Project Real

It can be quite difficult to get your head around a data warehouse/reporting solution.

But fear not. Microsoft, together with a number of it’s technology partners, has put together a project called Project Real. This consists of a sample implementation based on SQL Server technology and a set of sample data.  This kit consists of the following:

• A set of instructions for setting up the environment
• Guidance on how to explore the implementation
• A sample relational data warehouse database (a subset of the Project REAL data warehouse)
• A sample source database (from which we pull incremental updates)
• SSIS packages that implement the ETL operations
• An SSAS cube definition and scripts for processing the cube from the sample warehouse
• Sample SSRS reports
• Sample data mining models for predicting out-of-stock conditions in stores
• Sample client views in briefing books for the ProClarity and Panorama BI front-end tools

Project Real has been around for quite a while, and I’ve played around with it a few times. For some reason it never occurred to me to blog about it. It is well worth the effort working through this Microsoft kit as it is not often you are given the opportunity to work through a DW/BI implementation from start to finish.

MCITP SQL Server: Business Intelligence

I need to set some personal objectives for the next six months and I’ve been considering working towards the Microsoft MCITP SQL Server: Business Intelligence certification.

This requires that I pass two exams:

• 70-445: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence – Implementation and Maintenance
• 70-446 exam: Designing a Business Intelligence Infrastructure by Using Microsoft SQL Server 2005

Passing the 70-445 gives you the MCTS SQL Server BI certification. Passing the 70-446 gives you the MCITP. The 70-445 is a prerequisite to the 70-446.

According to the latest MCP figures, there aren’t that many MCITP BI developers out there, so this may be a challenge I’ll take on.

From the company perspective, it will be a big plus as it will earn them their third competency – Business Intelligence, and will enhance our Microsoft Gold Partner status. Hitting this milestone should also yield a good bonus at the end of the year! On a personal level, it will allow me to build on my existing BusinessObjects and Performance Point Server skills and pick up more of the Microsoft BI toolset.

I’ve worked with Microsoft SQL Server a great deal and am currently playing around with SQL Server 2008. I’ve also used most of the Microsoft BI tools as well; SSIS, SSAS (for cubes) and SSRS. Having looked through the exam preparation guides, I think I can clear these two exams in the next few months.

I don’t think I’ll take any formal classroom based training for these exams. I’d rather use my training budget on something else, possibly Crystal Reports or BusinessObjects Data Integrator. Hence, I’ll be using the MS book MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-445): Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005 Business Intelligence—Implementation and Maintenance to get me going.

Once this is out of the way, I might start looking at Sharepoint, and portals in general.