posted 5/1/2012 by adavid - Views: [526]
After some false starts during the past 4 years, I'm finally going to take the plunge into Business Intelligence, SQL Server style! I attended SQL Saturday #130 in Jacksonville, FL and while it was not my first SQL Saturday, I have to admit just like the first one I attended, I felt pretty intimidated by all the experienced SQL Server people that attended. It was like I didn't even belong there. However, that changed when I talked to some of the organizers of at the after party (which was also great!)
Even though I have 15 years of I.T. Pro experience and have installed various versions of SQL Server over that time span, I have yet to really understand the product as I would like. I can do basic SELECT queries and that's about the extent of my SQL Server knowledge.
But of course, I'm creating this blog to expand that knowledge, start a new career in BI and hopefully share any tips and tricks I learned. There was some great resources at SQL Saturday that will definitely help me get started, like the PragmaticWorks webinars (The "Building a Career with SQL Server BI" webinar is a good overview of the demand for BI talent)
Despite the little knowledge of SQL Server I do have, I'm just going to assume absolute beginner status and go through some online courses for SQL Server and even Excel (I'm really rusty with that one!) After that, I'll dive into SSRS, then SSIS. (SSAS looks pretty scary to me but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it!)
Now that I know what online resources to start with, my main concern is getting the right versions of software. I know I can get the Express version of SQL Server but would prefer at least Standard. I have Office 2007 but it sounds like 2010 is the way to go. Any advice?