Business Intelligence Portfolio

Business Intelligence Portfolio

Gary A. Thompson

[email protected]

(360) 241-3703

mailto:[email protected]

Table Of Contents

Project Overview

T-SQL Samples

SSIS – Integration Services

SSAS – Analysis Services

MDX Samples

KPI’s, Excel Services – Sample

Project Overview Introduction: This presentation displays examples of my work (code samples and development work) using

the Microsoft Business Intelligence tools.

Tools used:

T-SQL 2005

MS SQL Server 2005

SQL Server Integration Services 2005 - SSIS

SQL Server Analysis Services 2005 - SSAS

Audience:

Business Executives

IT Managers

Solution Providers

Project Goals:

Design and build a relational database schema populated by data from three different data sources. With different data types involved, performed Extract, Transform, and Load processes to prepare the data and load the tables. Each step was accompanied with a confirming email upon the success or failure of the job run. This process used SSIS in the SQL Services Management Studio, and T-SQL queries to extract the data.

Design and build an OLAP database and cube using the data from the relational database to allow for detailed data searches usingMDX queries. KPI’s allow a visual representation to be viewed showing a comparison between actual results and performance goals.

T-SQL Samples

T-SQL provides a

means of extracting

data from the relational

database. Many of the

queries we

constructed were

designed to verify the

load process and to

ensure the accuracy of

the data within the

various tables.

T-SQL Samples

Narrowing the

selection criteria

through the use of

the logical “WHERE”

helped ease validation

of data by limiting the

output to a more

rigidly defined subset.

SSIS – SQL Server Integration Services 2005

(Documentation)

Ask most Developers and Analysts what their least favorite and yet

most important task is on a project and the answer is usually

documentation. Clear, concise, and accurate documentation is

critical to the functioning of a project and even more important to

maintaining systems on an ongoing basis.

Each package requires it’s own documentation about authorship,

purpose of the package, maintenance records, etc., and the overall

project documentation is put in place to give an overview of the

higher level requirements that are met and the roadmap of the

packages within the project.


Project: AllWorks, Inc. (SSISStudentProject)

Author: Gary A. Thompson

Created Date: Oct. 1, 2009

Modified Date:

Description: This project loads the AllWorksDBStudent database tables: Employees, EmployeeRates, County, Clients, ClientGroupings, Division, ClientGroupingsXClients, JobMaster, and JobTimesheets.

The project involves the following packages:

EmployeeMasterPackage: Loads Employee table from Employees.xls

EmployeeRatesPackage: Loads EmployeeRates table from Employees.xls

based on matching Employee table on EmployeePK.

ClientMasterPackage: Loads Clients table from ClientGeographies.xls

County table must load first, and be validated prior

to loading Clients.

SpecialGroupingsPackage: Loads ClientGroupings table from ClientGeographies.xls

based on matching ClientPK in Clients table. Data

is aggregated by grouping #.

DivisionDefinitionsPackage: Loads Division table from ClientGeographies.xls

ClientGroupingsXrefPackage: Loads ClientGroupingsXClients table from ClientGeographies.xls

based on matching ClientPK in Clientstaable, and

ClientGroupingsPK in ClientGroupings table.

JobMasterPackage: Loads JobMaster table from ProjectMaster.xls

JobTimesheetsPackage: Loads JobTimesheets table from ProjectMaster.xls

based on matching JobMasterPK in JobMaster table

and validating that the job is not closed prior to the

workdate being submitted.

These packages are included in the project (SSISStudentProject) and run from MasterPackage. Also included in the Master are four Database maintenance tasks: 1. Shrink the database. 2. Rebuild the DB indexes. 3. Update the database statistics. 4. Backup the database. Upon the successful completion of these tasks the MasterPackageprocesses through the above packages to load the tables. If the Database maintenance tasks fail, and email is sent indicating which task failed, and processing stops.

Upon the completion of each package contained in the MasterPackage, an email is sent indicating the success or failure of the individual package run. Success emails contain a count of rows being inserted, changed, and invalid rows (where indicated in requirements). Invalid rows are written to a text file for review by the users.


The Control Flow provides a

roadmap of the processes

within the package, and also

provides a step by step

explanation of what the

various processes will

accomplish.

This Control Flow shows

the steps involved in a

backup and maintenance

process. Each step is

dependent upon the

successful completion of the

prior step.

The arrows here represent

the path that the data takes

and the order of execution

of each process.


Through the use

of script tasks we

are able to

extend the

functionality

Provided within

SSIS to include

customized

processes that

we define using

Visual Basic for

Access.


The Data Flow

Task provides

tools for

extracting,

transforming, and

loading data from

various data

sources. The

Conditional Split

shown here

directed the flow

of data into

different output

files or databases

based on

specified criteria.


SSIS provides a

graphical interface

to help give a

visual

representation of

the steps being

taken. Each symbol

represents a data

source, a

transformation

process, or an

output destination.

The arrows are

data pipelines that

show the flow of

data from one

point to another.


Containers allow

for the use of

iterative

processes. In this

case, when this

process

completes an

email indicting

the success of

failure of the

process is sent to

the defined user

group.


I’ve used a legend

to identify

abbreviations which

identify the data as

it moves through

the various steps.

Consistency keeps

errors at a

minimum and

allows for ease in

debugging when

things go wrong.


Using annotation

to label the

components and

data flow assists

in giving a quick

idea of what

takes place,

without going

into great detail.

SSAS – SQL Server Analysis Services 2005

Good design

leads to a well

functioning cube

structure.

Verifying the

relationships,

ensuring that the

naming will

display properly

for the end user,

and referencing

keys is all part of

good design.


The structure

of this cube

contains four

fact tables and

nine total

dimensions.


Relationships are verified in the Cube Structure area and

confirmed in the Dimension Usage area.


Calculations are

added in the SSIS

interface in much

the same manner as

they Calculated

Members are built

in MDX.

This calculation

allows for a default

value to be inserted

in the event of a

null value.


Building calculations

help in the readability

of KPI’s and allows for

their reuse in other

areas.

Additionally, modularity

of code makes for ease

of maintenance.


KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) are designed to allow the end user

a quick graphical representation of how their area is measuring against

their goals. They also can be used for forecasting based on trend

analysis.


The databases are partitioned at 50% in a MOLAP format

(Multi-Dimensional OLAP) and are divided by year.

MDX: Multi-Dimensional Queries

MDX gives us a

means for querying a

cube structure,

grabbing data from

various dimension

tables to use in slicing

the facts.

This query

determines the labor

rate for employees

on a project based on

their hours worked

and the total labor

for the project.


Another query uses

the Generate

command to create a

subset of data from

different sources,

then uses this newly

defined subset to

organize the data for

output.


Using a calculated member in this query provides formatting for

data fields that contain null values.


Although this

Query itself

was not long, It

required

documentation

to provide

others with a

clear idea of its

purpose and

function.


The use of

multiple

calculated

members

expanded the

functionality of

the query,

while

simplifying the

code for

greater

readability.

KPI’s – Key Performance Indicators

For this project, I

developed several

KPI’s to give the

business users a

quick visual

summary of the

performance of

selected measures

against a particular

goal. While KPI’s

can also be used

for forecasting, job

requirements did

not call for such

measurements.


This KPI show the increase in overhead expenses against a goal of 15%

being acceptable. The goals are defined as good, marginal, and unacceptable,

using a traffic light symbol to indicate the status. Green is good, yellow is

marginal, and red is unacceptable.


The KPI’s are

displayed here in

Microsoft Excel.

This allows users to

see performance

measures without

requiring any special

installation of

software for

viewing. I created a

pivot table to hold

the data and KPI

information.


The beauty of using KPI’s in pivot tables to display progress is that

the measures can be adjusted on the fly. This allows the user to select

a different way to slice the data to meet their needs.

SSRS- SQL Server Reporting Services 2005

Reports are built to

display information

about how a

company is

performing with

regard to specific

goals. In this example,

if the percentage of

increased overhead

expense exceeds a

certain level, the

value is displayed in

red to supply a quick

visual representation

of company

expenditures.

PPS- Performance Point Services 2007

Graphs and charts come in a variety of shapes and sizes to

accommodate all types of reports. Line charts give a comparison

of two or more measures in an easy to read manner.


Different types of charts are

combined to display

different values being

tracked. This chart

represents the percentage

of profit for an organization

and the performance

broken down by county.


Scorecards and dashboards

can be displayed in many

fashions. One popular style of

dashboard displays as a traffic

signal, with green

representing progress ahead

of goal, yellow being a

marginal area near goal, and

red indicating being below

target.

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