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The Bad Old Days of SQL Reporting Services (2004 – 2016) |
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Let me paint a picture of what pre-Power BI was like at SSW. The best example I can give you
is my monthly financial meetings, which go for about 4 hours.
I look at a mix of printed and online reports. There are the standard reports like profit
and loss, and the balance sheet, but I also dive into opportunities, booked in days, and a
whole lot of other reports that are driven from data from our 3 main systems: Microsoft CRM,
MYOB, and SSWTimepro.com.
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- During the meetings I had last year, I would I often find myself banging my head
against a wall as I try to get my head around what choices I should be making. My
printed out Reporting Services reports show plenty of grids and charts, but there's
always something that is missing.
- It is common that I will pause the meeting and email the developers another round of
changes to make next month's reports clearer. I usually get the report changes done
by the next financial meeting, a month later. I know I shouldn't interrupt the
meeting, but I justify it as it's better to "strike while the iron is hot".
- Due to the lack of easy insight into my actual data, decisions are too often made
based on gut feel, war stories and guesses. In contentious issues, the loudest or
most persistent person generally wins... I hope that doesn't incentivize some very
non-optimal behavior.
- There's no easy way to set KPIs, meaning it's hard to track the success (or lack
thereof) of the choices we do make, meaning we're less effective and not able to
pivot as needed towards a more effective route. For example, when you hit a certain
point of developer utilization, it's time to hire a new guy.
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Keep reading to to find out how Power BI
came to the rescue.
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Featured Video from SSW TV |
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VIDEO: NDC Sydney 2016 – AMA with Scott Hanselman & Adam Cogan! |
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While Scott Hanselmen was in town to present the keynote at NDC
Sydney, he sat down with Adam Cogan, Chief Architect at SSW, for
a brief Ask Me Anything session. Watch as they discuss
Community, Open Source, Azure, Exciting Future Tech, and more.
Scott's hilarious attempt at an Aussie accent is not to be
missed! Watch
video
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Nov
11
Fri
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Melbourne, Australia |
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Nov
18
Fri
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Brisbane, Australia |
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Nov
25
Fri
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Sydney, Australia |
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Come watch us build an Angular 2 app from Scratch! |
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This one-day workshop brings developers up-to-speed on the new
features and benefits of using Angular 2 to build awesome web
applications.
Everything has changed! Angular 2 and modern web best practices
involve massive changes to how we build modern web applications.
At SSW we have already gone through the hard work of implementing
these new and exciting technologies in our projects for
everything from small start-ups to enterprises and government
agencies. Read More
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Begins
Every
Monday
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6 week course |
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Angular 2 - 6 Week Online Bootcamp |
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FireBootCamp is running a new 6 week online Angular 2 course
designed to teach you how to build robust user interfaces using the
Angular 2 framework. This course is for front end and backend
developers who want to upskill in the shortest possible time on
Angular 2. We teach you how to build scalable/enterprise apps
following best practices we have learned from experience on client
projects. |
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Read More |
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With the release of Angular 2, there's even more to learn and love.
Angular Hack Days are free events for beginner and pros alike to
come and share the thrill of creating something beautiful in a
supportive and friendly environment. Read More |
Oct
22
Sat
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Brisbane, Australia |
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Nov
5
Sat
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Sydney, Australia |
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Xamarin Hack Days are free events that make it easy for anyone to
learn cross-platform development using Xamarin, a product that
allows you to use .NET/C# to create native apps that will run across
Android, iOS, and Windows. Read More |
Dec
10
Sat
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Melbourne, Australia |
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Jan
14
Sat
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Sydney, Australia |
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October User Group - Sydney |
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Power BI - Finally I can make decisions based on facts |
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SSW's General Manager, Ulysses Maclaren, will take you through his personal journey of
discovery into the world of Power BI.
Many companies have valuable data, but the challenge is being able to easily visualize it
in a way that allows you to make decisions.
He will show in a live demo how Power BI allows even non-technical users to produce and
share invaluable reports and dashboards.
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About the presenter |
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Ulysses is the General Manager of SSW and has been managing the
team since 2006.
Used to working under pressure, he is Adam Cogan's 2nd in charge,
and keeps the company running smoothly while also dealing with
SSW's clients and the development and design teams.
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Oct
19
Wed
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SSW Sydney
Gateway Court Suite 15
81-91 Military Road, Neutral Bay
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SSW and Octopus Deploy invite you to join us for pizza! It's a fun and delicious
opportunity for networking with peers and sharing thoughts after the Sydney .NET
User Group. Read More |
Oct
19
Wed
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SSW Sydney
Gateway Court Suite 15
81-91 Military Road, Neutral Bay
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Sydney .NET User Group and NerdDinner proudly sponsored by: |
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October User Group - Canberra |
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Power BI - Finally I can make decisions based on facts |
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SSW's General Manager, Ulysses Maclaren, will take you through his personal journey of
discovery into the world of Power BI.
Many companies have valuable data, but the challenge is being able to easily visualize it
in a way that allows you to make decisions.
He will show in a live demo how Power BI allows even non-technical users to produce and
share invaluable reports and dashboards.
|
|
|
About the presenter |
|
Ulysses is the General Manager of SSW and has been managing the
team since 2006.
Used to working under pressure, he is Adam Cogan's 2nd in charge,
and keeps the company running smoothly while also dealing with
SSW's clients and the development and design teams.
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Oct
17
Mon
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Microsoft Canberra Branch
Level 4, 6 National Circuit
Canberra
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