balanced bi approach (power pivot & ssas tabular)
DESCRIPTION
This presentation was based on an actual scenario where I educated a client on Power Pivot and basic DAX and they took the basics to completion and upgraded to a full blown Corporate BI Solution in SSAS Tabular with a few easy steps.TRANSCRIPT
A Balanced BI Approach (Self-Service & Corporate)
August 14, 2013
Anthony Sammartino MCITP(BI), PMP® Vice President & Co-FounderTekPartners BI Solutions(954) [email protected]
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/apsammartino
Twitter: @SQLAnt
Blog: www.sqlant.com
Web: www.tekpartnersbi.com
My Contact Information
• Started working with SQL Server 7.0 in 1999
• 16 Data Warehouse / BI Projects in 14 Years
• 12 Years SQL Server 2000, 2005, 2008(R2), 2012
• Live in South Florida with my wife and two daughters
• Fan of Miami and Philadelphia Sports teams, all things technology
• MCP(SQL Server), MCTS(BI), MCITP(BI), PMP®
About Me
1. Self-Service BI
2. Corporate BI
3. Common Situation
4. PowerPivot - SSAS Tabular
5. Which One to Choose?
6. Demo
7. Questions
Session Overview
Also known as Personal BI
• Users have access to the data and tools without IT involvement
• Excel is Microsoft’s Self-Service BI Tool and always has been
• In Excel: Power Pivot, Power View, Power Query, Power Map.
• Office 365 bundles it as Power BI.
• Can handle hundreds of millions records
• Limited to your desktop/laptops specs
Self-Service BI
Also known as Organizational BI:
• IT has control of data and tools
• More formal
• Software Development Life Cycle (DEV, QA, PROD)
• Analysis Services (SSAS), SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), etc.
• Runs on server hardware
Corporate BI
• Spreadmarts are what commonly take the place for Self-Service BI in an organization.
• Unraveling linked spreadsheets into a formal requirements spec takes a lot of time
• Not always a success; things get lost in translation.
• Process can take months for an organization to complete without producing any results.
• Gap between Excel knowledge and OLAP tools is huge.
Common Situation
PowerPivot (SSBI) SSAS Tabular (CBI)
Self-Service (Scooter) or Corporate (Super Bike):
• PowerPivot (64 bit) can handle hundreds of millions of records.
• Threshold is memory on your desktop / laptop (4-16 GB memory)
• SSAS Tabular runs on server hardware (512 GB memory)
• Partitions for incremental loading, perspectives, security roles.
The Ever Important Choice
• PowerPivot and SSAS Tabular are almost identical.
• Both use DAX (Data Analysis Expressions)
• Calculated Columns, Measures, etc. are compatible
• There is not a huge gap between Excel and OLAP any longer
• Excel became more advanced, OLAP’s entry point became less advanced.
Similarly Different – What?
Prototype with PowerPivot:
• Provide the data to business users in a sample PowerPivot workbook
• Simple calculations, measures, KPIs as examples
• Educate business users on how to use PowerPivot to their advantage
• Iteratively educate them on DAX (Especially CALCULATE!)
• You can import a PowerPivot model into SSAS Tabular!
You Can Use Both…and You Should!
Success Factors:
• User Adoption – If users had a hand in creating it, adoption will be a success.
• Training – Each BI solution requires training and users will get it from the beginning.
• Time to Market - Requirements process is not disconnected; its small
• Users will speak your DAX language over time as its close to Excel!
Why Use Both?
Demo Time!
Thank you for your time today and hope you found this educational
Anthony Sammartino MCITP(BI), PMP® Vice President & Co-FounderTekPartners BI Solutions(954) [email protected]
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/apsammartino
Twitter: @SQLAnt
Blog: www.sqlant.com
Web: www.tekpartnersbi.com
Questions & Answers