Sql Data Partners Podcast

When working on a customer on an import process, she made the comment—if we were doing true EDI, we’d  [Do X]. The comment got me thinking—Aren’t we working on an EDI process? As someone who frequently has multiple roles on projects, I perhaps had lumped all the various 3 letter acronyms into the same spaghetti salad. In this episode of the podcast, Eugene and I chat about the differences—and how thy might impact your team. Data projects can get complex with lots of moving pieces and understanding the different pieces can be helpful as you work to solve your specific pieces of the puzzle. The show notes for this episode and the video to watch Eugene's Query Folding demo in action can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2021/02/03/episode-216-edi-vs-etl. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

We have been moving data for years with technologies like DTS and SSIS; however, these were very much designed for on-premises moves in mind. As more cloud services were being offered Microsoft needed a service to help customers using those services move data around. Azure Data Factory was born with the initial premise of moving data between cloud services; however, it has added the ability to connect with on-premises systems and continues to add a variety of connectors it can now natively support. In this episode, we chat with our friend Andy Leonard about Azure Data Factory, his experience working with the product team, and how customers can leverage the cloud to get business done faster. The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2021/01/27/episode-215-azure-data-factory/. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

We open this year with a few updates on the podcast, a change to SQL Trail, and we invite you to give us some feedback on writing a book for 2021. The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2021/01/13/episode-213-new-goals-for-2021/. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

20 years ago, the objection to implementing security on the basis of performance had validity—especially for smaller organizations. Security was a pain in the neck; however, how many of us are still hanging on to some of those old biases. Even worse, some of us IT pros seem to put up objections to doing the most basic security procedures—sending usernames and passwords in unencrypted emails for example. In this episode we hear from Karen Lopez, a long time speaker on data architecture and security about 10 things she thinks those of us with data stewardship responsibilities should consider. The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/12/31/episode-212-10-things-you-need-to-know-about-data-security/. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Microsoft released a lengthy white paper on the SolarWinds hack affecting thousands of computers. This is scary stuff, and the details continue to come out slowly and you wonder how it all will play out. Many IT pros rely on SolarWinds for monitoring and in this episode, we discuss the exploit, how mere mortals like us might feel a bit overwhelmed at the prospect, and what our due diligence is in a scenario like this. The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/12/23/episode-211-solorigate/. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

It was sad news to hear PASS plans to dissolve in January of 2021. So much good has come of the community and it is sad to see it go. In this episode, we explore the why behind the collapse and what we think may emerge in the aftermath. The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/12/18/episode-210-the-elephant-in-the-room/. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Finding your first full time job is incredibly difficult—and that was before we were in a worldwide pandemic. In this episode, we discuss some strategies and share some experiences about how we got our first jobs and hopefully give you some inspiration as you try to find your first experience. The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/12/14/episode-209-career-ready-advice-to-new-graduates/. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

There is a growing list of formats to store data and Graph is one of the newer trends. It is becoming so popular SQL Server has created ways to implement graph structures. Mala Mahadevan joins us in this episode, and we revisit some of the origins of Graph, what it is good at, and why you may not want to rush to move all your data to Graph storage. The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/10/28/episode-208-sql-server-and-graph-data/. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

SQL Trail 2020 was a success! There was a time I was unconvinced this would be the case. This is not to say we didn't have issues; however, talking with others helped us avoid some common pitfalls and make our event unique. Although we were virtual, I sent all the attendees a conference t-shirt, some swag, and cookies! I wanted everyone to feel some excitement and a connection that I was not sure would be possible in a virtual setting. The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/10/15/episode-207-sql-trail-2020-retrospective/. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

There are many programming languages available to the modern developer and there are even more options for connecting to the database. In this episode, we talk with Taurius Litvinavicius about his Manning course on connecting .NET Core to SQL Server. The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/09/16/episode-206-net-core-interactions-with-sql-server. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Power BI is founded on the idea of self-service BI and Excel is the most common data source in the world. While Power BI can import that information with ease, the data may not be in the best format. In this episode, we discuss areas report creators should consider when building Power BI reports so their reports can perform to their satisfaction and maintenance of the reports will be easier over the long run. The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/09/03/episode-205-data-modeling-for-power-bi. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

A variety of devices now have the ability to report metrics about status, performance, or other sensor information. Collecting this information and making it useful in business operations can be difficult and the Internet of Things (IoT) provides options for consuming, processing, and reporting. Microsoft has introduced a number of different offerings, and in this episode, we touch on a couple of them and discuss scenarios where one may serve you better than another. The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/08/19/episode-204-iot-in-azure. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

As we stretch the technology stack in this episode, I rely on my trusty co-hosts to get us through. Kevin and Jean-Georges Perrin do a great job giving us their thoughts on Spark. I hope you will enjoy the episode. The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/08/06/episode-203-spark-in-action. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

As COVID-19 prevents us from gathering in the same place, how do organizers continue to put on compelling events? This strikes home as SQL Data Partners consider whether to have our SQL Trail event this fall. Matt Gordon put on an event in April and I was interested to get his take on how things went and how he accomplished his goals for the event. I have also participated in several online events and in the episode we discuss the pros and cons of virtual events and we give our take on how to make them better. The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/07/22/episode-202-virtual-conferences. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

After we recorded Episode 189, we knew we lacked some of the business reasons behind the Common Data Model. Luckily, we reached out Tricia Wilcox-Almas and she has helped us fill in some of the gaps and also present how the Common Data Model is implemented in the new versions of Azure Data Lake. The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/07/08/episode-201-common-data-model. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

To celebrate our 200th episode, we reached out to Bob Ward to come and celebrate this milestone with us. I have to plead the 5th on why it took us 200 episodes to finally invite him; however, we finally wised up and Bob walks us through some of the changes SQL Server has experienced over the years and what is in store (Spoiler—no big scoops) for the relational engine. We also have a several copies of Bob’s SQL Server 2019 Revealed book to give away and he was gracious enough to sign them. We appreciate Bob joining us and look forward to another 200 episodes. The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/06/24/episode-200-anything-but-the-cowboys. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

We can incur technical debt in several ways—aging technology, choosing delivery speed over scale architecture, or implementing new technology the entire team cannot yet support. I don’t know that I’ve ever worked at a place that hasn’t talked about technical debt. It wasn’t until I stumbled on a talk by Adam Lenda that make me think about the ways I might contribute to technical debt. He also gave some ideas of how I can help pay it off.  In this episode, we talk with Adam about what technical debt is, why we might be okay incurring some, and situations we might put ourselves into when trying to do ‘the right thing’. Adam also suggests some ways to pay off some of this burden and like most debt, there is no easy fix and he suggests running a pretty tight ship; however, I found his ideas insightful and I think you will, too. The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/05/06/episode-199-technical-debt. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

In a previous episode (175) we discussed migrating to the cloud, and we had a few comments from our compañeros which mentioned we should include more details around cloud infrastructure—the pieces or processes you want or DON’T want to administer. In this episode, we dive into cloud infrastructure and discuss some scenarios on when you might choose one over the other.   The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/04/22/episode-198-cloud-infrastructure. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

In 1990, the group Snap! release a song called "The Power". It would take Microsoft more than 20 years, but they eventually came up with a series of 'power' tools they built into Excel. Those tools later grew into Power BI--which is kinda like Voltron if you are old enough to remember. In this episode we discuss one of the first data manipulation tools in the set: Power Query. Before you start manipulating all those fun visualizations, you might need to get your data in shape. If you have a data warehouse, you are probably in good shape; however, for the rest of us, there is Power Query. This episode takes us through an overview and discusses in what cases you might have to dive into the code, or M language, when the GUI doesn't cut it. The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/04/15/episode-197-power-query-in-power-bi. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

This is a topic I have been interested in covering for some time and as our world faces a crisis dictating that we stay home, it seems like a good time to talk about teleworking. Everyone will have a different situation of course, but we thought we share some of our experiences. I continue to suggest a need to stay connected to your team and while we have lots of technology available to help us, there are a couple of things you can do to help avoid getting knocked out of the loop. The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/04/01/episode-196-teleworking. Have fun on the SQL Trail!