SQLSaturday #353 - London - BA Edition 2014
Event Date: 11/22/2014 00:00:00
Event Location:
- Innovation Warehouse
- 1 East Poultry Avenue
- London, , United Kingdom
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Sessions
This is a list of sessions from the event, based on the schedule in the XML files.
Title: VBA: More than Macros
Abstract: Excel has been the main tool for presenting data in a digestible form almost forever. The wealth of facilities on top of the basic spreadsheet functions have helped to power Excel to this position, and to keep it there. As well as the bread and butter spreadsheet function, there are facilities for querying databases, filtering data, grouping, charting, pivoting, and many, many more. Even Microsoft have realised Excel’s role, adding more data analysis/BI/BA functionality in the latest Excel releases, 2010, 2013 and Office 365. Even with all of this richness, it’s still never enough is it? Sometimes it just doesn’t do the thing(s) you need it to do now.You want to do something and it is not in the Excel tool-set? With VBA you can create custom functions, trap use action, format/modify data, even build a complete application.In this session, we are going to build such an application. It will be fast-paced and quite intensive, but all of the files will be made available afterwards.
Speaker(s):
- Bob Phillips
Track and Room: Track 1 - N/A
Title: Using Slicers in Excel 2013
Abstract: Many people have been put off using Slicers as they think they consume too much of the screen “real estate”, and are plain ugly. This is very true when used straight “out of the box”, and Microsoft have not made it easy to expose the methods of formatting them into objects which can be very pleasing on the eye as well as effective in filtering data.This session will show users how they can format Slicers, and some of the pitfalls and workarounds when trying to group some data items – especially dates.The session will then continue showing how Slicers can be used in Excel 2010 and later to control multiple Pivot Tables with a single click, as opposed to having to write VBA as in previous Excel versions.It will then include information on how to use Slicers with The Table object, which has been made available since Excel 2013. Coupled with the use of the Aggregate function, this can provide a very useful method of summarising data without having to create a Pivot Table first.
Speaker(s):
- Roger Govier
Track and Room: Track 2 - N/A
Title: Charts beyond Excel’s Chart Wizard
Abstract: Microsoft Excel provides a huge variety of possible standard charts in the Chart Wizard(Insert | Charts | Recommended Charts). Only a few of them are really useful. Many of themshouldn’t be used at all. Even worse, many useful charts are missing, although they shouldbe provided by default. A closer and critical look at Excel’s standard charts: which ones are useful, whichones are less useful and which shouldn’t be uses at all (and why?)Presentation of a selection of useful non-default charts include: Description of the chart type (Tornado, Waterfall, etc.): what is it good for? Showcase: a real use case for this chart type combination charts / dual axes formulas and NV data series dummy data series invisible data series formatting tricks error barsPossible further use cases for this chart type in business and science.Although none of the presented charts are available in Excel by default, the necessarytweaks and hacks are all based on Exce
Speaker(s):
- Robert Mundigl
Track and Room: Track 1 - N/A
Title: Hurdles between modeling Excel power pivot models towards SQL Power pivot models
Abstract: Topics:• Excel Power pivot models: which paths are available?• Using Excel as prototyping tool and Visual Studio as application building tool.• The difference between applications, made by the SQL professionals and Excel users.• Recognize some of the pitfalls in the migration process from Excel to other platforms.• What will be the role of the Excel user during and after migration to VS.It is very easy to port your Excel Power pivot model to SQL server, Analytic Server and then return the results to Excel of a SharePoint server. Technical spoken no sweat at all, piece of cake. But looking closer at a practical point of view there are many hurdles to be taken in the process. So why should you, as SQL expert, accept Excel Power pivot models as a source of professional applications? What are there benefits? How can you support the Excel user?
Speaker(s):
- Henk Vlootman
Track and Room: Track 2 - N/A
Title: Keynote: Data Culture : From BI Analytics to Big Data and Data Science
Abstract: In this mobile-first, cloud-first era – data is at the intersection – with apps, devices and sensors creating tremendous volumes of data. To get value out of that data, we must be able to reason over it, tap into processing power to quickly analyze it and accelerate the insights, which ultimately lead to better decisions, actions and business results. Companies that put data at the heart of their business operations outperform those that don’t by a significant margin, which we call releasing the ‘Data Dividend’. We will take a walk through the key technologies from PowerBI to AzureML and IoT to show how to start driving your Data Culture.
Speaker(s):
- Jon Woodward
Track and Room: Track 2 - N/A
Title: Azure Data Services Half Day - Ticketed delegates only
Abstract: This half day session is ticket only.
Speaker(s):
- Allan Mitchell
Track and Room: Track 2 - N/A
Title: Migration to the All Silicon Data Center
Abstract: How a Fortune 1000 Silicon Valley data networking equipment manufacturer used all-flash memory storage to consolidate both the number of Data Centers and transformed their business with faster than anticipated RoI and improved business agility.
Speaker(s):
- Jen Stirrup
Track and Room: Track 1 - N/A
Title: One BI Platform to Rule Them All
Abstract:
See how the characters from Lord of the Rings can be applied to Business Intelligence. 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.
The Race of Presenting Men: Avi Perez (King Aragorn) Ian Macdonald (Boromir)
Speaker(s):
- Avi Perez
Track and Room: Track 1 - N/A
Title: Power Query: Beyond The Basics
Abstract: You already know that you can accomplish a lot within the Power Query user interface. If you are a data steward, however, you may be asked to deliver complex data sets in Power Query that require some knowledge of advanced functionality, including the M language. This session will examine what these requirements might be, how to implement them, and how best to deploy them to end users. We will cover how to create common types of calculations in M, how to best use functions, calling to web services, and OData data sources, and more. We will also discuss the best way to use Power Query with the rest of the Power BI stack, especially PowerPivot.
Speaker(s):
- Chris Webb
Track and Room: Track 1 - N/A
Title: Introduction to Power BI
Abstract: Introduction to Power BI
Speaker(s):
- Jen Stirrup
Track and Room: Track 2 - N/A
Title: Analytics and Big Data at the speed of light.
Abstract: This session you will see how SanDisk in a simple way can help you to accelerate your application, why wait for hours to get the response to your query when you can have it in minutes or seconds.
Speaker(s):
- Jonas Holmgren
Track and Room: Track 1 - N/A
Title: Predictive Analytics- it’s not just for scientists
Abstract: In this session you’ll see a how a data literate business person can use predictive modelling to solve business problems using modern tools. Session outline:1. Gain an understanding of the CRISP-DM methodology that makes advanced analytics easier to comprehend.2. Learn how RapidMiner can be used with CRISP-DM to solve a typical business problem3. Take away best practices that maximise your chance of success4. Next steps
Speaker(s):
- Lee Hawthorn
Track and Room: Track 1 - N/A
Title: Using R, Cubes And Data Visualisation To Answer “What If” Questions
Abstract: Many BI projects aim to tell us “what happened?” but sometimes the more interesting question is “what would happen if?”. To do this we have to generate some plausible scenarios and model our business under these scenarios and then communicate the results effectively. This talk will present one small example of this. We will generate the scenarios using R, an open source language for munging data and stats. We’ll organise the results in a SQL Server database and an Analysis Services cube so that we can compare the different outcomes of each scenario. Finally we’ll use Power View to explore and visualise the results.
Speaker(s):
- Mark Wilcock
Track and Room: Track 2 - N/A
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 valueDave Lawrence Technical Support Consultant – Profisee Software (UK) Limited
Speaker(s):
- Dave Lawrence
Track and Room: Track 1 - N/A
Title: Microsoft Finance - Delivering Business Impact
Abstract: Microsoft Finance - Delivering Business Impact with Excel. Come along and find out how Microsoft Finance use Excel and Power BI.
Speaker(s):
- Jen Stirrup
Track and Room: Track 1 - N/A
Speakers
This is a list of speakers from the XML Guidebook records. The details and URLs were valid at the time of the event.
Avi Perez
Contact: http://www.pyramidanalytics.com
Avi Perez, CTO Avi is CTO of Pyramid Analytics. Avi began his long career in BI, analytics, and enterprise reporting while working as a CPA in banking in Australia and then building a USA based, healthcare informatics and BI platform for the cloud. Avi holds a B.Com from UNSW, Australia, and an MBA from Yale, USA.
Ian Macdonald, Principle Technologist Ian has over 25 years’ experience in the Business Intelligence software market, having held senior technical, product management and marketi
Henk Vlootman
Twitter: - Henk4Excel
LinkedIn: Henk Vlootman
Contact: http://www.vlootman.nl
Henk Vlootman is trainer in Excel and Power pivot to managers throughout the world in the Dutch or English language since 1992. I also do assignments from the industry, partly consultancy and partly direct modelling. I do seminars and congresses. With Michiel Rozema (Rubicon, The Netherlands, I wrote the quot;Practice Book PowerPivot in Excel.quot; At this moment, again with Michiel Rozema I’m finishing a new Power pivot book. I write a monthly blog on Power BI for two different Dutch (financial) e-magazine. I’m manager of the LinkedIn group Power BI Gebruikersgroep. Henk is board member of the Dutch Power BI gebruikersgroep.
Mark Wilcock
Mark is an independent consultant specializing in the analysis, reporting and visualization of financial data. Over the last 20 years, he worked on many systems to measure and monitor financial performance and manage market risks that arise from banking and trading activities. He#39;s the organizer of the London Business Analytics Group, a popular community group that holds monthly talks on topics ranging from Predictive Analytics to Power Query to Personalized Medicine. He blogs at zomalex.co.uk
Jonas Holmgren
Contact: http://www.sandisk.com
Sandisk
Jen Stirrup
Twitter: - @jenstirrup
LinkedIn: Jen Stirrup
Contact: http://www.jenstirrup.com
Jen Stirrup, Microsoft Regional Director and MVP is a well-known Business Intelligence and Data Visualization expert, author, data strategist, and Master of Business Administration (MBA) student in London. Jen leads a boutique analytics consultancy, delivering strategic advice to companies large and small.
Jen has presented in Africa, India, Europe and North America. Jen has presented at Ignite, Techorama, TechEd, PASS Summit, SQLBits, and SQLSaturday events in Europe and the US. She also delivers the MAPA Azure Architects course worldwide with Microsoft team members. Jen was also featured on the Best of PASS Summit 2015 DVD as one of the top 10 speakers. Jen also was awarded PASS prestigious PASSion Award in 2012
Jon Woodward
Twitter: - @jlwoodward
LinkedIn: Jon Woodward
Jonathan Woodward is the UK Business Lead at Microsoft focused on the Data Platform covering:
- Business Intelligence
- Analytics
- Big Data
- Data Science
Lee Hawthorn
Contact: http://leehbi.com
Lee Hawthorn is a data-literate Finance professional who is a business analyst at heart. He is often found working with Sales and Marketing to improve top line growth and hacking business data to gain new insights. Lee launched advanced analytics within his organisation and has contributed to many data based projects covering Planning, BI, CRM. His BI scars have since healed since Power Query arrived in his tray.
Jen Stirrup
Twitter: - @jenstirrup
LinkedIn: Jen Stirrup
Contact: http://www.jenstirrup.com
Jen Stirrup, Microsoft Regional Director and MVP is a well-known Business Intelligence and Data Visualization expert, author, data strategist, and Master of Business Administration (MBA) student in London. Jen leads a boutique analytics consultancy, delivering strategic advice to companies large and small.
Jen has presented in Africa, India, Europe and North America. Jen has presented at Ignite, Techorama, TechEd, PASS Summit, SQLBits, and SQLSaturday events in Europe and the US. She also delivers the MAPA Azure Architects course worldwide with Microsoft team members. Jen was also featured on the Best of PASS Summit 2015 DVD as one of the top 10 speakers. Jen also was awarded PASS prestigious PASSion Award in 2012
Robert Mundigl
Contact: http://www.clearlyandsimply.com
Dr. Robert Mundigl is based in Munich (Germany). He is a Management Consultant based in Europe.Robert has used Excel since 1989 (version 3) and has a deep knowledge of the application itself and VBA programming as well as techniques and best practices of data analysis and data visualization. He contributed a series of Excel dashboard articles on Excel MVP Chandoo’s website chandoo.org, and he blogs at www.clearlyandsimply.com
Allan Mitchell
Contact: http://www.copper-blue.com
This half day session is ticket only.
Chris Webb
Twitter: - @cwebb_bi
LinkedIn: Chris Webb
Contact: https://blog.crossjoin.co.uk/
Chris Webb is a member of the Power BI CAT team. He is the author of “Power Query for Power BI and Excel” and a co-author of “SQL Server Analysis Services 2012: The BISM Tabular Model”, “Expert Cube Development with SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services”, and “MDX Solutions with Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services 2005 and Hyperion Essbase”.
Jen Stirrup
Twitter: - @jenstirrup
LinkedIn: Jen Stirrup
Contact: http://www.jenstirrup.com
Jen Stirrup, Microsoft Regional Director and MVP is a well-known Business Intelligence and Data Visualization expert, author, data strategist, and Master of Business Administration (MBA) student in London. Jen leads a boutique analytics consultancy, delivering strategic advice to companies large and small.
Jen has presented in Africa, India, Europe and North America. Jen has presented at Ignite, Techorama, TechEd, PASS Summit, SQLBits, and SQLSaturday events in Europe and the US. She also delivers the MAPA Azure Architects course worldwide with Microsoft team members. Jen was also featured on the Best of PASS Summit 2015 DVD as one of the top 10 speakers. Jen also was awarded PASS prestigious PASSion Award in 2012
Bob Phillips
Twitter: - @WessexBob
LinkedIn: Bob Phillips
Contact: https://wessexbi.wordpress.com/
I am an independent consultant based in the UK, specializing in all things Excel, especially delivering BI within Excel.
I came to appreciate the power and versatility of Excel as an enterprise tool in the mid-90s when managing the delivery of a data warehouse project.
Now a freelance consultant, I specialize in Excel automation and BI delivered via Excel. An 11 year veteran of Microsoft#39;s MVP program, my life mission is to persuade small and medium corporates that data analysis and BI is important to them too, and that Power BI can help then find that information, in a straight-forward and cost-effective manner.
Roger Govier
Contact: http://tiny.cc/MVPRogerGovier
Roger Govier is a long-serving Excel MVP, who has been involved in computing since 1978 through MSDOS and Windows and spent a number of years as Commercial Director of a small software house specialising in the Agricultural sector.Since 1996, Roger has operated as an IT Consultant, and has specialised in Microsoft Excel and automating it through VBA for clients all over the world, and ranging from small sub 10 Employee clients, through to large multi-nationals with multi-billion $ turnover.
Dave Lawrence
Contact: http://www.profisee.com
Dave has over 30 years’ experience in providing sales support for data management software vendors, at Profisee he works with customers to build help them unleash the power of Microsoft SQL Master Data Services using Profisee’s Maestro Software. Dave holds a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Surrey.
Sponsors
The following is a list of sponsors that helped fund the event: