years. Allen was a PASS Director from 2016 - 2018.
Grant Paisley is a Data Platform MVP and founder of Angry Koala, a Microsoft Business Intelligence partner based in Sydney, Australia. Grant is president of the SQL Server Usergroup Sydney and created http://reportsurfer.com, a community built around reporting, where you can also run the reports. He was contributing author for quot;SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services with MDXquot; and quot;Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services Recipesquot;.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/manohar-punna/15/153/508
Contact: http://www.sqlservergeeks.com/author/manoharpunna/
Manohar Punna is an Data Platform Geek and Vice President of DataPlatformGeeks by passion and a Data Platform Consultant by profession. He is a speaker at various conferences like PASS Summit, SQLBits, DPS. He has authored over 150 blogs and has written a One DMV a Day series which is a longest one day series on any topic on SQL Server till date. Manohar is a product of this community and strongly believes in giving back to the community. So, ask him anything you would like to know and he is happy to learn it with you.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/sqlbi
Contact: https://www.sqlbi.com/blog/marco
Marco is a Business Intelligence consultant and mentor. He wrote several books about Power BI, Analysis Service, and Power Pivot. He also regularly writes articles and white papers that are available on sqlbi.com. Marco is a Microsoft MVP and an SSAS Maestro, the highest level of certification on Microsoft Analysis Services. Today, Marco focuses his time with SQLBI customers, traveling extensively to train and consult on DAX and data modeling for Power BI and Analysis Services. Marco also teaches public classes worldwide. Marco is a regular speaker at international conferences like Microsoft Ignite, PASS Summit, and SQLBits. He also enjoys delivering evening sessions at local user groups during his trips.
LinkedIn: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/melodyzacharias
Contact: http://sqlmelody.com
Melody is the Sr. Microsoft Solutions Manager at Pure and has been in love with data since 1991. She has been sharing her passion with the community in technical sessions and blogs since 2014. She has been a Microsoft MVP since 2016, including winning Rookie of the year for Canada that year. This last year, she was elected to the board of directors for PASS.org, the professional association for SQL Server and was awarded Regional Director by Microsoft. She has co-authored 3 books, including, SQL Server 2019 Administration inside out by Microsoft Press.
LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/ieftekhari
Contact: http://www.agilebi.com.au
Iman Eftekhari (MCSE BI, MCITP, CSP) has more than 15 years of experience predominantly in Microsoft BI space. He has been involved in many successful BI projects across the country mainly with financial services, health and the public sectors. He is the co-founder of Agile BI and is passionate about delivering BI projects using Agile methods.
Contact: http://www.gumption.co.nz
Robs SQL history started as a remote DBA, branched into consultancy and now includes providing SQL Solutions to a variety of businesses, government departments and banks throughout Australia and New Zealand using a variety of native SQL solutions to meet their performance, higher availability and Disaster Recovery needs.
Glyn has been an SQL Server database administrator since the days of 4.2k11 an is currently working as a senior consultant for Angry Koala. He specialises in SQL sever performance tuning and machine learning.
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
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.
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 SQL Saturday 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: https://au.linkedin.com/pub/daniel-de-sousa/28/198/b4
Contact: https://sqlblog2017.wordpress.com/
Dan de Sousa is a Senior Data Consultant for DSI in Mississauga, Canada. He has been working with SQL Server for the last 10 years and has been involved in the development of datawarehouses as well as creating reports and dashboards. Dan is currently working on a data security compliance project for Europe which involves making sure any personal information is secured/encrypted before leaving its country of origin.
LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/mattallington
Contact: http://exceleratorbi.com.au/exceleratorblog/
Matt is a BI Professional with over 30 years’ experience in the Consumer Packaged Goods industry. He has held senior job commercial and IT roles, always leveraging data to drive success. Matt was the BI Director for Asia Pacific at The Coca-Cola Company before leaving to set up his own consulting business in 2014. Matt is now the Principal Consultant at Excelerator BI and specialises in helping small, medium and large companies leverage Microsoft Excel, Power Pivot, Power BI and SharePoint to deliver rapid business value through Self Service Business Intelligence.
LinkedIn: http://nz.linkedin.com/in/rezarad/
Contact: http://radacad.com/blog
Reza Rad is a Microsoft Regional Director, MVP, author, trainer, speaker and consultant. He is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP for nine years from 2011. Reza wrote many books on Power BI subjects including the Power BI from Rookie to Rock Star, and Pro Power BI Architecture. Reza is the invited speaker at the world's well-known conferences such as Microsoft Ignite, Microsoft Business Applications Summit, Ignite Tour, PASS Summit, and many other conferences. Reza is an active blogger and writes regularly about Power BI at https://radacad.com.
LinkedIn: http://nz.linkedin.com/in/rezarad/
Contact: http://radacad.com/blog
Reza Rad is a Microsoft Regional Director, MVP, author, trainer, speaker and consultant. He is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP for nine years from 2011. Reza wrote many books on Power BI subjects including the Power BI from Rookie to Rock Star, and Pro Power BI Architecture. Reza is the invited speaker at the world's well-known conferences such as Microsoft Ignite, Microsoft Business Applications Summit, Ignite Tour, PASS Summit, and many other conferences. Reza is an active blogger and writes regularly about Power BI at https://radacad.com.
LinkedIn: http://au.linkedin.com/in/jamesberesford
Contact: http://www.bimonkey.com
James - aka the BI Monkey - has been delivering Microsoft BI Solutions for over a Decade. He#39;s an unashamed SSIS geek and is responsible for the heavily downloaded BI Monkey ETL Framework on Codeplex. Recently he#39;s been digging in to Data Quality Services in SQL2012 and also developing on the HDInsight Big Data platform. In his spare time he cultivates two small BI Monkeys - so really has no spare time!
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://www.linkedin.com/in/sqlbi
Contact: https://www.sqlbi.com/blog/marco
Marco is a Business Intelligence consultant and mentor. He wrote several books about Power BI, Analysis Service, and Power Pivot. He also regularly writes articles and white papers that are available on sqlbi.com. Marco is a Microsoft MVP and an SSAS Maestro, the highest level of certification on Microsoft Analysis Services. Today, Marco focuses his time with SQLBI customers, traveling extensively to train and consult on DAX and data modeling for Power BI and Analysis Services. Marco also teaches public classes worldwide. Marco is a regular speaker at international conferences like Microsoft Ignite, PASS Summit, and SQLBits. He also enjoys delivering evening sessions at local user groups during his trips.
LinkedIn: https://nz.linkedin.com/in/hamishwatson8
Contact: http://www.sqlservercentral.com/blogs/the-hybrid-dbas-blog/
Hamish Watson is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP and VMware Expert with a passion for efficient database and application deployment using DevOps methodologies. He has 20+ years of IT experience in managing and deploying large scale databases on SQL Server technologies. He has been managing SQL Server since SQL Server 2000, and pragmatic approaches to delivering business value to clients is his career passion. Educating and helping others learn is a driver for Hamish. He is a Director-At-Large on the PASS Board, international speaker, and a repeat guest lecturer at a local university.
Grant Paisley is a Data Platform MVP and founder of Angry Koala, a Microsoft Business Intelligence partner based in Sydney, Australia. Grant is president of the SQL Server Usergroup Sydney and created http://reportsurfer.com, a community built around reporting, where you can also run the reports. He was contributing author for quot;SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services with MDXquot; and quot;Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services Recipesquot;.
The following is a list of sponsors that helped fund the event.