Mike Burger

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 […]

Step-by-Step Instructions I would like to point out that this installation is actually pretty simple for a brand new BI environment. If you are new to the series, please click on one of the other blogs in the series to get up to speed. If not, continue on! Installation Order: SQL Server 2012 (RC0) Business […]

In a world where data is collected for almost everything, companies often find they have trouble figuring out what to do with it. Theoretically companies could report on all their data, however, the larger the dataset gets the more money it will take to setup the infrastructure to support it. For most companies, especially those […]

It is almost impossible to have a conversation about Business Intelligence these days without talking about mobility. Mobile internet and data consumption is growing rapidly and it doesn’t look like that is going to change any time soon. There are many mobility options to choose from but not all of them work on all mobile […]

Problem: During one of my projects I found that the SSAS query log table seemed to be periodically getting truncated. I would notice this because I would run some queries against the cube, watch them get logged into the logging table, and then a few hours later they would be gone! I could not figure […]

Have you ever used the SSAS out of the box functionality to log queries? This can be used to see how many queries are run, how long each query runs, and which users are running the queries. If not, check out this blog for a description of some dashboards that can be created from this […]

One of the most popular questions after an SSAS cube is moved into production and users begin accessing the data is, “Who’s using the cube?” It makes sense right? After spending a lot of time and money getting an analysis cube built, who wouldn’t want to know what the usage was like? Luckily, there is […]

A client found a cool add-in for Excel the other day that allows users to view the underlying MDX associated with Pivot tables called PTPower. This is great because beginning MDX developers can use it to quickly view the underlying MDX for a Pivot table and use it to build elements within the SSAS cube, […]

Typical to most BI projects, the biggest challenge as a consultant is to quickly gain an understanding of the client’s data. Oftentimes I get placed in a room with all IT personnel, and I am expected to get up to speed with all the systems and data as I gather requirements to build out some […]