SQLSaturday #886 - Indianapolis 2019
Event Date: 08/17/2019 00:00:00
Event Location:
- Ivy Tech Noblesville
- 300 N 17th St
- Noblesville, Indiana
This event has completed. All data shown below is from the historical XML public data available.
If there are any data quality issues or corrections needed, please contact the webmaster for this site or submit a pull request for the appropriate file(s).
Sessions
This is a list of sessions from the event, based on the schedule in the XML files.
Title: Introduction to Azure Databricks
Abstract: Big data processing solutions don’t need to be complicated to get up and running, and thanks to Azure Databricks, it isn’t! In this session, we’ll cover what Azure Databricks is, go over some popular use cases, and what you can expect from an administrative standpoint if you decide to implement solutions with it. We’ll also cover the basics of setting up Azure Databricks and go over what goes on “under the covers” in the cloud when you use it to provision compute for your big data processing needs.
With plenty of demos on how to configure cloud storage, work with Databricks notebooks, and even some Apache Spark thrown in, you’ll come to appreciate very quickly just how powerful (and flexible) a solution like Databricks is.
Speaker(s):
- Drew Furgiuele
Track and Room: Cloud Application Development Deployment - Room 136
Title: SSDT, Docker, and (Azure) DevOps: How to Make Your Database Builds a First Class CI/CD Citizen
Abstract: Your application developers benefit from Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment practices to accelerate feature deployment and catch regression issues up front, but your database deployments are still stuck in the proverbial dark ages. The build scripts might be in source control or even an SSDT project already, but deploying is still an exercise in creating the perfect script, and don’t even think about making a data (or data type) change!
SSDT and Azure DevOps can solve some of these problems, and even give us a window into the world of automated testing. In this talk, we will explore how to automate your database builds and deployments using SSDT and Azure DevOps, and we will explore automated testing using tSQLt and Docker. Lastly, we will check up on some tasks that you cannot (or should not) automate and talk about how to make sure your application developers are not left behind.
Speaker(s):
- Dan Mallott
Track and Room: Cloud Application Development Deployment - Room 136
Title: I have indexes, but do I have the right indexes?
Abstract: Do you have all the right indexes on your SQL Server databases? Have you implemented any indexes other than traditional clustered and non-clustered indexes? If the answer to either question is a “no” or an “I don’t know”, then this session is for you.
This session will help introduce less commonly used index types and settings along with indexing methodologies. Follow along while we learn which indexes your SQL Server is begging you to make and others it wishes you would drop. Learn use cases for filtered, full-text, and columnstore indexes. There will be plenty of demos and shareable scripts to showcase the benefits too!
Are you using a version and edition of SQL Server is able to use these features? We’ll cover that too and you’ll leave this class with a repeatable indexing methodology you can use to improve your database performance.
Speaker(s):
- Eric Blinn
Track and Room: Enterprise Database Administration Deployment - Room 143
Title: Extending DevOps To SQL Server
Abstract: Most organizations are under pressure to speed up the software delivery cycle, whether that’s to respond more quickly to the needs of the business, the needs of your customers or just to keep up with the competition. Unfortunately the database is commonly considered a bottleneck. Without the right processes in place, database change management can slow things down, adding risk, uncertainty, and getting in the way of development and operations working together to deliver. Any organization that wants to fully benefit from a DevOps approach is going to have to overcome some specific challenges presented by the database. This session will teach you how to take DevOps principles and practices and apply them to SQL Server so that you can speed up the database delivery cycle at the same time you protect the information contained within.
Speaker(s):
- Grant Fritchey
Track and Room: Application Database Development - Room 136
Title: SQL Server Machine Learning Services
Abstract: SQL Server 2017 Machine Learning Services is more than just R and Python language support for SQL Server. SQL Machine Learning Services provides analytics for any size of data, runs in SQL Server, or alongside Windows, Linux, HDInsight Spark or Hadoop clusters, is simple to administer and allows you to integrate and deploy simply. In this session, learn architecture and deployment options, focused on in-database deployment, along with some real-world use-cases. Learn how to leverage Machine Learning Services with new TSQL PREDICT language support, training and deploying models, scaling beyond memory with RevoScaleR to generating millisecond predictions in-database. With any size data environment, SQL Machine Learning Services can provide analytics in both an operationally sound and easy to administer paradigm.
A beginner level understanding of Machine Learning and process is highly recommended but not required.
Speaker(s):
- Andrew Loree
Track and Room: Analytics and Visualization - Room 137
Title: Stuck In the Middle: Collaborating With Multiple Stakeholders
Abstract: Let’s face it – your management and peers have no idea what you’re doing, how much work and time it takes or even what you do as a database professional. Your role is stuck in the middle. Management is reluctant to prioritize the money to create better equipment and software updates. Developers don’t want you messing with their work. Both are annoyed when you bother them with a customer problem or when you can’t fix issues instantly. This dynamic triad (you, developers and management) will always have differing views but this diversity of thought can be leveraged to create powerful customer solutions. In this session, you’ll learn simple techniques to build collaboration, mitigate conflict, meet the customer needs and get everyone on the same page.
Speaker(s):
- Lou` Russell
Track and Room: Professional Development - Room 144
Title: CozyRoc: Dynamic Data Flows in SSIS Without Programming
Abstract: This session is an introduction to the unique functionality offered by COZYROC to create integration packages that dynamically map columns at runtime. The standard SSIS Data Flow Task can only use static metadata which is defined when the package is initially designed. The mapping of columns is configured and remains unchanged until the package is re-opened and design changes are made, thus costing maintenance time and effort. Data Flow Task Plus extends the capabilities of the standard Microsoft Data Flow task in that it allows you to set up dynamic data flows, thus eliminating maintenance time and effort. Changes to tables and columns are automatically incorporated at run time without the need to change and redeploy the package. Columns and fields are mapped automatically at run time. Furthermore, the initial design time and effort may be greatly reduced when dealing with huge amounts of data in a large number of files and/or databases.
Speaker(s):
- Diane Schuster
Track and Room: BI Platform Architecture, Development Administration - Room 140
Title: Ansible Automation for MSSQL Server
Abstract: Automation is now required. For DevOps, for Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC), for Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), for user self-service, and for overworked staff, automation is the buzzword. Ansible provides that cross-platform functionality with minimal effort. In this session we’ll install and configure MSSQL on a Windows host, install and configure a fail-over cluster on RHEL hosts using pacemaker and availability groups, and provision and deploy a new schema to an existing instance all utilizing playbooks. Also, we’ll walk through getting started and example use-cases.
Speaker(s):
- Louis Gordner
Track and Room: Enterprise Database Administration Deployment - Room 141
Title: Creating Your Own ETL Automation Framework with Biml for Beginners
Abstract: You may have heard of Business Intelligence Markup Language or even tried to learn it. But how can you take the time to learn it, while getting the rest of your work done. In this highly interactive presentation, I’ll guide you through the process of learning/using Biml, without sacrificing your daily productivity.
We’ll cover how to: Identify “easy” ETL patterns to BimlScript Take incremental steps in automating these processes Move to metadata driven BimlScript Tie it all together into a full-fledged framework
As a bonus, you’ll leave the presentation with a completed framework which dynamically generates most types of flat files that you can use in your own environment.
Speaker(s):
- David Stein
Track and Room: BI Platform Architecture, Development Administration - Room 140
Title: What I Learned Stepping onto the Cloud
Abstract: Previously titled Stumbling and Bumbling onto the Cloud. In this “non-technical” presentation the presenter regales the audience with the missteps, mistakes, and land mines, encountered over the past year in his role as DBA/Data Architect/Data Lackey. When your management says “Cloud First” and you’ve got to ask “How high”, and then work your way into actual solutions, it can lead to some real forehead smacking moments. And by “Cloud First”, they mean Azure First and foremost. If this sounds like a direction in which you will be headed, or you enjoy Schadenfreude… Remember a smart person learns from their mistakes, a wise person learns from other people’s mistakes.
Speaker(s):
- Clark Hahn
Track and Room: Cloud Application Development Deployment - Room 109
Title: Moving Past Imposter Syndrome
Abstract: We have heard a lot on recognizing Imposter Syndrome and how to address it. However, what if it’s not Imposter Syndrome after all? We will discuss working scenarios and how you approach or deal with them to determine “is it you or is it me?”
Speaker(s):
- Wendy Pastrick
Track and Room: Professional Development - Room 144
Title: Managing the mystery database
Abstract: As database administrators, we often are responsible for managing large amounts of databases so it can be difficult to understand who or what is using each of them and why. Yet we are responsible for making sure these databases are backed up, secure and cared for. As well as, we are responsible for leading projects such as upgrades and migrations where this information becomes relevant. If application owners and documentation exist, we can certainly utilize that, but what if it doesn’t or information is limited. This session will look at tips and tricks you can do to figure out what these mystery databases are so you can make better decisions on them.
By figuring out what these mystery databases, you will be more equipped to make decisions on several items such as the following: • Decommissions • Lower resource allocation and costs (especially for storage) • Better planning for database migrations • Troubleshoot connection issues • Better planning for SQL upgrades
Speaker(s):
- Dustin Dorsey
Track and Room: Enterprise Database Administration Deployment - Room 143
Title: Designing Accessible Power BI Reports
Abstract: We’ll look at the new features that have rolled out in response to a major push at Microsoft to make Power BI reports more accessible. What some of the different areas of accessibility to think about, and some handy tools to help you make your reports more usable for everyone.
Speaker(s):
- Liz Amador
Track and Room: Analytics and Visualization - Room 137
Title: Cloud Data Warehousing with Snowflake on Azure
Abstract:
Snowflake has been named a Gartner leader in the data platform and analytics space that leverages the computing power of the AZURE cloud platform that provides pay-for-what-you-use storage (at about $23/mo per TB) and elastic computing resources that is literally scale up and/or out on demand in which storage and compute are separated within Snowflake’s architecture. The product and architecture of Snowflake has helped organizations in lowering their data platform TCO by up to 50%.
This live demo will provide fundamental and technical understanding for roles like CDO, Data Architects, and Data Engineers, The focus will be Snowflake and how the only cloud-build data warehouse offers instant elasticity, secure data sharing, per-second pricing and many other features to enable the data-driven enterprise.
Speaker(s):
- Brett VanderPlaats
Track and Room: BI Platform Architecture, Development Administration - Room 140
Title: Learn Like Your Life Depends On It
Abstract: You have read this far, great! I already know this session is for you. How do I know? It is exceedingly rare that today’s “9-5” job provides anywhere near what is needed to develop the career you want to have. For the purposes of this session it does not matter if you are a newly minted, “wet behind the ears” data professional or a grizzled veteran. What does matter is that you know that you have a career oriented mindset and a desire to grow beyond what you are today.
This session is designed to help with just that. In addition to talking about a learning plan that fits your needs, we will discuss how to execute that plan, including lab environments, as well as resources to help you execute those plans. If you have reached this point, you simply need to be in this session, see you there.
Speaker(s):
- Peter Shore
Track and Room: Professional Development - Room 144
Title: Definitive Proof that Pluto is Indeed a Planet
Abstract: Ever the one left out, Pluto’s status as a key member of the solar system has been under scrutiny in recent years and the debate rages on.
In the age of AI, surely it’s an easy problem to solve with computering. I’m sure Microsoft has a crack team of hackstars working on it right now. What toolset do you think they would use to do something like that? Probably some fancy cloud bricks or something.
Anyway, I’m sure this is possible. It has to be, we’d just need to learn about:
- A distributed analytics platfrom able to work with tons of raw planetary data
- An AI platform that is performant and allows a team of developers to collaborate and improve the product
- The ability to call the model billions and billions and billions and billions errr
I don’t think this will take much longer than 75 mins. Might as well get to it.
(Psst: You’re going to learn all about scalable data processing and web scale analytics using Azure Databricks, MLFlow, and Azure ML)
Speaker(s):
- Josh Fennessy
Track and Room: Advanced Analysis Techniques - Room 144
Title: Moving Data to the Cloud (with Azure Data Factory)
Abstract: You need to move data. A lot of data. To the cloud. You’ve got data in a variety of on- and off-site data sources. There are several ways to do it. Some of them can be quite easily implemented using Azure Data Factory. Learn how to use variables and looping in your Data Factory pipelines. Use the Integration Runtime to pull directly from on-site sources. See how to upload files to blob storage and import them. Learn how to trigger Data Factory activities. And, learn how to keep all those connection strings and passwords secret in Azure Vault. After this session, you will have tools that you can readily implement in your own data migrations.
Speaker(s):
- Simon Kingaby
Track and Room: Cloud Application Development Deployment - Room 136
Title: Dipping Your Toes In: Azure Data Lake for DBAs
Abstract: As a data professional, you know what data is, and hopefully know what a lake is too. But what’s a Data Lake? This session covers the very basics of Azure Data Lake, and is geared towards those who are familiar with relational databases and also curious about other technologies. Topics covered will include Data Lake storage, security basics, and an introduction to U-SQL, Azure Data Lake’s query language. We will finish up with architecture examples showing real-world use cases highlighting Azure Data Lake’s strengths. Attend this session to see how Azure Data Lake can complement your existing relational database skills, and give you a great new tool in your data toolbox!
Speaker(s):
- Bob Pusateri
Track and Room: Cloud Application Development Deployment - Room 109
Title: Replace Hundreds of Fragmented SSRS Reports with Integrated Dashboards in Weeks
Abstract: Has your organization accumulated a ton of reports that are crucial, yet fragmented and difficult to maintain? This session deals with the challenge of documenting those disconnected reports and replacing them with integrated dashboards. We will also discuss the trade offs of different data integration architecture options such as data lakes, dimensional models, real time solutions like data virtualization, and cloud based solutions.
In this session, we will explore:
- Different industry solutions to document your existing SSRS reports and SSAS cubes to identify all the columns used in source tables/objects.
- Interrogating the database objects (views, stored procedures, etc.) to decipher the ETL mappings and transformations and present this in a human readable format of data lineage with business rules applied to the source system.
- Grouping these reports into sets to be consolidated in a few dashboard
- Different solutions to accommodate the desired data integration architecture
Speaker(s):
- Chad Buher
Track and Room: BI Platform Architecture, Development Administration - Room 140
Title: SQL Networking Security
Abstract: Azure provides various ways to deploy SQL. You have Azure SQL Database, SQL on Azure VM, Azure SQL Managed Instance. Do you know the various connectivity and networking options required for each of these deployment options? Do you know the different security protection options and capability for each of these deployment options? Do you know how to get visibility into the various attacks that could happen against your SQL deployments in Azure?
This session will cover the different connectivity methods, both public and private, different access methods, different perimeter control options and how you can get proactive insights into your workloads.
Attend to get a demo filled session of how to build highly secure SQL environments in Azure and unlock the power of Azure SQL for your organization.
Speaker(s):
- Sumeeth Evans
Track and Room: Strategy and Architecture - Room 145
Title: Revenge: The SQL!
Abstract: Pop quiz DBA: Your developers are running rampant in production. Logic, reason, and threats have all failed. You’re on the edge. What do you do? WHAT DO YOU DO? Hint: You attend Revenge: The SQL! This session will show you how to “correct” all those bad practices. Everyone logging in as sa? Running huge cursors? Using SELECT * in ad-hoc SQL? Stop them dead, without actually killing them. Ever dropped a table, or database, or WHERE clause? You can prevent that! And if you’re tired of folks ignoring your naming conventions, make them behave with Unicode…and take your revenge! Revenge: The SQL! is fun and educational and may even have some practical use, but you’ll want to attend simply to indulge your Dark Side. Revenge: The SQL! assumes no liability and is not available in all 50 states. Do not taunt Revenge: The SQL! or Happy Fun Ball.
Speaker(s):
- Rob Volk
Track and Room: Enterprise Database Administration Deployment - Room 143
Title: Active Directory and Azure Active Directory: Authentication in a Cloudy World
Abstract: If you’re planning on deploying Office 365 or Azure, whether you know it or not, you will be using Azure Active Directory (AAD). But, you’ve already got on-prem Active Directory. How do these two products work together? Are they the same thing? SHOULD they work together? In this session I’ll answer these questions, compare and contrast AD and AAD usage in Azure and hybrid scenarios, discuss costs, and some best practices. This is a beginner session, but there will be some networking involved, in addition to “legacy” AD functionality and settings.
Speaker(s):
- Kerry Tyler
Track and Room: Cloud Application Development Deployment - Room 109
Title: Another new version of SQL Server!? Highlights of new features coming with SQL Server 2019
Abstract: A new version of SQL Server is right around the corner and it comes with all new features and improvements to make SQL Server a more compelling modern data platform. SQL Server 2019 is slated to bring better integration with different OS platforms, improvements in performance and availability, and bring big data and AI on-prem. In this session, we will look at the highlights of the new features coming to SQL Server 2019 and discuss why these improvements will justify another upgrade.
Speaker(s):
- Joe McTaggart
Track and Room: Enterprise Database Administration Deployment - Room 141
Title: MSAs, GMSAs, Groups - Use SQL without traditional user accounts
Abstract: Security is becoming more critical in today’s database environment. At times it can seem like the DBA is also a Domain Admin and Security team on top of everything else. Managing user domain accounts access in your DB can get tedious fast, especially as your environment grows. In this session, we will discuss and see some Active Directory features that can help re-enforce the concept of the separation of duties when it comes to security and ways to reduce the risks and complexities in managing a SQL environment’s security. We will review the process and requirements for implementing AD Groups, Active Directory’s Managed Service Accounts (MSA) and Group MSAs to be used to manage access and operate your SQL environment.
Speaker(s):
- Chris Bell
Track and Room: Enterprise Database Administration Deployment - Room 144
Title: Azure Data Factory - Beyond the Basics
Abstract: Azure Data Factory has an impressive feature set, but where do you turn when you need something that isn’t supported? Need to run SQL commands in Snowflake? Connect to an unsupported API? No problem. In this session we’ll look at how Custom Tasks and Azure Functions can be used to extend Data Factory to do just about anything.
Speaker(s):
- Chris Koester
Track and Room: BI Platform Architecture, Development Administration - Room 141
Title: The Community Speaks: WIT, LGBTQ, diversity and inclusion.
Abstract: Join us as we (yes, including attendees) discuss incidents and look for ways as victims, as by-standers and as event host to react. Let’s enable each other to do what is right, speak up and support one another. It’s time for the community to come together, make their voice be heard and share ways and tools to deal with these difficult situations. Although some stores are inspired in part by a true incident, they are fictional and do not depict any actual person or event.
Speaker(s):
- Tamera Clark
Track and Room: Professional Development - Room 144
Title: Learn History from Temporal Tables
Abstract: SQL Server 2016 came out with a bucket full of cool new features. One of them is Temporal Tables. SQL Server 2017 made some enhancements in this area. Temporal tables are basically history tables of the normal tables; that allows us to retrieve data from any point in time for every change such as updates and deletes. It does this all without any change to application code and without needing any triggers. In this session, we will see what the requirements of creating temporal tables are. We will see the demo on insert and update functionality and how to query historical information using new TSQL clause. We will touch upon retention of history as well. It has lots of demos and less theory.
Speaker(s):
- Ameena Lalani
Track and Room: Enterprise Database Administration Deployment - Room 136
Title: AI for the Masses: The Democratization of Artificial Intelligence in the Microsoft Ecosystem
Abstract: Data is the new gold and companies are producing it in massive amounts. Historically it has been tough for companies to mine the data because of the amount of technical resources and human capital it takes to mine it. Fortunately, Microsoft has added tools and services in its data platform that addresses this problem.
In this session we will take a tour of the Microsoft ecosystem and explore some of these tools and services. We will explore:
- How AI models are easily productionized in the cloud using Azure Machine Learning Services and Azure Databricks
- How Microsoft brought data science to the database via SQL Server Machine Learning Services
- How AI can be used to enhance Power BI data models
- How AI is used in Microsoft Excel to help analyst work more efficiently
Come to this information packed session, and you will walk away with ideas of how you can help your company leverage the gold mine of data it is sitting on to gain a competitive advantage.
Speaker(s):
- Ryan Wade
Track and Room: Analytics and Visualization - Room 136
Title: Beginner’s Guide to Text Mining: What We Learn from SQLSaturday Presentation Abstracts
Abstract: Interested in learning text mining techniques but not sure where to start? Want to learn more about SQLSaturday presentations but haven’t dug into the details? This is the presentation for you! This is an introduction to text mining techniques that will use the SQLSaturday abstracts as examples. We will look at how to analyze data to find the most commonly used words and patterns and how to do sentiment analysis. Is “database” the most commonly used word in SQLSaturday abstracts? Come and find out!
Speaker(s):
- Lynn Ballard
Track and Room: Analytics and Visualization - Room 137
Title: Docker for DBAs
Abstract: In the past five years there has been an explosive increase in Docker adoption. However, uptake has been slow among data professionals. DBAs are naturally wary of Docker’s stateless and transient paradigm. In this session we’ll discuss what Docker is, how SQL Server uses it, Docker deployment strategies in Azure, and when using Docker does and doesn’t make sense.
Speaker(s):
- Bradley Nielsen
Track and Room: Cloud Application Development Deployment - Room 109
Title: Accelerated Database Recovery: The Future of the Transaction Log
Abstract: New in SQL Server 2019, Accelerated Database Recovery (ADR) completely redesigns the SQL Server database engine recovery process. This allows the time spent recovering from a crash or rolling back a transaction to be greatly reduced. ADR also prevents the transaction log from growing during a long-running transaction. Join me for this session to learn about ADR architecture and to see demonstrations of what it can do.
Speaker(s):
- Frank Gill
Track and Room: Enterprise Database Administration Deployment - Room 143
Title: Agile Ops at Billions of Transactions a Day Without Losing Your M
Abstract: Every time a human touches a computer, they can damage it”. We’re all human, we all touch computers, and we all have stories to back up that statement. What about dozens of people touching thousands of busy 24x7 clusters, instances, databases, and AGs? Defined processes help, but how do you keep them from bogging down critical fix-it-now work and still prevent damage? Grab lunch and join some Salesforce DBAs as we discuss scaling ITIL, DevOps, and coding your way to an easier life.
Speaker(s):
- Eddie Wuerch
Track and Room: Enterprise Database Administration Deployment - Room 109
Title: Microsoft/Azure Data Integrations: Factories, Pipelines, and Flows Oh My!
Abstract: Microsoft Data Integration possibilities have proliferated recently. Some of you may feel dizzy with all the new options and announcements. Its not made easier by similar sounding names sometimes. In this session we’ll try and demystify these options by going over the Microsoft (Azure/SQL Server/Power BI) data movement options. That will include Azure Data Factory (Copy/Transform, Mapping Data Flow, Wrangling Data Flow), Azure Databricks, Power BI (Query Editor/M/Power Query, dataflows), and SSIS. We’ll dive into the what, when, where, why, and how of each of the options. We’ll also demo some of the options.
Speaker(s):
- David Mellinger
Track and Room: BI Platform Architecture, Development Administration - Room 141
Title: Enable Real-time Analytics and Machine Learning with Azure Stream Analytics
Abstract: As Organizations are looking to transform into data driven organizations. Stream analytics has emerged as an integral part of Enterprise Data platform architectures along with batch ETL. Stream analytics help to gain maximum value from user-interaction events, applications and machine logs. Ingesting, processing, and analyzing these data streams quickly and efficiently is critical in fraud detection, click stream analysis, sentiment analytics, online recommendations and IOT Scenarios among many examples. In this session we will look at options available in azure for real-time analytics and deep dive into Azure Stream Analytics. Build streaming jobs that can blend and aggregate data as it arrives to drive live Power BI dashboards. Plus, we’ll explore how a complete lambda architecture can be created when combining stream and batch data together and finally how it integrates with Azure ML.
Speaker(s):
- Sriharsh Adari
Track and Room: BI Platform Architecture, Development Administration - Room 140
Title: Identifying Sensitive data with Redgate Data Catalog
Abstract: Data Governance is hard. Knowing where all of your sensitive data lives, who has access to it and when is time consuming and hard to manage. Redgate Data Catalog gives you insight to where your data lives and quickly allows you to categorize data. This mostly demo presentation will give you an overview to get started into the data classification processes.
Speaker(s):
- Aaron Urfer
Track and Room: Enterprise Database Administration Deployment - Room 143
Title: Cloud Data Warehousing in Azure: Azure DWH and Snowflake
Abstract: Two major cloud data warehouse solutions exist on Azure - Azure Data Warehouse and Snowflake. This session will discuss the features of each, and the associated use cases, strengths and weaknesses that result. We’ll also look at some benchmarks and costs. If you think of it as a bakeoff, it’s a pie vs. a cake.
Speaker(s):
- Britton Gray
Track and Room: BI Platform Architecture, Development Administration - Room 140
Title: “M” is great! Keep it that way.
Abstract: Power BI is great for modelling. Having the ability to edit and clean your data quick and easy is one of its greatest boons. It is however very easy to have your model bogged down with applied steps. This talk will open the window to best practices with modelling and how to utilise “M” to your advantage.
Speaker(s):
- George Bryant
Track and Room: BI Information Delivery - Room 145
Title: Lessons from Consulting: Vendor Applications
Abstract: Does your company use a lot of vendor applications? Do the specs for them make no sense? In this session, you’ll see some all too common issues when dealing with Vendor applications. This will include some bad recommendations that vendors make as well as how to handle these situations. You’ll also see a little bit of one of the WORST designed applications I’ve ever seen!!
Speaker(s):
- Andy Wickman
Track and Room: Professional Development - Room 144
Title: Leveraging Python in SQL Server
Abstract: The programming language Python has become one of the top 3 languages for data scientists. This session introduces the language and its application in data analysis. I’ll introduce popular packages used in data analysis with Python. We’ll look at Jupyter to introduce the “notebook” experience and then move on to executing some Python scripts inside SQL Server 2017 and Power BI.
Speaker(s):
- Julie Smith
Track and Room: Analytics and Visualization - Room 137
Title: SQLStarter - Intro to Big Data
Abstract: Session in the SQLStarter beginner track to introduce big data careers. Will discuss aspects of what this job entails and what day to day could look like in this career path. We’ll go over important skills and where to find training information.
Speaker(s):
- Warren Sifre
Track and Room: SQLStarter - Auditorium
Title: Brick-by-Brick: Foundational Azure Databricks Concepts
Abstract: As the business need for data becomes more prominent, the platform that IT builds on becomes a crucial component to the success of any data analytics project. Apache Spark centralizes the information management process by providing a unified platform. Azure Databricks takes that concept one step further by providing a layer of abstraction from Apache Spark, which allows for easier adoption of a big data ecosystem. This presentation and demonstration will dive into the core concepts of Azure Databricks by focusing on three main use cases: ETL/ELT, Structured Streaming, and Machine Learning.
Speaker(s):
- Michael Huffer
Track and Room: Cloud Application Development Deployment - Room 109
Title: Performance Tuning for SQL Developer through Execution Plans
Abstract: Performance Tuning for SQL Developer session aims to provide essential building blocks to get starting with this challenging subject. When it comes to performance tuning the execution plan needs to be the first stop for every developer however many developers don’t know how to read and extract relevant information. When looking at execution plans in SSMS, there are many different ways of getting relevant information however it is not always simple to understand. The goal of this presentation is to provide tools and high-level overview of pertinent information to enable each developer to start optimizing their code.
Speaker(s):
- Vladimir Oselsky
Track and Room: Application Database Development - Room 136
Title: Building a Machine Learning Regression Model with Zero Code in PowerBI
Abstract: PowerBI recently added support for AutoML (Supervised Automated machine Learning). This session demonstrates the new ML capabilities with an end to end example using Power BI Dataflows. In this session, we will use AutoML to create and apply a regression model. Regression is a machine learning technique used for understanding the relationship between input and output variables. Regression techniques provide additional insight into data, making it easier to see relationships between dependent and independent variables.
Speaker(s):
- Greg Deckler
Track and Room: Analytics and Visualization - Room 137
Title: Migrating your SQL Server Instance
Abstract: Have an old SQL instance hanging around and need to migrate it? Have you had issues migrating a SQL instance before? Well we will cover the basics of migrating SQL. This includes planning, preparing your current environment, setting up the new environment, migrating the databases, and validation.
Speaker(s):
- Brandon Lukes
Track and Room: Enterprise Database Administration Deployment - Room 141
Title: DR HA 101, what are they and why do I want them?
Abstract: This session is for the new or “accidental” DBA, and for those who want a gentle introduction to HA DR. It starts by defining what those letters mean, and takes you to the point where you can frame good questions about your needs and understand the answers to those questions.
This session does not try to discuss all of the details or go deep into the technical requirements. It defines terms and provides an understanding of these topics.
Speaker(s):
- Pat Phelan
Track and Room: Enterprise Database Administration Deployment - Room 141
Title: SQLStarter - Discussion/Networking Session
Abstract: Ending the day of SQLStarter sessions with a mix of QA and networking.
Speaker(s):
- Hope Foley
Track and Room: SQLStarter - Auditorium
Title: SQLStarter - Intro to Database Administration
Abstract: Session in the SQLStarter beginner track to introduce the database administrator career. Will discuss aspects of what this job entails and what day to day could look like in this career path. We’ll go over important skills and where to find training information.
Speaker(s):
- Peter Shore
Track and Room: SQLStarter - Auditorium
Title: Agile Data Warehouse and ETL Design with Biml
Abstract: Business Intelligence Markup Language is literally changing the way we think about Data Warehouse design and ETL. In this interactive presentation you’ll see how you can rapidly iterate through the Data Warehouse Development Cycle and provide ROI almost immediately. Learn how you can use BimlScript to automatically create staging tables, SSIS Packages, and other necessary objects during the modeling process.
Speaker(s):
- David Stein
Track and Room: BI Platform Architecture, Development Administration - Room 144
Title: SQLStarter - Intro to Data Science
Abstract: Session in the SQLStarter beginner track to introduce data science careers. Will discuss aspects of what this job entails and what day to day could look like in this career path. We’ll go over important skills and where to find training information.
Speaker(s):
- Andrew Loree
Track and Room: SQLStarter - Auditorium
Title: SQLStarter - Intro to Database Development
Abstract: Session in the SQLStarter beginner track to introduce the database development career. Will discuss aspects of what this job entails and what day to day could look like in this career path. We’ll go over important skills and where to find training information.
Speaker(s):
- Jay Robinson
Track and Room: SQLStarter - Auditorium
Title: New Features in SSRS 2017
Abstract: SQL Server Reporting Services 2017 offer many new features, making it more robust than ever. These features include Web Report Portal with KPI, Mobile Report Publisher, Redesigned report rendering engine supporting HTML5, and treemap sunburst chart types. With intuitive interfaces and rich data visualization, business users and stake holders can now view valuable information, not just numbers. This session will cover requirements for installing and configuring SSIS, and how to quickly generate reports.
Speaker(s):
- Sam Nasr
Track and Room: BI Information Delivery - Room 145
Title: Containerized SQL Server on Red Hat OpenShift
Abstract: Containers and Kubernetes are changing the way applications are deployed and managed, including databases. Red Hat and Microsoft have partnered to deliver SQL Server 2019 in Red Hat Enterprise Linux containers running on OpenShift Container Platform. In this session we’ll deploy an always on availability group replica on OpenShift via a Kubernetes operator.
Speaker(s):
- Thomas Lapp
Track and Room: Cloud Application Development Deployment - Room 109
Title: SQLStarter - Intro to Business Intelligence
Abstract: Session in the SQLStarter beginner track to introduce the business intelligence career. Will discuss aspects of what this job entails and what day to day could look like in this career path. We’ll go over important skills and where to find training information.
Speaker(s):
- CJ Knapp
Track and Room: SQLStarter - Auditorium
Title: Optimizing the ETL Development Process with BIML
Abstract: In this discussion, we will overview the benefits Biml can bring to the ETL Development process. How used in conjunction with other languages like SQL and PowerShell, can build out large scale ETL packages in a fraction of the time it would take under traditional SSIS development.
Speaker(s):
- Joshua Higginbotham
Track and Room: BI Platform Architecture, Development Administration - Room 140
Title: Intro to SQL Spatial Data: Location Analytics
Abstract: In this session we will cover Spatial Data Types available in SQL Server. Then we will review the basics of spatial queries and the different methods to create points, lines, and polygons. Finally we will demo a few examples of location analytics and how to integrate into other data sets.
Speaker(s):
- Lucas Feiock
Track and Room: Analytics and Visualization - Room 137
Title: Developer Nights: The Ballad of Bobby Tables
Abstract: Hard skills have their place, but the key to successful software development is effective communication and collaboration. Join other developers and DBAs at the end of the day for a lively and informal discussion about how we work together to be successful. In between the jokes and war stories, gain insight into patterns and practices that empower software development teams. And… perhaps a few that don’t.
Speaker(s):
- Jay Robinson
Track and Room: Application Database Development - Room 145
Title: Introduction To Data Governance
Abstract: Data Governance has been seen by many as a very SCARY and BIG thing requiring biblical efforts to understand and more so to implement. Our discussion will provide context for what, why, and how of Data Governance. You will have an understanding of this and more importantly a road map for how to begin to implement and evangelize within the organization.
Speaker(s):
- Warren Sifre
Track and Room: Other - Room 145
Title: Migrate Your Database(s) with Distributed AGs
Abstract: You find yourself needing to migrate to new hardware or new operating system. If you’re running SQL Server 2016+, you’re in luck! Distributed Availability Groups (AGs) may just be the solution you want.
In this session I will explain the purpose and usages of Distributed AGs, create a Distributed AG and the associated AGs, and perform a mock data center migration.
NOTE: This session expects that attendees are already familiar with Availability Groups.
Speaker(s):
- Elizabeth Noble
Track and Room: Strategy and Architecture - Room 145
Title: Extended Events: What are they and How do I use them
Abstract: Extended Events are an essential part of properly monitoring and every DBA should know what they are and how to use them. This session will cover the basics of Extended events as well as an introduction to the system_health session. This session will focus on how to use Extended Events as part of your performance troubleshooting process.
Speaker(s):
- Dave Bland
Track and Room: Enterprise Database Administration Deployment - Room 143
Title: Transaction Log Internals and Performance
Abstract: The transaction log is one of the most critical, yet often misunderstood, components of SQL Server. From out of control log growth to very long start-up times, problems with the transaction log can cause a lot of pain. In this session, we’ll look at how the transaction log works and what information is actually stored in the log. You’ll learn how to optimize the log’s performance, determining the right settings for log growth, and what to do when things get out of control.
Speaker(s):
- David Maxwell
Track and Room: Enterprise Database Administration Deployment - Room 141
Speakers
This is a list of speakers from the XML Guidebook records. The details and URLs were valid at the time of the event.
Drew Furgiuele
Twitter: - pittfurg
LinkedIn: Drew Furgiuele
Contact: http://www.port1433.com
Drew Furgiuele is a senior DBA that lives in Dublin, Ohio who is passionate about SQL Server and PowerShell. He’s been working with SQL Server since 2002. When he’s not accidentally dropping tables in production, he likes writing automation scripts, blogging about SQL Server Replication, wiring electronics, playing board games, and spending time with his dog. He’s also not embarrassed by his Spotify playlists.
Lou` Russell
Twitter: - @nolecture
LinkedIn: Lou` Russell
Contact: http://www.russellmartin.com/blog
Lou Russell is Duchess / Director of Learning at Moser Consulting. As an executive consultant, speaker and author, she channels her passion to create growth in companies by growing their people. Lou inspires greatness in leadership, projects, and teams. She is the author of popular books on Leadership, Teams and Project Management. Lou blends her stories with practical ideas, so you solve complex problems. Encouraged by Lou’s upbeat and practical style, you’ll leave with new tools and renewed hope. You will be laughing, participating, and challenged. Most importantly to Lou, you will learn.
Dave Bland
Twitter: - @SQLDave29
LinkedIn: Dave Bland
Contact: https://www.davebland.com
Over 20 years of SQL Server experience that includes being a DBA, BI development and Application development using VB.NET. Dave currently is the Manager of the DBA team at Stericycle. Dave is a Friend of Red-Gate for 2019. He is a frequent presenter at SQLSaturday events and user groups around the country. Has been teaching SQL Server since version 2000 and is the SQL Server instructor at Harper College in Palatine, IL. Current certifications include: • Microsoft Certified Trainer • MCTS: SQL Server 2008, Implementation and Maintenance • MCTS: SQL Server 2008, BI Development and Maintenance • MCSA: SQL Server 2008 • MCSA: SQL Server 2016 • MCSE: SQL Server 2016 - BI • MCDBA: SQL Server 2000 • MCSD • MCSE: Data Management and Analytics
Lucas Feiock
Twitter: - @LucasFeiock
LinkedIn: Lucas Feiock
Contact: https://sql-stack.com
Lucas Feiock is a Senior Business Intelligence Consultant with KiZAN Technologies. He has four years of experience with the Microsoft BI Stack. In addition to data warehousing, data integration and data visualization, Lucas is also involved with machine learning and advanced analytics. He has experience working in multiple industries including manufacturing, sales, gas and electric utilities, and health care.
Thomas Lapp
Infrastructure consultant currently focused on Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform delivery.
Wendy Pastrick
Twitter: - @wendy_dance
Contact: http://wendyverse.blogspot.com
Wendy Pastrick is from Chicago, IL, and for the past 15 years has served as a Database Administrator supporting both development and production environments. Her many years of involvement with PASS include WIT Virtual Chapter and the Chicago Suburban User Group, serving as Regional Mentor, and as a PASS Board member since 2013. Wendy has organized several highly successful SQLSaturday events in Chicago.
David Maxwell
Twitter: - https://twitter.com/dmmaxwell
LinkedIn: David Maxwell
Contact: https://dmmaxwell.wordpress.com/
David Maxwell has almost 20 years of experience with SQL Server, with a keen interest in performance tuning, monitoring, and troubleshooting. He has experience in environments as diverse as health care institutions, auto manufacturers, and insurance companies. David has been a frequent presenter at SQLSaturday events around the United States since 2012, as well as a presenter for the DBA Fundamentals Virtual Group, the Performance Virtual Group, 24 Hours of PASS, and the annual PASS Summit. David participates in his local Columbus Ohio PASS Local Group, where he serves on the board of directors as SQLSaturday coordinator.
Julie Smith
Twitter: - @juliechix
LinkedIn: Julie Smith
Contact: http://datachix.com
Julie Smith is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP and a BI consultant for Innovative Architects in Atlanta, GA. She#39;s implemented increasingly complex Business Intelligence solutions for over a decade at various organizations. She#39;s also worn many other database “hats” in her career – production DBA and database developer–but data integration and BI are her true passions. Julie holds a BA from the University of South Carolina. She and Audrey Hammonds co-created The Datachix.com blog.
Dan Mallott
Twitter: - https://twitter.com/DanielMallott
LinkedIn: Dan Mallott
Contact: https://www.danielmallott.com
Dan Mallott is a Chicago-based consultant for West Monroe Partners in their Technology Practice. His passion is for service-layer development, particularly database technologies, including Microsoft SQL Server and Apache Cassandra.
Recent projects have included designing a new integration architecture for a mid-sized health insurer, designing a full technical architecture for a large health insurer, building a new member portal for a healthcare-related association, and developing threat hunting software for use by West Monroe.
In his spare time, Dan can be found writing his own libraries instead of using package solutions, or on the ice as a hockey player and referee.
Diane Schuster
LinkedIn: Diane Schuster
Diane has worked with COZYROC since 2012. She has attended numerous SQLSaturdays to shine the light on the time-saving and capability-extending components and tasks that COZYROC offers in it’s SSIS+ library. Without even having a background in databases or SQL Server, Diane successfully configures packages in live demonstrations that use COZYROC components and tasks. She believes that, if the toolkit is this easy to use for a novice, then just imagine what a SQL Server expert can do with it!
In Diane’s data networking days, Diane performed a variety of development-related and customer-facing roles for IBM, Lucent Technologies, North Carolina State University and Connectware.
Bob Pusateri
Twitter: - @SQLBob
LinkedIn: Bob Pusateri
Contact: http://www.BobPusateri.com
Bob Pusateri is a Microsoft Certified Master, DBA, and systems architect with over 10 years of experience on SQL Server. His interests involve internals, performance optimization, and cloud technologies. He is an active member of two Chicago-area PASS Local Groups, a community speaker, and maintains a web presence through both Twitter (@SQLBob) and his blog (bobpusateri.com).
David Stein
Twitter: - @Made2Mentor
LinkedIn: David Stein
Contact: http://www.Made2Mentor.com
David Stein - Agile Data Warehouse Architect and Independent Consultant - has more than a decade of experience working in SQL Server Business Intelligence. He’s designed multi-terabyte, multi-tenant Data Warehouses from scratch as well as saved projects in serious jeopardy.
Pat Phelan
Twitter: - @YetAnotherSQL
LinkedIn: Pat Phelan
Pat Phelan first joined a computer user group (DECUS) in High School, and has joined many more since then. Pat worked many jobs in high school and college, and over twenty years for a major accounting firm. Pat started working for Involta in 2007 and is now the database mentor and a member of the Engineering team. Involta builds, owns and operates world class colocation datacenters and also provides managed services and support staff to clients.
Warren Sifre
Twitter: - WAS_SQL
LinkedIn: Warren Sifre
Contact: http://www.broadstrokeconsulting.com/blog/, http://www.allegient.com
Warren Sifre has been in the IT community since 1998 and has worked in a variety of industries deploying solutions utilizing MS SQL Server in one capacity or another. In 2003, he decided to make SQL Server his mastery and has since developed skills in most defined disciplines of MS SQL. Currently he is a Principal Consultant and Technology Leader with Moser Consulting. He is responsible for BI Solution Architecture and the mentorship of team members. He has been a SQLSaturday Speaker since 2012, Azure Global Bootcamp, and many user groups in 2015 alone. He has a passion for knowledge transfer and solutions architecture, with a keen interested in Info Security.
Chris Bell
Twitter: - @cbelldba
LinkedIn: Chris Bell
Contact: https://www.wateroxconsulting.com/
Chris Bell offers a unique view of how we live and work with data, both now and as we head into the future. Having braved many roles, lifecycles, and battles in the IT world, he has honed his DBA (Database Administration or Do ‘Bout Anything) skills in Information Systems and development, focusing on SQL Server. Currently, he serves as the lead DBA at The Motley Fool. You can keep up with Chris’ thoughts and technical community activities at WaterOxConsulting.com.
Michael Huffer
Twitter: - https://twitter.com/HufferAnalytics
LinkedIn: Michael Huffer
Michael is a Data Scientist at Salesforce. Prior to that he worked as a Data Analytics Consultant for DMI for 3 years. Michael has a passion for predictive modeling to discover hidden patterns in data and modern data ecosystems.
Eric Blinn
Twitter: - @SQL2TheSequel
LinkedIn: Eric Blinn
Contact: https://ericblinn.com/
Eric has been a SQL Server DBA in the legal, software, transportation, and insurance industries for over 10 years. Currently he is the Sr Data Architect for Squire Patton Boggs, a leading provider of legal services with 47 offices in 20 countries.
Eric is a 2018-2019 Idera Ace and has co-authored 2 Idera Whitepapers.
He has been a presenter at PASS Summit, SQLSaturdays, the in.sight transportation conference, and the Ohio North SQL Server User’s Group.
Brett VanderPlaats
LinkedIn: Brett VanderPlaats
As senior architect on the data platform and analytics team, one of my priorities is exhibiting how to best solve business problems leveraging the Microsoft ecosystem, both on-premises and in Azure. As a senior data architect, I must help our clients and prospective clients with technology solutions that require superior technical knowledge, but more importantly, how to successfully solve business problems using the best technologies and methodologies available.
Liz Amador
Twitter: - @conmuchoamador
LinkedIn: Liz Amador
Contact: https://conmuchoamador.com
Liz is interested in using data for social good and making the tech space more welcoming for everyone. She blogs, teaches, and loves to read.
A Liz le interesa usar data por el bien de la sociedad, y hacer la comunidad de technologia mas abierto para todos. Ella escribe en su blog, ensena, y le encanta leer.
Chris Koester
Twitter: - cjkoester
LinkedIn: Chris Koester
Contact: https://chris.koester.io/
Chris Koester is a Data Analytics Solution Architect at DMI, focusing on cloud data engineering and architecture. Chris graduated from Indiana University in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science in Informatics.
Tamera Clark
Twitter: - https://twitter.com/tameraclark
LinkedIn: Tamera Clark
Contact: http://tameraclark.com
Tamera Clark has been involved in the IT industry for greater than ten years, with experiences ranging from systems analysis/engineering to SQL Server and SSRS administration/development. She is an active member of the SQL Server community, participating in the Women in Technology Virtual Chapter, Co-leading the Nashville BI Chapter, assisting the Nashville PASS Chapter and serving as a Regional Mentor. Tamera is also the event chair of SQLSaturday Nashville.
Elizabeth Noble
Twitter: - SQLZelda
LinkedIn: Elizabeth Noble
Elizabeth Noble is a Director of Database Development in the metro Atlanta area. When she was introduced to her first database over 10 years ago, it was love at first sight. Her passion is to help others improve the quality and speed of deploying database changes through automation. When she is not trying to automate all of the things, she can be found spending time with her dogs, playing disc golf, or taking a walk at the gym.
Hope Foley
Twitter: - hope_foley
LinkedIn: Hope Foley
Contact: http://www.hopefoley.com
Hope Foley, a former Data Platform MVP, has worked across many industries as a DBA and Business Intelligence consultant. She joined team at Microsoft and is a Data AI Technology Solutions Professional. She has worked with enterprise customers but now focuses on education. Hope is an active member in the SQL Server and PASS communities speaking at events and organizing the SQLSaturday event in Indianapolis.
Louis Gordner
Louis Gordner is an Ansible Architect and Principal Consultant and Technology Lead for UNIX/Linux systems at Moser Consulting. He has 17 years of experience as a Solutions Architect for Open Systems focusing on system infrastructure, cloud architecture, server automation, and software deployment and administration, both operationally and DevOps. He is a Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) and an AWS Certified Solutions Architect. Most recently Louis became a Certified Specialist in Ansible Automation. He currently consults for large multi-national corporations doing Ansible and Ansible Tower implementations across the IT organization.
Andrew Loree
Twitter: - @LowOnDiskSpace
LinkedIn: Andrew Loree
Contact: http://www.andyloree.com
Andrew Loree has over nineteen years of database experience with roles in architecture, design, development, and implementation of enterprise-scale SQL Server data solutions, supporting industries from legal e-discovery to manufacturing. Areas of expertise since SQL Server 2000 include data migration and ETL/ELT solutions, disaster recovery planning, high availability service design, licensing and virtualization. Andrew holds fourteen Microsoft certifications, has both a Bachelor and Masters of Science in Computer Science from Wright State University and is a Columbus (Ohio) PASS board member.
Ameena Lalani
Twitter: - SQLHands
LinkedIn: Ameena Lalani
Ameena Lalani is a SQL Server veteran and started her journey with SQL Server 2000. She is a Microsoft Certified Solution Associate on SQL Server 2016 and also hold Azure Administrator Associate certification. Ameena works at Microsoft as a Premier Field engineer. She has implemented numerous High Availability and Disaster Recovery solutions at various companies. Ameena loves to share her technical knowledge and speaks at local user groups and SQLSaturday events throughout the United States.
Sriharsh Adari
Twitter: - Sriharshadari
LinkedIn: Sriharsh Adari
Contact: https://www.sriharshadari.com/
Sriharsh Adari is a technology strategist and Cloud BI Architect. He has around 16 years of experience helping customers with setting up Data Platforms focused on Microsoft BI. He has helped multiple global customers across different industry verticals set up enterprise data platforms using the Microsoft Data Platform and Business Intelligence stack. Over the past few years, he has been helping customers migrate on-premise data workloads onto Cloud Data Platforms - Azure, AWS, and set up new data platforms on cloud. Sriharsh is passionate about all things related to data, big data and Business Intelligence.
Eddie Wuerch
Twitter: - @EddieW
LinkedIn: Eddie Wuerch
Contact: http://www.indydba.com
Eddie Wuerch has 20 years of experience as a SQL Server specialist in a much-longer IT career. A Microsoft Certified Master, Eddie spends his days in the Salesforce Marketing Cloud, focusing on performance, scale, and uptime for the massive SQL Server backend. These SQL Servers churn billions of transactions daily against trillions of rows of data in a 24x7 continuously-available online system accessed by millions worldwide every day.
Simon Kingaby
Twitter: - SimonKingaby
LinkedIn: Simon Kingaby
Contact: http://omwtm.blog
Simon Kingaby has been moving data for 20 plus years. In the last few years, he’s been moving data from DB2, Oracle, Netezza and SQL Server to Azure SQL and Azure Data Warehouse, using Azure Data Factory, SSIS and SQL. At BMI, he developed a Rules Engine Sync application that uses DB2 QRep messaging and Azure ESB to move DB2 transactions to the cloud in near-real-time. Now at Deloitte on the Big Data team, he is developing ETL processes to move API, SaaS and SQL data into reporting databases on-premise and in the cloud. He is also creating SSRS and Power BI dashboards for the CIO and related Services.
Grant Fritchey
Twitter: - @gfritchey
LinkedIn: Grant Fritchey
Contact: http://scarydba.com
Grant Fritchey is a Data Platform MVP with over 20 years’ experience in IT, including time spent in support and development. He has worked with SQL Server since 6.0 back in 1995. He has also developed in VB, VB.NET, C#, and Java. Grant has written books for Apress and Simple-Talk. Grant presents at conferences and user groups, large and small, all over the world. He joined Redgate Software as a product evangelist in January 2011.
David Stein
Twitter: - @Made2Mentor
LinkedIn: David Stein
Contact: http://www.Made2Mentor.com
David Stein - Agile Data Warehouse Architect and Independent Consultant - has more than a decade of experience working in SQL Server Business Intelligence. He’s designed multi-terabyte, multi-tenant Data Warehouses from scratch as well as saved projects in serious jeopardy.
Warren Sifre
Twitter: - WAS_SQL
LinkedIn: Warren Sifre
Contact: http://www.broadstrokeconsulting.com/blog/, http://www.allegient.com
Warren Sifre has been in the IT community since 1998 and has worked in a variety of industries deploying solutions utilizing MS SQL Server in one capacity or another. In 2003, he decided to make SQL Server his mastery and has since developed skills in most defined disciplines of MS SQL. Currently he is a Principal Consultant and Technology Leader with Moser Consulting. He is responsible for BI Solution Architecture and the mentorship of team members. He has been a SQLSaturday Speaker since 2012, Azure Global Bootcamp, and many user groups in 2015 alone. He has a passion for knowledge transfer and solutions architecture, with a keen interested in Info Security.
Ryan Wade
Twitter: - MrDataGeek
LinkedIn: Ryan Wade
Ryan is an experienced data analytics professional. His education and work experience enables him to understand things from a technical, analytical, and business viewpoint. He has the ability to present complex data in an intuitive way using sound analytical and visualization methods.
He has an advanced analytical and technical skill-set which includes Power BI, T-SQL, R, Python, Azure Machine Learning Services, Azure Databricks, SQL Server Machine Learning Services, Advanced Modern Excel, SSIS, SSAS Tabular.
He is a data analytics enthusiast that has spoken at a variety of database and data science conferences about various topics dealing with data analytics.
Joshua Higginbotham
Twitter: - codenamesql
LinkedIn: Joshua Higginbotham
Contact: https://codenamesql.blog/
Joshua Higginbotham is a Data Services Manager at Republic Bank based out of Louisville, KY. He’s worked in various roles including Software Development, Database Administration, and Business Intelligence. He’s an active speaker within the SQL community and the Co-Chapter leader of the Louisville SQL Server and Power BI User Group.
Kerry Tyler
Twitter: - AirborneGeek
LinkedIn: Kerry Tyler
Contact: http://airbornegeek.com
Kerry Tyler is a SQL Server, Business Intelligence, and Azure consultant. His initial IT experience was in network engineering and Windows system administration before moving into the data realm. This infrastructure background builds a firm foundation for performance tuning and cloud infrastructure design and implementation. Kerry has full-time DBA experience in SQL Server since version 2000 and business intelligence architecture since SQL Server 2005. In addition to consulting work, he delivers presentations and training on SQL Server administration, business intelligence, and Azure data and infrastructure components.
Greg Deckler
Twitter: - @GregDeckler
LinkedIn: Greg Deckler
Contact: https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/0_3IIpqzJXt0rHLHrw11HbE0?trk=prof-sm
I am a Director at Fusion Alliance and the Solution Director of Cloud Services. In addition, I am a Microsoft MVP for Data Platform. As an active member in the Columbus IT community, I founded the Columbus Azure ML and Power BI User Group (CAMLPUG) and have presented at many different conferences and events including Dog Food, SharePoint Saturday, CloudDevelop and M3. I have written numerous trade journal articles on business and technical subjects and the book “Achieving Process Profitability, Building the IT Profit Center”.
Andrew Loree
Twitter: - @LowOnDiskSpace
LinkedIn: Andrew Loree
Contact: http://www.andyloree.com
Andrew Loree has over nineteen years of database experience with roles in architecture, design, development, and implementation of enterprise-scale SQL Server data solutions, supporting industries from legal e-discovery to manufacturing. Areas of expertise since SQL Server 2000 include data migration and ETL/ELT solutions, disaster recovery planning, high availability service design, licensing and virtualization. Andrew holds fourteen Microsoft certifications, has both a Bachelor and Masters of Science in Computer Science from Wright State University and is a Columbus (Ohio) PASS board member.
Jay Robinson
Twitter: - @downshiftdata
LinkedIn: Jay Robinson
Contact: https://downshiftdata.wordpress.com/
I write C# and T-SQL code that scales well. I teach others to do it. DBAs like me.
Britton Gray
Twitter: - IDreamInSQL
LinkedIn: Britton Gray
Britton Gray is a veteran of database development, data management, business intelligence, analytics, and data privacy in BI. He has successfully completed projects in a variety of technologies in different technology stacks. Coming from a family full of teachers, he thoroughly enjoys the opportunity to share knowledge and insights; it’s an extension of “getting the right information to the right people at the right time” mantra of BI. He lives near Indianapolis, Indiana, and is the Director of BI for Project Lead The Way, a nonprofit organization providing transformative learning experiences in computer science, engineering, and biomedical sciences.
Vladimir Oselsky
Twitter: - @VladyOselsky
LinkedIn: Vladimir Oselsky
Vladimir Oselsky (Vlady) is an IT Professional with over 15 years of experience in various IT Jobs. Born and raised in Siberia, moved to United States in late 90s. Passion for computer and programming started with DOS games and learning Borland Paschal in 8th grade as a hobby. IT career consisted of everything from hardware and software support to server administration. Current focus on SQL Server Database Development and .NET programming
Rob Volk
Twitter: - sql_r
LinkedIn: Rob Volk
Contact: http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/robv/
Rob Volk is a SQL Server DBA in the Metro Atlanta area since 2001. He also moderates and answers the forums on SQLTeam.com. While an old-time cranky DBA, he no longer considers quot;business intelligencequot; an oxymoron or quot;the cloudquot; as merely atmospheric moisture, and is delightedly dipping his toes into both of these new oceans, and loves to do things in new and and unusual ways.
George Bryant
Twitter: - Azure_George0
LinkedIn: George Bryant
George has over a decade of experience in the Business Intelligence industry and is an active member of the BI community across the Midwest. His knowledge spans multiple industries including, retail, manufacturing, finance, and medical, however recent years has seen him focus on the analytics in sports.
George specializes in BI architecture and end to end development in order to deliver advanced analytics and metrics to multiple organizations across the country. In recent years George has focused on and worked primarily in the Azure cloud, utilizing both established and recent offerings.
Lynn Ballard
Twitter: - https://twitter.com/WidowPage
LinkedIn: Lynn Ballard
Lynn Ballard grew up wanting to study killer whales in the Pacific Northwest. That changed when she took the first computer science class offered by her high school and began to see how technology would change the world. Today she is a senior database developer/administrator with Morningstar in Chicago, Illinois. She is a member of Morningstar’s Women In Technology (WIT) and Chicago’s SQL PASS groups. She’s presented training at Morningstar, previous employers and for Chicago’s SQLSaturday. She’s a widowed mother of two who learned firsthand about preparing and recovering from worst case scenarios. To the great envy of many, she cures and smokes her own artisanal bacon. Don’t worry…she shares with her database friends!
Frank Gill
Twitter: - skreebydba
LinkedIn: Frank Gill
Contact: http://skreebydba.com/
Frank Gill is a Senior Data Engineer at Concurrency With 21 years of IT experience, the first 8 as a mainframe programmer, he has developed a love of all things internal. Over the past several years, he has worked extensively with SQL Server solution in Azure, including Managed Instance. When not administering databases or geeking out on internals, Frank volunteers at the Art Institute of Chicago and reads voraciously.
Bradley Nielsen
LinkedIn: Bradley Nielsen
Bradley Nielsen is a Data Science Engineer specializing in the Microsoft BI stack. He is passionate about data driven analysis and has worked with databases since his first college internship. Brad has a Master#39;s in Human Computer Interaction and a Graduate Certificate in Data Science from Indiana University.
Peter Shore
Twitter: - pshore73
LinkedIn: Peter Shore
Peter Shore is a seasoned IT professional with over 25 years of experience. He took the accidentally intentional DBA plunge in 2013 and has discovered that he loves to find the stories the data has to tell. Peter is comfortable working with both physical and virtual servers, where he tries to apply best practices to attain performance improvements. He is also adept at bridging the gap between technical and business language in order to bring technology solutions to business needs.
Dustin Dorsey
Twitter: - sql_dd
LinkedIn: Dustin Dorsey
Contact: https://dustindorsey.com/
Dustin Dorsey has been architecting and managing SQL Server solutions for companies for well over a decade. While Dustin is skilled in many areas, he has a unique specialization in cost management and architecture around the data platform both on-premise and in the cloud that he has used to provide significant savings for multiple organizations and loves sharing information about this. Dustin is an avid speaker and can be seen writing articles on popular SQL websites, as well as, on his own blog at DustinDorsey.com. He is also active in the Nashville community as a local user group leader and co-organizer of his local SQLSaturday. Dustin currently serves as Director of Data Management at Lifepoint Health.
Sam Nasr
Twitter: - SamNasr
LinkedIn: Sam Nasr
Contact: http://samnasr.blogspot.com/
Sam Nasr has been a software developer since 1995, focusing mostly on Microsoft technologies. He’s a Sr. Software Engineer with NIS Technologies where he consults and teaches clients about the latest .Net technologies. Sam has achieved multiple certifications from Microsoft (MCSA, MCAD, MCTS, MCT), and is the leader of the Cleveland C#/VB.Net User Group since 2003. In addition, he’s the leader of the .Net Study Group, an author for Visual Studio Magazine, and a Microsoft MVP since 2013. When not coding, Sam loves spending time with his family and friends or volunteering at his local church.
David Mellinger
Twitter: - @HoosierDataDev
LinkedIn: David Mellinger
David started working with SQL Server as an application developer in 2003. He switched to focusing on the database over 10 years ago. He has created and worked with ERP, e-commerce, middleware, geo-spatial, and of course analytic (ODS, DW) databases. David is a Practice Lead for Allegient’s Data Platform Analytics practice. He loves working with businesses to get them setup to use technology for success. Diving into complex challenges or “can you\how can you do this” scenarios is fun for David. He is passionate about mentoring and sharing experiences to help others (and himself!) grow.
Brandon Lukes
Twitter: - balukes
LinkedIn: Brandon Lukes
Geek with 10+ years of SQL experience on a broad area of topics.
Jay Robinson
Twitter: - @downshiftdata
LinkedIn: Jay Robinson
Contact: https://downshiftdata.wordpress.com/
I write C# and T-SQL code that scales well. I teach others to do it. DBAs like me.
Clark Hahn
Twitter: - @ClarkHahn
A Data Professional with over 30 years experience. Working with SQL server exclusively since 2010. Currently working with the State of Ohio to perform migrations to Azure on many data related activities.
Andy Wickman
Twitter: - @andyw426
LinkedIn: Andy Wickman
Contact: http://performantdb.blogspot.com
Andy is a Principal Consultant and the SQL Server Technology Leader for Moser Consulting. He LOVES consulting and has helped companies in over 20 industries. He has over 17 years IT experience and over 15 years working with SQL Server. He enjoys learning different SQL Server environments and making them more reliable and improving their performance. He strives to learn more about SQL Server and strives to continue learning.
He is a father of 2 awesome boys and husband of the perfect wife for him (probably the only one who can put up with him). He is an avid sports fan. In case you didn’t realize, baseball is the best sport (GO ASTROS!!)
Chad Buher
LinkedIn: Chad Buher
Chad Buher is the lead Business Intelligence Architect for 1-Answer Corp, a consulting organization that provides BI guidance, support and a suite of software tools that reduces BI development time by 75%. In roles such as Data Architect Consultant for Pragmatic Works, BI Developer for Dignity Health, Sr. Information Architect for Adventist Health System, and other BI roles over the last 18 years, Chad has seen a wide range of solutions and always seeks to listen and learn from everyone around him. Chad lives with his wife just outside of Orlando, FL where his once neat and quiet home has turned into an exhilarating daily adventure parenting three amazing kids adopted from foster care.
Sumeeth Evans
Twitter: - http://twitter.com/sumeethevans
LinkedIn: Sumeeth Evans
Sumeeth Evans is an Azure Technical Specialist focused on helping customers in Regulated Industries specifically Financial Services to achieve their business transformation goals through Azure. He focuses on Azure Infrastructure solutions involving design, governance, networking and security capabilities in Azure.
Aaron Urfer
Twitter: - @aaronurfer
LinkedIn: Aaron Urfer
I started in technology way back in High school by taking entry level programming and Cisco networking classes. Finding my way over the past 15 years in numerous Help Desk and Operations positions I have finally found my passion in the Data universe. I’ve been a full-time DBA for over a year now and love continuing to learn our profession. Outside of Work I am an adamant reader, passionate about my family and being a better Father and Husband.
Peter Shore
Twitter: - pshore73
LinkedIn: Peter Shore
Peter Shore is a seasoned IT professional with over 25 years of experience. He took the accidentally intentional DBA plunge in 2013 and has discovered that he loves to find the stories the data has to tell. Peter is comfortable working with both physical and virtual servers, where he tries to apply best practices to attain performance improvements. He is also adept at bridging the gap between technical and business language in order to bring technology solutions to business needs.
Josh Fennessy
Josh works. He promises to fully update his bio before the event.
Joe McTaggart
I am a Microsoft SQL Server Premier Field Engineer (PFE). I’ve been with Microsoft for 13 years with my time having been split working in SQL CTS support and PFE. My primary focus is SQL database engine but I do have experience with the full stack and all the SSxS components. Secondarily to working primary with customers on SQL, I have helped author a number of the SQL Server workshops offered by our Premier Services (most recently updates to SQL Server Features and Administration and SQL Server Hand-on Troubleshooting).
CJ Knapp
Twitter: - @CjKnapp84
LinkedIn: CJ Knapp
A husband and SQL Server addict who is obsessed with making data move faster. CJ has held positions as a data analyst, database developer, database/BI architect, and ETL developer for various companies throughout the Indianapolis area. CJ loves working with every part of the Microsoft data stack, and is eager to acquire every bit of data knowledge possible.
Sponsors
The following is a list of sponsors that helped fund the event: