Apr 182011
 

Two weeks ago I was in Rovinj doing presentation (and a small BI workshop) at the biggest yearly gathering of IT geeks in Croatia – WinDays 11. The conference was organized by Microsoft Croatia. The title of my presentation? “Business Intelligence Semantic Model”, or BISM, for short.

Here’s the abstract of that session in English/Croatian:

The next version of SQL Server brings several news related to Business Intelligence. This session will focused on one of them – the new semantic model inside SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) known as BISM. We’ve already had a chance to see the Business Intelligence Semantic Model (BISM), athough not exactly under that name. It was PowerPivot with its VertiPaq storage and DAX calculations. The next version of Analysis Services will enable the use of the BISM in addition to the already existing UDM. What it means to BI implementers, what it means for end users? The presentation will focus on explaining what BISM really is and compare it with the existing UDM. If you’re interested in cubes, PowerPivot and similar BI stuff, come and see what the future brings.

Sljede?a ina?ica SQL Servera donosi nekoliko novosti vezanih uz Business Intelligence. Ovo predavanje fokusirat ?e se na jednu od njih – novi semanti?ki model unutar Analysis Services (SSAS) poznat pod kraticom BISM. Business Intelligence Semantic Model (BISM) smo ve? imali prilike vidjeti iako ne pod tim imenom. Radilo se o PowerPivotu i njegovom modelu spremanja podataka koji po?iva na vrsnom VertiPaq engine-u i uporabi DAX kalkulacija. Sljede?a ina?ica Analysis Services omogu?avat ?e, pored dosadašnjeg modela poznatog pod kraticom UDM, korištenje BISM modela. Što to zna?i za implementatore BI rješenja, a što za korisnike? Tema predavanja bit ?e objašnjenje BISM-a i njegova usporedba s postoje?im UDM-om. Zanimaju li vas kocke, PowerPivot i sli?ne BI stvari, do?ite na predavanje da vidite što budu?nost nosi.

In case you’re interested, the presentation is available here:

Looking forward to your feedback.

 

Nov 152009
 

A short remark for those of you who read my blog and happen to be in the neighborhood this week.

I’ll be attending Sinergija 09 conference in Belgrade, Serbia, which starts on Tuesday, 17th of November and ends on Thursday, 19th of November, 2009. While I’m there, I’d love to meet some of you working on Microsoft BI platform and have a chat or two regarding that. The best chance to find me is, of course, one of the rooms with SQL Server topic. However, that’s not guaranteed, because there are few other areas (here’s the Agenda) that look tempting too. Anyway, the picture in my profile might help in recognition.

See you there.

Kratka obavijest za one koji prate moj blog i nalaze se ovoga tjedna negdje u blizini.

Ove godine posje?ujem Sinergija 09 konferenciju u Beogradu, koja po?inje 17.11., a završava 19.11.2009. godine. Volio bih upoznati neke od vas koji se bavite Microsoft BI platformom i razmijeniti rije? ili dvije na tu temu dok sam tamo. Najve?a šansa da me na?ete je, naravno, u nekoj od prostorija s temom SQL Server. Ipak, to nije garancija, jer neke od ostalih tema (evo rasporeda predavanja) zvu?e više nego interesantno. U svakom slu?aju, fotografija u mom profilu pomo?i ?e u raspoznavanju.

Vidimo se tamo.

Oct 312009
 

 

This year I’ll be volunteering at PASS Summit. Birds-of-a-Feather (BOF) Lunch is one of events you can find me at. Whether you want to discuss MDX or just meet me in person, search among 50 tables and join me for a chat. The event will take place on Tuesday, 3rd of November, between 11:45 and 12:45 (Expo Hall 4B).

Additionally, the company I work for, SoftPro Tetral, is one of exhibitors. If you’re interested in seeing our CubePlayer in action or just to have a chat with whoever is there at that moment (me included), feel free to drop by, either during breaks or Exhibitors Reception (Tuesday, 3rd of November 3, 6:00pm-8:00pm, Exhibit Hall 4A). We’re located in bottom-right corner on the map.

Oct 282009
 

Tomorrow, on 29th of October, I’ll be holding an unplugged session named “OLAP” for local SQL&DEV user group. The term “unplugged” is literal – there will be no laptops, slides or demos. Just a (hopefully) good intro and discussion, with few key points to take away in the end. All together, an hour of specific subject, following the practice of last month’s gathering.

The event will take place in Microsoft’s building in Zagreb (Croatia) at 6 PM.

Beside a regular monthly newsletter, there’s also an announcement on BUG Online (web portal of local IT magazine) that I’ve managed to find regarding this event.

Sutra, 29. listopada, održat ?u unplugged predavanje na temu OLAP-a za SQL&DEV user grupu. Ono “unplugged” je doslovno – nema laptopa, nema slajdova, nema demoa. Samo, nadam se, dobar uvod, diskusija i naravno, nekoliko istaknutih stvari, da ostanu u sje?anju. Dakle, jedan sat na odabranu temu, slijede?i dobru praksu prošlomjese?nog druženja.

Doga?aj ?e zapo?eti u 18 sati u prostorijama Microsoft Hrvatske, Turinina 3 u Zagrebu.

Osim redovnog mjese?nog e-letka, postoji i obavijest na Bug Online portalu o ovom doga?aju.

Jun 162009
 

 

Universal calculations in MDX was the title of my session at KulenDayz 2009 conference, held in Beli Manastir, Croatia, on 13th of June, 2009.

Presentation, MDX queries and SSAS projects (based on Adventure Works 2008 sample) of this adapted version of the presentation held in Manchester this year can be downloaded here.

This revision is a small step towards my goal of writing a paper on this subject. But, that has in the meantime become a low priority task and is therefore postponed.

Apr 222009
 
The company I work for, SoftPro Tetral, is one of exhibitors at European PASS Conference 2009.
 
Miljenko Akik (CEO) and I will run live demo of CubePlayer on our two laptops and additional LCDs for the audience. In case you want to give it a try, ask a question, see new version of our SSAS front-end in action or just meet us, be sure to stop by.
 
See you.
 
 
Mar 312009
 

Universal calculated measures in MDX queries was the title of my session in SQLBits IV conference held in Manchester on 28th of March, 2009. Abstract of it follows.

Among many of its functions, MDX language has one special set function – Axis() function. That function allows creation of calculated measures that are fully context aware and, if wanted, don’t need to refer to any dimension or hierarchy in the cube. In other words, such measures are universal or independent, which means they can be used in any MDX query.
In this session we will present such measures and explain how they work. We’ll also show the way how to design them for various scenarios and discuss their potentials and weaknesses.

The presentation together with all the queries, SSAS projects (based on Adventure Works 2008 sample) and other materials can be downloaded here.

Since this topic of using Axis() function is much bigger than what can fit in an hour or so, my intention is to write a paper on this subject, similar to papers about utility (shell) dimension found here or many-to-many dimensional modeling found here, in order to present and explain all the findings in a proper manner, so that they can be used in various BI projects. The plan is to publish it here, in this blog by May 2009. Working title? Universal calculations in MDX.

Nov 112008
 
 
Hi everybody,
 
I’m preparing for a trip to Seattle where I’ll be attending PASS Community Summit 2008.
 
Besides gaining new knowledge from presenters and their sessions, I’m also anxious to have a word or two with some of the people I met on MSDN SSAS forum or anybody else who spend their time working with Analysis Services. If you happen to see me there (the picture is on my blog’s home page), be sure to say hello.
 
For anyone interested in seeing CubePlayer in action, I’ll be having plenty of USB sticks with its instalation/run-time and other materials as a free giveaway. Whether on your laptop or mine, whether in a crowded lobby or a more peaceful lounge, I’ll be glad to show you some of its features in a live, one-on-one demo.
 
See you …