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SQLSaturday #388 - Edinburgh - BI Edition 2015

Start Time (24h) Speaker Track Title
10:15:00 David Parker The Business of Business Intelligence Visualising and Generating SQL data with Microsoft Visio 2013
10:15:00 Iain Elder The Technology of Business Intelligence Web Scraping with Python - scraping the web, without the sting
10:15:00 Jen Stirrup Business Analytics Track Business Analytics 101 Jumpstart using Azure Machine Learning
10:15:00 Chris Webb The Technology of Business Intelligence Best practices for collecting and combining data with Power Query
11:15:00 Bob Duffy Business Analytics Track Creating Dashboards with DataZen
11:15:00 Ian Macdonald The Technology of Business Intelligence One BI Platform to Rule Them All
11:15:00 Adam Vero - Dynamics CRM MVP The Business of Business Intelligence Better Data Visualisation for CRM and ERP
13:15:00 Carmel Gunn Business Analytics Track The European Economic Crisis and the Euro-A Data Tale
13:15:00 Peter Baddeley The Business of Business Intelligence Understanding SharePoint reporting options for SQL Server
13:15:00 peyman blumstengel The Technology of Business Intelligence Optimizing databases with server side flash, understanding what lies beneat
14:15:00 Mark Wilcock Business Analytics Track Learning R through a typical BI task
14:15:00 Thomas Sykes The Technology of Business Intelligence Blue Sky Thinking: SQL Azure Geospatial Mashup
14:15:00 Niall MacLeod The Technology of Business Intelligence Microsoft SQL Server Data Warehouse Fast Track – Understanding the Program
15:45:00 Bob Phillips The Technology of Business Intelligence Customising the Excel Ribbon
15:45:00 Gary Short - C# MVP Business Analytics Track Troll Hunting on the Internet
15:45:00 Dave Lawrence The Business of Business Intelligence Improve Data Quality, Drive BI Value through Master Data Management
16:45:00 Jean-Pierre Riehl The Technology of Business Intelligence Data Management Gateway Deep Dive
16:45:00 Satya Jayanty Business Analytics Track Power BI- best practices to deliver just-in-time insights
16:45:00 Jen Stirrup The Business of Business Intelligence Big Data's Missing V: Visualisation. How do you BigViz your Big Data?
16:45:00 Ric Howe Business Analytics Track Advanced Analytics is where to place your bet

SessionID: 12849

Visualising and Generating SQL data with Microsoft Visio 2013

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Event Date: 13-06-2015 - Session time: 10:15:00 - Track: The Business of Business Intelligence

Speaker: David Parker

Title: Visualising and Generating SQL data with Microsoft Visio 2013

Abstract:

David will demonstrate how easy it is to not only visualise data from SQL Server, on-prem. or in the cloud, with Visio 2013 Professional , but how you can use structured diagrams and validation rules to create data for your database from a drawing. He will also demonstrate how Visio diagrams stored in SharePoint 2013 can be become interactive dashboards available on any modern device and in any modern browser.

SessionID: 36848

Web Scraping with Python - scraping the web, without the sting

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Event Date: 13-06-2015 - Session time: 10:15:00 - Track: The Technology of Business Intelligence

Speaker: Iain Elder

Title: Web Scraping with Python - scraping the web, without the sting

Abstract:

Need to download data from a website without an API? Scrape it!

Web scraping is a technique for collecting information from websites, especially in ways not intended by the publisher.

Many business have web scraping in their data strategy to open up new business opportunities and remain competitive. It is something that we can all use to make existing data acquisition tasks easier and make new goals possible.

Python is well suited to the task of web data acquisition. Thanks to its simple, clean syntax and interactive shell, it is easy and fun to learn. It is accessible to Business Intelligence professionals with an SQL background.

Scrapy provides an infrastructure for writing scraping programs called spiders. It allows you to achieve more with shorter, more declarative code. It can be used for small and large scraping projects.

In our demo we will study the anatomy of a spider, then use it pull data from a website into Microsoft SQL Server for further analysis.

SessionID: 37112

Business Analytics 101 Jumpstart using Azure Machine Learning

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Event Date: 13-06-2015 - Session time: 10:15:00 - Track: Business Analytics Track

Speaker: Jen Stirrup

Title: Business Analytics 101 Jumpstart using Azure Machine Learning

Abstract:

Business analytics platforms have always been tools built for statisticians and data scientists. However, these tools are increasingly being directed at business analysts, and Gartner's rankings on its well-known "completeness of vision" and "ability to execute" axes now ride as much on "ease of use" as they do on offering advanced analytical algorithms.

How does this change in landscape affect businesses? Are you new to the world of business analytics? Are you taking over an existing analytics program, or starting one from scratch? This session will help you to understand how to craft a strategy, provision the right business analytical capabilities, and move towards actionable results. We’ll identify common pitfalls to avoid as you start or reinvigorate your business analytics program. In particular, we’ll explore how companies are using self-service and data discovery techniques to deliver more agile analytics using Azure Machine Learning.

SessionID: 37505

Best practices for collecting and combining data with Power Query

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Event Date: 13-06-2015 - Session time: 10:15:00 - Track: The Technology of Business Intelligence

Speaker: Chris Webb

Title: Best practices for collecting and combining data with Power Query

Abstract:

So you’ve played around with Power Query in Excel; now it’s time to put it to work. In this session you’ll learn how to ‘think’ in Power Query. You’ll see a number of examples of how Power Query can be used to solve real world problems and understand the best practices and patterns that you can take back to work and use immediately. Examples will include:

• Creating and using a parameter table • Combining data from multiple Excel workbooks into a single data set • Handling errors and unavailable data sources • Calling web services, handling authentication and working with XML • Performing sentiment analysis in Excel with Power Query and Azure Machine Learning

SessionID: 10576

Creating Dashboards with DataZen

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Event Date: 13-06-2015 - Session time: 11:15:00 - Track: Business Analytics Track

Speaker: Bob Duffy

Title: Creating Dashboards with DataZen

Abstract:

With Microsoft’s acquisition of DataZen dashboard and mobile BI is not easier than ever, with DataZen being bundled with SQL Server. Come along and see how to get started with DatZen.

We will be showing an end to end demo of creating and publishing dashboards for a mobile and tablet devices.

SessionID: 15147

One BI Platform to Rule Them All

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Event Date: 13-06-2015 - Session time: 11:15:00 - Track: The Technology of Business Intelligence

Speaker: Ian Macdonald

Title: One BI Platform to Rule Them All

Abstract:

Whether you are a Data Wizard, a Dwarf mining for insights, an Elf creating elegant visualisations or an

ordinary Hobbit seeking business enlightenment before second breakfast, BI Office from Pyramid Analytics can help you achieve your quest for insights and timely business information. By demonstrating how to build a BI Solution in 45 minutes, this session will show you how BI Office can make you a BI Superhero in your organisation!

SessionID: 8952

Better Data Visualisation for CRM and ERP

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Event Date: 13-06-2015 - Session time: 11:15:00 - Track: The Business of Business Intelligence

Speaker: Adam Vero - Dynamics CRM MVP

Title: Better Data Visualisation for CRM and ERP

Abstract:

Come and learn best practices for designing charts to help people understand their business data effortlessly.

Need to create charts and dashboards for people to get insight from their complex data and make better business decisions? This session will show you what to do, and more importantly why. Understand the way our brains are wired and take advantage of our ability to process some types of visual data far more easily than others. You will learn some great tips for better visualisation, and common pitfalls to avoid, rather than the technical ins-and-outs of how to achieve this with a specific piece of software. The main focus will be on charts and dashboards for CRM or ERP systems, but the approaches are just as valid using Excel, PowerPivot, SSRS or big analytics products from any data source.

SessionID: 11709

The European Economic Crisis and the Euro-A Data Tale

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Event Date: 13-06-2015 - Session time: 13:15:00 - Track: Business Analytics Track

Speaker: Carmel Gunn

Title: The European Economic Crisis and the Euro-A Data Tale

Abstract:

Investigative exploration of data is very often ad-hoc in nature. We might need to interact with many types and soures of data. The Questions we need to ask, and the data we might need to answer them are not set in stone, and as a result following traditional modelling is not always an option. Rather, we follow the data, to an unknown end.

In this session, we take the European Economic Crisis, and the Euro, and see what publically available data can do to give us insights into one of the largest currencies in the world.

See the Microsoft Power BI stack used to tell a real world story

SessionID: 21910

Understanding SharePoint reporting options for SQL Server

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Event Date: 13-06-2015 - Session time: 13:15:00 - Track: The Business of Business Intelligence

Speaker: Peter Baddeley

Title: Understanding SharePoint reporting options for SQL Server

Abstract:

The SharePoint landscape has changed dramatically over the last few years, and this session is designed to help Business Decision Makers, IT Managers and SQL Professionals understand what it offers as reporting platform. Exploring the different options, benefits and considerations for using SharePoint to report on data in SQL Server. Explaining that there are important decisions to make about which platform to use, and whether cloud based services should be considered. It will show a number of SharePoint options including Business Connectivity Services, Reporting Services, Excel Services and Power BI. It will consider the differences in functionality and configuration for different versions of SharePoint and SQL. Including comparing the platforms of SharePoint Server, SharePoint Foundation and Office 365. Finally it will challenge attendees to think about the purpose of the solution being delivered, who it is for and the long term strategy.

SessionID: 37432

Optimizing databases with server side flash, understanding what lies beneat

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Event Date: 13-06-2015 - Session time: 13:15:00 - Track: The Technology of Business Intelligence

Speaker: peyman blumstengel

Title: Optimizing databases with server side flash, understanding what lies beneat

Abstract:

In this short technical presentation we will look at some of the options available today which can be employed to optimize database workloads. During the presentation we will look at results from various experiments and try to understand the impact of performance relative to different database components and workloads.

SessionID: 19584

Learning R through a typical BI task

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Event Date: 13-06-2015 - Session time: 14:15:00 - Track: Business Analytics Track

Speaker: Mark Wilcock

Title: Learning R through a typical BI task

Abstract:

R is a language for data munging and stats that is growing in popularity. Many Microsoft BI professionals are curious about R but few have used it on a real project yet. This talk aims to introduce you to the capabilities of R by comparing the implementation of a typical BI task both in Power BI and in R. We’ll load some data from a SQL database, explore the data and ask some basic questions, draw some insightful conclusions and then communicate these to a broader audience.

The purpose of this session is to show R strengths and weaknesses to help you decide if R is a useful language that is worth investing time and effort to learn and master.

SessionID: 26995

Blue Sky Thinking: SQL Azure Geospatial Mashup

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Event Date: 13-06-2015 - Session time: 14:15:00 - Track: The Technology of Business Intelligence

Speaker: Thomas Sykes

Title: Blue Sky Thinking: SQL Azure Geospatial Mashup

Abstract:

In this session we'll be integrating a variety of geospatial data sources to provide a scalable website using a Windows Azure SQL Database and it's built in Geospatial features such as nearest neighbour. Then we'll take this a step further and introduce another live data stream, finally rendering it all using Bing Maps to an Azure Website. The presentation is targeted at individuals wanting a quick overview of the rapidly evolving Azure Service offerings for today’s cloud ready business.

SessionID: 37799

Microsoft SQL Server Data Warehouse Fast Track – Understanding the Program

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Event Date: 13-06-2015 - Session time: 14:15:00 - Track: The Technology of Business Intelligence

Speaker: Niall MacLeod

Title: Microsoft SQL Server Data Warehouse Fast Track – Understanding the Program

Abstract:

This presentation discusses the process undertaken to achieve the certification of a 90TB SanDisk solution whilst achieving an efficient out-of-box balance between SQL Server data processing capability and hardware resources.

SessionID: 10578

Customising the Excel Ribbon

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Event Date: 13-06-2015 - Session time: 15:45:00 - Track: The Technology of Business Intelligence

Speaker: Bob Phillips

Title: Customising the Excel Ribbon

Abstract:

All applications need some method for the user to interact with. Excel built-in functionality is accessed via the Ribbon, and Excel provides the capability to customise the Ribbon to organise it to your preference. More interestingly, it is possible to create your own Ribbon tabs that can interact with your applications.

This session will briefly show how to add items to the QAT and personalise the existing Ribbon, and then we will develop a Ribbon to manage a number of VBA macros, demonstrating dynamic Ribbon capabilities such as changing the image, and adding/removing items to/from dropdowns and dynamic menus. It will also show how to develop this code for 32 and 64 bit environments, and protect the ribbon from context loss.

SessionID: 26143

Troll Hunting on the Internet

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Event Date: 13-06-2015 - Session time: 15:45:00 - Track: Business Analytics Track

Speaker: Gary Short - C# MVP

Title: Troll Hunting on the Internet

Abstract:

The phenomenon of anonymous cyber bullies trolling individuals, as a pack, has increased over the years. One of the things that makes this appealing for the trolls is that they feel that they can act with impunity due to the anonymity provided by many social networks.

In this presentation we'll walk through the development of a theoretical application to identify these trolls, and the multiple accounts they hold, via computational lingustics, before using predictive analytics to suggest likely locations for their homes and places of work/education. By removing the anonymity of the Internet we can drive these trolls off of social media.

SessionID: 37883

Improve Data Quality, Drive BI Value through Master Data Management

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Event Date: 13-06-2015 - Session time: 15:45:00 - Track: The Business of Business Intelligence

Speaker: Dave Lawrence

Title: Improve Data Quality, Drive BI Value through Master Data Management

Abstract:

Today’s Business Intelligence (BI) systems are increasingly perceived as mission critical, but their value is only as good as the quality of data they contain. Learn how you can use Microsoft SQL Server Master Data Services and Profisee’s Master Data Maestro to ensure data quality and improve BI value.

SessionID: 16270

Data Management Gateway Deep Dive

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Event Date: 13-06-2015 - Session time: 16:45:00 - Track: The Technology of Business Intelligence

Speaker: Jean-Pierre Riehl

Title: Data Management Gateway Deep Dive

Abstract:

Deep dive into the DMG and the hybrid architecture involved by Power BI.

How does it work ? Security, Firewall, Certificates, Multiple gateways, Admin delegation, Scale out, Disaster Recovery.... All that topics will be covered during that technical session.

SessionID: 25026

Power BI- best practices to deliver just-in-time insights

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Event Date: 13-06-2015 - Session time: 16:45:00 - Track: Business Analytics Track

Speaker: Satya Jayanty

Title: Power BI- best practices to deliver just-in-time insights

Abstract:

We will overview a detailed options about how to deploy Power BI, how to implement configuration parameters and package BI features as a part of Office 365 roll out in your organisation.

Having said that, cloud computing is another aspect of this technology made is possible to get data within few clicks and ticks to the end-user. Let us review how to manage connect on-premise data to cloud capabilities that can offer full advantage of data catalogue capabilities by keeping data secure as per Information Governance standards. Not just with nuts and bolts, performance is another aspect that every Admin is keeping up, let us look into few settings on how to maximize performance to optimize access to data as

SessionID: 37108

Big Data's Missing V: Visualisation. How do you BigViz your Big Data?

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Event Date: 13-06-2015 - Session time: 16:45:00 - Track: The Business of Business Intelligence

Speaker: Jen Stirrup

Title: Big Data's Missing V: Visualisation. How do you BigViz your Big Data?

Abstract:

We all know about Big Data: Velocity, Volume and Variety. What about the missing 'V" - Visualisation? What does “big data” look like? It has to be more than beautiful; it needs to convey the information and insights in a way that people understand. Further, people expect to be able to make actionable insights from their data, and how can we make big data friendly to users?

In this session, we will look at a mix of open source and Microsoft technologies for visualising big data sources, and ways of achieving BigViz harmony in your Big Data

SessionID: 37804

Advanced Analytics is where to place your bet

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Event Date: 13-06-2015 - Session time: 16:45:00 - Track: Business Analytics Track

Speaker: Ric Howe

Title: Advanced Analytics is where to place your bet

Abstract:

We are not short of data and it’s growing at an exponential rate; what we are short of is insight. This talk will cover the latest announcements around advanced analytics, machine learning, and big data technologies to guide you through the future direction of the analytics journey we should all be placing our bets on.

Demos of Machine Learning, Stream Analytics, PowerBI, DataZen