SQL Server Magazine UPDATE, January 4, 2007--BI Is for Everyone: Pass It On

In This Issue:
Will BI-style tools and technologies like Swivel ever be adopted by the masses? And how will wider adoption of BI affect the impact of “real” BI in the business world?

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January 4, 2007

1. Perspectives

2. SQL Server Watch

3. Hot Articles

4. Events and Resources

5. Featured White Paper

6. Announcements

7. Web Community

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1. Perspectives

BI Is for Everyone: Pass It On
by Brian Moran, [email protected]

A few weeks ago, in “Swivel Puts a New Twist on BI for the Masses”, I wrote about Swivel (http://www.swivel.com), a novel site devoted to amateur data analysis. I pondered whether this new site would become the “next big thing” and finally bring BI to the masses or quickly fade away into nothingness. I’m still not sure if Swivel will be a bang or a bust, but an aside at the end of a reader reply to my first Swivel editorial fascinated me:

“Thanks for the heads-up! My brother's a high-school AP stats teacher, so I'm passing it on to him too.”

That’s exactly what I’m talking about when I suggested that Swivel, or something like it, might actually bring BI to the masses. People who aren’t functional experts—such as high school statistics students—could “do BI.” Will these unwashed masses, as I suggested in my editorial a few weeks ago, learn to publish, analyze, and understand complex data sets? And will we see a significant increase in the amount of data analysis that happens worldwide?

Read this complete article today at: http://www.sqlmag.com/Article/ArticleID/94772/sql_server_94772.html.

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2. SQL Server Watch

New Tools for Office Released for Visual Studio
Microsoft released the second edition of its Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the 2007 Microsoft Office System. Developers who have a licensed version of Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office or Visual Studio Professional and above can use VSTO 2005 SE to build applications that use the 2007 Office system. New functionality in VSTO 2005 SE includes application-level add-in support for the most popular Office applications, maintainability and compatibility assurances, and the ability to run in Visual Studio 2005 Professional. For more details and download information, visit the VSTO 2005 SE home page at http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/office/aa905543.aspx.

Product Watch
by Blake Eno, [email protected]

Red Gate Gives You Easy Access to All its Tools
Red Gate Software launched a new service, SQL Professional Toolbelt, which gives you access to all of Red Gate's tools through an annual subscription. You get access to current and new Red Gate tools. An annual subscription, with 12 months of support and upgrades, is $1995. Subscription renewal is $995 per year. You can download a free trial of SQL Professional Toolbelt at Red Gate's Web site.

3. Hot Articles

Q&A: Choosing SELECT Statements
by Brian Moran, [email protected]

Q. What's the difference between the following SELECT statements?

SELECT * FROM tableA, tableB WHERE tableA.a1 = tableB.b1

and

SELECT * FROM tableA JOIN tableB ON tableA.a1 = tableB.b1

Someone told me the first statement isn't ANSI standard, but a lot of my existing code uses that syntax. Do I need to change the non-ANSI standard SELECT statements? Does one format perform better than the other?

Read the answer to this question today at http://www.sqlmag.com/Article/ArticleID/44719/sql_server_44719.html.

Feature: SQL Server Pros Keep On Innovating
The winners of this year's SQL Server Magazine Innovators contest epitomize ingenuity, developing fresh solutions to business problems ranging from change management to scheduling overtime. Read this article today and post your comments at http://www.sqlmag.com/Articles/ArticleID/94156/94156.html.

Puzzled by T-SQL: Partial Aggregate
Itzik Ben-Gan gives you the details about an interesting way that the SQL Server 2005 query optimizer optimizes aggregates. Read this blog entry and post your comments today at: http://www.sqlmag.com/article/articleid/94760/sql_server_blog_94760.html.

In a Nutshell: Erland Sommarskog's Dynamic Search Conditions Article
Kevin Kline highlights the updates to this valuable SQL Server resource. Read the blog entry and post your comments today at http://www.sqlmag.com/article/articleid/94731/sql_server_blog_94731.html.

Hot Threads:

4. Events and Resources

Are you an Oracle professional who has cross-platform responsibilities, or do you need to transfer your skill set to SQL Server? If so, register for free to attend the Cross Platform Data online event January 30 and 31 and February 1, 2007. In a seminar featuring SQL Server and Oracle experts Andrew Sisson from Scalability Experts and Douglas McDowell from Solid Quality Learning, you'll learn key concepts about SQL Server 2005, including how to deploy SQL Server's BI capabilities on Oracle, proof points demonstrating that SQL Server is enterprise-ready, and how to successfully deploy Oracle on the Windows platform.

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See the complete Windows IT Pro Network guide to Web and live events.

5. Featured White Paper

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6. Announcements

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7. Web Community

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