James Serra - Reporting with Microsoft SQL Server 2012

James Serra is an independent consultant with the title Data Warehouse/Business Intelligence Architect. He is a Microsoft SQL Server MVP with over 25 years of IT experience. He started his career as a software developer, then was a DBA for 12 years, and for the last seven years, he has been working extensively with Business Intelligence using the SQL Server BI stack. At different times, he has been a permanent employee, consultant, contractor, and owner of his own business. All these experiences, along with continuous learning, have helped him to develop many successful data warehouse and BI projects. He is a noted blogger and speaker, having presented at the PASS Summit and the PASS Business Analytics conference. His blog is at JamesSerra.com.

He has earned the MSCE: SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence, MSCE: SQL Server 2012 Data Platform, MCITP: SQL Server 2008 Business Intelligence Developer, MCITP: SQL Server 2008 Database Administrator, and MCITP: SQL Server 2008 Database. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering from UNLV.

James resides in Houston, TX, with his wife Mary and three children: Lauren, RaeAnn, and James.

This book is dedicated to my wonderful wife Mary; my children Lauren, RaeAnn, and James; and my parents Jim and Lorraine. Their love, understanding, and support is what made this book possible. Now if they only understood the contents.

Bill Anton is an independent consultant whose primary focus is on designing and developing data warehouses and Business Intelligence solutions using the Microsoft BI stack. He has over 10 years of experience in the industry, and enjoys working closely with clients to overcome their data-related challenges. Bill is also an active member in the SQL Server community and enjoys sharing knowledge and helping others. When he's not working with the clients, he can usually be found answering questions on the MSDN forums, attending SQL PASS meetings, or writing blog posts at http://byoBI.com.

I would like to thank my beautiful wife, Jena, for putting up with the long hours I've worked over the years. I would also like to thank James Serra, my mentor, for inviting me to contribute to this book and continuing to give me solid advice and perspective on the amazing industry in which we have the pleasure of working.

Paul Turley is a mentor with SolidQ and a Microsoft SQL Server MVP. He consults, writes, speaks, and teaches Business Intelligence and reporting solutions. He works with companies around the world to visualize and deliver critical information to make informed business decisions. He is the lead author of Professional SQL Server 2012 Reporting Services, Wrox Press , a contributing author for SQL Server Analysis Service 2012 Cube Development Cookbook , Packt Publishing , and several other titles from Wrox and Microsoft Press. Paul blogs at SqlServerBiBlog.com.

Jen Underwood has almost 20 years of hands-on experience in the data warehousing, Business Intelligence, reporting, and predictive analytics industries. Prior to starting Impact Analytix, she held roles such as Microsoft Global Business Intelligence Technical Product Manager, Microsoft Enterprise Data Platform Specialist, Tableau Technology Evangelist, and also as a Business Intelligence Consultant for Big 4 Systems Integration firms. Through most of her career, she has been researching, designing, and implementing analytic solutions across a variety of open source, niche, and enterprise vendor landscapes, including Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, and SAP.

Recently, Jen was honored with a Boulder BI Brain Trust membership, a BeyeNetwork Prescriptive Analytics Channel, and a 2013 Tableau Zen Master (MVP) award. She also writes Business Intelligence articles for SQL Server Pro magazine.

Jen holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and a postgraduate certificate in Computer Science, Data Mining, from the University of California, San Diego.

Basit A. Masood-Al-Farooq is an internationally known Lead SQL DBA, trainer, and technical author, with twelve years of experience of the Microsoft technology stack. He is an accomplished development and production SQL Server DBA, with a proven record of delivering major projects on time and within budget. He is an expert at evaluating client needs against the capabilities of the SQL Server product set, with the objective of minimizing cost and maximizing function through making innovative use of advanced capabilities.

Basit has authored numerous SQL Server technical articles on various SQL Server topics for different SQL Server community sites that include SQLMag.com, MSSQLTips.com, SQLServerCentral.com, SSWUG.org, SQL-SERVER-PERFORMANCE.com, and SearchSQLServer.com. He has also developed and implemented many successful database infrastructures, data warehouse, and Business Intelligence projects. He also has a good understanding of ITIL principles.

He holds a Master's degree in Computer Science from London Metropolitan University and industry-standard certifications from Microsoft, Sun, Cisco, Brainbench, Prosoft, and APM, including MCITP Database Administrator 2008, MCITP Database Administrator 2005, MCDBA SQL Server 2000, and MCTS .NET Framework 2.0 Web Applications.

He can be reached via Twitter (@BasitAali), blog (http://basitaalishan.com), or via LinkedIn. (http://uk.linkedin.com/in/basitfarooq).

He has also reviewed