Posts Tagged ‘SQL Server 2012’

When I speak to clients about In-Memory features in SQL Server, I find that Columnstore indexes just haven’t gained much traction as a marquee feature. The functionality itself is quite useful in the BI/DW realm as far as potentially boosting query performance by 1.5 to 10 times. But I think it gets overlooked because the […]

Previously, we addressed the specifics of data services in Azure, and what paths might be valid for SQL Server BI.   Today, we’ll look at delivering data to users — the “last mile” of Microsoft’s cloud BI story — via SharePoint. Whenever you talk about delivery of Microsoft BI, the first point of discussion is logically […]

This article was pointed out to me by a colleague, and I found it a pretty compelling read:  How Microsoft helped this bar figure out that vodka was costing it a fortune. Of particular interest to me is the Natural Q&A feature, which is mentioned prominently. Now, my time in the data warehousing trenches tempers my […]

A source system that contains dynamic or customer-defined data fields is both an old problem and a sticky one in the  DW/BI environment.  A standard approach of flattening the dynamic data into name/value pairs is recommended for a relational-type database.   But what about multidimensional modeling or OLAP storage?  Name/value pairs are just the beginning.  To […]

This is the final post in the Twelve Days of Lync’mas series, to see an index of all twelve posts, click here. On the twelfth day of Lync’mas my UC team gave to me: Support for Windows and SQL Server 2012. Introduction Windows Server 2012 and SQL Server 2012 for the 12th day of Lync’mas… […]

Below are step by step instructions that will show you how to install SQL Server 2012 Management Studio Express on a Windows 7 PC client, and also create your very own local SQL Server on a Windows 7 PC.

As a follow up to the EIM Awareness with SQL Server blog post I previously created, I’d like to dig into the potential impact of the “…increasing EIM maturity level…” I referenced. Whether you manage a consulting practice or a BICC, you’re always struggling with providing the right balance of value to your clients. In […]

As the virtual launch of SQL Server 2012 draws near, I receive more and more requests for demos. This doesn’t really surprise me however considering the new enhancements really do show well. So in an effort to spread the mindshare here is a nice overview of the ad-hoc reporting capabilities of PowerPivot and Power View. […]

Step-by-Step Instructions Before getting started I would like to point out the other blogs in this series. If you do not need help with the installation of the SQL Server 2012 bits then perhaps one of the other blogs will be of help. Installation Order: SQL Server 2012 (RC0) Business Intelligence Configuration SQL Server 2012 […]

Overview With every new version of SQL that is released there are always a few changes and challenges related to the installation and configuration of all the tools within the BI stack. Admittedly, even with the ever changing toolset within the BI stack, this has gotten easier over time. Furthermore, the deep integration with SharePoint […]

Overview Please check out the other blogs in the series related to setting up each of the main SQL Server 2012 features. Links to each of the related blogs are shown below. Installation Order: SQL Server 2012 (RC0) Business Intelligence Configuration SQL Server 2012 (RC0) Installation and Configuration SharePoint 2010 Installation for SQL Server 2012 […]

Overview If you do not already have SQL Server 2012 PowerPivot and SharePoint 2010 installed please check out one of the earlier blogs in this series. All of the blogs in the series are listed below. If you did not follow the SharePoint 2010 Installation for SQL Server 2012 blog then your PowerPivot configuration might […]