New DAX Courses from SQLBI and conference updates #dax #powerpivot #tabular

In the last two years, I and Alberto Ferrari delivered many courses about Power Pivot, SSAS Tabular, and DAX. We had DAX content in many of the courses, and this created some overlapping and the lack of a clear guidance for studying DAX, regardless of the tool you were using.

With the upcoming release of Power BI, the number of tools where you can use DAX to write formulas is going to increase. We reviewed the structure of the courses, moving DAX in a separate course (Mastering DAX– 3 days), removing most of the DAX content from the SSAS Tabular course (now is 2 days) and creating a new course about DAX optimization (Optimizing DAX– 2 days).

Previously, we had an Advanced DAX course that included both DAX (for more complex topics) and optimization. After two years of delivery, we have seen an increased demand for a more complete DAX course (not just an advanced one), and we accumulated a lot of knowledge and content about DAX optimization. A single course of 3 days mixing all together was becoming too dense, so we extended the DAX course and moved the optimization part in a dedicated course. In the meantime, we also adapted the SSAS Tabular Workshop content, reducing its length to 2 days, because all the DAX content has been moved to the Mastering DAX workshop, and there is more time for Analysis Services specific issues, like processing, memory, partitioning, security, and so on.

This is the new learning path starting from scratch:

• SSAS Tabular Workshop– covers the Tabular modeling in Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services 2012/2014 and includes exercises to make practice with DAX and Tabular modeling.
  • Length: 2 days
  • Hands-on-labs: yes
  • Target: BI Architects and BI Developers that already have an experience in building Business Intelligence solutions.
  • Prerequisites: knowledge of SQL language, no previous experience in Analysis Services is required.
• Mastering DAX Workshop– the more complete and deep course about the DAX language.
  • Length: 3 days
  • Hands-on-labs: yes
  • Target: BI Developers and Advanced Excel Users that want to master the DAX language.
  • Prerequisites: experience in data modeling with Power Pivot, or Power BI, or Analysis Services. A basic knowledge of DAX syntax is suggested even if not strictly required. Attending the SSAS Tabular Workshop or Power Pivot Workshop satisfy the prerequisites.
• Optimizing DAX Workshop– a course about optimizing queries and measures in the DAX language.
  • Length: 2 days
  • Hands-on-labs: yes
  • Target: BI Developers, Advanced Power BI and Excel Users that want to optimize measures and queries written in DAX.
  • Prerequisites: good experience in writing DAX formulas and queries. Attending the Mastering DAX Workshop should satisfy the prerequisites. We will provide a test to check prerequisites.

We planned many courses in Europe from April to July, and when possible we scheduled 2 courses in the same week (SSAS Tabular + Mastering DAX, or Mastering DAX + Optimizing DAX), allowing a full immersion for the entire week. We are also planning more online and recorded courses later this year (and other public classroom next Fall). At the moment, the SSAS Tabular Workshop online will still include the DAX content and will be modified when we will provide a Mastering DAX course online.

Here is a list of planned courses divided by country. We’ll try to participate to user group meetings when we are visiting other countries.

Talking about user group and conferences conferences, we will also be speaker at the following events:

• SQL Rally Nordic, March 2-4, 2015 – Copenhagen (Denmark)
  • Power BI Dashboarding– Marco Russo
  • Budgeting with Power Pivot– Alberto Ferrari
• SQLBits IV, March 4-7, 2015 – London (United Kingdom)
  • SSAS Tabular from the Trenches– Marco Russo
  • Budgeting with Power Pivot– Alberto Ferrari
  • Power BI Dashboarding– Marco Russo
• PASS Business Analytics Conference 2015, April 20-22, 2015 – Santa Clara, CA (United States)
  • Budgeting with Power Pivot– Marco Russo
  • Inventory Valuation Techniques with DAX and Tabular Models– Marco Russo

As usual, if you attend one of these conferences, don’t be shy, stop us and say hello!

There is a lot of buzz going on about Power BI – we are waiting the consolidation of certain features before starting to write about it. However, thanks to Project Botticelli, you can already get a very good training with a 10% discount using the coupon SQLBI2015 to access the entire library, including the Power BI Video Course and the DAX Video Course available there.

Another task for the following months… stay tuned!