MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-448): Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Business Intelligence Development and Maintenance (Self-Paced Training Kits) [Paperback]

Erik Veerman (Author), Teo Lachev (Author), Dejan Sarka (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0735626367 | ISBN-13: 978-0735626362 | Edition: 1 Pap/Cdr

Ace your preparation for the skills measured by MCTS Exam 70-448—and on the job. Work at your own pace through a series of lessons and reviews that fully cover each exam objective. Then, reinforce and apply what you’ve learned through real-world case scenarios and practice exercises. This official Microsoft study guide is designed to help you make the most of your study time.

Maximize your performance on the exam by learning to:

• Create SSIS packages; troubleshoot data flow and control flow
• Configure, debug, and deploy SSIS solutions
• Develop SSAS cubes for OLAP and data mining services
• Implement custom logic with MDX
• Optimize storage design and query performance
• Create SSRS reports; enable interactivity; write custom code
• Manage the report environment
• Configure security features for SSIS, SSAS, and SSRS

Assess your skills with the practice tests on CD. You can work through hundreds of questions using multiple testing modes to meet your specific learning needs. You get detailed explanations for right and wrong answers—including a customized learning path that describes how and where to focus your studies.

Your kit includes:

• 15% exam discount from Microsoft. Offer expires 12/31/13. Details inside.
• Official self-paced study guide.
• Practice tests with multiple, customizable testing options and a learning plan based on your results.
• 200 practice and review questions.
• 180-day trial of SQL Server 2008 Enterprise Edition.
• Case scenarios, exercises, and best practices.
• Fully searchable eBook of this guide, plus sample chapters from related books.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Erik Veerman is a Microsoft® MVP for SQL Server®, an award-winning BI solution developer, and a popular speaker, instructor, and author. He shares his expertise with OLAP design, ETL processing, and dimensional modeling as a mentor for Solid Quality Mentors.

Teo Lachev has more than a decade of experience in designing and developing Microsoft®-centered solutions. He is technical architect for a leading financial institution where he designs and implements Business Intelligence applications for the banking industry. Teo is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for SQL Server®, Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD), and Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT). He lives with his family in Atlanta, GA.

Dejan Sarka is MCT and MCDBA certified and a Microsoft® MVP for SQL Server®. He teaches and consults for Solid Quality Mentors, speaks at TechEd and PASS, and develops OLTP, OLAP, and data mining solutions.

Product Details

• Paperback: 640 pages
• Publisher: Microsoft Press; 1 Pap/Cdr edition (April 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735626367
• ISBN-13: 978-0735626362
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.3 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,571 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #2 in Books > Computers & Technology > Certification > Microsoft
  • #19 in Books > Computers & Technology > Databases > SQL
  • #33 in Books > Computers & Technology > Databases > Database Management Systems

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Get Educated June 25, 2009

By R. R. Jacobsen

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is a wonderful comprehensive review of the key components used for SQL Server 2008 certification (exam 70-448). It covers SSIS, SSAS and SSRS in such a manner as to provide great background alongside some basic hands-on exercises to perform.

There is a practice exam disc included with the book which really helps in terms of studying for the exam and another disc with an evaluation copy of SQL Server 2008. All of this can take you from doing what I would call "cowboy SQL work" to a more professional, well founded, and optimized approach towards working with BI tools used with SQL Server.

The authors provide some good practical real-life recommendations on how to apply some of the techniques covered which helps round out the training. Collectively, this text has opened my eyes to more features and functionality in SQL than I did before picking it up and offers a way to actually apply the learning material -- albeit at a simple, high level. Just the same, one can always go deeper and experiment with some of the techniques. In the first chapter alone I learned of a technique that solved a problem which a consulting firm I worked with had an allergic reaction towards solving. I'm thinking the consulting firm might have benefited from this book.

I'm grateful that a careful reading of the exercises does allow one to complete the the vast majority of exercises and not have to deal with a problem so often faced in similar type texts -- nobody proof-read the thing to make sure the commands were accurate and actually worked! Seems like a pretty basic concept but this is so often not the case.

My only warnings to readers is that initial installation of the SQL Server evaluation software and setting up the DB's used as examples can prove tricky (but this is a MSFT issue, not one with the book or the way in which the conveys information). Why is it that sample DB's and installation of same cannot be made easier as it was with SQL 2005 early on? And I have a bit of a bone to pick regarding the Measure Up practice exam which has some out of synch references to the materials in the book. For example, the exam references Chapter 1 Lesson 5 yet the book has only 3 lessons in Chapter 1.

Finally, in the back of the book is a coupon code for taking the exam -- practically worth the price of the book. Your biggest investment will be the time necessary to study for the exam but in today's economy that would be a great investment to make.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid coverage of the exam material July 26, 2009

By Leslie Self

Format:Paperback

Great book. I thought the layout was well done and flowed very logically. The examples, if studied carefully, provided good insight to the concepts and the functionality that is available in the BI stack. There is a lot of material on the exam and I'm impressed at how much was able to be packed into the 600 or so pages. One definitely has to work the examples to get the full understanding, though.

I do have to say that, to me, one of the drawbacks of the book was the set of practice exam questions that was included. I thought the questions were good enough, but the explanations were lacking. There wasn't enough detail as to why the answers were right or wrong. I've always used the Transcender exams to supplement any written material so that may be causing some of the bias, but I thought the explanations could have gone deeper than they did.

(Side note: I also purchased the Transcender exams for this exam. The combination of book and exam prep worked well for me. Passed the exam on the first try!)

I would definitely recommend purchasing the book. It not only met my expectation of an exam prep book, but it will also stay on my shelf as a reference book.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Resource for the 70-448 Exam! May 5, 2010

By Adam Sottosanti

Format:Paperback

I bought this book with the intention of using it and the practice exams included to study for my 70-448 exam, and I couldn't be more pleased with it. I passed the exam and I owe a lot of my success on the exam to this book. Without this book I would have not known which areas to study and passing the test would have been much harder. The book is organized very well, is well written, and prepares you to perform well on the exam. I have been using the MS BI tools for several years now so I didn't intend to get much out of the book besides a passing score on the exam, but I ended up learning about quite a few things I had never utilized in each of the tools. Good luck to anyone taking this exam!