Again we have some great SWAG for this meeting. As well as our usual free pizza, soda, and a great mix of people worth getting to know.

 

It has been awhile since our last meeting and even though it is hot and muggy outside summer is almost over. Some of our "regulars" might be on vacation, so make sure you tell a friend or colleague about this meeting. It is even manager and business analyst friendly, so do not exclude them.

 

You will especially want your manager to see the first segment. Our sponsor for this meeting is SQLApex and they asked me to give a 15 minute overview of one or two of the tools in their APEX SQL Developer Studio. In exchange for doing this they gave us a copy to give away at the meeting. This is about a $1300 value. I have been using the studio for about 3 weeks and I am kicking myself for not getting it sooner. If you bring your manager (make sure he or she has purchasing authority) , and they understand that time is money, you will greatly increase your chances of them buying this for at work.

 

Our main presentation; "Designing a Dimensional Model."

 Business Intelligence (BI) is one of the fastest growing segments in information technology today. In large part due to demands placed on business to innovate fast and get information to the right people at the right time. Also fueling the trend is the sudden proliferation of BI and analytical tools at a price-point that even small and medium sized companies can afford. At the heart of an efficient , responsive and flexible BI solution is a dimensional model.   Even if you just need to make your reporting system more efficient and do not have lofty goals of Business Scorecarding with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) or creating forecasting models with data mining algorithms, knowing how and when to create a dimensional model is a must have skill in the 21st century.

 

This will be a manager and business analyst friendly presentation so invite one to come along.