I like this question.  If you include XML COLUMN_SET FOR ALL_SPARSE_COLUMNS
This will not include the actual columns that have SPARSE as the type definition it seems.

But if you...

Kendra great editorial,

This one will trigger many comments and already has.  As a new father of a 9-month-old, I think going to college will be less important...

I was not sure if SQL would give just first index it found or not.  But kind of cool it did display the additional index I added with CustomerName. 

The query/sp you are having performance issues with, is it trying to select specific rows? Is there over 15-20% fragmentation on the CS index when these performance issues occur? ...

Another alternative is to import the files into a stage table with 1 column.   Then SUBSTRING the column to get all the columns above.

No I have not but I am sure the DBA's have.  Worth following up though.
This solved the problem.   

CREATE TABLE #EmploymentTestData
( 
  QuarterEndDate DATETIME...

Yes we will gradually get there.  Have tons of code that uses NOLOCK as most companies probably do.

But in the case above even using Read Committed Isolation results...

A few of my team members looked at this and found the issue to be fixed in a later service pack. 
The solution for now is to either create Clustered...

We have SQL 2016 and using column store indexes. You are spot on with seeks. We found that if a stored proc only wants a small range of values,...

I love this thread. Just reading all the advice from experts is awesome. I am no expert but will add my 2 cents.

My company is moving to a...

Thank you all!

Love the EXP of the Log solution John. I do need to brush up on my math:)

The Query update works too, actually this one I attempted but...

delete from fct_iie_test_Ps_report_NEW

Why not truncate table? Less logging maybe that would be some help.

Permission issue maybe with the account? Truncate does require DDL admin perms.

I was thinking this would fail because of Datetime to Int conversion error.

Replaced the last section of the code.

DROP TABLE abc;

GO

CREATE TABLE abc ( d datetime, c int);

GO

INSERT abc

...

Hi Jeff,

A little background. The application we developed allows a user to search properties in the U.S. The user can select any area and click "view results".

Behind the...

The code in Profile is auto generated. All we are doing is calling the stored proc with the Table Type populated.

Maybe there is a more efficient way...