Have you ever wondered where to go to get good information that will help you in your day to day SSAS development life?

There are many options from community websites like ssas-info.com, sqlservercentral.com, sql-server-performance.com, and of course Microsoft's TechNet and MSDN sites get better with every release. They have become my go to source for many things (which is an improvement over the past for sure).

Sometimes though we all need a good book to thumb through, ear mark pages, highlight and prove to others that a solution does have merit.  There are a number of great books on topics throughout the data warehouse world and I have chosen to break them out for you in my next few  entries

Data Modeling

The Data Warehouse Toolkit: The Complete Guide to Dimensional Modeling (Second Edition) by Ralph Kimball  is the definitive work on dimensional modeling and should be read and understood by anyone who is beginning to learn data warehousing or is involved in development for a DW project. There are always exceptions to some of the theories, but as always, a best practice is what works best in your environment without impacting the rest of your enterprise.

SQL Server Integration Services

There are several good SSIS books out there and while this may seem biased, the best one for learning SSIS is  Knight's 24-Hour Trainer: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Integration Services . It is a great video book with a physical book to read more and do the exercises. This book is a great fundamentals book. If you're looking to take your SSIS to the next level, check out

Professional Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Integration Services  which covers the breadth of SSIS including architecture, internals, development, deployment, management, and performance tuning.  It is a must have on the shelf for your SSIS developers.

SQL Server Analysis Services

Analysis Services books do a good job of getting you ramped up, but there is no replacement for experience, except perhaps those willing to share their experience with you. These books are my favorites because they cover a large amount of material, go in depth on the right topics, and provide resources for you to go dig and play to find out more and test your new knowledge.  Professional Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services 2008 with MDX is a very comprehensive book, written by the guys who drive and develop SSAS at Microsoft and pros who implement it around the world.

Another great book on SSAS come from another group of professionals who are aiming to help you take your SSAS to the next level. I just finished a review of this book and I was impresed at the knowledge and situational applications applied in the topics throughout the book. It is a great must read for those of you who feel your knowledge is plateauing in SSAS due to only using it in your situations at your firm. Expert Cube Development with Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services 

Don't forget to post your thoughts or email me your questions to ajorgensen@pragmaticworks.com. As always, this blog is to help you better understand the tools at your disposal … 

 You can see more posts like this as well as other great content on my main blog at http://blogs.pragmaticworks.com/Adam_Jorgensen