Qué Pasó at PASS 2007
The PASS 2007 Summit is over, but if you missed this
year’s annual gathering for the Professional Association
for SQL Server, you can get a recap of the
conference online—including a look at a giant blue
bear—at sqlmag.com. SQL Server Magazine editors
Diana May, Jeff James, and Megan Bearly blogged
about the conference; you can read their posts in the
Industry Bytes blog at www.sqlmag.com/blog/index.cfm?action=blogindex&departmentid=1061.
Among the highlights of our PASS coverage is
Technical Editor Diana May’s interview with Kevin Kline,
PASS’s current president. If you’ve been following the
“is it too soon for SQL Server 2008?” debate on sqlmag
.com and in the magazine, you’ll be interested in Kevin’s
take on the upgrade, which he discusses in the interview.
Kevin says that many user group members he’s spoken
to have only recently migrated to SQL Server 2005, and
a sizable percentage haven’t even made the move to 2005
yet. “User group attendees are really questioning what to
do about 2008,” Kevin says. “If I were a Microsoft sales
rep, I’d be wondering who is going to buy 2005 between
now and 2008 RTM. And why should I upgrade to 2005
if I don’t have a pressing need?” You can read more
of Kevin’s take on PASS 2007 and other SQL Server
topics at www.sqlmag.com/blog/index.cfm?blogdate=09/10/07&departmentid=1061&action=blogindex.
SQL Server Magazine contributor Douglas McDowell
also reported on PASS with an eye on Microsoft business
intelligence (BI) happenings at the conference. Douglas
spoke with Dell’s Andrew Hargett and Paul Rubin and
Microsoft’s Manish Kedia and Paul Simpson about Dell
and Microsoft’s new Business Intelligence Data Warehouse,
a quasi “BI in a box” solution that combines SQL
Server 2005 with Dell servers and DAS. Read Doug’s full report on PASS and the BI announcements at www.sqlmag.com/articles/articleid/97157/97157.html.
Coming in January: It’s Your Issue
SQL Server Magazine editors have been hearing from
more readers than ever—you’re telling us about your
SQL Server problems, submitting your tips and solutions
for our Reader to Reader section, and suggesting topics
you’d like to see covered in articles. A lot of your feedback
comes to us on the Web, through reader comments on
articles and forum and blog posts. As a result of some
of these discussions, readers are interacting with authors
and editors to generate article ideas and even some of the
content for those articles.
For example, reader and active SQL Server Magazine
forum member Kalman Toth saw my post on the SQL Server
General Discussion forum soliciting real-life SQL Server
admin stories for our upcoming SQL Server Hero section
(see sqlforums.windowsitpro.com/web/forum/messageview.aspx?catid=74&threadid=86415&enterthread=y).
He responded by emailing me an article describing a way to
overcome a limitation of the SQL Server 2005 PIVOT operator,
which we’re currently considering for publication.
Encouraged by readers like Kalman, we’re pulling
together a special “reader solutions” issue for January
2008. In this issue, you’ll find our annual SQL Server
Magazine Innovators feature, spotlighting four SQL
Server pros and their award-winning solutions. You’ll
also find the issue packed with Reader to Reader articles,
showing off our readers’ ingenious tips and tricks for
solving tough SQL Server problems.
Integration Services, Round 2
And finally, back by popular demand, Rodney Landrum
is writing a sequel (no pun intended) to his May 2007
article, “SQL Server Integration Services,” InstantDoc ID
95385. Reader feedback inspired Rodney to write an SSIS
part 2 article, and the feedback is still coming. Rodney
says his follow-up article “has many enhancements to this
original SSIS package,” based on feedback from dozens
of readers. Check out the latest comments at www.sqlmag.com/articles/articleid/95385/95385.html.
—Anne Grubb, Web Lead Editor,
SQL Server Magazine
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