Evolved BIwith SQL Server 2012

Evolved BI with SQL Server 2012 (formerly known as “Denali”)Andrew J. Brust, Founder/CEO Fairfield / WestchesterBlue Badge Insights SQL Server User Group

Who Am I?• Founder, CEO, Blue Badge Insights• Microsoft Regional Director, MVP• Organizing team, Code Camp NYC• Co-chair Visual Studio Live! Co-moderator, NYC .NET Developers Group – http://www.nycdotnetdev.com• Founder, MS BI User Group NYC – http://www.msbinyc.com• brustblog.com, Twitter: @andrewbrust• Redmond Roundup Plus dispatch? Just text the word “bluebadge” to 22828

Column and Blog

Agenda• SQL Server BI – High Level• PowerPivot and Excel Services• Analysis Services Tabular Mode• PowerView (formerly “Crescent”)• Overview: Master Data Services and Data Quality Services

SQL SERVER BI OVERVIEW

Microsoft Business Intelligence Business User Experience Familiar User Experience Self-Service access & insight Data exploration & analysis Business Collaboration Predictive analysis Platform Data visualization Dashboards & Scorecards Business Collaboration Platform Contextual visualization Excel Services Databased forms & Web Infrastructure workflow and BI Platform Collaboration Analysis Services Search Reporting Services Information Platform Content Management Integration Services LOB data integration Master Data Services Data Mining Data Warehousing

SQL Server 2008 BI Components

But Wait, There’s More!• R2: PowerPivot• R2: Report Parts in SSRS• 2012: Analysis Services Tabular mode – And corresponding improvements in PowerPivot• 2012: PowerView• 2012: Data Quality Services

POWERPIVOT AND EXCELSERVICES

Self-Service BI with PowerPivot• Excel + Analysis Services + SharePoint• Enables the working in Excel but mitigates the “spreadmart” pitfalls: – Use Analysis Services (AS) as a hidden engine • Instead of no engine – Share via SharePoint, accessible by all AS clients • Instead of “deploying” via email – Formal data refresh on server • So data doesn’t get stale, and users don’t have to make effort at updating – Allow IT to monitor • So it’s not all rogue – Provide path to more rigorous implementations • Can be upsized to Analysis Services

Column-Oriented Stores• Imagine, instead of: Employee ID Age Income 1 43 90000 2 38 100000 3 35 100000• You have: Employee ID 1 2 3 Age 43 38 35 Income 90000 100000 100000• Perf: values you wish to aggregate are adjacent• Efficiency: great compression from identical or nearly- identical values in proximity• Fast aggregation and high compression means huge volumes of data can be stored and processed, in RAM

Data Import• Relational databases – SQL Server (including SQL Azure!), Access – Oracle, DB2, Sybase, Informix – Teradata – “Others” (OLE DB, including OLE DB provider for ODBC)• OData feeds, incl. R2/2012 Reporting Services, Azure DataMarket, ADO.NET Data Services (Astoria)• Excel via clipboard, linked tables• Filter, preview, friendly names for tables/columns

Calculated Columns and DAX• Formula-based columns may be created• Formula syntax is called DAX (Data Analysis eXpressions). – Not to be confused with MDX or DMX. Or DACs.• DAX expressions are similar to Excel formulas – Work with tables and columns; similar to, but distinct from, worksheets and their columns (and rows)• =FUNC(table name[column name])• =FUNCX(table name, <filter expression>)• FILTER(Resellers,[ProductLine] = "Mountain")• RELATED(Products[EnglishProductName])• DAX expressions can be heavily nested

Import data from almost anywherePowerPivot Guidebook View data in Excel Sort one column by another Calculated column entry Sort and filter DAX formula bar Relationship indicator Table tabs

What’s New? Data and Diagram views KPIs Measures Measure grid Measure formula

Perspectives Default Aggregations Special Advanced ModeDiagram View Reporting Properties Hierarchies Hide specific columns and tables Create relationships visually Measures KPIs

PowerPivot Client

Excel Services• A component of SharePoint Server 2007/2010; requires Enterprise CAL• Allows export of workbook, worksheet, or individual items to SharePoint report library – Works great for PivotTables and Charts! – Also for sheets with CUBExxx formulas or conditional formatting-driven “scorecards”• Content can be viewed in browser – Excel client not required – Drilldown interactivity maintained – Rendered in pure AJAX/HTML – Parameterization supported

PowerPivot Server• Publish to Excel Services• Viewing and interacting• Data Refresh• Treating as SSAS cube – URL to .xlsx as server name •Db name is GUID-based; best to discover it – Use Excel, Reporting Services as clients • And now PowerView too…more later

The IT DashboardIncrease IT efficiency: Familiar Technologies for Authoring, Sharing, Sec urity, and Compliance Customizable IT Dashboard Visualize usage with animated charts Simplify management of SSBI content using IT Operations Dashboard for SharePoint

PowerPivot Server

ANALYSIS SERVICESTABULAR MODE

Vocabulary• MOLAP: Multidimensional OLAP• UDM: Unified Dimensional Model• Cube: Unit of schema in a dimensional database• VertiPaq: PowerPivot/SSAS’ column store engine• BISM: BI Semantic Model• Tabular: A column store-based model – Because it uses tables, not cubes

Analysis Services Tabular Mode• SSAS Tabular Mode is the enterprise/server implementation of PowerPivot• You must have a dedicated tabular mode SSAS instance• BI Developer Studio (BIDS) does PowerPivot – Implements equivalent tooling to PowerPivot Window – Can create an SSAS Tabular database project by importing an Excel workbook with PowerPivot model• SSAS tabular models support partitions and roles

SSAS Tabular Project in BIDS SSAS tabular project menus and toolbar Measure grid and formula bar Reporting properties in Properties window

DirectQuery Mode • In DQ mode, model defines schema, but is not used for data • Queries issued directly against source • Similar to ROLAP storage for conventional cubes

SSAS Tabular Mode

POWERVIEW

What is PowerView?• Ad hoc reporting. Really!• Analysis, data Exploration• Data Visualization• In Silverlight, in the browser, in SharePoint• Feels a little like Excel BI• Is actually based on SSRS – PowerView makes a special RDL file – And wraps it in an RDLX

PowerView Data Sources• PowerView works only against PowerPivot/SSAS Tabular models – DirectQuery mode supported, however• For PowerPivot, click “Create Crescent Report” button or option on workbook in SharePoint report gallery• For SSAS tabular model, create BISM data source, then click its “Create Crescent Report” button or option – BISM data sources can point to PowerPivot workbooks too, if you want.

PowerView! In the browser, in Silverlight Ribbon, like Excel Variety of visualizations and data formats Field list, like Excel Data regions pane, like Excel

Text and Viewing Text boxes edited as if in Office Maximize one chart, or put whole report in preview or full-screen

Constraining Your Data InPowerView• Tiles – A filtering mechanism within a visualization• Highlighting – Selection in one visualization affects the others• Slicers – Similar to Excel against PowerPivot• True Filters – Checked drop-down list; very Excel-like – Right Hand Filter Pane, similar to SSRS and Excel Services

Scatter/Bubble Charts• Allow for 3 measures by up to 4 dimensions• One dimension is “playable” through a slider or animation• Excellent way to visualize trends over time

Small Multipliers• Multiple charts within a chart, in columns, rows, or a matrix• Allows for visualizing an additional dimension• Think of it like a clustered chart with each series shown individually

PowerView

Advanced Properties• Setting the representative column and image tells PowerView how to summarize your data, and show stored images• Other properties tell it about key attribute, default aggregation and more• For SSAS tabular models, “Direct Query” mode tells PowerView to get data from relational data source instead of columnar cache

Apollo• Implementation of VertiPaq columnar storage engine for SQL Server relational databases• Use it by creating a column store index – CREATE COLUMNSTORE INDEX index ON table (col1, Col2, …)• Can ignore it too: – OPTION (IGNORE_NONCLUSTERED_COLUMNSTORE_INDEX)• Significantly increases performance of star join queries (i.e. aggregating queries with dimension lookups).• Not as good as SSAS, but better than plain old GROUP BY

DATA ALERTS

What are Data Alerts• Feature of SSRS (and not PowerView)• Created by user, not report developer – Actions -> New Data Alert• SharePoint-based• Scheduled (using SQL Agent)• Based on value ranges or presence of data – Report is run and rendered as OData, then parsed and rules are evaluated. Email alert sent if rule conditions are met.• Administer via Alert Manager

Alerting Permissions• Information Worker – Create Alert (Design, Contribute) – View Items (Read, View)• Administrator – Manage Alert (Full Control)• Use the SharePoint groups named above (in parentheses) for sites based on Team Site site template. – Groups for other templates vary – Can create custom groups that include above permissions

Data Alerts

OVERVIEW:MASTER DATA SERVICESAND DATA QUALITY SERVICES

Microsoft’s Master DataManagement (MDM) tool• Examples: – Sales states, countries, currencies, customer types – Customers, products – Think of “lookup tables” or just think of dimensions! – Slowly changing non-transactional entities in your data• What gets stored: – Schemas – Any hierarchies – The data!• Other features: – Collections, business rules, security, workflows – Versioning

Other Facts• Result of acquisition of Stratature• v1 was an ASP.NET application; UI is “different”• New in v2: • Now Silverlight-based; UI is still “different” • Excel add-in for data entry; creation of entities and attributes • Perform matching with DQS before loading• Includes .NET and Web Services APIs for reading/writing data and creating/editing models• Does not integrate with Analysis Services tools even though many of its features and concepts mirror those of dimension designer• Catalog kept in SQL Server database• Deployment packages can be created, shared and deployed

Objects in MDS• Models – Entities (like tables or SSAS dimensions) •Attributes (like columns/fields or SSAS attributes) –Common attributes are Name and Code •Attribute Groups –Used to taxonomize attributes within tabs in UI •Members (like rows/records or SSAS members) •Hierarchies (like SSAS hierarchies) –Derived or Explicit •Collections (like SSAS named sets) – Versions – Business rules – Workflows

Data Quality Services• Data Cleansing Tool• New to 2012• Result of Zoomix Acquisition• Uses Artificial Intelligence algorithms detect invalid data and perform matching (for de- duplication)• Allows manual intervention, too• Can integrate with MDS and SSIS• Cleaner data = better adoption of your BI project

DQS Concepts• Knowledge Bases – Domains • “semantic representation[s] of a type of data in a data field…[contain] a list of trusted values, invalid values, and erroneous data.” – Mapping• Data Quality Projects – Cleansing (i.e. correcting) • Validate Using Reference Data Services and Use Azure DataMarket (or 3rd party providers) – Matching (i.e. de-duping) – Confidence – Profiling, Monitoring

Questions?• Now?• Later? – Andrew.Brust@BlueBadgeInsights.com – @andrewbrust on Twitter – www.brustblog.com• Want to get the weekly Redmond Roundup Plus dispatch? Just text the word “bluebadge” to 22828

Evolved BIwith SQL Server 2012

by Andrew Brust on Nov 29, 2011

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