Event Location:
Washington State University Vancouver
14204 NE Salmon Creek Ave
Vancouver, Washington
Abstract:
“Containers and Clones for SQL Server Development and Test” Microsoft is emphasizing the use of containers for development and test on SQL Server 2017, and new solutions from Red Gate and Windocks add support for containers and SQL Server database database cloning, for the full range of the SQL Server family. We’ll explore use of Docker based tooling for delivery of container environments, and their pros and cons. We’ll also look at SQL Server cloning, and how clones enable Dev and Test teams to work on large database environments for containers as well as existing SQL Server instances. Containers and Clones are particularly well suited for Public and Hybrid Cloud, as it’s infrastructure agnostic. Container images are ultimately portable, and the built-in database cloning is especially useful on public clouds.
Speaker(s): Paul Stanton,
Abstract:
Power BI makes accessing data from various sources (both on-premise and in the cloud) and building advanced visualizations for analytics easy to do. Behind the scenes Power BI is built on standard technologies and APIs that allow it to be customized in multiple ways to fit in with your environment the way you need it to. In this session we will walk though samples and demos that show how you can extend Power BI with custom visualizations, access custom data sources, embed various Power BI elements in your applications (on-premise and in the cloud), and be able to push your data into a Power BI report/dashboard. Each of these items take advantage of the Power BI APIs in different ways and we will discuss each and provide the code samples for you to take back and get a head start. This session will be showing code to access the Power BI REST API using C# and NodeJS along with some M for accessing and manipulating custom data sources (on-premises or in the cloud).
Speaker(s): Steve Wake,
Abstract:
According to the Economist magazine, data is the world’s most valuable resource. So, it makes sense that Data Science, Azure Machine Learning, and Analytics are all becoming core pieces to the success of every business. As data professionals, we need to know how these core pieces will affect what we do, and how we can use this suite to help our clients. Microsoft’s Cortana suite is the central hub for learning and implementing each of these core pieces. Using an easy to follow example, I will show the flow from Data to Data Intelligence. The demonstration uses several pieces of the Cortana Suite and brings them together to show how they complement each other. This overview of Cortana Suite will use the various pieces like a puzzle which, when brought together, will form a seamless picture of the whole so that participants can see that the individual pieces were meant to work together.
Speaker(s): Melody Zacharias,
Abstract:
Powershell wants to be your friend - your very powerful friend. In this session we will go over some Powershell basics that will help get you started as well as some known "gotchas" when working in Powershell. This is a beginner session - no Powershell experience necessary. WARNING: You may get warm-fuzzies about Powershell by attending this session.
Speaker(s): Amy Herold,
Abstract:
Are you trying to understand what’s the fuzz around Machine Learning? Are you working with a lot of data analysis and wondered how SQL Server 2016 R Services might be able to help? This session will provide a gentle and fun introduction to SQL Server R Services for SQL Nerds. We will walk through pragmatic examples of using R through demos, to illustrate Machine Learning in boosting your Data Analysis capabilities. The goal of this session is to provide quick tips and tricks for attendees to get started on SQL Server R Services, either for fun or for work.
Speaker(s): Julie Koesmarno,
Abstract:
"If there’s one thing that we, as SQL developers don’t do, it’s use transactions as often as we should. Transactions are critical when multiple changes need to be made entirely or not at all, but even given that it’s rare to see transactions used at all in most production code In this session, we’ll look at what transactions are and why we should use them. We’ll explore the effects transactions have on locking and the transaction log. We’ll investigate methods of handling errors and undoing data modifications, and we’ll see why nested transactions are a lie. 1) Understand what transactions are and what they do. 2) Learn how to use transactions in combination with error handling to roll back changes on errors 3) Learn how transactions affect logging and locking. "
Speaker(s): Gail Shaw,
Abstract:
One of my favorite new features in SQL Server 2016 is the Query Store. The Query Store houses valuable information on performance of your queries as well as gives you great insights into your query workload. This presentation will take a look at the Query Store, how it works and the type of information it holds. You will learn how to use the Query Store to quickly find plan changes and analyze performance issues caused by them. New DMVs will be introduced and the performance impact of enabling the Query Store will be discussed. Both DBAs and developers can increase their performance tuning skills by attending this session.
Speaker(s): Janis Griffin,
Abstract:
Before any significant data analysis can take place the data often needs to be transformed, aggregated, and combined. This is often referred to as the ETL (Extraction, Transfer, and Load) process. Power Query is an excellent tool in the Microsoft self-service BI stack that allows business users to discover, combine, and refine data before loading it into a Power Pivot model for further analysis. In addition Microsoft has made connecting to a wide variety of sources including relational, structured, and semi structured data a consistent intuitive experience. This session guides you through using Power Query to extract, transform, and load data from various sources into a Power Pivot model. In addition we will look at the M language created by the tool and look at some advanced queries you can create using M.
Speaker(s): Dan Clark,
Abstract:
The ability for multiple processes to query and update a database concurrently has long-been a hallmark of database technology, but this feature can be implemented in many ways. This session will explore the different isolation levels supported by SQL Server and Azure SQL Database, why they exist, how they work, how they differ, and how In-Memory OLTP fits in. Demonstrations will also show how different isolation levels can determine not only the performance, but also the result set returned by a query. Additionally, attendees will learn how to choose the optimal isolation level for a given workload, and see how easy it can be to improve performance by adjusting isolation settings. An understanding of SQL Server's isolation levels can help relieve bottlenecks that no amount of query tuning or indexing can address - attend this session and gain Senior DBA-level skills on how to maximize your database's ability to process transactions concurrently.
Speaker(s): Bob Pusateri,
Abstract:
TempDB is an integral part of SQL Server, and is often overlooked when trying to get the most out of your system. Researching the many suggested methods of tuning TempDB is a long, arduous and at times confusing process. In this session we will go over what TempDB is used for, why it is a special and important type of database and how to tune it to enhance the performance of your overall system. We will start with determining the best configuration of TempDB database files to use, the impact disk configuration has, which trace flags are important and what changes SQL Server 2016 will bring us. We will look at what is stored in TempDB and how both developers and DBA can optimize how TempDB is configured and used. We will then use these best practices to optimize our instance and performance tune our queries to make the system faster.
Speaker(s): Hamish Watson,
Abstract:
In one small step, SQL Server 2016 has taken a giant leap...to JSON! In this session, we'll launch a probe into a JSON data file containing profiles of NASA astronauts using new JSON T-SQL functions in SQL Server. With each astronaut we meet, we'll learn to validate, read, and manipulate "unstructured" JSON data. We'll get The Right Stuff to start developing, no previous JSON experience required. Let's go where NoSQL has gone before! Prerequisites: You should have experience writing queries in T-SQL. No previous knowledge of JSON is needed.
Speaker(s): Peter Kral,
Abstract:
You have probably heard the buzz about Azure Machine Learning, aka Azure ML, over the past few years. It is a surprisingly easy to use predictive analytic tool that you can learn for free. Attend this session to learn how to get started with Azure ML.
Speaker(s): Kathi Kellenberger,
Abstract:
Come to this session to learn all about security and sharing in Power BI. Session starts with covering all types of sharing (basic sharing, work spaces, apps, publish to web, embedded), and their pros and cons. Session will then continue with Row Level Security topic. You will learn how to secure the content of Power BI based on roles. You will learn through live demos different types of implementing row level security, such as; Row level security through SSAS Live query, RLS in Power BI regardless of the data source, and dynamic row level security. Finally, in this session you will learn best practices and architecture advise for both Sharing and Security, and would be able to choose best security and sharing architecture for your Power BI solution requirement.
Speaker(s): Reza Rad,
Abstract:
SQL Server 2016 and SQL Server 2017 Just Works! But if you are a IT Professional you want to be armed with all the right diagnostics to react to a mission critical problem or tune the engine to the needs for your business. Dev-Ops also requires the right tools to build and tune queries for maximum performance. With SQL Server 2017, we now have best diagnostics in the industry that spans across all platforms viz Windows Linux, Containers and Azure which enables SQL Server to learn, adapt and drive intelligent actions. In this session we will show you the wide variety of these diagnostics which allows SQL Server and DBAs to take intelligent data driven decisions and actions.
Speaker(s): Parikshit Savjani,
Abstract:
In the last two decades Thomas always had more open positions than I could fill, not because of lack of applicants, I must have interviewed close to 300 people for DBA, database developer, data architect, data modeling and other data related positions. Come to this highly interactive session to learn why 99% of the candidates failed the simplest questions and disqualified them self. Thomas will share what he misses in resumes and how to respond to questions better.
Speaker(s): Thomas Grohser,
Abstract:
There are compelling reasons to consider deploying In-Memory OLTP, vastly improved in SQL 2016, and now running on non-Enterprise editions. What are the use cases? What are the tradeoffs? We will lift the veil of confusion that surrounds this blazingly fast feature. By the end of the session, you will understand how In-Memory OLTP works and whether your workload is likely to see an increase in performance.
Speaker(s): Ned Otter,
Abstract:
The principles of dimensional modeling for data warehousing, especially the work of Dr. Ralph Kimball, have been enormously successful for many years. But are they still relevant to the world of data lakes and big data? And what is their role in a modern DW of a relational database, even massively parallel databases like Azure SQL DW? This presentation will explore when the concepts of dimensional modeling are still relevant to give value to your Data Lake and Big Data solutions and then cover the reason why a modern DW on Azure SQL DW is still needed. It will conclude with some implementation details of a Modern DW on Azure SQL DW, that relate to modeling including how to maximize performance by minimizing Data Movement (Shuffle Move and PartitionMove operations).
Speaker(s): Steve Moss,
Abstract:
When the SQL Server optimizer evaluates a query to determine how best to execute it, the statistics are quite possibly the most important tool at its disposal. But SQL Server statistics objects aren’t perfect because they only contain estimated summary information. In this session, we’ll start with an overview of what the statistics objects are, how the optimizer uses them, and some general guidelines for their maintenance. Then we’ll look at some of the issues, how to find them, and how to solve them, that can arise due to their imperfection: ascending keys (the most prevalent statistics based performance killer?), correlated predicates, skewed distribution, or downright bad summary information. There’ll be many examples, and even a stored procedure to help you find ascending keys. By applying the techniques we’ll discuss, you WILL see improved query performance.
Speaker(s): Vern Rabe,
Abstract:
Unless you've been in a cave, you've seen articles lately on what it's like to be a woman in tech. In 2017, waves of blogs and news articles tell us about those extreme examples of misogyny. Only they aren't fringe, one-off stories. It's happening to women you know. IT can be an inhospitable place for women. Some call it a "bro-grammer" culture. Compared to men, women are leaving IT at 2.5x and are interrupted 3x as often. Our credentials are called into question. We're called emotional or aggressive. We have our own job explained to us. Sometimes its subtle. Other times it's overt. There's always that one guy who ruins it for the rest of you. It doesn't have to be that way. Most of the guys we work with are stand-up, respectable WIT allies. The problem is, you don't always notice when it happens. Learn what those subtle forms of sexism look like at work. Learn how you can stop that guy in his tracks. Learn how to not BE that guy, even when you're just trying to help.
Speaker(s): Rie Irish,
Abstract:
SQL Server 2017 is right around the corner, bringing with it a host of exciting new features. Of particular interest to BI practitioners and data scientists is the integration of the Python programming language into the SQL ecosystem. This integration opens up a number of possibilities for in-database analytics and intelligent database applications, so let's get started! In this introductory session we'll briefly introduce the Python language and then look at how to install and administer Machine Learning Services. We'll start to demonstrate the power of Python by showing you how to create and run simple scripts from within T-SQL. We'll then discuss some of the powerful open source packages that are available to aid your data analyses. Finally, we'll go through some examples of how to use Python to integrate data analytical methods in real-world situations, and wow your customers with the power of analytics!
Speaker(s): Chris Hyde,
Abstract:
Did you know that there is more than one type of index? Do you know the differences between them? Do you know when SQL Server flat out can’t use an index? Join Jared Karney as he explains the differences between the types of indexes and when they can and cannot be used (SARGability). He will talk about the different ways they are used and how you can make good indexes even better. You will leave this session understanding the basics of indexes and how they work, which is crucial to making your queries and servers perform well.
Speaker(s): Jared Karney,
Abstract:
Are you thinking about upgrading your SQL Server environment to the latest and greatest that your data platform has to offer? If yes, then let us show you how you can perform risk-free and automated upgrades for SQL Server. In this session, you will see the new experiences Microsoft is building for performing Tier-1 SQL Server upgrades at scale through automated assessments, robust performance validation and using product features to minimize downtime.
Speaker(s): Amit Banerjee,
Abstract:
Worried about security? Worried about compliance? Worried that someone might get at your sensitive data? In this session you will find out how using Always Encrypted, Azure regions and Azure KeyVault you can keep your data secure. I will demonstrate the technology and some scenarios presented to us (including challenges), what was required for the implementation of Always Encrypted considering the current model and the limitations of the feature, the reasons that led us to choose the path of Azure Regions with Always Encrypted, lessons learned as well as some cool things about the feature.
Speaker(s): Dan de Sousa,
Abstract:
Times are certainly changing with Microsoft’s recent announcement to adopt the Linux operating system with the release of SQL Server 2017, and you should be prepared to support it. But, what is Linux? Why run your critical databases on an unfamiliar operating system? How do you handle the basics, such as backing up to a network share or add additional drives for data, logs, and tempdb files? This introductory session will help seasoned SQL Server DBAs understand the basics of Linux and how it differs from Windows, all the way from basic management to performance monitoring. By the end of the session, you will be able to launch your own Linux-based SQL Server instance on a production-ready VM.
Speaker(s): David Klee,
Abstract:
SQL Server Take Over: Establishing a Baseline Performance assessment and tuning for the beginner DBA Have you ever inherited a group of servers with not a lot of documentation to accompany them? Do you have a lot of undocumented or new servers in your environment and you want to establish some baseline configuration setting prior to making changes? You need up to date information on the system very quickly. The server is running slowly... or is it? Slow compared to what? Before you being digging into performance issues, there are some baseline metrics you should have established. Only after the information has been gathered, can a plan of attack be developed to help resolve issues with performance. Attendees in this session will learn how to quickly gather information, review the results and get an action plan on the next step in performance tuning.
Speaker(s): Lowry Kozlowski,
Abstract:
One of the interesting things about the SQL Server community is how often best practice advice that is widely knows and non-controversial is also widely ignored. Have most of us heard that using NOLOCK is bad? Yes, almost certainly. Does NOLOCK still get used heavily in production code? Yep, you betcha. Presumably the issue is not that we don't care whether or not code is written correctly ... we're all professionals and take pride in our work. It seems more likely that those responsible for the care and feeding of database servers haven't found the right way to explain _why_ some of these practices matter. Come hear Rick's attempts to explain why some code patterns are problematic. Topics covered will include NOLOCK, heaps, and cursors among others.
Speaker(s): Rick Lowe,
Abstract:
Bad data comes in many forms: duplicate rows, wrong data type, invalid values, and orphaned or missing foreign keys. Time is wasted cleansing, reviewing and correcting data, not to mention the potential hazards bad data can cause. This introductory presentation will explain the data types and constraints available in SQL Server, and how they can replace or augment business rules that would otherwise be written in application or procedure code. Performance benefits provided by constraints will be demonstrated. We will examine the various system views and procedures that describe constraints and how to use them to document your databases. You will be able to apply this knowledge to your database environments and see significant improvements in data quality, performance, and reliability.
Speaker(s): Rob Volk,
Abstract:
We’ve all heard the rules for SQL Server like separate your data from your log, watch for a disk queue length over 2, and a low Page Life Expectancy always means memory pressure. All of these used to be true, but on today’s hardware and SQL Server versions – they are dangerously outdated. In this session, we will take on a bunch of these old “givens” of SQL Server that everybody has heard and followed, the underlying technological reasons they were true then, how today’s technology has rendered them obsolete, and what the new rules are that you need to know. So whether you are one of the old guard looking to refresh your set of working SQL Server rules or a member of the up-and-comers looking for the facts to win over the old guard, this session is for you.
Speaker(s): Maxwell Myrick,
Abstract:
Power BI promotes a vision of self-service BI. Successful adoption of the self-service paradigm presents many challenges that must be overcome in order to achieve this vision. Microsoft has recently created a Power BI Adoption Framework designed to assist customers overcome the challenges and barriers that impede success. This Framework exposes the critical elements of Power BI adoption and provides a structured approach for driving adoption of self-service BI. Attend this session and be among the first to be exposed to this new content from Microsoft. The session provides an overview of the Adoption Framework, covering each of the four cornerstones components: Prove Value (awareness) • What are the essential questions? • What are the key value drivers? Governance (understanding) • What are the core concerns around security and compliance? Roll Out (enablement) • How to manage frequent changes, licenses, training, … Support (enablement) • What types of support are required?
Speaker(s): Ron Ellis Gaut,
Abstract:
This session will cover the basics of developing, publishing and using SQL Server Reporting Services. You will learn all the steps needed to get started from connecting to the data source, creating data sets through putting the data on the page and publishing the report to the report server. See how easy SSRS is to use and how powerful it can be. The demo will be using SSRS 2016 but the concepts covered are applicable to any version of SQL Server. The session will also include: A tour of a wide variety of report examples including interactive graphical dashboards that you can do in SSRS, even in older versions. A comprehensive discussion of design elements to include and avoid when creating reports. Report printing and export considerations for optimal output depending on rendering format. You will leave this session able to return to the office and present meaningful data to your end users with minimal time and effort with easy to use and powerful BI tool that you already own.
Speaker(s): Ted Stathakis,
Abstract:
There are not enough hours in the day to get everything done as a DBA. We need to automate our repetitive tasks to free up time for the important and more fun tasks. In this session I'll show how dbatools can help you automate and simplify your daily tasks and make your life a lot easier.
Speaker(s): Sander Stad,
Abstract:
If you are working with SSAS Tabular, Power BI, or good ol' Power Pivot for Excel, you've likely run into a need for DAX, the formula and query language of these tools. A very common task is to augment, override, or otherwise modify a filter context. This sounds easy enough, but if you've had experience beyond simple filters, the syntax and behavior may seem confusing, or worse, counter-intuitive. The purpose of this presentation is to discuss the different types of filters, their behavior, and their interactions with other DAX formulas.
Speaker(s): Derek Rickard,
Abstract:
SQL Server 2017 is about to be launched and between huge focus on the Linux, there are some important and long-awaited improvements for the Columnstore Indexes. Do you have LOBs in Fact Tables? Do you need to rebuild your HTAP Indexes online ? There are great improvements for your Columnstore Indexes in SQL Server 2017! The Intelligent Database concept brings the Adaptive Query Processing for the Batch Execution Mode, with the possibility of Memory Grant Feedback Batch Mode Adaptive Join, which will help to auto-tune your workloads. Discover all the big and little Columnstore gems of the 2017 edition of the SQL Server!
Speaker(s): Niko Neugebauer,
Abstract:
Transactional Replication gets a bad rap for being fragile and somewhat difficult to manage. Given that reputation, we decided to try to accomplish some of the same things that it does using alternative means. Let me regale you with the tale of that journey. You may come out of it with a newfound appreciation of Replication or you may find yourself asking "that's pretty neat!". Only one way to find out, though…
Speaker(s): Ben Thul,
Abstract:
In this session we will learn about the improvements in the most recent versions (SQL 2016 and above) of SQL Server that can help improve the scalability, reliability and supportability of SQL Server Always On Deployments. This session would focus on the numerous improvements being driven by the SQL Server Tiger Team to in-market versions of SQL Server. Ranging from the diagnostics and troubleshooting improvements to added feature capabilities, learn how these can be utilized improve the Always On Availability Groups deployment experiences.
Speaker(s): Sourabh Agarwal,
Abstract:
Do you have trouble remembering common administrative T-SQL commands? Remember when you created a cheat sheet in school to help you study for an exam? Use that same principle with the DBA Cheat Sheet! The DBA Cheat Sheet is a document filled with some basic administrative TSQL commands you’ll need in your daily work. During the session I’ll show you a few SSMS tricks and review some of the topics in the DBA Cheat Sheet document. You’ll leave the session with a document that you can use as a reference every day.
Speaker(s): Elizabeth Block,
Abstract:
There has been a lot of buzz recently surrounding Microsoft's new Azure Stack platform bringing Azure Services inside your data center. Just part of the functionality Azure Stack provides is both SQL and MySQL Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS). In this session we'll take a deeper look inside the SQL DBaaS capabilities with the release version of Azure Stack, including how it works and how it can be leveraged within the enterprise.
Speaker(s): Michael Wells,
Abstract:
There are plenty of new features and tools for database developers in Visual Studio 2017. In the Enterprise Version Microsoft has added SQL Prompt, SQL Search and Readyroll from Redgate plus there are serveral other enhancements. In his demo packed session Dataplatform MVP Frank Geisler will show how developers can leverarge the power of these Tools for their daily work. Besides improvements in productivty during writing T-SQL Code he will also talk on the DLM (Database LifeCycle Management) Tools.
Speaker(s): Frank Geisler,
Abstract:
This session will review common challenges encountered when preparing new data sets for use in analytics and reporting. We will look at some tools to open, repair and edit large CSV/TXT files. We will also review tools for building a repeatable cleanup and restructuring process including Talend Data Preparation, Trifacta Wrangler and Power BI on the desktop and available cloud integrations.
Speaker(s): Phil Robinson,
This is a list of speakers from the XML Guidebook records. The details and URLs were valid at the time of the event.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lowrykoz/
Lowry Kozlowski is a SR SQL DBA and SR Consultant for SWC Technology Partners. Been involved with SQL for 17 years. Co-Leader of the Chicago Suburban SQL User group. Part of the SQL Saturday team for Chicago. Love SQL, photography, solving problems and trying new food. Goal in life is to minimize off hours calls by proactive work on systems.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasgrohser/
Thomas Grohser has spent most of the past 26+ years exploring the deeper inner workings of SQL Server and its features while working for entertainment, pharmaceutical, and financial services industries. His primary focus is to architect, plan, build, and operate reliable, highly available, secure, and scalable infrastructures for SQL Server. Over the years he has managed thousands of SQL Server instances, processing trillions of rows, taking up petabytes of storage. Thomas has been a Microsoft Data Platform MVP for 9 years and has spoken regularly at conferences, SQLSaturdays, and user groups for 12 years.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ned-otter-3627b712
Contact: http://www.nedotter.com
DBA with vast experience administering Microsoft SQL Server since version 4.21 to the present. Certifications: MCSE SQL Server 2012 Data Platform MCTS SQL Server 2008 Overall computer experience: 25 years SQL Server experience: 23 years Currently obsessed with In-Memory technology. Please see LinkedIn profile for more details.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/tedstathakis
Contact: http://fishheadted.com
Ted Stathakis is a data professional passionate about the presentation layer. He has worked with SQL Server since the turn of the century, has mastered Reporting Services since he began working with it when it was released in 2004, and is super excited about Mobile Reports and Power BI. Ted hosts the local PASS user group, is the organizer of SQLSaturday Orange County and presented on SSRS at Summit in 2019. As a 40+ year veteran of the restaurant industry, he is been an advisor, speaker and panelist at national trade shows. When he isn't consulting on Business Intelligence projects he can be found presenting at a conference, enjoying some live music or teaching kids, both young and old, fishing and archery at a nearby Scout camp.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/bobpusateri
Contact: http://www.BobPusateri.com
Bob Pusateri is a Microsoft Certified Master, DBA, and systems architect with over 10 years of experience on SQL Server. His interests involve internals, performance optimization, and cloud technologies. He is an active member of two Chicago-area PASS Local Groups, a community speaker, and maintains a web presence through both Twitter (@SQLBob) and his blog (bobpusateri.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://pt.linkedin.com/in/webcaravela/
Contact: http://www.nikoport.com
Niko Neugebauer is a Data Platform Consultant. A SQL Server MVP with over 20 years of experience in IT, he is passionate about the Microsoft Data Platform and community. Founder of the Portuguese SQL Server User Group and the main organizer of the first SQLSaturday event outside of North America (#78 Portugal), Niko speaks regularly at events such as PASS Summit, SQLRally, SQLBits, and SQLSaturday events around the world. Niko loves sharing information and knowledge and has authored over 130 blog posts on Columnstore Indexes, and regularly contributes to the open-sourced CISL library focused on Columnstore Indexes.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dougyb/
Contact: https://www.wherescape.com/blog/
Douglas has worked in the field of Business Intelligence for 20 years - concentrating primarily on data. Data Warehouse design, data processing, tuning, data quality - leading projects for Banks, Airlines, Retailers, Brewers (dim_beer anyone?), Universities etc. When not building data warehouses Douglas loves hiking in the Northwest. It becomes abundantly clear after project 1 that agility - prototyping, iterations and collaboration with SMEs / BAs is the only way to de-risk a data project. Douglas works for WhereScape - a software company that builds agile tools for developing / managing data warehouses / vaults / hubs. The design will change - when it meets the data, when it meets the users - it is expected, lets make it easier.
Contact: http://sqlinthewild.co.za
Gail Shaw is a Database Specialist focusing on database performance tuning and database recovery, with a particular interest in topics such as indexing strategies, execution plans, and writing T-SQL code that performs well and scales gracefully. Gail holds a Microsoft Certified Master certification for SQL Server 2008 and is a Data Platform MVP. She's a frequent poster on the SQLServerCentral forums, a Pluralsight author, writes articles for both SQLServerCentral.com and Simple-Talk.com, and has spoken at SQLSaturdays, SQL Bits and at the PASS Community Summit. Gail has been responsible for extending the lifespan of many an application, by performance-tuning their databases and providing technical guidance on all things SQL Server related.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-hyde-3803706
Chris Hyde is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP and Microsoft Certified Trainer based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He works as an independent SQL Server BI and DBA consultant, and is the leader of the Albuquerque PASS local user group. He is also part of the Friends of Redgate program and was a member of the Idera ACE class of 2018. He loves loud music and cricket, but usually not at the same time.
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: http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidaklee
Contact: http://davidklee.net
David Klee is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP and VMware vExpert with a lifelong passion for technology. David spends his days focusing on the convergence of data and infrastructure as the Founder of Heraflux Technologies. His areas of expertise include cloud, virtualization, performance, and business continuity. David speaks at a number of national and regional technology related events, including PASS Summit, VMware VMworld, SQLBits, SQL Saturday events, and many SQL Server User Groups.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/vern-rabe/a/ba3/980
Contact: http://www.rabedata.com
Vern Rabe is an independent SQL Server consultant and contract trainer in Portland, OR, and leader of the Oregon Data Community user group, formerly OregonSQL. He has attained MCSE, MCITP (both Administration and Development), and MCT certifications, among others. Vern has been passionate about databases since 1992 and has worked with SQL Server since version 4.21a. He provides broad technical SQL Server knowledge gained from the mixture of academic and practical experiences acquired from his classroom instructing and varied consulting contracts. Vern regularly presents technical sessions at SQL Server user group meetings, SQLSaturdays, and PASS Summit.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=4839367
Contact: http://www.gdsbi.de
Frank Geisler is owner and CEO of GDS Business Intelligence GmbH. He is SQL Server MVP, MCT, MCSE – Business Intelligence, MCSE – Data Plattform and MCSE - Azure Solutions Architect. In his Job he is building Business Intelligence Systems based on Microsoft Technology, mainly on SQL Server and SharePoint.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/janis-griffin/0/914/aba
Janis Griffin has over 30 years of DBA/database experience including design, development and implementation of many critical database applications. Before coming to Quest Software, Janis primarily worked in the Telecom/Network Industry, working with both real-time network routing databases and OLTP business to business applications. Janis also held positions as a Principal Architect and Senior Manager, mentoring other DBAs on best practices in database performance tuning.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/rick-lowe/a/228/441/
Contact: http://dataflowe.wordpress.com/
Rick is a Microsoft Certified Master with more than 20 years of SQL Server experience in a variety of roles. He currently lives in Washington state and works as an independent consultant providing remote performance DBA and performance tuning services for clients in the USA and Canada. His first exposure to SQL Server was as a database developer, but over time he became more and more interested in how the database engine operated... eventually specializing more on performance issues than code. Rick will work with all things relational, but most enjoys helping smaller companies get better performance from MSSQL, as well as smoothing over relationships between DBA and development teams.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mikewells
Contact: http://sqltechmike.com
Michael Wells is a Microsoft Specialist at Dell EMC covering enterprise customers. He has worked in IT since 2000 and has supported all versions of SQL Server from SQL Server 2000 to SQL Server 2014. Michael has been presenting since 2007 for local user groups, CodeCamps, SQLSaturday events, IT Pro Camps, and large conferences like PASS Summit and Oracle OpenWorld.
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: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredkarney
Jared Karney has been working with SQL Server since 2007. He currently works as a Premier Field Engineer for Microsoft. His specialties include performance tuning, big data, cloud, automation, internals, and overall architecture. He is an MCT and holds a number of Microsoft certifications. He is also a leader for the Chicago SQL Server Users Group.
LinkedIn: http://in.linkedin.com/pub/amit-banerjee/20/64a/852
Contact: http://www.troubleshootingsql.com
I am a data professional with over a decade of experience in Relational Database Management Systems. I lead Program Management for the SQL Server engineering team focusing on the SQL Server database engine (Windows and Linux) and Azure SQL Edge. My past experiences include Program Management for Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (HADR), Data Movement and Performance for SQL Server, Azure Database for PostgreSQL and Azure Database for MySQL. I am an active blogger, co-author of Pro SQL Server on Microsoft Azure and Professional SQL Server 2012: Internals and Troubleshooting and a regular speaker at various community events like Microsoft Ignite, SQL PASS, TechEd, Virtual Tech Days, SQL Saturday and User Group meetin
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sqlha
Contact: http://sqlha.com/blog
Max Myrick is a SQL Server consultant whose experience includes 15 years at Microsoft with 5 years on the SQL Server development team where he ran the SQL Customer Lab and then the Sustained Engineering team. He was an founding member of Microsoft#39;s Mission Critical team where he worked with the largest SQL Server applications worldwide for almost a decade. Max was a regular speaker for Microsoft and has continued to speak at various PASS and other SQL Conferences since becoming a managing partner of SQLHA LLC.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-ellis-gaut-5262b8?trk=hp-identity-name
Contact: https://www.csgpro.com/blog
Ron Ellis Gaut is President of CSG Pro, a Portland-based consulting firm specializing in Analytics, BI and custom application development. Ron has focused on the architecture, design and delivery of data applications for over two decades. As an early adopter of Power BI, Ron has built an impressive team of practitioners and though leaders. Ron is the founder/organizer of the Portland Power BI User Group. With over 370 registered members the group has been meeting monthly since February of 2015. Ron is a member of the Power BI Advisor group, is a member of the PUG advisors board. CSG Pro is a Microsoft Gold Partner and Power BI Showcase partner.
LinkedIn: http://in.linkedin.com/pub/parikshit-savjani/6/593/263
Contact: http://www.sqlserverfaq.net
Parikshit Savjani is a Senior Program Manager with Microsoft SQL Server Product Group, working on making the customers and SQL community successful on Microsoft Data platform. He has more than 9 years of experience with Microsoft and SQL Server. He started with Microsoft CSS providing support assistance to Premier customers of Microsoft and then moved on to become Premier Field Engineer (PFE), working with large enterprise customers providing best practice guidance, performance tuning, consulting, and proactive assistance to improve the overall health of SQL Server deployments. He contributes to the community via his blog, slideshare by presenting in various SQL community events.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/aherold
Contact: http://www.sqlkitten.com/
Amy Herold is currently a Premier Field Engineer with Microsoft, specializing in APS. Prior to this, she was a Sr. Database Administrator, focusing on PowerShell and automation. She is also currently the Director of Programs for the North Texas SQL Server User Group (NTSSUG). She frequently speaks at SQL Saturday and user group events across the United States and has also participated in numerous Women in Technology sessions as a panelist. Amy currently blogs at sqlkitten.com.
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.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/rie-irish/2/34a/78/
Rie lives with her family just north of Atlanta, Georgia. She worked as a SQL Server DBA, manager director for over 20 years. She's worked in many industries including the non-profit sector, education, big pharma, and e-commerce. She was awarded the MVP in the Data Platform 3 times beginning in 2017 and gave that up to accept her role as a Senior Program Manager with Microsoft in 2019. She is very involved with the Atlanta MDF User Group, SQL Saturday Atlanta and is co-leader of the PASS Women in Tech virtual group.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derekrickard
Derek Rickard is a Business Analytics professional turned Business Intelligence fanatic. He has spent the better part of his career as an analyst in the consumer packaged goods industry. Leveraging self-service and enterprise BI tools to address major business challenges for sales, marketing, operations, accounting, compliance, executives, and owners. In 2014, he started Source to Share, a consultancy dedicated to the education and facilitation of Power BI tools within organizations.
Contact: http://www.spartansql.com
Born naked and defenseless, he overcame these obstacles to become a mender of broken things, seeker of magic rings, and occasional watcher of slow pings.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulstan/
Contact: https://www.windocks.com/blog-2
Co-founder of Windocks, Paul is a former Microsoft engineer who is focused on delivering solutions for SQL Server development and test, including SQL Server containers and database cloning.
Contact: http://sqluninterrupted.com/
Sourabh Agarwal is a Sr. Program Manager for the Microsoft Data Platform Group and owns the HADR components for the SQL Server In-Market release. In his decade-long stint at Microsoft, he has worked in different capacities and specializes in providing consulting services on SQL Server and other Data Platform technologies to Microsoft customers across business domains and geographies. His specialization includes designing and optimizing SQL Deployments, HADR, Microsoft Azure, and PowerShell scripting.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhonsowetz/
Contact: http://www.gointerject.com/never-stand-still-blog/
Jeff is a rogue CPA/accountant disguised as a SQL guy who cares about code literacy for kids, simplifying work, and pondering the next era of spreadsheets. Jeff leads a 20+ person team in Vancouver WA that has built a framework to unlock Excel as a presentation tier for middle tier services. They enable development partners to remove the frustration that typically is found where software ends and spreadsheets begin. Jeff is a committee member for Oreg
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.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/dxclark/
Contact: http://drclarkblog.wordpress.com/
Dan Clark is a senior data analytics consultant. He is focused on all things data analytics and training others how to get value from their data. Dan has published several books and numerous articles on .NET programming and data analytics. He is a regular speaker at various developer and database conferences and user group meetings and enjoys interacting with the Microsoft developer and database communities. His latest book Beginning Power BI published by Apress is a will get you up and running with self-service data analytics on the Power BI platform in no time.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/slava-murygin/9/b95/858
Contact: http://slavasql.blogspot.com/
Started working with SQL Server 7.0 as DBA and Developer. Since then went through all SQL Server versions, migrations and multiple companies of different sizes and industries. Currently working as a contractor with all aspects of SQL Server, including, but not limited to: troubleshooting performance, designing/developing: databases, systems, processes, data warehouses, cubes, reports, ETLs; Refactoring old code; Migrating data from other systems to SQL Server; Securing the data on enterprise level.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/sqlservermama
Elizabeth Block is passionate about using database technologies to solve business problems. Currently a Senior DBA at PeaceHealth in Springfield, Oregon, she’s on a team managing over 300 SQL Servers. Extensive experience in database design and analysis has helped her in her roles as database consultant, developer, and DBA. She’s worked with SQL Server for over 10 years.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterkral
Peter Kral is a Premier Field Engineer (Data AI) at Microsoft. He holds SQL Server MCSA 2012/2014/2016 and Data Platform MCSE certifications, and was the winner of the Speaker Idol Award at PASS Summit 2016. Peter lives in the San Diego area where he is an active member of the local PASS chapter. He has spoken at many SQLSaturdays, SoCal Code Camps, and at PASS Summit 2017 and 2018.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kathikellenberger
Contact: http://auntkathisql.com
Kathi Kellenberger is the editor of Simple Talk at Redgate and a Data Platform MVP. She has worked with SQL Server for over 20 years and has authored, co-authored, or tech edited over a dozen technical books. Kathi is the co-leader of the PASS Women in Technology Virtual Group and a volunteer at LaunchCode. When Kathi isn’t working, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, cycling, singing, and climbing the stairs of tall buildings. Be sure to check out her courses on Pluralsight.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-volk-134ba81
Contact: http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/robv/
Rob Volk is a SQL Server DBA in the Metro Atlanta area since 2001. He also moderates and answers the forums on SQLTeam.com. While an old-time cranky DBA, he no longer considers quot;business intelligencequot; an oxymoron or quot;the cloudquot; as merely atmospheric moisture, and is delightedly dipping his toes into both of these new oceans, and loves to do things in new and and unusual ways.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/b5lurker
Contact: http://blog.wakebi.com
Steve Wake is currently the Principal BI Developer at Brown and Caldwell and has experience in consulting, advertising, media, manufacturing, retail, charities, telecommunications and financial services organizations using the full on-premises Microsoft BI stack. Recent experience with the Azure services: Analysis Services, Logic Apps, Data Factory, Databricks, Snowflake and Power BI. Steve is also very involved in the SQL community, speaking at events around the world.
LinkedIn: https://nl.linkedin.com/in/sanderstad
Contact: http://www.sqlstad.nl
Sander is a SQL Server DBA with over 15 years of experience in IT. He has worked with SQL Server since version 2000 and is a PowerShell enthusiast.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/steve-moss/13/9b0/912
Steve Moss is a Solutions Architect consulting in data and business intelligence with Slalom Portland . He is passionate about delivering enterprise data architecture solutions, the performance of data systems and data quality/master data management and in particular Azure Data technologies. He has over 18 years experience in SQL Server including roles as BI Architect, Data Architect, DBA Manager, Sr. DBA and .Net Developer. He has previously presented at SQL Saturday Redmond, SQL Saturday Oregon (4 years). He has attended Microsoft's internal Cloud Solution Architect Training and is also a Certified AWS Solution Architect - Associate.
Phil Robinson is an independent consultant focused on developing Business Intelligence solutions using Microsoft Reporting Services and Power BI. He is founder of the San Diego SQL Business Intelligence Group and co-founder of SQL Saturday – San Diego.
The following is a list of sponsors that helped fund the event.