Presentation Materials 

I love presenting! If you'd like for me speak at your user group or organization, please give me a shout by E-Mail.

 

Session Info:    

     Tools and Techniques for Implementing Corporate and Self-Service BI

     So You Want to Be a Rockstar Report Developer?

     Maximizing the Data Exploration Capabilities of Power View

     Managing the "PowerPivot for SharePoint" Environment

     Dashboards ... How to Choose Which MSBI Tool?  

     Managed Self-Service BI

     "Know the Unknown" When Developing in SharePoint 2010  

     Decisions, Decisions ... Report Calculations in SSRS Source Query or in Expressions?

Other Info:  

    Resources for Presenting in the SQL Server Community

     

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Tools and Techniques for Implementing Corporate and Self-Service BI

Description:  Business Intelligence requirements frequently change and having only a Corporate BI solution can result in slower delivery cycles and information backlogs. Yet the introduction of Self-Service BI introduces challenges around governance, change management, standardization, training, support, and access to unregulated data sources. In this session we will consider the benefits, obstacles, and techniques for integrating Self-Service and Corporate BI. Demonstrations of Microsoft BI tools will include Data Explorer, PowerPivot, Excel, Power View, and SharePoint 2013.  

Level:  100 

Slides:  Coming Soon

Presented at: 

• Triad SQL BI User Group, Winston-Salem, NC - 6/25/2013

     

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So You Want To Be a Rockstar Report Developer?

Description:  You don't want to settle for being an average Report Developer, right? In this highly interactive session we'll discuss various development, standardization, deployment, and documentation practices that will make your SSRS development life easier, your output of higher quality, increase maintainability, and ultimately save you time. Audience participation and sharing of experiences is encouraged as we cover choices you have for datasets, sorting, grouping, filtering, calculations, parameters, deployment, and delivery. This session focuses primarily on SQL Server Reporting Services 2012, although some concepts may apply to other BI tools as well.  Join us for this this session and take your reporting skills to the next level!  

Level:  300 

Slides:  So You Want To Be a Rockstar Report Developer?

Presented at: 

• PASS Summit, Charlotte, NC - October 2013
• SQL Saturday, Atlanta, GA - 5/18/2013
• Carolina Code Camp, Charlotte, NC - 5/4/2013
• SQL Saturday, Richmond, VA - 3/9/2013

     

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Maximizing the Data Exploration Capabilities of Power View

Description:  Would business users in your organization love to get their hands on an interactive, visually-oriented, data exploration tool? If so, Power View may be a useful addition to your BI environment to handle certain types of self-service reporting requirements. In this session we will demonstrate the features and functionality of Power View including highlighting, cross-filtering, play axis, small multiples, tiles, cards, maps, filtering, and exporting.

We will identify which situations Power View is most suited for, as well as its strengths and limitations. Capabilities in SharePoint 2010/2013 vs. Excel 2013 will be reviewed, as well as restrictions on types of data sources allowed. We will also discuss how to prepare a dataset in order to maximize the usability and functionality of Power View. Join us for this session to discover how to get the most out of Power View!  

Level:  Introductory 

Slides:  Maximizing the Data Exploration Capabilities of Power View

Presented at: 

• Training on the T's, 3/28/2013

     

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Managing the "PowerPivot for SharePoint" Environment

Description:  In this session we will discuss management of data models and reports stored in the PowerPivot Gallery document library. Data Refresh and security considerations will be reviewed in depth. The relational and SSAS databases present in a PowerPivot for SharePoint environment will be introduced, as well as options for reporting on usage and other key metrics. This session, which is applicable to SharePoint 2010 and 2013, will help you become prepared to tackle the support aspects of a PowerPivot for SharePoint environment.  

Level:  200 

Slides:  Managing the PowerPivot for SharePoint Environment

Presented at: 

• SharePoint User Group, Charlotte, NC - 5/15/2013
• SharePoint Saturday, Charlotte, NC - 3/16/2013

   

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Dashboards...How To Choose Which MSBI Tool?

Description:  The Microsoft Business Intelligence (MSBI) stack has a few choices for visualization.  We will explore options, flexibility, limitations, and ease of use for creating dashboards & scorecards with:

• PerformancePoint Services 2010
• Reporting Services 2008 R2
• SharePoint Server 2010
• PowerPivot
• Power View

This session will be a fun one!  We will compare and contrast options available in each tool, such as:  charts, gauges, maps, indicators, sparklines, data bars, and decomposition trees. 

Goals:

• Examine strengths of each tool related to meeting data visualization requirements
• Compare and contrast common visualization options available in each tool
• Conclude when you might choose one tool in the Microsoft BI stack versus another

Level:  100 / 200 

Slides:  Dashboards...How To Choose Which MSBI Tool

Companion Document:  MSBI Visualization Comparisons By Tool

Presented at: 

• SQL Saturday, Jacksonville, FL - 4/27/2013
• SQL Saturday, Richmond, VA - 3/9/2013
• PASS Summit, Seattle, WA - 11/7/2012
• SQL Rally, Dallas, TX - 5/10/2012
• Triad SQL BI User Group, Winston-Salem, NC - 11/29/2011
• SQL Saturday, Tampa, FL - 11/5/2011
• SQL Saturday, Atlanta, GA - 9/17/2011

   

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Managed Self-Service BI

Description:  

Traditional Business Intelligence is changing … you heard about the ambitious data analyst down the hall who created a mashup of data from the internal data warehouse + Excel + an Azure feed?  Empowering knowledge workers is Microsoft's vision of delivering "BI for the Masses."  In this session we will dismiss the hype & examine how this new world of "Managed Self-Service BI" complements Corporate BI in SQL Server 2012 and SharePoint 2010/2013.