How to resolve connection errors when loading data in SSAS Tabular project
This post actually applies to both multidimensional (cube) projects and Tabular projects which manage data source connectivity in a similar…
Category: SQL Syndication
BI Industry, BI Projects, Business Analytics, Power BI, PowerPivot, Self-service BI, SQL Syndication, SQLServerPedia, Tabular Models
Power BI Semantic Model Supports Many-to-Many Relationships
Is is possible to duplicate the same many-to-many relationship behavior in VertiPaq that we have in SSAS multidimensional? Since Tabular…
BI Industry, Business Analytics, Microsoft BI Platform, Power BI, Power View, Self-service BI, SQL Syndication, SQLServerPedia
New Power BI stand-alone Designer, Dashboards, APIs & iOS App
This week Microsoft announced the availability of Power BI Dashboards and the browser-based dashboard designer. What is it and why…
Drill-through to Details from Reporting Services to Excel
Can an SSRS report be designed to drill-through to an Excel workbook in-context (showing only the same filtered detail data)?…
PASS, SolidQ, SQL Server, SQL Syndication, SQLServerPedia, SSAS Administration, SSAS Design, SSRS Administration, SSRS Design, Tabular Models
SQL Server Upgrade Preconference at PASS Summit 2014
Please join my associates and I for an all-day SQL Server Upgrade workshop on November 3rd
If you are planning an upgrade to a newer version of SQL Server, you won’t want to miss this all-day, preconference workshop.
Join John Martin, Sr. Technology Evangelist from Microsoft, will spend the morning discussing migration planning from SQL Server 2005.
In the afternoon, SolidQ mentors Ron Talmage, Richard Waymire, Jim Miller and Paul Turley will talk about and demonstrate upgrading specific workloads (projects and features) from older product versions to newer product versions. We will introduce the comprehensive SQL Server 2014 Upgrade Whitepaper that we recently wrote for publication by Microsoft.
BI Industry, BI Projects, Business Analytics, DAX, Microsoft BI Platform, Power BI, PowerPivot, Self-service BI, SQL Server Pro Magazine, SQL Syndication, SQLServerPedia, Tabular Models
Adding and Displaying Comments to Power Pivot Results in an Excel Pivot Table
Requirement: Allow users to enter comments after they review results from a Power Pivot model and then show the comment text in the Pivot Table report results. Here’s a quick example of the final result. My example uses Flintstones characters in-place of employee or customer names and a simple measure value. After reviewing the results, the user moves to another worksheet and enters a comment for the date and person with an expiration date for the comment. After refreshing the report, each cell with a comment is indicated with a little “dog ear” and the comment is displayed by clicking the cell…
BI Industry, BI Projects, Business Analytics, Microsoft BI Platform, MVP Community, PASS, SolidQ, SQL Saturday, SQL Server, SQL Server Pro Magazine, SQL Syndication, SQLServerPedia
SQL Server MVP for a Sixth Year
Thank you to the Microsoft MVP Program for awarding me MVP for six years running! I love this program and…
So What the Heck is Power BI?
The other day a secondary family member said “we’re still on Microsoft 2010”. Another said “My friend is using Windows 2003 and can’t open a document I sent”. They were apparently talking about versions of Office products.
I get so deeply engrained in the Microsoft Business Intelligence community culture that I have to remind myself that most people don’t spend all their time keeping up with these products that are constantly in motion. And these are just Office users! When I work with BI consulting clients and business folks in the industry, it’s apparent that most people really don’t understand where these products and services begin and end.
Mark Tabladillo has done the world a service by laying out exactly what Power BI is, the products that it includes, and how to license it and get started. This is a great resource on the Microsoft MVP Program Blog that breaks it all down and helps it all make sense. Thank you, Mark!
Here’s a sample
Remembering Reed Jacobson
I just received some bad news and found out that a friend passed away today. Reed Jacobson was one of the early leaders in the Microsoft Business Intelligence community. Somewhere around 2004-2008 I worked with Reed at Hitachi Consulting in Seattle where we travelled, taught classes and worked on client projects together. He was one of the earliest adopters and gurus in the BI community working for a small start-up called OLAP Train who helped bring SSAS (aka “OLAP Services”) to the masses. He spoke at many conferences and taught a lot of classes.
Not only was he one of the smartest people I’ve known when it came to solving business problems with Analysis Service & MDX but he was a kind, friendly man who really enjoyed helping and connecting with people.
Business Intelligence Roles and Team Composition
On Business Intelligence projects of all sizes, the composition of the team is a crucial element for success. What is the organization of a functional BI team? How do the individual roles and disciplines contribute to a successful outcome? How is team composition different for self-service and business-owned BI projects? The best answer for an organization will depend on several factors including corporate culture, communication and management styles…
Business Analytics, DAX, SolidQ, SQL Server, SQL Syndication, SSAS Administration, SSAS Design, Tabular Models
SSAS Performance Logger Now Available
I’ve created a simple query performance logging tool for Analysis Services, called the SSAS Performance Logger. The tool allows you…
What Does it Cost to Implement a Business Intelligence Project?
Someone recently asked me through LinkedIn how much it would cost to implement a BI project with Microsoft tools. This…
Business Analytics, Microsoft BI Platform, MVP Community, PASS, Power View, PowerPivot, Self-service BI, SolidQ, SQL Syndication
What’s Happening at the PASS Business Analytics Conference?
Watch below for live updates during the conference Stay tuned and you’ll find out what’s going on during this week…
Creating a Dynamic, Parameterized Measure in DAX
As I continue to explore the many facets of DAX functions, I’m finding more creative ways to add business value…
Images, charts, indicators and sparklines in a tablix stretch and degrade report performance
This fact is probably not documented very well but this is an important factor in SSRS visual report design… The…