Talks & Sessions

This page lists all public events that I have spoken at in the past or will speak in the future.

The most recent events can be found directly on my Microsoft MVP profile where all my activities are listed.

Past Events:

DateEventSession
2016, OctoberSQL Saturday #555
(Munich)
Deep-Dive into Polybase
2016, OctoberVirtual SQL Conference
(virtual)
Polybase – Big Data for SQL Server
2016, OctoberSQL Saturday #546
(Oporto)
What’s new in Analysis Services 2016
2016, MayTuga IT
(Lisbon)
Power BI for the Data Scientist
2016, AprilSQL Saturday #494
(Vienna)
Power BI for the Developer
2016, FebruaryGerman SQL Server Conference
(Darmstadt)
Customizing in Power BI
2015, JuneSQL Saturday #419
(Bratislava)
SSAS Tabular in the Real World
2015, JuneSQL Saturday #409
(St. August)
Power BI on SAP HANA
2015, MarchSQL Bits XIV
(London)
Power BI on SAP HANA
2015, MarchSQL Rally Nordic
(Copenhagen)
Deep-Dive into Analysis Services Security
2015, FebruaryGerman SQL Server Conference
(Darmstadt)
Load-Testing Analysis Services
2014, NovemberPASS Summit
(Seattle)
Deep-Dive into Analysis Services Security
2014, JulySQL Bits XII
(Telford)
Deep-Dive into Analysis Services Security
2014, MarchSQL Saturday #280
(Vienna)
Scaling Analysis Services in the Cloud
2014, FebruaryGerman SQL Server Conference
(Darmstadt)
Big Data Scenario – Power BI vs. SAP HANA
2013, NovemberSQL Rally Nordic
(Stockholm)
Microsoft Power BI 101

SQLSaturday555_2016

Session TitleDepp-Dive into Polybase of SQL Server 2016
SummaryPolybase is a feature originally coming from APS but is now finally also available in native SQL Server 2016. It allows you to query external data sources, foremost Hadoop, directly from within SQL Server and combine it with any other data that already resides in your database. Especially the rise of the whole Hadoop data platform in the current markets makes this feature very interesting and is definitely worth a closer look. This session will guide you through the process of setting up Polybase on Hadoop and Azure Blob Stores, showing some real-world use-cases and highlight the most common pitfalls that you may encounter.
Slides  PDF

SQLSaturday546_2016

Session TitleWhat’s new in Analysis Services 2016
SummaryThe new release of SQL Server Analysis Services 2016 brings a lot of new features which developers were asking for ages. In this session I will cover the most important improvements, especially in terms of development, maintenance and performance. There is a lot to cover so better be prepared for an intense session!
Slides  PDF

TugaIT_2016

Session TitlePower BI for the Data Scientist
SummaryR is THE language for Data Scientists. Therefore, it is no surprise that Microsoft also integrated it into the latest release of PowerBI. In this session I will show how to use an existing R-script in PowerBI, combine it with other data sources and leverage other native features of PowerBI like cross-filtering, highlighting, etc. The final step is then to publish the workbook to the PowerBI web service, schedule refreshes and share it with your colleagues.
Slides  PDF

SQLSaturday494_2016

Session TitlePower BI for the Developer
SummaryWith the final release of Power BI last year, Microsoft really shattered the market for [self-service] BI and reporting. Power BI offers many neat features out of the box which are already powerful on their own. But, as for any tool, you will sooner or later hit the borders of its capabilities – and that’s where I think Power BI really shines and also where I want to start with this sessions.

 

My talk is all about extending the core of Power BI in various directions like data integration or visualization. You will get to know the different interfaces and APIs, their capabilities and limitations and see how they can be used to solve your daily reporting and BI problems which might not be doable with any other tool out there!

Slides  PDF

German SQL Conference 2016

Session TitleCustomizing in Power BI
SummaryWith the final release of Power BI last year, Microsoft really shattered the market for [self-service] BI and reporting. Power BI offers many neat features out of the box which are already powerful on their own. But, as for any tool, you will sooner or later hit the borders of its capabilities – and that’s where I think Power BI really shines and also where I want to start with this sessions.

 

My talk is all about extending the core of Power BI in various directions like data integration or visualization. You will get to know the different interfaces and APIs, their capabilities and limitations and see how they can be used to solve your daily reporting and BI problems which might not be doable with any other tool out there!

Slides  PDF

SQLSaturday419_2015

Session TitleSSAS Tabular in the Real World
SummaryIn this session I will speak about the various experiences that I made while implementing SSAS Tabular models in enterprise environments over the last years. I will cover all classical steps of BI project: design, development, testing, deployment and maintenance. At the end I will highlight my most important findings and pitfalls which hopefully helps you when you build your own models.
Slides  PDF

SQLSaturday409_2015

Session TitlePower BI on SAP HANA
SummarySAP HANA is ubiquitous nowadays and it will also remain a hot topic in the future. But besides the technical specifications it is also very important how to work with the data in the end and the majority of users still relies on Microsoft Excel here. Especially Office 365 and Power BI enables users to work with this data in a whole new way. In this session I will show how to combine the best of both worlds by using Power BI to load and analyze data that resides in SAP HANA and will highlight the most common pitfalls and what you have to consider.
Slides  PDF

SQLBits_XIV_Logo
Session TitlePower BI on SAP HANA
SummarySAP HANA is ubiquitous nowadays and it will also remain a hot topic in the future. But besides the technical specifications it is also very important how to work with the data in the end and the majority of users still relies on Microsoft Excel here. Especially Office 365 and Power BI enables users to work with this data in a whole new way. In this session I will show how to combine the best of both worlds by using Power BI to load and analyze data that resides in SAP HANA and will highlight the most common pitfalls and what you have to consider.
Slides  PDF

SQLRallyCopenhagen2015
Session TitleDeep-Dive into Analysis Services Security
SummaryThe Session will cover all advanced topics that you need to know about when developing high complex security solutions for your SSAS database. Those topics include cross-level dimension security, multiple role combinations and foremost dynamic security setups. All of them are designed for different business requirements but no solution fits them all.
The different approaches will be examined on their impact on caching, connection time and also maintenance and in the end you probably understand why it can sometimes make sense to have 2000+ dynamic roles in your SSAS cube!
A major part of the session will be dedicated to dynamic security using SSAS assemblies. Especially for complex requirements this is often the last hope. This session will guide you through the most common and uncommon pitfalls that you will encounter and show how to work around them.
Slides  PDF

SQLServerKonferenz2015
Session TitleLoad-Testing Analysis Services
SummaryMicrosoft Analysis Services models grow bigger and bigger and it becomes harder to predict, how the performance of the model will be once the cube is in production where hundreds or thousands of user queries hit it at the same time. Therefore it is a good advice to run extensive load tests in advance to identify possible performance bottlenecks as early as possible. What you have to consider and how to actually run a load test against Analysis Services will be shown in this session.
Slides  PDF

PASSSummit2014_WebBanner
Session TitleDeep-Dive into Analysis Services Security
SummaryIn this session, we will cover all advanced topics that you need to know about when developing highly complex security solutions for your SSAS database. We will discuss cross-level dimension security, multiple role combinations, and foremost dynamic security setups.
Different approaches will be examined by their impact on caching, connection time, and maintenance. By the end of the session, you will understand why it can sometimes make sense to have 2000+ dynamic roles in your SSAS cube!
A major part of the session will be dedicated to dynamic security using SSAS assemblies, which is often the last hope for complex requirements. This session will guide you through the most common and uncommon pitfalls that you will encounter and show how to work around them.
Slides  PDF

SQLBitsLogo
Session TitleDeep-Dive into Analysis Services Security
SummaryThe Session will cover all advanced topics that you need to know about when developing high complex security solutions for your SSAS database. Those topics include cross-level dimension security, multiple role combinations and foremost dynamic security setups. All of them are designed for different business requirements but no solution fits them all. A major part of the session will be dedicated to dynamic security using SSAS assemblies. Especially for complex requirements this is often the last hope. This session will guide you through the most common and uncommon pitfalls that you will encounter and show how to work around them.
Slides PDF

SQLSaturday280_2014
Session TitleScaling Analysis Services in the Cloud
SummaryWindows Azure offers great potential for small to medium sized applications. However, especially for Analysis Services such applications can easily become also quite big very fast. For on-premises solutions this is very common and various solutions have already been proven to work also for bigger scale implementations. However, things get different when it comes to Windows Azure. Single hardware resources are limited and therefor different approaches need to be used. In this session I will show how different scale-up and scale-out scenarios can be implemented in Windows Azure, thereby mainly focusing on performance and manageability.
SlidesPDF

SQLServerKonferenz2014
Session TitleBig Data Scenario – Power BI vs. SAP HANA
SummaryBig Data war und ist immer noch ein sehr wichtiges Thema für alle Datenbankanbieter, unter anderem auch für SAP und Microsoft. Im Rahmen dessen hat SAP kürzlich eine öffentliche Demo bereitgestellt, wo Daten von Wikipedia mit Hilfe von SAP HANA und den SAP eigenen Front-Ends analysiert werden. Dass es für derartige Analysen nicht immer umbedingt eine teure SAP HANA Umgebung braucht wird in dieser Session gezeigt wo das Demo-Szenario mit Hilfe der Power BI Tools von Microsoft nachgebaut wird. Final wird auch auf die grundlegenden Unterschiede der beiden Technologien eingegangen und wie sie sich voneinander abgrenzen.
SlidesPDF

SQLRallyStockholm2013
Session TitleMicrosoft Power BI 101
SummaryThe new “Power BI” suite is Microsoft’s answer to the rising demand for self-service BI solutions on the market. It includes all necessary tools to build a complete BI solution in a couple of minutes within our well know Excel environment. “Power BI” combines former separate tools like DataExplorer (now Power Query) and GeoFlow (now Power Map) with PowerPivot and Power View to offer a complete suite to build self-service BI solutions. This session will cover all of these tools superficially but will also give insights on how to work with them in the real world.
SlidesPDF
VideoGerhard Brueckl – Microsoft Power BI 101