Category Archives: Business Intelligence

SSIS: Use Dates in Dynamic SQL Statements

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Kevin Carter

I have seen lots of posts on how to build a date string for expressions that set the SQL Statement that will be executed in Data Pumps for example. You might need to do that if you are working with a data source that does not like date manipulation functions in the SQL statement. The solutions I have seen seem a bit complicated, but I figured out a way to do it simply. This might not be new, but I have not seen it, so here goes. First, I create a variable that is a string to hold the date.  
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SSIS Attunity Connectors

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Everett Comstock

Recently I had to create an SSIS package that transferred a huge amount of data between an Oracle database and a MS SQL Server database. I began creating an SSIS package that used an existing linked server connection that the client had already been using to perform similar data transfers. To my dismay, the performance of the linked server was dismal. Instead of using the linked server I decided to go with the OOTB OLE DB data source available in SSIS. This increased my performance dramatically. However, when I spoke to a colleague at TCSC, he recommended that I try the Microsoft Connectors for Oracle by Attunity. I had never heard of these connectors, but I was intrigued, so I downloaded them and ran some performance test. The following tests results we recorded while debugging through Visual Studio, so real numbers will be better than what I have recorded, but the results do represent without a doubt the performance differences between the different connections.  
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Use Task Name as Stored Procedure Argument in SSIS

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Kevin Carter

This is something that probably doesn’t come up that often, but I had a situation recently where a routine was called repetitively. The client didn’t want a For/Loop type of solution, they wanted to manage it in the package, so I created the stored procedure to execute the routine and it accepted the name of the task from the SSIS package as an argument to direct the function. Doing it this way, meant the client only had to copy the task and rename it to change its function. They did not have to edit the internal call for the task.  
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Connect with TCSC on Facebook

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Minh Ngo

TCSC is now on Facebook to stay connected with our local and international communities.  Join our conversation by cliking “like” and get the latest news about upcoming seminars, free events, and more solutions from the TCSC team!  You can also friend us if you like us.  
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Posted in .Net, Administration, Administration, Business Intelligence, Configuration, Development, Development, Entity Framework, Events, Linq to SharePoint, Linq to SQL, MVC, PowerShell, PowerShell, SharePoint 2007, SharePoint 2010, SharePoint Designer, SharePoint Designer, WCF | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

MDX Solution for ParallelPeriod Issue with Uneven Periods

Posted on January 5, 2011 by Kevin Carter

I have a client that had a period in 2009 with 34 days and the same period in 2010 with 39 days. Therefore, the ParallelPeriod function was returning null when attempting to pull any year over year comparisons for days past 34. The Time dimension has a Fiscal calendar hierarchy with levels for Year, Quarter, Period and Actual Date.  
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Business/IT Collaboration is Critical to the Success of BI Initiatives

Posted on December 14, 2010 by Kevin Carter

A significant number of business intelligence initiatives fail to succeed or even get going due to a lack of understanding of the fundamental nature of such an initiative. There is a co-dependency that must exist between the business lines and the technology delivery team in any business intelligence project. Interestingly, most BI projects are driven from the wrong location. Most are driven out of IT. Now, it makes sense when you think that all data roads go through the IT department, but the problem is that the focus tends to be on the technology used to deliver the information. The most successful BI projects are business driven, not technology focused.  
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