Episode 71
| November 23, 2016
| 38 minutes
Tools of the Trade
It is easy to feel like the odd man (or gal) out in the SQL Community. We are constantly hearing about new features, products, and architectures and our companies may not always have the same enthusiasm when we describe what could be.
This is probably even more true in the Analytics space as much of the marketing has been pointed in that direction. Even PASS tried to create a conference just for Analytics. While there are some amazing new technologies out there–we might–GASP–not need them in every scenario.
Our guest today is Kevin Wilkie, a BI architect with Innovative Architects and he talks to us about some of the tools he uses and spoiler–they aren’t all that fancy. He also talks with us about how he manages the tech and business users so each feels comfortable and each can get their work done.
Listen to Learn
- Some of the tools Kevin uses in his analytics role
- The criteria you should use to determine whether you should use a new tool
- Why using simple tools might hold an advantage over ‘better’ tools
- The data profiling task in SSIS
Our Guest
Kevin Wilkie
Kevin Wilkie is BI architect with Innovative Architects. He is a community participant and helps organize SQL events in the greater Atlanta area. He is a graduate of Southern Polytechnic State University. He also gives the SQL Data Partners podcast two thumbs WAY up.
Excel’s that tool that’s sort of magically hiding in front of everyone.
Meet the Hosts
Carlos Chacon
With more than 10 years of working with SQL Server, Carlos helps businesses ensure their SQL Server environments meet their users’ expectations. He can provide insights on performance, migrations, and disaster recovery. He is also active in the SQL Server community and regularly speaks at user group meetings and conferences. He helps support the free database monitoring tool found at databasehealth.com and provides training through SQL Trail events.
Eugene Meidinger
Eugene works as an independent BI consultant and Pluralsight author, specializing in Power BI and the Azure Data Platform. He has been working with data for over 8 years and speaks regularly at user groups and conferences. He also helps run the GroupBy online conference.
Kevin Feasel
Kevin is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP and proprietor of Catallaxy Services, LLC, where he specializes in T-SQL development, machine learning, and pulling rabbits out of hats on demand. He is the lead contributor to Curated SQL, president of the Triangle Area SQL Server Users Group, and author of the books PolyBase Revealed (Apress, 2020) and Finding Ghosts in Your Data: Anomaly Detection Techniques with Examples in Python (Apress, 2022). A resident of Durham, North Carolina, he can be found cycling the trails along the triangle whenever the weather's nice enough.
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