GeoFlow Released for Public Preview

In this morning’s keynote address at the PASS business Analytics Conference, Amir Netz demonstrated using GeoFlow, a geographic data visualization add-in for Excel 2013, with a set of data showing the success of pop starts and their countries of origin.  It was a very interesting display of 3D geographical data.  Amir gets so excited when he does these demonstrations and his passion for these new BI tools is infectious.

The public beta for GeoFlow is released publically today and you can download the installer from here.  I blogged about GeoFlow in a short video presentation titled SQL Server Community World Tour with GeoFlow.  I need to update my very brief set of data but it does show some of the capabilities of an earlier private preview version of the tool.

From the official Microsoft Connect page for GeoFlow, this is what you can expect to see in this release:

The GeoFlow Preview for Excel contains the following new features:

• A single install for 32-bit and 64-bit versions

• Geo-disambiguation dialog showing what values were not geocoded

• Support for Tables which have Relationships

• Add Data button in the Excel Ribbon, part of the Map split button which allows you to add data from your sheet to the Data Model after selecting it

• Refresh Data button in the GeoFlow ribbon

• 2D charts and brushing

• Touch navigation and gestures

• Navigation controls

• New tour model with no need to save or refresh your scene

• Transitions and Effects

• Improved performance

• Many improvements in the UI – ribbon, time controls, navigation controls

You can read more details in the Getting Started document.

GeoFlow can be installed here.

(Apr 14 13 Update) – GeoFlow requires Microsoft Office 2013 Pro Plus.  Make sure you have that edition of Excel installed and then download and install the add-in.  After that,  open a document in Excel, go to File > Options and Add-Ins, select to manage COM Add-ins and hit the Go button.  Check the GeoFlow for Microsoft Excel item and click OK.  That should do it!

You’ll find the GeoFlow option on the Insert ribbon, GeoFlow group and the Map drop-down button.

If you can’t get to the content on the Microsoft Connect site, try this link.  You must log into the Connect site using a Microsoft account like you would to use HotMail.

Visual Studio 2012/SSDT Addition for BI Project Version Compatibility & Themes

We can now use Visual Studio 2012 to create and edit SQL Server BI projects!  Woo Hoo.

In the past, if you wanted to develop and maintain BI projects in the same development environment as other Visual Studio projects, you had to install multiple versions of Visual Studio.  This may no longer be necessary if you install the new Business Intelligence for Visual Studio 2012 (SSDT BI). 

SQL Server Community World Tour with GeoFlow

When I started playing with GeoFlow, I just had to find a way to do something interesting with it.  This is a short world tour with visits to a few SQL Server community members and leaders around the globe talking about their SQL Server communities.  GeoFlow is a new BI tool currently in development at Microsoft.  It’s an add-in for Excel 2013 using the SQL Server Analysis Services tabular in-memory aggregation that plots and visualizes data points on the globe using imagery from Bing Maps.  After visualizing data on a map, you can create a 3D tour with full zoom and navigation in 3D geographical space.

Thanks to my friends and associates who have contributed to this effort thus far.  This is the first draft so please check back and I’ll add more stops on the tour along with more sophisticated data points.  The dataset in my current GeoFlow workbook is very light and with more contributions, I’ll can add creative ways to visualize the global SQL Server world community.  Enjoy!

SQL Server World Tour

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GeoFlow is still in development and not yet generally available.  It’s too soon to foresee when it will be complete enough for a public preview and then for release but I’ll let you know what I know when I know it.

Speaking at the Business Analytics Conference, April 1-12 in Chicago

The email message earlier today said “Please note that the official schedule will be released tomorrow, February 6^th, so please do not share your schedule until that time.”  Well, what does that mean, exactly?  It means that it’s midnight right now and time to tell the world….  We are going public, people!  The PASS Business Analytics 2013 session schedule has been completed, the speakers are working on their presentations, feverously practicing their demo material and rehearsing  in the mirror, to no one in the car, to the kids and to the dog who already knew you were crazy before all this mad ness began.  Yep, we take this stuff pretty seriously.

Reporting Services 2012 BI Training

Just wanted to get the word out that our SSRS 2012 training course is available.  Are you looking for expert training on SQL Server 2012 Reporting Services?  SolidQ now offers a SSRS training course with focus on designing report solutions for  Business Intelligence and SharePoint integration.  Not using SharePoint?  Private classes can be adapted to use Reporting Services in native mode.  Training is available for public and private events, onsite or remote delivery.

Designing BI Report Solutions with SQL Server 2012 Reporting Services and SharePoint 2010

Is Self-service BI Threatening IT Professionals’ Livelihoods?

(this is another follow-up to Chris Webb’s post on “Why Corporate BI and Self-Service BI Are Both Necessary”)

There is little doubt that the movement toward self-service BI is going to change the climate for some IT professional who specialize in BI – but the question is “how?” and “how much?” 

Power View and Reporting Services

There has been an active discussion thread on Chris Webb’s blog about the similarities & differences between various Microsoft BI & reporting tools.  This is becoming a very popular topic and I thought I’d post my reply to that thread here.  I encourage you to  read the entire post on Chris’s blog here: Some thoughts on what Office 2013 means for Microsoft BI

…These are some very interesting thoughts about the differences in capabilities between SSRS and Power View. 

Power View Now Works with Cubes!

This is a very significant day in the progression of the Microsoft Business Intelligence platform.  Earlier this year, Power View was released with SQL Server 2012; a remarkable step forward in data visualization. It wasn’t all bad news that Power View only worked with the new tabular semantic models and PowerPivot worksheets published in SharePoint but it did limit our options.  We’ve quietly lived with the fact that this great new reporting tool couldn’t be used with Microsoft’s flagship analytical data (OLAP) engine without building new semantic models.  Well, now it does, and that’s very good news.

An Unusual Book–on DAX Formulas

One of the characteristics of a really good, classic movie is that it has a lot of memorable dialog.  I could go on for hours quoting one-liners from The Blues Brothers or Princess Bride.  Likewise, I think a good book leaves the reader with gems to ponder and to stimulate ideas.  Such has been my recent experience reading Rob Collie’s “DAX Formulas for PowerPivot, The Excel Pro’s Guide to Mastering DAX”. 

BI Sessions and Report Dashboard Demos at the PASS Global Summit

Literally, minutes after I began posting my running notes from the keynote presentations and the first session I attended, I received a request to fill a last minute opening on the schedule and prepare a second session.  I’m working on preparing a new version of “Visual Report Design – Bringing Sexy Back”.  I will be presenting that session tomorrow. 

Office 2013 BI and Mobility

I had a really good experience presenting a session at the SQL Saturday BI Edition in Dallas this weekend about Power View and PowerPivot.  I’ve posted the presentation online and it’s ready for viewing here:

The State of Microsoft Self-Service Reporting

(article published on the MVP Award Program Blog)

I really enjoy this topic.  One of the reasons, I suppose, it’s such a hot topic is that a lot of people believe that there is a perfect ad hoc reporting solution out there, just barely beyond the current set of capabilities in all of the available tools. 

2012 Fall & Winter Conference Sessions

So here’s the deal… If you can make it out to any of these events, more power to you – do it – be there and support the cause of truth and justice for BI.  If not, watch my blog and I will eventually get all of the session content here for your edification.

Fall is a busy time for speaking engagements which include user groups, SQL Saturdays and the PASS Global Summit.  I’m speaking at a number of events and as the schedules are confirmed, I’ll update this list and upload or provide links to presentations and demo content. I hope you can attend some of these events and if not, please check back here to view the recordings and content.

The schedules for some of these events have not yet been set so this list will be updated as this information becomes available.  Return to this page where links will be added for session decks, Prezi links and downloadable sample code.

Event	Date	Session Topic	Time – TZ	Length
Himalayan SQL Server user’s group	September 29	Dashboard Design: Making Reports Pop	1:30 PM – Napal	75 min
Oregon SQL user’s group	October 10	End to end BI with SQL Server 2012	6:00 PM – PDT	75 min
SQL Saturday Dallas	October 13	Power View and PowerPivot: High-Octane Self-Svc BI	9:00 AM – CDT	75 min
SQL Saturday Dallas		Use a custom assembly to extend reports & queries	10:30 AM – CDT	75 min
SQL Saturday Salt Lake City	October 20	Oh, So Tabular!	9:00 AM – MDT	75 min
SQL Saturday Salt Lake City	October 20	PowerPivot and Power View: High-Octane Self-svc BI	11:30 AM	75 min
Oregon SQL Saturday	November 3	(TBD – check back before the event)	- PDT
PASS Global Summit	November	Visual Report Design – Bringing Sexy Back	- PST	75 min
SQL Saturday Olympia	November 10	Oh So Tabular! –	- PST
DevTeach Montreal	Dec 8-12	(TBD)

Session Options

These session additional abstracts were submitted and may be selected for the events that have not yet been confirmed. If you are interested in having me speak at an event, please consider these topics.

Session Title	Speaker	Level
Oh, so Tabular!	Paul Turley	Intermediate
Power View and PowerPivot: High-Octane Self-svc BI	Paul Turley	Intermediate
Prep an executive presentation in 5 min with MS BI	Paul Turley	Lightning Talk
Quickstart BI: Building a BI Solution in 5 Days	Paul Turley	Intermediate
So you’ve built a cube…Now what? MDX essentials	Paul Turley	Beginner
Use a custom assembly to extend reports & queries	Paul Turley	Advanced

SQL Server BI & SharePoint eBooks, Guides and Resources

There are many free eBooks & resources available from Microsoft and members of the MVP community.  This is a collection of several very useful free publications:

Power View Infrastructure Configuration and Installation
Link

Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2012
PDF | EPUB | MOBI

Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2
PDF | XPS

The Many-to-Many Revolution
Link

SQLBI Methodology
Link

 

Configure Kerberos Authentication for SharePoint 2010 Products
DOCX | PDF | EPUB | MOBI

Business continuity management for SharePoint Server 2010
PDF | EPUB | MOBI

Deployment guide for SharePoint Server 2010
PDF | EPUB | MOBI

Get started with SharePoint Server 2010
PDF | EPUB | MOBI

Governance guide for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010
PDF | EPUB | MOBI

Profile synchronization guide for SharePoint Server 2010
PDF | EPUB | MOBI

Remote BLOB storage for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010
PDF | EPUB | MOBI

Technical reference for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010
PDF | EPUB | MOBI

Upgrading to SharePoint Server 2010
PDF | EPUB | MOBI

Getting Started with SharePoint Server 2010
PDF | DOC | XPS | EPUB | MOBI

Planning guide for sites and solutions for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010, Part 1
PDF | DOC | XPS

Planning guide for sites and solutions for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010, Part 2
PDF | DOC | XPS

Planning guide for server farms and environments for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010
PDF | XPS | DOC

Capacity planning for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010
PDF | XPS | DOC

Most of these resources and many others can be found on Eric Ligman’s blog

PASS 2012 Summit: November 6-9

I just received an email message from the PASS Global Summit 2012 organizers after submitting session abstracts a few weeks ago.  They told me not to make any public announcements about the information they sent me but they also gave me this cool button graphic.  Hmmm… I wonder what this means!

More information to come when the time is right.

PASS is the Professional Association for SQL Server

The global summit is the largest gathering of the SQL Server community and the premier event for learning and knowledge sharing from the amazing SQL Server community, Microsoft SQL Server product teams, MVPs, book authors and partners.  This is an awesome event and a very special community of professionals and industry experts.

Just go.  If you do, you’ll be glad you did and if you don’t, you’ll wish you had.  trust me.