Event Location:
Whitireia New Zealand
3 Wi Neera Dr, Elsdon, Porirua
Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
Abstract:
Test Driven Development (TDD) is a design approach which has enabled application developers to write cleaner code. It is relevant for database development as it ensures that code produced using TDD and unit tests will be of higher quality which means interactions with data will be safer. TDD is not a new method of unit testing, it is an essential design practice for improving the quality of your deployed code. In this session it will be shown how we can use TDD to design and write better unit tests using open-source frameworks and industry standard tools. These tools can be run within SQL Server Management Studio which means DBAs can also take advantage of TDD and unit test, to ensure more reliable code is deployed to databases. TDD can result in code that can be deployed more reliably and faster when using DevOps processes such as Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery. A comprehensive DEMO will reveal how Test Driven Development can help you deploy database code safer.
Speaker(s): Hamish Watson,
Abstract:
This session focuses on the deeper integration of SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) in Azure Data Factory (ADF) and the broad extensibility of Azure-SSIS Integration Runtime (IR). We will first show you how to provision Azure-SSIS IR - dedicated ADF servers for lifting shifting SSIS packages - and extend it with custom/3rd party components. You can then use the familiar SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT)/SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) to design/deploy/execute/monitor your SSIS packages in the cloud just like you do on premises. Next, we will guide you to trigger/schedule SSIS package executions as first-class activities in ADF pipelines and combine/chain them with other activities, allowing you to inject/splice built-in data transformations in your ETL/ELT workflows, provision Azure-SSIS IR on demand/just in time, etc. And finally, you will learn about the licensing model for ISVs to develop paid components/extensions and join the growing 3rd party ecosystem for SSIS in ADF.
Speaker(s): Sandy Winarko,
Abstract:
Many people (business and IT) already use Power Pivot, Power BI and SSAS Tabular to produce reporting and analytics tools. But did you know that these tools also have their own query language? In traditional databases such as SQL server, it is possible to extract data into a new table. The same is possible using DAX as a query language with a tabular data model. In this session, Matt will introduce the topic and show how you can use DAX Studio to connect to a data model. Once connected, DAX studio can be used to write queries over the tabular data model to start to interrogate the data itself (as opposed to simply aggregating the values into a pivot table or a Power BI report). The learning can then be used to write more complex DAX measures or alternatively it can be used to extract tabular data directly into a table for further analysis.
Speaker(s): Matt Allington,
Abstract:
Did you know the DAX language is far more capable than merely running a SUM over a column, or counting rows in a table? DAX sits on top of one of the fastest databases around, and this session will explore some unusual and creative scenarios that you previously would have thought as not possible using just DAX. The session will aim to reset your understanding of what is possible in DAX by walking through some interesting code highlights from a recent series of games built using DAX (Blackjack, Sudoku , Tic Tac Toe , Hangman Minesweeper). Each game pushes and explores different boundaries in DAX and will attempt to show just where those lines are. The session will hopefully inspire you to add some creative and exciting techniques to your own DAX based data models.
Speaker(s): Phillip Seamark,
Abstract:
In the last few years the requirement to understand and use distributed Source control systems has become an increasing part of a Data Professionals life. With the move into Open Source and community involvement even Microsoft has embraced the use of GitHub! In this session we will investigate the setup and use of GitHub and Git for source control. Using the highly popular DBATools open source project we will also investigate getting involved in an Open Source project and the process of Pull and Push requests! Based around personal experience of learning not to hate Source control, this session assume no experience with Git or Github
Speaker(s): Patrick Flynn,
Abstract:
Security is different from Sharing, Sharing is about sharing the entire content with others, security is about authorizing different views of the content to others. In this session we go through many different Row Level Security patterns; Static Row Level Security, Dynamic Row Level Security, and many variations of the dynamic RLS, such as giving manager access as well as employee access, you will learn about user profile security scenarios, and hierarchical access levels. This session shows you how DAX and Power BI security comes together to play an important part of a Power BI project lifecycle: Row Level Security. Session is full of demos and you will learn these concepts through many live demos.
Speaker(s): Reza Rad,
Abstract:
Today’s database professionals must be engineers, not just administrators. We build things. We create things. As engineers practicing devops, we are all in this together, and nothing is someone else’s problem. As engineers, we apply repeatable processes, established knowledge, and expert judgment to design, build, and operate production data stores and the data structures within. As database reliability engineers, we must take the operational principles and the depth of database expertise that we possess one step further. Guiding Principles of the DBRE * Protect the Data * Self-Service for Scale * Elimination of Toil * Databases Are Not Special Snowflakes * Eliminate the Barriers Between Software and Operations
Speaker(s): Dave Dustin,
Abstract:
Preparing and defining ETL for insights is significant challenge for businesses today—ingestion, cleansing, transformation, and enrichment are labor-intensive and time-consuming tasks, which require deep technical skills. Power BI now introduces advanced data prep with dataflows—a suite self-service low-code/no-code features and capabilities for business analysts to easily process and unify their data and store it in Azure-based data-lake storage. With these new capabilities, Power BI offers a solution for any business need—whether you want to prep your data with ease, using a familiar built-in Power Query experience, or to leverage the full Azure stack for more advanced use-cases. Join this session to learn how to easily prep your data, leverage Microsoft’s standardized schema, improve time-to-value, eliminate data silos, and create one source of truth for your organizational insights. This session will also finish with a look at some of the AI features that will be coming soon!
Speaker(s): Charles Sterling,
Abstract:
2 text transaction files, a pivoted excel budget file, 20 Power Queries, 6 dimensional tables, and one interactive Excel dashboard = mind blowing awesomeness in under 60 minutes. But while the analysis is important, the real value in the refresh. Can your model pull in another 22 text files and next year's budgets in less than a minute? This model can. Come and see how Excel 2016 gives us the ability to not only rapidly create business intelligence, but also allows us to build engaging and interactive models that can be quickly updated and shared via Power BI.
Speaker(s): Ken Puls,
Abstract:
Azure Cognitive Services are APIs available to develop Intelligent applications. In this session you will get to know about the catalog of Azure Cognitive Services and learn how Cognitive Services makes it easy for developers to get started infusing AI into their applications.
Speaker(s): Anupama Natarajan,
Abstract:
Do you know if your development, test and production environments created were equally? How many SQL instances are you responsible for? Do you know if they are installed and configured consistently? If a dog ate your SAN, could you rebuild them 'by lunchtime'? In this presentation we'll walk through a live demo using reusable community resources to automatically install, configure and verify the installation of SQL Server(s) that implement best practices using Powershell Desired State Configuration, dbachecks.io and other community resources.
Speaker(s): Craig McGregor,
Abstract:
In SQL 2016, SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) underwent massive changes with the addition of many new reporting features. Since that release, there have been many further developments, including the release of Power BI Report Server and subsequent SSRS versions. In this demo laden session, Craig will recap the changes that SSRS has undergone from SSRS 2016 onwards, as well as look at and discuss Power BI Report Server.This session will be valuable for anyone new to SSRS, or anyone who has not had an opportunity to work with the latest versions of SSRS.
Speaker(s): Craig Bryden,
Abstract:
Join Microsoft Certified Master of SQL Server, Amit Bansal, and learn some real-world query tuning examples. In this deep-dive session you will learn how you can re-write T-SQL queries using new constructs to improve performance. You will learn how you can tune indexes deal with statistics to improve query performance. This session will be an eye-opener for you and you will learn things that Google cannot find for you. Assured.
Speaker(s): Amit R S Bansal,
Abstract:
In this session, I will be sharing 10 tips that everyone should know. I am sure everyone will learn a few things that they didn't know. I will be going through webscraping tips, adding a few dynamic things to improve your reports etc.
Speaker(s): Indira Bandari,
Abstract:
There is a possibility to do Machine Learning in Power BI Service. This feature has been added recently to Power BI service. In this session, first, some concepts regarding machine learning and AI will be provided. For instance, the audience will learn what is Classification, Regression, Clustering, and Forecasting will be presented. Next, how we able to get data in Data Flow in Power BI service from blob storage, how to use Data Flow to clean the data, then how to apply machine learning to cleaned data will be provided.
Speaker(s): Leila Etaati,
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:
SQL Server 2017 came out with GraphDB functionality. Graph database is a really important technology, and SQL 2017 is Microsoft's attempt to get into the game. But there are other "Non-Microsoft" Graph Database implementations in market, and one of the popular one is Neo4j. So, in this session lets learn about Neo4j, how its implemented, whats provided in it, how to start with it and more.
Speaker(s): Mohammad Hafizullah,
Abstract:
SQLOpsStudio is the new kid in town for the data professional. Is it a replacement for good old SSMS? In this session we will take you on a journey of comparing SSMS and SQLOpsStudio so that you can understand the ins and outs of both these tools, making it easier to know what each brings to the table. In this demo heavy session we not only hear about the differences but we match them up against each other to better learn what each can do.
Speaker(s): Warwick Rudd,
Abstract:
Finance is crying, a random SQL server is running slow, and now it's your problem. How do you now go about looking for what the likely cause of the bad behavior might be? You are an accidental/junior/mid-level DBA and now the pressure is on. In this session we will look at Triage – where is it hurting, and how much is it hurting. We will touch on some techniques, tools and quick fixes that will buy you some more time and maybe even resolve the problem.
Speaker(s): Adrian Sullivan,
Abstract:
If you are hesitating between choosing a Business Intelligence Solution in the cloud or on-premises, this session will provide you with the different options on-premises as well in Azure to take into account regarding your Business Intelligence architecture. During the past few years we have been experiencing vast changes in the Business Intelligence space, not only related to data analytics, data modelling or applications, but also the importance of infrastructure. In this presentation, I will explain how to get the best from both worlds.
Speaker(s): David Alzamendi,
Abstract:
Traditionally, SSRS is used for paginated reports which gives flexibility like drill through reports, subscriptions and print formatting. With Power BI the reports are now more interactive and dynamic. There are still few gaps between these two platforms which are built to purpose. This gap is getting smaller as features are ported between these two platforms. In this session I will be going through various features which are bridging these gaps and point out the differences. These are significant and can affect your decision in choosing the right platform which will fit your needs.
Speaker(s): Manohar Punna,
Abstract:
When it comes to security, we assume we know everything and have covered every aspect. But a lot of security implementations and nuances are not known by many. Come into this session to know the tips and tricks that you will need to know working with SQL Server Security.
Speaker(s): Vinod Kumar M,
Abstract:
Are you managing your "chaos" environment but still can't move forward to start improvements and automation successfully? Do you really know how is your SQL instance, permissions and servers configured and why you are still missing strong and persistence naming structure and standards? This session will be focusing on the Naming convention and standards in the infrastructure environment and how to apply it correctly, which also includes SQL Database objects.
Speaker(s): Ondrej Aubrecht,
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://nz.linkedin.com/pub/leila-etaati/36/46/b03
Contact: http://blog.radacad.com
Leila Etaati is the First Microsoft AI MVP in New Zealand and Australia, as well as a Data Platform MVP. She has a Ph.D. from the University of Auckland and is the co-director and data scientist in RADACAD company with many clients around the world. Additionally, she is the co-organizer of Microsoft Business Intelligence and Power BI Use group in Auckland with more than 1300 members. Leila has also co-organized 3 main conferences in Auckland: SQL Saturday Auckland (from 2015), Difinity (from 2017) and Global AI Bootcamp. She is a data scientist, BI consultant, trainer, and speaker. She is a well-known International speaker to many conferences such as MS Ignite, SQL PASS, Data Platform Summit, SQL Saturday, Power BI World Tour and in Europe, USA, Asia, Australia, and NZ. She has over 10 years’ experience with databases and software systems. Leila is an active Technical Microsoft AI blogger in RADACAD.
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.
Craig has 20 years experience in Government technology roles encompassing software development, security, operations, data and solution architecture. Craig thrives on new challenges that can broaden his perspective to create solutions and has a passion for applying DevOps and continuous delivery practices to all genres of IT systems.
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: 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: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalzamendi
Contact: https://www.techtalkcorner.com
Delivering Business Intelligence and Data Analytics Solutions with On-Premises and Cloud technologies since 2011, David Alzamendi is a Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert and event speaker who solves problems with best practice procedures and the latest technology. David is passionate about the positive impact data can have on our lives, businesses, economy and the environment. He prides himself on using his creativity and optimism to solve what others thought impossible.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seamark
An accomplished database and business intelligence (BI) professional with an in-depth knowledge of the Microsoft BI stack along with extensive knowledge of data warehouse (DW) methodologies and enterprise data modelling. Expert knowledge in all facets of BI/DW including planning architecture, project management, dimensional modelling, performance tuning, ETL design, development and optimization, report and dashboard design as well as installation and administration. Author of multiple books on DAX. Over 27 years of commercial experience in delivering business applications across a broad range of technologies.
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/AmitBansal2010
Amit R. S. Bansal is a SQL Server Specialist at SQLMaestros. He leads the SQL Server practice with a focused team providing consulting, training, and content development services to more than 160+ SQL customers globally. He frequently speaks at international conferences on SQL Server performance tuning, which is his core expertise. Amit is also honored with Microsoft Regional Director status, MVP award, and Microsoft Certified Master of SQL Server credential. Amit has been working with SQL Server since 1999 and has been part of countless mission-critical SQL deployments. Performance Tuning in SQL Server is his core area of expertise. To learn more about Amit, visit http://sqlmaestros.com/amit-bansal.
LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/kenpuls
Contact: https://www.excelguru.ca/blog
Ken Puls, FCPA, FCMA is a Chartered Professional Accountant, author, and trainer. With over 20 years of experience as a corporate controller and business owner, he has been exposed to many business systems, databases, and analysis tools, leading to a career of building Excel and Power BI-driven applications to harness data and turn it into management information. A Microsoft Excel/Data Platform MVP since 2006 and author of 2 books, Ken has also been recognized as a Fellow of CPA Canada.
LinkedIn: https://nz.linkedin.com/in/anupama-natarajan-516a107
Contact: http://www.anupamanatarajan.com
Anu Natarajan is a Data and AI Consultant with 15+ years of experience working in design and development of Data Warehouse, Business Intelligence, AI enabled applications, and SaaS integrated solutions. Anu is a Microsoft MVP Data Platform, Microsoft Certified Trainer and passionate in sharing knowledge. She loves solving complex business problems with innovative solutions using technologies. Anu also speaks at conferences including PASS Summit, SQL Saturdays, Data Platform Summit, Difinity, and she organizes local user group meetups.
Contact: http://sqllensman.com/blog/
Patrick Flynn is a Senior Database Administrator with 10 years experience in large 24 x 7 enterprise environments. He is a certified master for SQL Server and a regular attendee of the PASS Summit. Has presented at SQLSaturday events in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Auckland, Edmonton and Calgary, Oslo and Cambridge
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohammadhafizullah/
Working with SQL Server for over 7 years. My current role at Xero gave me a great opportunity to extend my knowledge to Postgres and AWS. I recently passed AWS Certified Associate Developer exam. My interests are Data security, High availability and Disaster Recovery. Other than technology, my interests are long distance running, boxing and playing with my son.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/indira-bandari/
Contact: http://mytechlearning.blogspot.co.nz/
Indira is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP in New Zealand. She has a Masters degree in Statistics and is passionate about data, analytics and Artificial Intelligence. She is a BI and SQL Lead, an international speaker, mentor and part time trainer with over 15 years of experience in designing and developing data warehouses and analytical solutions. Volunteering and sharing her knowledge is her passion. In her pass time, she runs free game development classes, database concepts and data visualization classes for 9-16 year old kids. She is a Co-organiser for Data, Insights and Power BI User Group , Auckland AI Meetup Group and SQL Saturday Auckland. She speaks at various conferences, Virtual Webinars, PASS events etc
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriansullivan/
For the last 12 years Adrian been helping companies through their SQL data estate and digital workplace journeys. Adrian is the Modern SQL Platform principal at Lexel, where he leads a Managed Services and Professional/Project Services capability. Most of Adrian's work revolves around Data Estate design, Always On Availability Groups and Performance tuning.
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.
Contact: https://www.pwsh.org.nz
Ondrej has been working with SharePoint, O365 (cloud) and security in the industry for more than 12 years. Working on various projects maximalize the benefits, improvements and reduce the cost in the big enterprise and governments. Ondrej takes data into a new level of challenges and setting Precision and organize system specifically in IT technology which he is passionate about. He is also running Wellington PowerShell user group.
Contact: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/charles_sterling/
Charles Sterling came to Microsoft from being a marine biologist working for United States National Marine Fisheries doing marine mammal research on the Bering Sea. He started out at Microsoft supporting Excel and moved through a couple of support teams to being an escalation engineer for Microsoft SQL Server. Taking his love for customers (and diving), Chuck moved to Australia as a product manager and developer evangelist for the .NET Framework. In 2008 he moved back to Redmond as a Visual Studio community program manager and just recently moved to the Power BI team to continue his community passion and looking after the Power BI influencers and MVPs.
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://blogs.ExtremeExperts.com
Vinod Kumar has worked with SQL Server extensively since joining the industry over more than 17 years back. Working on various versions from SQL Server 7.0, Oracle 7.3 and other database technologies - he now works with Microsoft Technology Center (MTC) as Technology Architect. With extensive database, BI and application background, he currently helps customers maximize on the investments on technologies to solve real world business and technology integration problems. Speaker in major conferences like TechEd India (12 yrs), TechNet, MSDN, Azure Conference etc.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/swinarko/
Contact: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/SQL-Server-Integration-Services/bg-p/SSIS
Sandy is a seasoned Product Manager with extensive experience in the US, Europe, and Asia, combining commercial/technical responsibilities in principal/senior roles at various TMT (Technology, Media, and Telecommunications) companies, such as Microsoft/Skype/Nokia, BSkyB (British Sky Broadcasting), and CW (Cable Wireless). At Microsoft, he is currently driving the efforts to modernize SSIS (SQL Server Integration Services) on premises and in the cloud as part of ADF (Azure Data Factory).
With more than 35 years industry experience, Dave has worked with organisations and data systems of all sizes. He is currently Principal Engineer at Xero.
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.