Comparing SSAS Tabular and SSAS Multidimensional: Understanding Business Logic Differences

SQL Server Analysis Services offers two fundamentally distinct modeling approaches that organizations must choose between when building analytical solutions, and that choice has far-reaching consequences for how business logic is implemented, maintained, and queried. The Tabular model and the Multidimensional model represent different philosophical approaches to organizing analytical data, each with its own strengths, limitations,… Read More

Understanding Azure SQL Data Warehouse: What It Is and Why It Matters

Azure SQL Data Warehouse, now rebranded as Azure Synapse Analytics, is Microsoft’s cloud-based enterprise data warehousing service designed to handle analytical workloads at massive scale. Unlike traditional relational databases optimized for transactional processing, Azure SQL Data Warehouse was built specifically for the analytical queries that organizations run when they need to examine large volumes of… Read More

The Rare Phenomenon of a Full Moon on Halloween

According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, a full moon occurring on Halloween is a rare event, happening roughly once every 19 years. When calculated using Greenwich Mean Time, this translates to about three or four times per century. And coincidentally, on October 31st, 2020 — the date I’m writing this — there was indeed a… Read More

The Benefits of Separating Compute and Storage in the Cloud

The architecture of computing systems has undergone a profound transformation over the past decade as organizations have migrated workloads from traditional on-premises infrastructure to cloud environments. In conventional data center designs, compute and storage resources were tightly coupled within the same physical machines, meaning that the servers processing data also housed the disks storing that… Read More

Navigating the 5 Essential Stages of Cloud Adoption with Microsoft Azure

Organizations across all industries are increasingly recognizing the strategic value of cloud computing as a driver of business innovation and competitive advantage. Microsoft Azure has emerged as a leading cloud platform, offering comprehensive services that enable enterprises to modernize their IT infrastructure and accelerate digital transformation initiatives. The journey toward cloud adoption requires careful planning,… Read More

Proven Best Practices for Streamlining Power BI Development

Power BI development projects that lack well-defined requirements from the outset tend to produce dashboards that miss the mark for end users and require repeated rework. Before a single data connection is created or a visual is placed on a canvas, developers should conduct structured discovery sessions with business stakeholders to document exactly what questions… Read More

Simple Ways to Instantly Enhance Your Power Apps Model-Driven Views

Model-driven views in Power Apps are structured list displays that show records from a Dataverse table in a grid format, allowing users to browse, filter, sort, and select records within a model-driven application. Unlike canvas app galleries where the developer controls every visual detail through explicit design, model-driven views are generated automatically from configuration rather… Read More

Understanding Power BI Data Classification and Privacy Levels

The governance of organizational data has moved from a concern held primarily by compliance departments and legal teams to a central operational priority that affects every person who works with data in a professional context. The reasons for this shift are numerous and reinforcing: regulatory frameworks like the General Data Protection Regulation and the California… Read More

Explore Power BI Desktop’s New Multi-Edit Feature for Faster Report Design

Power BI Desktop has long been a dominant force in the business intelligence landscape, providing analysts and report developers with a rich set of tools for building interactive dashboards and analytical reports without requiring deep software engineering expertise. Each major update to the platform brings refinements that address the real-world friction points that report developers… Read More

Enhancing Power BI Reports with the Drilldown Player Custom Visual

The Drilldown Player is a custom visual available in the Microsoft AppSource marketplace that brings animated, automatic data storytelling capabilities to Power BI reports. Unlike standard Power BI visuals that display static snapshots of data requiring manual user interaction to explore different dimensions, the Drilldown Player automatically cycles through data categories, animating the transitions between… Read More

Mastering Scale Up and Scale Out with Azure Analysis Services

Are you unsure when or how to scale your Azure Analysis Services environment for optimal performance? You’re not alone. In this guide, we break down the key differences between scaling up and scaling out in Azure Analysis Services and provide insights on how to determine the right path for your workload. Understanding Azure Analysis Services… Read More

Unlock Predictive Modeling with R in SQL Server Machine Learning Services

Are you ready to integrate data science into your SQL Server environment? This insightful session led by Bob Rubocki, a seasoned BI Architect and Practice Manager, dives deep into how to build predictive models using R within SQL Server Machine Learning Services. Perfect for beginners and experienced developers alike, this webinar is packed with step-by-step… Read More

Top 5 Key Questions Solved by Machine Learning

Many businesses have heard about machine learning but are unsure how it can truly benefit them. If you’re wondering how machine learning can help your organization make smarter decisions, you’re not alone. Machine learning enables us to solve complex problems and analyze large data sets much faster and more accurately than human effort alone. Understanding… Read More

How to Maintain PivotTable Column Widths After Data Refresh in Excel 2013

Welcome back to our Excel at Excel series with Steve Hughes! In this article, Steve shares a valuable tip for business intelligence users: how to keep your PivotTable column widths consistent even after refreshing the data in Excel 2013. Troubleshooting PivotTable Column Resizing Issues in Excel Dashboards When creating dynamic dashboards in Excel, especially for… Read More

Step-by-Step Guide to Building an Inspection App in Power Apps

When creating custom applications, you often face unique challenges that require creative solutions. In this article, I’ll demonstrate how to build a versatile inspection app using Power Apps. This example focuses on an app tailored for fire department vehicle inspections but can easily adapt to various inspection types with dynamic features. Building a Flexible Vehicle… Read More