SQL Server's business intelligence (BI) features are part of what sets it apart
from its competitors. BI is definitely not just Microsoft hype. The value in
BI technologies is how they help businesses obtain more information from their
data.
Knowing such things as who your
customers are, their habits and tastes, what
they've bought in the past, and how often
they buy can give you a competitive advantage. But if you don't have this kind of
information, you don't know what you're
missing. Even though BI support has been
an integral part of SQL Server for almost
10 years, the adoption of BI is still far from
pervasive. In many cases, organizations and
database professionals don't see the value in
BI and think they get along fine without it.
Results from SQL Server Magazine
Instant Polls and research from Windows
IT Pro's Information Technology Customer
Research (ITCR) panel show that the
adoption of BI technologies is still—at
best—a future goal for many organizations.
Only 22.2 percent of our ITCR panel
respondents reported that they were currently using BI technologies. Another 21.6
percent reported that they might use BI
technologies in some future project. However, the majority—39.7 percent—reported
that they haven't used BI and have no plans
to. Another 16.6 percent reported that they
have no need for BI technologies.
An Instant Poll, conducted on the SQL Server Magazine Web site (http://www.sqlmag.com—where
you'd assume most visitors are familiar and knowledgeable about SQL Server),
showed similar results. Thirty-two percent of the respondents reported that
they use BI regularly and another 32 percent reported that they were just beginning
to get started with BI. However, 36 percent of respondents either said they
didn't know what BI was or they didn't even know where to get started using
BI.
Moving to BI is difficult for SQL Server
organizations steeped in relational technologies. Database professionals are often so busy
dealing with current projects that they aren't
ready or able to tackle new technologies. BI
and data-warehousing technologies are quite
different from traditional relational database
technologies. This doesn't mean that you
won't use the same skills and tools you use
as a DBA; you'll definitely build on the skills
you have. But the database design concepts
used by BI fact and dimension tables are very
different from the third normal form that
relational database designers strive for. The
MDX language used to query cubes is also
quite different from good, old T-SQL. These
basic differences make it difficult for developers and DBAs to jump to BI. It might be
the same database server, but there's a whole
new and different set of skills to master.
Fortunately, there are many resources that are designed to help database professionals
get started with BI. One of the best ways to learn about BI is with Microsoft's
new BI videos at http://www.microsoft.com/sql/solutions/bi/videos.mspx
and Webcasts from the Kimball group at http://www.microsoft.com/sql/solutions/bi/kimballwebcasts.mspx.
In addition, in future issues of SQL Server Magazine, look for upcoming
Solutions by Design articles about designing for BI and data warehousing by
Michelle A. Poolet. Michelle will cover a variety of BI design topics to help
boost you over those initial BI barriers.
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