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Microsoft TechNet Business Intelligence Event - In Depth for IT Professionals

Microsoft Business Intelligence offers a complete, end-to-end integrated solution for business performance management, consisting of SQL Server as the Business Intelligence platform and Microsoft Office as the information delivery platform.

In this one-day technical expert seminar join members of the SQL Server and Microsoft Office product teams Grant Dickinson and Kristina Kerr (biographies below) - the people who designed and implemented the Microsoft Business Intelligence Solution.  Gain technical insight of how the integrated components work together, as well as how to efficiently design, manage and deploy enterprise Business Intelligence solutions.

What: Microsoft Business Intelligence - In Depth for IT Professionals
When: March 7th
Where: Dublin, Morrison Hotel, The Printworks room Click here for Directions

Click here to register: Event Registration Page

Agenda:

08:45-09:15 Registration and light breakfast.
09:15-09:30 TechNet Update
09:30-10:45 Microsoft Business Intelligence overview 
10:45-11:00 Break
11:00-12:15 Creating High Impact Data Warehouse with Integration Services and Analysis Services
12:15-13:00 Lunch
13:00-14:15 Enterprise Reporting with SQL Server Reporting Services
14:15-15:30 Office 2007 Business Intelligence Capabilities 
15:30-15:45 Break
15:45-17:00 Designing and Deploying Performance Management Applications with Office OBA

Topics covered:
• Using Integration Services to solve large scale data integration and transformation challenges.
• Best practices for upgrading to SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services.
• Design your Analysis Services objects for enterprise scalability and performance.
• Best practices for upgrading your reports and the report server to new version.
• Tips and tricks for running reporting in an enterprise environment.
• Overview of new Business Intelligence capabilities of Sharepoint and Excel.
• Interaction of Sharepoint, Excel Services and Excel with Analysis and Reporting Services.
• Building and managing scorecards with Business Scorecard Manager.
• Enabling advanced analytics with Proclarity Analytics Server.
• How PerformancePoint Server will integrate scorecarding and analytics with budgeting and planning capabilities.

Kristina Kerr (Office BI/OBA)
Short Bio
Kristina Kerr is a Product Manager in the Office Business Applications group at Microsoft. Her primary focus is on promoting and educating people on the value of Microsoft Business Intelligence (BI) through sales and partner training events, customer campaigns, customer consults, the 2007 Office system launch, and various other channels. Kristina joins Microsoft from Business Objects SA (formerly Crystal Decisions) where she was responsible for product line product marketing for strategic alliance partnerships such as SAP and Oracle. Kristina graduated on The Dean's List from the University of Victoria (Canada) business school.

Grant Dickinson (SQL BI)
Short Bio
Grant Dickinson is a seven year veteran of Microsoft. He was a Technology Specialist for five of those years helping global to medium sized business accounts, as well as partners, evaluate and implement multi-terabyte business intelligence solutions. In his current role as Program Manager in SQL Server, Grant focuses on improving the performance and scale of Integration Services (SSIS) as well as helping key customers and partners adopt innovative solutions built on the platform. Grant was born in Zimbabwe and spent much of his youth in Southern Africa; he has rafted the great Zambezi river, swum with Sharks off the coast of Zululand and been chased by elephants at Victoria Falls. He gained a BSc Computer Science at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and today he lives in rainy Seattle with his wife and two daughters.

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I saw a presentation on Microsoft's Forefront prodcuts last week.  I guess much like 'Microsoft Office' is a brand within which specific products exist like Excel and Word, Forefront Microsoft's brand for our security products that help provide protection for the client operating system, application servers, and the network edge.

IAG 2007 will now become an important part of the Forefront Edge Security and Access.  You can learn more by going to the dedicated IAG 2007 website now.

Otherwise you can check out these TechNet webcasts:

1. Feb 20th 9:00 AM PST: “How to Define and Configure Endpoint Security Policies with the Intelligent Application Gateway"

2. Feb 21st 9:00 AM PST: “Overview of Microsoft Edge Secure Access Technologies"

3. Feb 22nd 9:00 AM PST: “Securing Remote Access to SharePoint Products and Technologies, Exchange Server, and Microsoft Dynamics"

4. Feb 23rd 9:00 AM PST: "TechNet Webcast: Providing Comprehensive Partner and Remote Worker Access with Secure Extranets"

I went to a very interesting IT security event hosted by the Irish Information Security Forum last Thursday in brooks hotel Dublin.  The IISF is quite a dynamic gathering of security professionals and practitioners from a variety of organisations.  I would highly recommend any IT security professional to get involved with the IISF as a great way of staying in touch with your fellow professionals and industry and technological developments.

 Thanks again to Tom Flanagan and the IISF committee for organising the event.