SQLSaturday #59: Speaker Interview Series #17 with Bill Pearson
Today, we pick up the series, with another worldly well-rounded individual, by the name of William E. Pearson, III (we'll just call him Bill :-). He started out in the Navy, earned and practiced as a CPA, and then merged into the world of Business Intelligence. Now as a SQL MVP,MCDBA (and other certs too numerous to mention :-), author and speaker, he focuses on implementing MS BI solutions in the enterprise, and will present to us two exciting sessions on MDX and Analysis Services.
He has quite an extensive collection of technical articles that he’s authored, and you can access them here: Bill Pearson’s Authorships
Let’s read on to learn more from Bill Pearson.
RP: Bill, please tell us a little about yourself, your background, your career and your involvement in the SQL Community.
After serving my time as a submariner in the U.S. Navy (SSBN-632 USS Von Steuben), I graduated from Georgia State University, and began my career in business. I moved into various Accounting and Finance capacities, earning my CPA and a couple of other accounting certifications, and then grafted that experience into subsequent pursuits with enterprise-level financial databases. Financial database, and reporting upon financial data, led me, somewhat understandably, into Business Intelligence, with which I have worked for over fifteen years.
I founded Island Technologies in 1997, having worked with financial systems and Cognos reporting and multidimensional models for several years, and having moved into MSSQL Server Analysis Services upon its debut. I’ve been implementing the Microsoft BI Solution ever since and have a large and diverse client base. My current project involves working on the SmartGrid initiative at Duke Energy in Charlotte, NC, to whom I was introduced through Island’s association with Mariner, a premiere Business Intelligence consultancy serving an array of global clients. In addition to consulting, I am an author and MSSQL Server MVP.
RP: What is your area of expertise? How did you become a DBA/SQL Professional?
RP: What advice would you give your fellow colleagues who are trying to become more senior professionals?
BP:
v To avail themselves of the wide and plentiful array of resources available in professional communities, such as those surrounding SQL Server.
v To contribute their own findings and experiences in client and customer environments to the society knowledgebase, not to simply enrich themselves from that storehouse and move on.
v To teach others, in writing, in hands-on scenarios, and in any other avenue that arises. I find that I constantly reinforce my own expertise by teaching what I know as often, and to as diverse an audience, as possible.
RP: As I see the question all the time, what do you tell folks who want to get more involved in the SQL Community?
BP: Assuming that they are already SQL Server practitioners, numerous events are “instant in’s:”
The SQL Saturday events, which have grown exponentially in popularity and attendance since their relatively recent inception, are a great, free way to interact and gain some valuable instruction from experts, while mingling with many practitioner peers. This without even missing work (for most who wish to attend)!
The PASS organization hosts myriad other events at the international, national and local levels. There is a local group within relative proximity of most practitioners – sometimes multiple chapters. Again, these are readily available.
Writing – blogs, articles, and the like – and presenting can expose one to a wide audience, depending upon the publishing method / media combinations. I have found this sort of interaction to be sought after and appreciated at many levels, and a great way to help others while certainly helping oneself.
RP: What are 3 of your favorite features in SQL Server 2008/R2?
BP: “Augmentations, improvements, and extensions of the components of the integrated BI
Solution. “There are too many individual features to have a few favorites, at least in my
opinion.
RP: What are you working on currently? (Projects, Books/Articles, Speaking circuit, etc.)
BP: I always have at least one client project in the works – as I mentioned earlier, the primary one at present is Duke Energy in Charlotte, NC, where I am implementing MSBI for the SmartGrid initiative. I have other continuing and ad hoc client relationships, as well.
I have had ongoing monthly columns with a couple of publishers on the web for years, and recently began publishing series’ for the SQL Server Worldwide User Group (SSWUG) and MSBICentral.com. I have submitted a new MDX series (“Stairway to MDX”) to Simple-Talk / SQLServerCentral.com, which has been accepted, and which is scheduled to launch in conjunction with PASS Summit 2010.
Latest speaking engagements include SQL Saturdays in Nashville; Raleigh; Colorado (Denver); Columbia, SC; Salt Lake City. Upcoming 2010 schedule includes SQL Saturdays in Minnesota and New York City.
I was recently invited to participate as a product specialist at TechEd 2010 in Berlin in November.
RP: What are some of your other interests, hobbies, etc. when you’re not being a DBA/Engineer/BI professional?
BP: Classical Literature; volunteer board member for not-for-profits (Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, Atlanta High Museum of Art, etc.)
RP: What are you looking forward to, or, what excites you the most about presenting at our SQLSaturday event in the capital of the world, NYC?
BP: The venue promises a diverse audience and an opportunity to meet highly skilled SQL Server professionals. Moreover, I love the endless excitement of New York: I lived there full time for a three-year stint awhile back, and I believe I got by on less sleep than at any other point in my life!
RP: Give us a preview of the topic and session you have planned for us at SQLSaturday#59
BP:
Getting Started with MDX:
This is a very basic, beginner session, aimed at anyone who wants to get a feel for MDX and what it does / how it works. We concentrate largely upon crafting simple MDX expressions and queries whose purposes, for the most part, are to return a set of data. We will overview the structure of a cube, using the ubiquitous Adventure Works sample, outline the components of simple MDX syntax, and get started writing basic expressions and queries. We will expose several basic member functions, introduce filters (or “slicers”), and begin exploring core MDX functionality.
Attribute Discretization in Analysis Services:
This session will introduce attribute discretization in Analysis Services. This little-used capability supports the automatic creation of a manageable number of groups of attribute values that are clearly separated by boundaries. The idea is to make it easier for information consumers to work with large numbers of possible attribute member values. In this session, we will discuss the varied options, the design (and other) considerations involved and best practices surrounding the use of this capability.
RP: Anything that you would like to add? Open Question for Speaker (You can insert your own question & answer, comment, announcement, whatever!
BP:So how’s the BI market in Manhattan for Independent MSBI consultants (who refuse to work with recruiters)? J
RP: Well, let’s talk when you get here! There are certainly a lot of people in the BI Business that will be speaking, sponsoring and attending J
Bill, thank you, so much for participating, and appreciate your very precise, in-depth, and well-thought out answers. If you interested in getting started with MDX (the title of Bill’s first session), make sure you check out the schedule, as well as his more advanced session on Analysis Services.
SQLSaturday#59 almost here!
