Foundations of SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence [Paperback]

Lynn Langit (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1590598342 | ISBN-13: 978-1590598344 | Publication Date: April 25, 2007 | Edition: 1

Business Intelligence (BI) is the fastest-growing segment of Information Technology. Every business needs to effectively employ BI to stay competitive, and every IT professional needs to master BI to stay employed. This book is the quickest path to seeing the BI forest as a whole as well as understanding the trees within it. It is essential reading for all who work with SQL Server 2005.

Foundations of SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence is written by a noted expert from a practical perspective. It is designed for all users of any of the tools in SQL Server 2005’s extraordinarily rich BI product suite. Developers, end-users, and even managers will find this an enlightening guide to the power and promise of SQL Server 2005 BI.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lynn Langit is the founder and lead architect of WebFluent, which for the past six years has trained users and developers in building BI solutions. A holder of numerous Microsoft certifications, including MCT, MCITP, MCDBA, MCSD.NET, MCSE, and MSF, she also has ten years experience in business management. This unique background makes her particularly qualified to share her expertise in developing successful real-world BI solutions using SQL Server 2005.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (April 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590598342
• ISBN-13: 978-1590598344
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #172,927 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #90 in Books > Computers & Technology > Databases > Database Management Systems

More About the Author

Lynn Langit is a specialist in database technologies (SQL and NoSQL, both on-premise and cloud-based). She lives in Southern California. Lynn's published three books on SQL Server Business Intelligence and has created a set of courseware to introduce children to programming at www.TeachingKidsProgramming.org. Read her blog at www.LynnLangit.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lucid, relevant and AdventureWorksDW illustrated, November 24, 2008

By 

Jiang Tang "Bookworm" (Carrollton, Tx United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Foundations of SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence (Paperback)

Notes:

After I went through this book I realized that this is not a hands-on, tutorial type of book. It's more a comprehensive overview of all the aspects of using SQL Serve 2005 to do BI. This book alone is not sufficient for building up a working knowledge of doing BI using SQL Server 2005. But it's still a good overview. It mentioned a lot of concepts and techniques without going into detail. You need to take those "words" and google for the details when you really need to make them work for you.




I wish I had read this book earlier! I have been reading almost all the SQL Server related BI books and this one stands out as the best yet.

1. It uses the AdventureWorksDW to illustrate the whole process.
2. It covers all aspects of BI using SQL Server 2005
3. Very practical.

From the get-go, it introduced Excel Pivottable and PivotChart to explore Adventure works cube. This is the only book if I remember it correctly to mention and illustrate the use of Pivottable for OLAP.

Everything is explained lucidly. It resolved almost all my confusion about BI using SQL server analysis services.

It shines and far better than any other books out there, partly probably because it's the latest publication on this topic.

I would also highly recommend another book, "Fast Track to MDX" if you want to enjoy working with BI. I don't recommend you to read "MDX solutions" if you are a beginner for MDX. I mistakenly started my journey on MDX from "MDX solutions" and it almost ruined my ambition to work in the BI fields because that book is just making learning MDX a nightmare. On the other hand, "Fast Track to MDX" is a joy to read.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Verry good explanation of BI and SQL Sever 2005 BI toolset, January 6, 2008

By 

Mr. N. Aziz (Karachi, Pakistan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Foundations of SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence (Paperback)

I am new to BI. I needed a book to explain BI and the toolset in the SQL Server 2005. As I have been developing applciations for the last 8 years using Microsoft only technologies therefore I wanted to use SQL Server 2005 for BI path. I found this book very valuable for a new commer to BI like me.

I have gone through only some of the chapters but it has started to make sense. The explanation is very clear and it shows that the writer knows the subject very well. Good arrangement of chapters. Not a boring book. I think after reading this book and going through all the excercises one would have a very good understanding of the subject and how to use to SQL server 2005 BI toolset.

I would say this book puts you above the intermediate level from where you can understand the more complex books. Essential for someone wanting to choose BI as career path. Top work Lynn.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not hands-on, April 3, 2009

By 

Kevin Carlson (Everett, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Foundations of SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence (Paperback)

It's hard to understand who is the intended audience for this book. It's apparently intended for managers who want to learn about general BI concepts.

On the other hand, it partly describes installation of the AdventureWorks DW database, as if the reader might have more than one exercise to complete.
I found it exasperating that page after page covers material in a general fashion, without stepping through actual examples.

In summary, don't get this book if you want to learn actual BI developer skills. Wrox books may be a better bet.