[vc_row][vc_column][themeum_title title=”Difinity 2019 Conference Sessions for 19th and 20th of Feb 2019″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]List of sessions will be complete shortly. Please Stay Tuned![/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”realtime”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Real-time information with Azure and Power BI, Breaking the 3-second barrier[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Power BI, Azure
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 200 – Intermediate[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]We will extract, transform and stream real-time information in less than 3 seconds using best practice methods. Are you ready?

Have you been asked about displaying real-time information on your Power BI reports dashboards? Have you had performance problems delivering a real-time solution? Have you found the correct tools for delivering real-time solutions? Through this session, you will learn how to deliver Power BI solutions streaming real-time information keeping it simple and low-cost.

I will go over the different tools that we can use to approach as closely as possible (1 second) to a real-time solution along with combining real-time information with batch processed information.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

David Alzamendi

David Alzamendi

Delivering Business Intelligence and Data Analytics Solutions with On-Premises and Cloud technologies since 2011, David Alzamendi is a Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert and event speaker who solves problems with best practice procedures and the latest technology. David is passionate about the positive impact data can have on our lives, businesses, economy and the environment. He prides himself on using his creativity and optimism to solve what others thought impossible.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”empower”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Empower your business apps using cognitive services[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: AI, Power Platform
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 100 – Basic[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Make your Business Apps more intelligent by using the APIs provided by Microsoft Cognitive Services.

In this session I will go through the following:

•  What are Microsoft Cognitive Services
•  How to create an app that uses Cognitive Services APIs
•  What are the use cases of cognitive services in various industries[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Indira Bandari

Indira Bandari

Business Intelligence Consultant with over 15 years experience in designing and developing datawarehouses and analytical solutions. Has a Masters degree in Statistics and is passionate in learning data science. I am a co-organiser of the NZ Business Intelligence User Group. Speaker at a few User Groups and SQL Saturday sessions. Volunteering and sharing my knowledge is my passion. In my pass time I teach game development for primary school kids. Recently I have started teaching about databases and Power BI to 10 -15 year old kids.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”powerbipowerapps”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Power BI, PowerApps and Sharepoint – A perfect combination for cloud services[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Power BI, Power Platform, Data Platform
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 200 – Intermediate[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Power BI with its functionalities start moving Business Intelligence into the cloud. Embedding Power BI reports directly in SharePoint Online pages is now possible with no code required. SharePoint groups are ideally integrated with Power BI service which allows us to create App Workspaces within SharePoint itself.

Using a SharePoint lists we can manage information by gathering them in rows known as a list item. PowerApps is relatively new service offering very scalable and powerful custom business apps where data are connected across the web and mobile from the cloud. Both Power BI and PowerApps embeds its visuals in the SharePoint page. Those three products seem to be well known for BI data professionals as a daily basis reporting and sharing platforms.

However, how can we be more efficient and use them simultaneously as one integrated environment? At this session, not only we will explore the features, but we’ll look at how to best use them together.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Jakub Barzyk

Jakub Barzyk

Jakub Barzyk is a Senior Consultant at Webstep, Norwegian provider of high-end IT system development, data warehouse and business intelligence solutions. He has moved to the Vikings land to accomplish his Master’s degree studies and explore breathtaking Norway’s fjords rated as the most impressive landscapes on the planet. He specializes in Microsoft Business Application Platform technologies including Power BI, PowerApps, Flow and Azure Cloud. Today Jakub’s main focus is on translating business requirements into top-of-the-range engineering solutions. Jakub is also a member and speaker of Power BI, PowerApps and Flow User Group Norway sessions.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”azuremachinelearning”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Azure Machine Learning Studio vs. Power BI[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: AI, Power BI, Azure
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 100 – Basic[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]There are so many tools for data analysis and prediction. Let’s explore the Azure ML lab vs PowerBI, how can each of them be used? What are their differences? In this session, you will learn the differences between loading data in the Azure ML Lab vs into PowerBI. We will discuss the cleansing of data in both tools, as well as analyzing existing data (the OOTB for each tool). We will then build a simple prediction model and summarize and compare the results.

Audience: BI experts[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Yana	Berkovich

Yana Berkovich

Yana is a Data Platform Microsoft MVP, MBA, Engineer, Product Management, O365 and BI consultant Based in Vancouver Canada. She is a speaker in PowerBI, Business Analysis, O365 and Power Platform topics. Yana spoke in international conferences in Data Platform topics, such as: Microsoft Business Applications Summit Seattle (Featured session), SQL Saturdays (Boston, Vancouver BC, Redmond, Calgary), O365 Saturdays (Redmond, Vancouver) and many local user group sessions in Seattle and Vancouver areas, including leading the local O365 user group. She has more than 10 years’ experience in Business Analysis Product and Process Management using Microsoft tools, and recent data visualizations, integration, and data warehouse developer. She writes blog posts in http://www.yanaberkovich.com/Blog. She worked in many industries including banking financial, Insurance, power and utility, Oil and Gas, Military & Government.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”enterprisedeployment”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Creating and Managing a Power BI Enterprise Deployment[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Power BI, Azure, BI
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 100 – Basic[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]When implementing Power BI in any enterprise, there are many options that the project team faces, and the choices are not always obvious. The different approaches are often dictated by organisational constraints, which are often different for many organisations. In this presentation, Craig will take you on a journey of discovery about the different best practices and options you have when implementing Power BI in your enterprise. Amongst others, we will discuss topics such as:

  • The different data storage and connectivity modes
  • Power BI Pro vs Power BI Premium
  • Efficient use of workspaces and apps
  • Security Considerations
  • Content Governance

How all of the above (and other) topics impact your implementation.
Craig will bring his extensive real-world experience to this presentation, in which the audience is encouraged to participate in the discussion.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Craig Bryden

Craig Bryden

Craig has been working in Business Intelligence since the late 90’s and has gained experience in almost all industries. Craig is a current Microsoft Data Platform MVP. He has previously been seconded by Microsoft to assist in creating certification tests for the Microsoft Business Intelligence tools, and is a regular speaker at BI related user groups and conferences. Craig is the organiser for the QLD Power BI user group. Craig is the Chief Data Strategist at BiTQ (www.bitq.com.au) where he and his team help customers to transform business data into intelligent data.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”buildingaisolutions”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Building AI solutions: Real-world examples by Fraedom[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: AI, Power Platform
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 200 (Intermediate)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]For almost 20 years, Fraedom has been developing web-based technology that unshackles organisations from complexity and delivers mastery over spending processes. Data has always been the core and foundation of the Fraedom business, capturing, storing and managing data in the most professional way. But what else can we do with the beautiful data?

Can we do something more creatively to enhance our product offering so that customer experience can be significantly improved? In this session, I am taking you through the Data Science & AI journey we have been through, and how we are using Microsoft technologies to understand customer behaviour (PowerBI) and develop Data Science products (Azure SQL, Data Factory, Azure Machine Learning Studio & Data Science Virtual Machine, and R Service in SQL Server).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

David Duan

David Duan

Dr David Duan is Principal Data Scientist at Fraedom, a global SaaS company that specialises in Expense Management and Advanced Payment Technology. He heads up the Data Science team in Fraedom and looks after Data Science strategies, innovation and initiatives. David focuses on building Data Science products to improve customer experience, and creating Data-Driven culture in Fraedom. David holds a PhD from The University of Auckland in Applied Mathematics.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”memoryinternals”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]SQL Server Memory Internals & Troubleshooting[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Data Platform
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 300 (Advanced)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

Welcome to the dungeon. Yes, SQL Server memory concepts are like entering a dungeon where you are guaranteed to get lost. It’s dark and complex out there and not many have come back alive.

Join Microsoft Certified Master of SQL Server, Amit Bansal, and find your way out from the dungeon. In this deep-dive session you will understand SQL Server memory architecture, how the database engine consumes memory and how to track memory usage. Complex concepts will be made simple and you will see some light beyond the darkness.

This session will be an eye-opener for you. Assured.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Amit Bansal

Amit Bansal

Amit R S Bansal is a SQL Server Specialist at SQLMaestros (brand of eDominer Systems). He leads the SQL and BI practice with a much focused team providing consulting, training and content development services to more than 160+ SQL customers globally. He frequently speaks at international conferences including MS Ignite, SQLBits, SSGAS/DPS, PASS Summit & SQL Saturday events. Amit is also honored with Microsoft Regional Director status, MVP award and Microsoft Certified Master of SQL Server credential. Amit has been working with SQL Server since 1999 and has been part of countless mission critical SQL deployments. Performance Tuning in SQL Server is his core area of expertise. To learn more about Amit, visit http://sqlmaestros.com/amit-bansal/

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”databaseinternals”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Database Internals meets Power BI[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Data Platform
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 300 (Advanced)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Understanding and investigating the Internals of an SQL Server database requires use of advanced (often undocumented) DMV’s or DBCC commands

While these provide an insight into the low-level data structures of the database it can be difficult to visualise how these are actually implemented inside the mdf files of the database.

In this session we will see how adding the visualisation options of PowerBI and the Power of R can be used to get a better understanding of how SQL internally manages your data.

Rather than just talking about Fragmentation, Page Splits or Forwarded records, in this session we will show how these physically appear.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Patrick Flynn

Patrick Flynn

Patrick Flynn is a full time Production DBA and has worked with Microsoft Database and Development products since 1994. He specializes in providing Automation, Monitoring, Performance Tuning, High Availability and Disaster Recovery solutions for Enterprise environments. He has particular interests in Database Internals and Corruption Recovery Techniques as well as applying Powershell and PowerBI to assist in DBA tasks. He is a regular Presenter at SQLSaturday events in Australia, NZ and South-East Asia

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”operationalizingpowerbi”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Operationalizing Power BI for 20 000 users[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Power BI
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 100 (Basic)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Learn how to build a deployment strategy, governance plan and support model for Power BI in large scaled deployments.

Enabling Power BI in a small organization comes with some challenges, but when it comes down to deploying and operationalizing Power BI on a larger scale, it’s not as easy as it seems. Part of the problem is that Power BI bring a new BI delivery model to the table, end user BI and this means that new scenarios need to be looked at.

Join us in this session as we will provide feedback on a real life, large scale, deployment scenario for a financial institution. We will discuss deployment strategy, governance plan and support model.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Luc Labelle

Luc Labelle

Luc has been working in IT for the past 18 years. With over a decade of experience as a consultant, he's been involved in countless SharePoint, Office 365 and more recently Power BI projects. The context of intervention he has worked in has allowed him to recognize how to avoid pitfalls when it comes down to deploying new business applications from both business and technical perspectives. Passionate about IT, he founded his own consulting firm in 2014, Kabesa. Luc is deeply involved in Montreal community and participates as often as possible in the various events, both as organizer and as a speaker. Business Applications MVP, he runs the Montreal Business Applications User Group and has delivered countless of sessions in Canada, the United States and Europe, always presenting on cutting edge Microsoft technology.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”intropowerapps”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Introduction to PowerApps with PowerBI[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Power Apps, Power Platform
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 200 (Intermediate)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]This session is about two things – it is firstly a thorough introduction about PowerApps, where it came from and where is it going.

And it is also about how the sum is more than the individual parts – when we combine PowerApps and PowerBI we can build some truly amazing more interactive reports & dashboards.

This is a demo heavy session, we want to see and know a few things:

What is a Canvas App and what is a Model-driven App. What can you do out of the box, and when do you need to write the formulas. What is simple to build, and what is complex but still possible to build.

Join John to take a dive to see how you can get started on your PowerApps journey, pick up some useful patterns and build that business app you need – quickly.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

John Liu

John Liu

John is a Senior Consultant based in Sydney. He specializes and blogs ( johnliu.net ) frequently on client-side scripting, custom development, workflows and Forms. Originally from a technical background in .NET, he is fluent with both creating custom software from scratch as well as extending out of box capabilities. John is a frequent speaker at Office 365 Conference, O365 Saturday around Australia, and helps to organize the Sydney SharePoint User Group (e.g. consuming all the pizza). John is a dual MVP in both Office Apps and Services (SharePoint) as well as Business Applications (Flow).

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”microsoftflow”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]How to make everything with Microsoft Flow (Flow Advanced)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Flow, Power Platform
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 300 (Advanced)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Advanced Flow for Power Users and Developers
Microsoft Flow is one of the strangest product from Microsoft. It is workflow, it is automation, it is Serverless Middleware, it orchestrates Azure Functions.

This whole session is demo-heavy – John will demonstrate what we can build today with Microsoft Flow. Flow is a product that everyone, from Power Users to IT Pros to Developers need to understand and hopefully in your toolbelt.

This session we cover the deep technical sides of Flow. What is it, what does it look like under the hood. How do we learn the expressions and why are they necessary.

When you don’t have an action – make your own actions. When you don’t have a trigger, make your own triggers. From patterns, to expressions to insane tricks.

Ultimately, we discover that the true joy of Flow is not workflow, it is pure and simple low-code server execution, they run and do whenever you want them to do.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

John Liu

John Liu

John is a Senior Consultant based in Sydney. He specializes and blogs ( johnliu.net ) frequently on client-side scripting, custom development, workflows and Forms. Originally from a technical background in .NET, he is fluent with both creating custom software from scratch as well as extending out of box capabilities. John is a frequent speaker at Office 365 Conference, O365 Saturday around Australia, and helps to organize the Sydney SharePoint User Group (e.g. consuming all the pizza). John is a dual MVP in both Office Apps and Services (SharePoint) as well as Business Applications (Flow).

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”microsoftmlserver”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Using Microsoft ML Server for Data Science[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: AI
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 200 (Intermediate)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Microsoft’s ML Server can help you overcome in-memory restrictions of R and allows you to build and deploy models that can be used natively in SQL or accessible via a web service. This demo-packed session will take you through the end to end data science process using Microsoft ML Server so that you can see if its right for you.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]
Steph Locke

Steph Locke

Steph is the founder of a consultancy in the UK. Her talks, blog posts, conferences, and business all have one thing in common they help people get started with data science. Steph holds the Microsoft MVP award for her community contributions. In her spare time, Steph plays board games with her husband and takes copious pictures of her doggos.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”aiandchatbots”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]AI in the modern Enterprise using Chatbots[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: AI
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 200 (Intermediate)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]An AI-powered chatbot is a smarter version of a conventional chatbot. Intelligence can be added to these chatbots using Cognitive Services LUIS (Language Understanding Intelligent Service) and ML (Machine Learning) to understand the context and intent providing a near human level communication and responses.

In this session we will look at developing an Appointment Booking Bot with Enterprise HR Consultant using Azure Bot Service. The Bot will be integrated with
Azure Active Directory for Authenticating the Employees,
QnA maker to respond to HR related queries,
Graph API to book the appointment on Office 365 Outlook calendar
Using Skype channel for the Bot

This session will cover of an introduction to using Bots in modern Enterprise and focuses more on a hands-on demo.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Anupama Natarajan

Anupama Natarajan

"I am a Software Professional with 15+ years' experience in designing and developing Web, Data Warehouse, Business Intelligence and Mobile solutions. I am a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) and Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) and passionate in sharing knowledge. I love solving complex business problems for my clients with innovative solutions using Microsoft Technologies and use that experience in my trainings. I do speak at Conferences, User Group sessions and run training sessions on variety of Design and Delivery related topics. I currently organise the SQLSaturday in Wellington and meetups at the Wellington Data Management and Analytics meetup. "

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”introai”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Intro to AI for BI professionals[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: AI
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 100 (Basic)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

As a long time BI and Data professional I recently embarked on a journey to be part of AI revolution. This session is to provide introduction to AI, and the ways in which we can use AI technology to benefit us.
This session is not a deep-dive into cognitive applications rather we will explore fundamental techniques to achieve AI capabilities. We will start with a use-case and then dissect it to explore how different offerings from Microsoft Cognitive Services can be utilised to build a real-world application that can provide such experience.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Ankit Patira

Ankit Patira

Ankit currently works as a Architect for Insight Enterprises in Melbourne. He is regular speaker at various Microsoft BI events and conferences. His primary area of focus is Cloud, BI, AI, Data and Analytics.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”uglydata”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Dealing with Ugly Data in Excel & Power BI[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Power BI
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 200 (Intermediate)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The reality is that you spend 80 to 90 per cent of your time cleaning up data before you can build the analysis that you were really hired to do. In this session you’ll see how Power Query can be used to clean up some very nasty data files. And while it’s often quicker to use these modern tools than the classic versions, the real bonus comes when you apply the logic to next month’s data with just a single click. See how you can get hours of your life back!

This session will cover Unpivoting data, Unpivoting sub-categorized data, Pivoting stacked tables, the power of Joins and other cool tricks.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Ken Puls

Ken Puls

Ken Puls, FCPA, FCMA, is a Chartered Professional Accountant, blogger, author and trainer with over 20 years of business and financial modelling experience. His passion lies in exploring tools to turn data into information, and teaching others how to benefit from them. Ken has held the Microsoft MVP distinction since 2006 in both the Excel and Data Platform categories. He is also one of about 4% of CPAs to be recognized as a Fellow of his accounting body. Learn more about Ken at https://ca.linkedin.com/in/kenpuls.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”sqldeployments”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Fast Lane to Azure SQL Deployments[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Azure, Data Platform
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 100 (Basic)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Are you planning to migrate to Azure?
Is the migration as challenging as migration on-premise?
Have you thought of automating the Azure migration?

If you have answered yes to at least one of the questions above, you should come to this session. I will walk you through few approaches and principals when it comes to Azure Data Platform deployments. Not just the applications but deploying the whole infrastructure as code. Gain knowledge of how to build your database infrastructure from the scratch to an end user application with all moving components bundled into a code which is version controlled and deployed as any other application code.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Manohar Punna

Manohar Punna

"Manohar Punna is a Microsoft Data Platform Consultant and a Data Platform MVP. In his day to day job he works on building database and BI systems, automation, building monitoring systems, helping customers to make value from their data & explore and learn. By passion Manohar is a blogger, speaker and Vice President of DataPlatformGeeks. He is a community enthusiast and believes strongly in the concept of giving back to the community. Manohar is a speaker at various Data Platform events from SQL Server Day, various user groups, SQLSaturdays, SQLBits, MS Ignite, SSGAS & DPS. His One DMV a Day series is the longest one day series on any topic related to SQL Server available so far."

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”powerbidataflows”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]I have heard about Power BI Dataflows and Incremental Refreshing, what does this mean?[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Power BI
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 200 (Intermediate)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]In this session I will outline and explain what the different data options that are now available in Power BI.

This will cover CDS-A (Data pools), Incremental Refreshing and the standard Power BI data option.

I will also explain and demo what these options are, outlining which option is suited for different scenario’s.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Gilbert Quevauvilliers

Gilbert Quevauvilliers

Microsoft MVP - Power BI Consultant using Microsoft Power BI to provide solutions for business challenges by sitting with the users within the business to build Power BI models which enable the business to gain insights. My goal is for the business to see their data on their terms by delivering Microsoft Power BI Solutions in weeks or less, thereby enabling them to move forward to leverage their data. I have assisted with the implementation and completion of Power BI which includes Power BI Desktop development, assistance with Power BI Gateway, Power BI Service, Power BI Internal Training, Power BI Best Practice & Power BI User Group sessions. Power BI training provided to Businesses based on their requirements. Participate and present at the Brisbane Power BI User Group Leader, SQL Saturday Presenter, Brisbane Power BI User Group, Power BI Community and publish blog posts to the Power BI Community Blogs. Past working experience in Business Intelligence (BI), working on large, complex end to end BI solutions for customers.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”azuredatastudio”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Azure Data Studio vs SSMS[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Data Platform
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 200 (Intermediate)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Azure Data Studio is the new kid in town for the data professional. Is it a replacement for good old SSMS?

In this session we will take you on a journey of comparing SSMS and Azure Data Studio so that you can understand the ins and outs of both these tools, making it easier to know what each brings to the table. In this demo heavy session we not only hear about the differences but we match them up against each other to better learn what each can do.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Warwick Rudd

Warwick Rudd

Warwick Rudd is a Data Platform MVP, Microsoft Certified Master SQL Server 2008, Founder and Principal Consultant at SQL Master Consulting. With over 15 years of experience beginning with the release of SQL Server 6.5, he has worked in both Australia and England from small start-ups to Multi-National Corporations. Warwick predominantly specialises in designing and implementing HA & DR Solutions. He is a frequent speaker at local SQL Server User Groups & SQL Saturday events, Ignite in Australia and New Zealand. When not playing with the SQL stack, Warwick likes to get away to the cold and spend time snowboarding.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”powershell”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Automate your Daily Database Checks with PowerShell[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Data Platform
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 200 (Intermediate)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]You spend at least an hour or two every day checking to make sure that your SQL Server databases are compliant with your organization’s best practices. Even if your day starts in chaos trying to resolve other urgent issues, you still need to perform these daily checks. Wouldn’t it be great if you can outsource these checks to someone (or something) who will be more than willing to do these day in and day out?

In this session, learn how you can leverage PowerShell to automate your daily checks to make sure that your SQL Server databases are compliant with your organization’s best practices. You will learn how to create your own automated checks and even display the results in a Power BI dashboard. This allows you to have more time to do things that only you can do.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Edwin M Sarmiento

Edwin M Sarmiento

Edwin M Sarmiento is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP and Microsoft Certified Master from Ottawa, Canada specializing in high availability, disaster recovery and system infrastructures running on the Microsoft server technology stack. He is very passionate about technology but has interests in music, professional and organizational development, leadership and management matters when not working with databases. He lives up to his primary mission statement – “To help people and organizations grow and develop their full potential.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”visualfallacies”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Now you see it, but did you really? Correcting Visual Fallacies…[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: BI
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 200 (Intermediate)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Humans see images 60,000x better than text but are we always seeing what is being shown? In this talk, we will look at ways a visual designer can intentionally or unintentionally confuse readers by using techniques that are common but not correct. We will discuss topics such as color theory, chart selection and placement among others. Come join us to learn what makes a visualization clear and learn how to convey your story.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]
Jonathan Stewart

Jonathan Stewart

Jonathan Stewart is a Business Intelligence Consultant specializing in data visualization, data warehousing and data management technologies. An advocate for educating others, he is a public speaker, teacher and blogger, continually teaching people about the Microsoft BI Stack. Since 2000, he has been working in the database field with industry leaders in healthcare, manufacturing, financial, insurance and federal, state and local governments. Jonathan is very active in the community. He has presented on SQL Server, SSIS, Reporting Services, Power BI and business intelligence at numerous SQL Saturday events, local user groups and conferences throughout the United States and around the world. He participates in webcasts, podcasts and online presentation events. He is also an active board member for his local Columbus, Ohio PASS chapter. Jonathan maintains a blog at https://sqllocks.net/. He is a frequent speaker at local, national and international events and is a board member of the Columbus SQL Server User Group. In his free time, Jonathan works with the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning commission to help improve central Ohio and enhance the quality of life of its residents.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”sqlserveronlinux”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]SQL Server on Linux and Containers Changes everything for the better![/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: BI
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 200 (Intermediate)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]When Microsoft released SQL Server 2017 it allowed us to run SQL Server on Linux and native Linux containers. This radical change provides a wider and open platform that data professionals can choose how to deploy and run SQL Server.

This session will demonstrate what on SQL Server for Linux is familiar for the data professional and will also highlight some of the differences. We will look at how containers are a game changer for deploying and managing of SQL Server.

The session will also introduce how the Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is a scalable and highly available platform for SQL Server within containers.

DEMOs in this session will show how easy it is to install SQL Server on both Linux and containers and how Infrastructure as Code provides a mechanism to automate the installation of SQL Server, deploy databases and perform integration tests.

This session will show you the exciting future of SQL Server and how you can learn about it today.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Hamish Watson

Hamish Watson

"Hamish is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP and VMware Expert with a passion for efficient database & application deployment using DevOps methodologies. He has 19 years IT experience in managing and deploying large scale databases on SQL Server technologies. He has been managing SQL Server since SQL Server 2000 and pragmatic approaches to delivering business value to end users is his career passion. Educating and helping others learn is a driver for Hamish and he is a PASS Chapter Leader, International speaker and a repeat guest lecturer at a local university."

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”SSIS”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Deep Dive into SSIS in ADF[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: BI, Azure
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 300 (Advanced)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]This session focuses on the deeper integration of SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) in Azure Data Factory (ADF) and the broad extensibility of Azure-SSIS Integration Runtime (IR). We will first show you how to provision Azure-SSIS IR – dedicated ADF servers for lifting & shifting SSIS packages – and extend it with custom/3rd party components.

You can then use the familiar SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT)/SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) to design/deploy/execute/monitor your SSIS packages in the cloud just like you do on premises. Next, we will guide you to trigger/schedule SSIS package executions as first-class activities in ADF pipelines and combine/chain them with other activities, allowing you to inject/splice built-in data transformations in your ETL/ELT workflows, automatically provision Azure-SSIS IR just in time, etc. And finally, you will learn about the licensing model for ISVs to develop paid components/extensions and join the growing 3rd party ecosystem for SSIS in ADF.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Sandy Winarko

Sandy Winarko

Sandy is a seasoned Product Manager with extensive experience in the US, Europe, and Asia, combining commercial/technical responsibilities in principal/senior roles at various TMT (Technology, Media, and Telecommunications) companies, such as Microsoft/Skype/Nokia, BSkyB (British Sky Broadcasting), and C&W (Cable & Wireless). At Microsoft, he is currently driving the efforts to modernize SSIS (SQL Server Integration Services) on premises and in the cloud as part of ADF (Azure Data Factory).

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”backendanddevops”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Power BI backend and DevOps[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Power BI, Azure
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 300 (Advanced)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Power BI is easy to get started with and publish reports and dashboard; this session covers the next steps- how can I build a more robust development & release process ?
– how can I separate test and prod ?
– where do I keep source code ?
– what moving parts in the service do I need to care about ?
…and how do I avoid this becoming a choke-point…[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]
David Lyth

David Lyth

"David is a Premier Field Engineer (PFE) working for Microsoft NZ. He runs workshops covering SQL Server performance tuning and optimisation, high availability configurations, maintenance and management, and Powershell. He also works onsite with customers to analyse and improve the health of their SQL environments, and provide advice on consolidation and modernisation. As well as SQL Server, David supports APS (parallel data warehouse) appliances. Prior to joining Microsoft, David worked for an outsourcing company, supporting large SQL Server installations for a variety of NZ customers. "

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”buildingdatamodels”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Building Data Models with Many to Many Relationships in Power Pivot/Tabular Data Models[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Power BI
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 300 (Advanced)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Power Pivot/Tabular data models are built on top of SQL Server Analysis Services Tabular which is optimised for lightning performance as a reporting tool. However one unfortunately side effect of delivering this performance is that SSAS Tabular does not directly support Many to Many relationships like a traditional relational database.

In this 300 level session, I introduce the many to many pattern problem and then demonstrate how to build a data model that supports the pattern using only one to many relationships.

The session covers
Why the 1 to many pattern doesn’t work
How to configure a many to many data model using a pattern that does work

An explanation of how and why the many to many pattern works through a deep analysis of evaluation contexts and context transition.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Matt Allington

Matt Allington

Matt Allington is a career data professional that has spent more than 30 years leveraging data to drive success. In 2014 Matt left the corporate world to start his own company (Excelerator BI) and now works full time to help others to use Microsoft BI products (Power BI, Power Pivot for Excel, Power Query for Excel). Matt is Microsoft MVP based in Sydney Australia, however has a global reach through his blog at http://xbi.com.au/blog

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”realworld”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Real-World Query Tuning Examples[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Data Platform
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 300 (Advanced)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Join Microsoft Certified Master of SQL Server, Amit Bansal, and learn some real-world query tuning examples.

In this deep-dive session you will learn how you can re-write T-SQL queries using new constructs to improve performance. You will learn how you can tune indexes & deal with statistics to improve query performance.

This session will be an eye-opener for you and you will learn things that Google cannot find for you. Assured.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Amit Bansal

Amit Bansal

Amit R S Bansal is a SQL Server Specialist at SQLMaestros (brand of eDominer Systems). He leads the SQL and BI practice with a much focused team providing consulting, training and content development services to more than 160+ SQL customers globally. He frequently speaks at international conferences including MS Ignite, SQLBits, SSGAS/DPS, PASS Summit & SQL Saturday events. Amit is also honored with Microsoft Regional Director status, MVP award and Microsoft Certified Master of SQL Server credential. Amit has been working with SQL Server since 1999 and has been part of countless mission critical SQL deployments. Performance Tuning in SQL Server is his core area of expertise. To learn more about Amit, visit http://sqlmaestros.com/amit-bansal/

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”wackydax”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Wacky DAX[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Power BI
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 200 (Intermediate)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Did you know that the DAX language is capable of much more than merely producing the SUM of values in a column or counting rows in a table.

Join me in this session where I showcase a series of crazy and wacky solutions built in Power BI using just DAX. These include some games that you wouldn’t believe were written using DAX, as well as some other quirky techniques that take advantage of the underlying analysis services database engine.

Many of the ideas and techniques shown can be used to take your Power BI reports the next level so come and pick up some new approaches to working with data in DAX.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Phil Seamark

Phil Seamark

Phil is a Senior Program Manager in Power BI CAT team. He is an experienced database and business intelligence (BI) professional with a deep knowledge of the Microsoft B.I. stack along with extensive knowledge of data warehouse (DW) methodologies and enterprise data modelling. He has 25+ years experience in this field and an active member of Power BI community Phil is passionate about all Microsoft BI technologies including Power BI. He is an active member, and always in the top list of authors in Power BI community. If you have a question, you might find Phil answering you there.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”powerbicustomvisuals”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Power BI Custom Visuals: Getting beyond the boilerplate[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Power BI
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 300 (Advanced)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Power BI offers an incredibly extensive custom visualisation framework and the world is (almost) your oyster when it comes to what you can do. There’s plenty of great visuals out there already, but what happens when you really want something that just doesn’t seem to be out there and you want to roll your own?

The Power BI team offer some great tools and tutorials for doing this, and our aim of this session is to get beyond the boilerplate tutorial code, learning how to effectively structure and bind your data model, configure settings and apply them to your visual and explore some of the additional APIs Microsoft offer to help you add some extra polish to your vision.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Daniel Marsh-Patrick

Daniel Marsh-Patrick

I've spent 16 years in full-stack development, QA and process engineering. Got bitten by the BI bug around 10 years ago. Doubled-down immediately upon getting introduced to what would eventually become Power BI. I've recently released the Small Multiples Line Chart custom visual to the Power BI marketplace.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”azuredatabricks”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Data wrangling with Azure Databricks[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: AI, Azure
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 300 (Advanced)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]In this session we’ll take a look at Azure Databricks and how you can use it to load, transform, and persist your data.

From connecting to storage and data sources (both sink and source), to manipulating and transforming dataframes using Scala, Python, and Spark SQL, and stream processing with Spark Structured Streaming.

We will also explore how to automate your data wrangling jobs using the Azure Databricks scheduled jobs, using Azure Data Factory, and by exporting code and running in a dedicated spark cluster in containers.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Regan Murphy

Regan Murphy

Regan is part of the worldwide Commercial Software Engineering (CSE) team at Microsoft, but based in Auckland, New Zealand. The CSE team has a focus across all development areas, with Regan specialising in Data Platform, including Azure Databricks, and Container technologies. Like the rest of the team Regan loves technology, gadgets, and the promise of new things to come - including #mixedreality and #artificialintelligence. Regan likes beer, craft beer. He also enjoys wine. To offset the beer and wine, he runs. Running is also a nice way to sight-see when travelling.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”powerplatform”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]An All Demo View of new Microsoft’s Power Platform[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Power Platform
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 100 (Basic)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]While you are probably already familiar with Power BI, PowerApps and Microsoft Flow; you may not know that Microsoft is bringing these tools together into a unified brand called: the Microsoft Power Platform.

In this session Microsoft Senior Program Manager, Charles Sterling will give an all demo introduction to these products AND how you can use these products together with other offerings such as their new database engine called Common Data Service for Apps and Microsoft Forms to create very sophisticated “no code/low code” for citizen developers.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Charles Sterling

Charles Sterling

Charles Sterling is Senior Program Manager in Power BI Team based in Redmond. He came to Microsoft from being a marine biologist working for United States National Marine Fisheries doing marine mammal research on the Bering Sea. He started out at Microsoft supporting Excel and moved through a couple of support teams to being an escalation engineer for Microsoft SQL Server. Taking his love for customers (and diving), Chuck moved to Australia as a product manager and developer evangelist for the .NET Framework. In 2008 he moved back to Redmond as the Visual Studio community program manager and just recently moved to the Power BI team to continue his community passion and looking after the Power BI influencers and MVPs.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”datamodelling”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]The Art of Data modelling with Azure Analysis Services[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: BI, Azure
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 300 (Advanced)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Modern data modelling is indeed an art form, and Azure Analysis Services provides a canvas which the data artist (datist) can create beautiful and stunning masterpieces.

This session will not only focus on the critical elements required to ensure your creation is a work of art but also cover aspects of data modelling specific to Azure Analysis Services. The session will include a peek into the future with an update on the road map for Analysis Services in the cloud.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Phil Seamark

Phil Seamark

Phil is a Senior Program Manager in Power BI CAT team. He is an experienced database and business intelligence (BI) professional with a deep knowledge of the Microsoft B.I. stack along with extensive knowledge of data warehouse (DW) methodologies and enterprise data modelling. He has 25+ years experience in this field and an active member of Power BI community Phil is passionate about all Microsoft BI technologies including Power BI. He is an active member, and always in the top list of authors in Power BI community. If you have a question, you might find Phil answering you there.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”vmwarevsphere”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Successfully Virtualizing and Maintaining SQL Server on Vmware vSphere[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Data Platform
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 300 (Advanced)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Microsoft SQL server is the most virtualized enterprise mission critical application today. In recent years it has become a mainstream effort among VMware customers to virtualize critical databases to allow better agility and scale while increasing availability and operational efficiency.

In this session we will focus on the configuration of vSphere and SQL server for maximizing the benefits of virtualizing SQL server. The session is aimed at providing VMware customers and partners guidance on how to achieve best performance and efficiency with the latest versions of Microsoft SQL server and VMware vSphere.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Victor Isakov

Victor Isakov

Victor Isakov (MCA, MCM, MCSM, MCT, MVP) is a Database Architect and trainer who provides consulting and training services to various organizations in the public, private, and NGO sectors globally. He regularly speaks at international conferences such as Microsoft TechEd/Ignite, PASS Summit, IT/Dev Connections and SQL Saturdays. Victor has written a number of books on SQL Server and worked with Microsoft to develop the SQL Server exams and certification. In 2017 he authored Exam Ref 70-764 Administering a SQL Database Infrastructure (1st Edition). He is one of only three non-Microsoft Microsoft Certified Architects in the world.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”powerbidesktop”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Story Telling with Power BI Desktop[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Power BI
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 200 (Intermediate)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Join us for this all Demo, fun interactive session by Charles Sterling, Senior Program Manager for the Power BI team at Redmond. Learn how to use bookmarks in Power BI to communicate insights in your data.

Be one of the first to learn about and use this newish feature that shipped in last October release of Power BI to tell stories with your data and help your users navigate your dashboards and reports.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Charles Sterling

Charles Sterling

Charles Sterling is Senior Program Manager in Power BI Team based in Redmond. He came to Microsoft from being a marine biologist working for United States National Marine Fisheries doing marine mammal research on the Bering Sea. He started out at Microsoft supporting Excel and moved through a couple of support teams to being an escalation engineer for Microsoft SQL Server. Taking his love for customers (and diving), Chuck moved to Australia as a product manager and developer evangelist for the .NET Framework. In 2008 he moved back to Redmond as the Visual Studio community program manager and just recently moved to the Power BI team to continue his community passion and looking after the Power BI influencers and MVPs.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”biextensibility”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Power BI Extensibility: Developers Guide[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Power BI, Azure
Length: 75 minutes
Level: 200-300 (Intermediate -Advanced)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Power BI is not just a self-service tool for business analysts. Power BI has many features that help developers build, extend and programmatically manage their own reporting solutions.

Power BI Embedded, Power BI REST and Admin APIs, real-time streaming, secure embedding, customizing user experience with query string parameters, etc… along with powerful analytical engine of Power BI, can help developers take their applications that need to integrate data visualization experiences to the next level.

Come to this session to learn about the features that Power BI provides for developers of all skill levels.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Sergei Gundorov

Sergei Gundorov

The presenter, Sergei Gundorov, currently works as a Program Manager on the Power BI team at Microsoft. He has Master’s Degree in Business Administration. Sergei published numerous articles over the course of the last 26 years through multiple channels on various subjects that range from accounting and economics to in depth technical articles on MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network). Sergei’s most recent contribution was to the Security Whitepaper for Power BI published in May of 2017. He presented his most valuable technological advancements to worldwide developer audiences at TechEd, TechReady, and Office/SharePoint Developer conferences. He participated and contributed to numerous webcasts that focused on various technologies that he is considered to be an expert on. He is an inventor and filed several patent applications. Sergei runs popular technical “XLGeek’s Space” blog where his work is praised very highly by the readers and his apps users.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”sqlserver”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]SQL Server 2019[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Data Platform

Length: 75 minutes
Level: 200 (Intermediate)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Come for a guided tour of Microsoft SQL Server 2019, now in public preview. See the new advanced analytics and data lake capabilities built into SQL Server, which offers integration with HDFS and Spark analytics.

Easily integrate data from multiple sources, including Oracle, MongoDB, and Teradata, without moving your data via ETL. Learn how enhanced security, performance, scalability, and availability of the SQL Server database engine helps you manage critical applications and data warehouses.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Darmadi Komo

Darmadi Komo

Darmadi Komo has been with Microsoft for over 18 years with extensive career in marketing, consulting, technical pre-sales, and technical partner readiness that spans both US subsidiary, Redmond headquarters, and Asia Pacific regions. Currently, Darmadi is leading Data and AI marketing in APAC and based in Singapore.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”dataprivacy”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Data Privacy, Security, Ethics and Compliance in a data-driven world.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Data Platform

Length: 75 minutes
Level: 300 (Advanced)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]New advances in technology coupled with the rate of change in the data-driven world are placing the issue of Privacy and Ethics at the forefront of public consciousness – forcing a discussion around the ethical use of data within business and the role that each data professional must play in ensuring that the highest standards are reached, maintained and constantly evaluated.

Technologies such as machine learning, artificial Intelligence and big data processing are providing new business opportunities that must also account for privacy and ethics issues while maintaining a balance with compliance, security and integrity of data.

But what are the issues that individual data professionals should be aware of to avoid reputational damage to their companies and themselves? And what are the tools that can help them in their endeavors.

This session will take a close look at some of these challenges and the tools that are available to help mitigate these issues and risks, help avoid any data misuse, large financial penalties and keep you in business and using data responsibly.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Martin Catherall

Martin Catherall

Martin has over 15 years of experience working with data- driven applications built on SQL Server and Microsoft Data Platform technology. He has substantial experience as a developer, database administrator and consultant. Martin spent 10 years working on data-driven solutions for Statistics New Zealand where he spent a large amount of time contributing to the New Zealand Census. Martin founded the Christchurch SQL Server User Group and ran several SQL Saturday’s in that city before relocating to Melbourne in early 2016. He currently volunteers as a Regional Mentor for PASS and maintains strong involvement in the Australian and New Zealand Data Platform communities. His current interests are around data migrations, privacy, security, compliance, data ethics and how DevOps can help solve some of these challenges.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”powerbihacks”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Power BI Hacks[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Power BI

Length: 75 minutes
Level: 200 (Intermediate)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Power BI is an amazing BI platform out of the box, but there’ is a lot of things that you can do with Power BI that probably you don’t even imagine!

Come to my session to find out….[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Rui Romano

Rui Romano

Rui Romano lives in Portugal and he leads the Business Intelligence team at DevScope. He has been Developing & Architecting software solutions since 2003 always focused in the Business Intelligence area.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”intelligencewithdax”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Quirky Time Intelligence with DAX[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Power BI

Length: 75 minutes
Level: 200 (Intermediate)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]DAX comes with a range of useful time intelligence functions. However, these built-in functions are not always sufficient to produce the results we need in every scenario. In this session I will cover some business examples of quirky date and time-based calculations that I have encountered, where some extended DAX or additional data modelling is required to produce the correct result.
Examples will include:
– Events with duration that were active at start/end/entire period
– Altering date filters based on length of selected period
– Efficient filtering using a custom time/date index
– Measures based on relationships between multiple dates[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Owen Auger

Owen Auger

Owen Auger specialises in data modelling and visualization with Power BI, as well as financial modelling. He is currently a Data Analytics Manager at Fonterra in Auckland, and has previously worked in Corporate Finance at Contact Energy. He was a finalist at the 2014 Financial Modelling World Championships in New York City. He has a particular interest in using Power BI and related tools to improve efficiency of reporting and analysis among finance business users. Owen is a CFA Charterholder and has a Master of Operations Research.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”advanceddatavisualization”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Power BI & Excel Advanced Data Visualization[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track: Power BI, Excel

Length: 75 minutes
Level: 200 (Intermediate)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Microsoft Power BI and Excel transforms your company data into rich interactive visuals that facilitate new ways of thinking about and organizing your data asset, so that you can focus on what is important to achieving your goals. This course covers Power BI and Excel data visualization.

This Session is intended to teach the participant effective use visuals and Advance Data Visualization options using Power BI Desktop, Power BI service and Excel. Attendee will learn to combine the Power BI functionality of designing highly interactive reports, Tips and tricks, Best report design practices, dashboard design and Phone layout for use in their business.

This course is lab example intensive and will demo how effective visual selection can be to show business requirement in to Power BI report.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Vivek Patel

Vivek Patel

Vivek Patel is a Microsoft MVP (Data Platform), Founder at Insight2Actions Inc. User group Community leader-Toronto Power BI, PowerApps and Microsoft flow, Microsoft Power BI user group board of advisors, 2017 and 2018 Power BI world Tour-organizing committee and 17 years of business Intelligence experience working on Microsoft Data platform projects. Currently, he is focused on designing process automation solution utilizing the latest offerings from the Microsoft business intelligence platform. He holds a degree in Chemical engineering degree. He has successfully completed many small to large scale BI projects using latest tools from Microsoft business intelligence platform and related technologies, such as Power BI, PowerApps, Microsoft Flow, office 365, SharePoint, SQL Server, Azure, Excel, SAP HANA. He has Implemented Power BI/PowerApps enterprise wide, developing applications and business intelligence solutions tailored to unique and complex business challenges. He is passionate about saving businesses time and resources by doing things right the first time and getting rid of bottlenecks. He is capable of handling end to end engagements through different phases as pre-sales, solution design, planning development activities, customer expectations with technology solutions, Proof of concepts, submitting proposals, project planning, leading team to develop & deliver solution on time with zero defects. Being a trusted advisor, he advises each of his customer to follow the recommended and best practices in technology and business domain solutions. As a Founder at Insight2Actions Inc he frequently provides consulting/training to BI professional and organizations and help business deliver end to end digital transformation projects with team of highly skilled BI professional. He is a regular speaker at conferences and user group events. His mission is to spread the word and share his knowledge about Power BI.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”azuresqldatabase”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Azure SQL Database – Lessons learned from the trenches[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track:  BI, Azure

Length: 75 minutes
Level: 300 (Advanced)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]In this session you will learn the best practices, tips and tricks on how to successfully use Azure SQL Database on production environments. You will learn how to monitor and improve Azure SQL Database query performance.

I will cover how Microsoft CSS has been using Query Store, Extended Events, DMVs to help customers monitor and improve query response times when running their databases in the Microsoft Azure cloud.

These learnings are fruit of Microsoft CSS support cases, and customer field engagements. This session includes several demos[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Roberto Cavalcanti

Roberto Cavalcanti

Roberto Cavalcanti is an Azure Database Senior Support Escalation Engineer with Microsoft CSS, working as a Technical Advisor for the Azure Database Global Technical Support team. He is a database specialist with over 20 years of experience. Roberto is passionate about SQL Server customer support, focusing on helping Microsoft improve its database products, and customers to make the most of their Azure Database implementations. He has been supporting Azure SQL Database since its inception, when it was still called SQL Azure. Roberto has written many articles about Azure SQL Database for MSDN/TechNet, SQL Magazine, and has been a speaker for Microsoft in internal and external events such as TechReady, Microsoft Insights/TechEd, SQL Saturday. He has delivered SQL trainings to many Microsoft SQL professionals in multiple countries in the Americas, and in Europe. Roberto is based at the Microsoft Support Center in Las Colinas, Texas, USA.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”backtothefuture”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Back to the future: Moving on your database from On-premise to Cloud and go back?[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track:  BI, Azure

Length: 75 minutes
Level: 300 (Advanced)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]This session provides you the knowledge and tools necessary to understand the capabilities and usage of different solutions using SQL Server on Azure. It will help you get familiar with the Azure SQL Database concepts, Managed Instance, Infrastructure as a Service (Virtual Machine) using Windows or Linux, and, if you want, go back to On-premise.

It will also help to learn how to synchronize the data using different tools like Data Sync or Replication, between different SQL Server database solutions. After attending this pre-con, you will be able to:
• Understand what are the different features that you have to initiate the migration.
• Know the newest and most important features to manage your SQL Server.
• Design Disaster Recovery plans
• Face a migration project

 [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Roberto Cavalcanti

Roberto Cavalcanti

Roberto Cavalcanti is an Azure Database Senior Support Escalation Engineer with Microsoft CSS, working as a Technical Advisor for the Azure Database Global Technical Support team. He is a database specialist with over 20 years of experience. Roberto is passionate about SQL Server customer support, focusing on helping Microsoft improve its database products, and customers to make the most of their Azure Database implementations. He has been supporting Azure SQL Database since its inception, when it was still called SQL Azure. Roberto has written many articles about Azure SQL Database for MSDN/TechNet, SQL Magazine, and has been a speaker for Microsoft in internal and external events such as TechReady, Microsoft Insights/TechEd, SQL Saturday. He has delivered SQL trainings to many Microsoft SQL professionals in multiple countries in the Americas, and in Europe. Roberto is based at the Microsoft Support Center in Las Colinas, Texas, USA.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”architectureblueprints”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Architecture Blueprints for Power BI Implementations[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track:  Power BI

Length: 75 minutes
Level: 300 (Advanced)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Implementing a Power BI solution is not just about the report development, dashboard design and DAX queries. Designing the right architecture is an essential part of a Power BI implementation.

There are many areas to consider when you are designing a Power BI architecture. From sharing reports and security to the type of connection and usage of other components such as Dataflow.

Come to this session to learn about important things you need to know about the architecture of a Power BI solution. You will learn some blueprints of what are key things to consider and how to design the architecture for your solution.

 [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Reza Rad

Reza Rad

Reza Rad is author, speaker, trainer and consultant. He is the world well-known name in the Microsoft BI field. Reza Rad is invited speaker in world’s best and biggest SQL Server and BI conferences such as PASS Summits, PASS Rallys, SQLBits, TechEds, Ignites, Microsoft Data Insight Summit, and so on. He is author of books on this topic, and he has more than 15 years’ experience in the Microsoft BI technologies. 10 years of his experience focused on training and consulting to the largest BI teams in the world. He is also Microsoft Certified Trainer for years. He is Microsoft SQL Server MVP (Most Valuable Professional) focused on BI and Data Analysis, He has been awarded MVP from Microsoft because of his dedication and expertise in Microsoft BI technologies. He is author of Power BI online book; from Rookie to Rock Star; http://radacad.com/online-book-power-bi-from-rookie-to-rockstar

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”agreatstory”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Data Visualization: How to truly tell a great story![/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track:  AI, Power Platform

Length: 75 minutes
Level: 200 (Intermediate)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]We have more information available to us today than ever before. So much so that we run the risk of not being able to tell concise stories. There’s a lot more to creating that story than just getting the correct information. Come learn not just the do’s and don’ts, but the whys…[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Jonathan Stewart

Jonathan Stewart

Jonathan Stewart is a Business Intelligence Consultant specializing in data visualization, data warehousing and data management technologies. An advocate for educating others, he is a public speaker, teacher and blogger, continually teaching people about the Microsoft BI Stack. Since 2000, he has been working in the database field with industry leaders in healthcare, manufacturing, financial, insurance and federal, state and local governments. Jonathan is very active in the community. He has presented on SQL Server, SSIS, Reporting Services, Power BI and business intelligence at numerous SQL Saturday events, local user groups and conferences throughout the United States and around the world. He participates in webcasts, podcasts and online presentation events. He is also an active board member for his local Columbus, Ohio PASS chapter. Jonathan maintains a blog at https://sqllocks.net/. He is a frequent speaker at local, national and international events and is a board member of the Columbus SQL Server User Group. In his free time, Jonathan works with the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning commission to help improve central Ohio and enhance the quality of life of its residents.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”analyticsplatform”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Designing a Business Wide Analytics Platform[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track:  Business Intelligence

Length: 75 minutes
Level: 200 (Intermediate)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Designing a corporate information solution is as much about the culture of the business as it is about the actual requirement.

During this session we review a recent project and will discuss the solution in terms of the:

  • Business requirement
  • Technical architecture and products used
  • Azure Data Factory
  • Azure Data Lake Store
  • Azure Data Catalog
  • Azure Databricks
  • Azure SQL Database
  • Azure SQL Data Warehouse
  • Power BI
  • Excel
  • Tableau
  • Design stricture for the Data Lake Store
  • Security

 

We will also see the impact the company culture and maturity has had on the project and look at those head in hands moments that no project is complete without.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Jack Horlock

Jack Horlock

Jack Horlock is an independent consultant based in the rural north of New Zealand. Now into his fifth decade of witnessing changes in technology he has had a varied career including the development and design of business and information systems and the management of customers, suppliers, products and businesses. An advocate of Microsoft technology since getting involved with SQL Server in 1997 (SQL 6.5) Jack has a history of building custom information solutions that deliver the hard results required but also help the client develop their own business maturity. Jack is an expert technical scuba diver and now spends his time above water funding his underwater activities by helping businesses achieve their ambitions through the exploitation of their data.

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”ETL”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]ETL Framework – A Generic Wheel[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track:  Business Intelligence

Length: 75 minutes
Level: 300 (Advanced)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]As data specialists, data integration projects are some of the most complex environments we have to deal with. In particular when it involves data migration.

There are many tasks that need to be performed, ranging from data profiling, data quality assessments, master data management, testing, to the standard ETL processes. We often wind up reinventing the wheel, especially because most of these projects are one off throw aways. This makes are lives that much harder as we are often pressed for time by the business to get on with the job.

In this session I would like to show you how a generic ETL framework can help save us time by leveraging off some standard processes that can easily be developed and reutilised.

I will show you how, with a few simple SSIS tasks and lines of code we can create an efficient ETL process that we can keep using again and again. Because its extendable, we can easily add additional components for DQS, MDM and reconciliation testing.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Robert Blaas

Robert Blaas

"I have over 20 years of experience in the architecture, design and delivery of Business Intelligence solutions with a focus on the data structures required to effectively deliver business information. Over this time I have consulted with large multi nationals, local government and private companies in New Zealand and overseas. I have designed and developed enterprise data warehouses and large corporate data stores ensuring high quality data and information to business users. I enjoy working with people across a business to understand their requirements and translates these into sound technical structures. Having worked within multi-cultural environments, I am able to easily facilitate, mentor and coach business teams in meeting their information requirements"

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”discussionpanel”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Power BI Panel Discussion[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Track:  Power BI

Length: 75 minutes
Level: 200 (Intermediate)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]This session is a panel discussion (Ask whatever you want) from Power BI experts in the conference.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]

Charles Sterling

Charles Sterling

Charles Sterling is Senior Program Manager in Power BI Team based in Redmond. He came to Microsoft from being a marine biologist working for United States National Marine Fisheries doing marine mammal research on the Bering Sea. He started out at Microsoft supporting Excel and moved through a couple of support teams to being an escalation engineer for Microsoft SQL Server. Taking his love for customers (and diving), Chuck moved to Australia as a product manager and developer evangelist for the .NET Framework. In 2008 he moved back to Redmond as the Visual Studio community program manager and just recently moved to the Power BI team to continue his community passion and looking after the Power BI influencers and MVPs.

Sergei Gundorov

Sergei Gundorov

The presenter, Sergei Gundorov, currently works as a Program Manager on the Power BI team at Microsoft. He has Master’s Degree in Business Administration. Sergei published numerous articles over the course of the last 26 years through multiple channels on various subjects that range from accounting and economics to in depth technical articles on MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network). Sergei’s most recent contribution was to the Security Whitepaper for Power BI published in May of 2017. He presented his most valuable technological advancements to worldwide developer audiences at TechEd, TechReady, and Office/SharePoint Developer conferences. He participated and contributed to numerous webcasts that focused on various technologies that he is considered to be an expert on. He is an inventor and filed several patent applications. Sergei runs popular technical “XLGeek’s Space” blog where his work is praised very highly by the readers and his apps users.

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