BI Conference in Seattle

I don't usually post my own comments but this event is a pretty big deal for me as it encompasses everything I do (from a career perspective).

This year the BI Conference was moved from May to October to align with Microsoft's pre/post releases. Last year, I was with Avanade and had a chance to meet a ton of people from all over the world interested in many if not all of the same things I am into with varying technical expertise. Microsoft and a few sponsors hosted events around Seattle's landmarks (Needle and Music Experience) which if you haven't been, I highly recommend it. Weather was awesome and I stayed at the Marriott by the pier. Anyway, meeting the various teams from Microsoft responsible for the development of SQL Server, SharePoint and of course my ultimate favorite Data Mining was awesome. I had a great time in every way last year. We partied like Rock Stars :)

This week, we have not only had Seattle's typical rain but a storm coming through and the winds have been rough. Back to the conference- One of the all time lead BI Evangelist, Bill Baker, left Microsoft this year and it has really disrupted the mood. Rather than technically driven sessions and deep dives into new product functionality, everything is overflowing with typical Marketing crap which I have no patience for and would rather have root canal than listen to. The new functionality of SQL 2008 and the promise of upgrades to PerformancePoint and SharePoint are always exciting but all the examples shown are of overly well formatted data and do not represent a real world experience. This was something Bill (I can call him that now that I have met him :) would focus on and specifically try to address with partners. Today, when you post to some of the Microsoft Blogs (not giving out names), there is a real chance you will not get a response except from someone else reading the post and now some blogs have turned that functionality off.

Microsoft is initiating a new (or maybe not so new) concept called "self service BI". This simplifies the access to BI type information through MS Office products namely Excel. Sounds all well and good but at the end of the day, process change is required and that isn't quite spelled out- who, what, etc... This so typical Microsoft, over simplify and spending twice as much time service packing the fallout (people and process). On the brighter side, the tools are getting alot easier and we at Solver are working hard to improve PerformancePoint Planning functionality. Our partner Orange Peel with us have developed a tool called BI Studio (Not BIDS) which addresses many areas of PerformancePoint Planning that are currently not addressed but required for true financial management (integration). We have had some great traction at the booth.

So that was the first day... Let's see what today has to offer.