1. An Introduction to Datazen Erik Flateby SQL Saturday #414 Oslo 29.08.2015

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3. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no Your feedback is important! Please let us know what you thought of this session http://sqlsaturday.com/414/sessions/sessionevaluation.aspx

4. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no EXEC SP_help ‘Erik Flateby’  Independent Consultant at Acuit A/S since 2011.  Specialized in  BI  Data Warehousing  ETL  Reporting  Associated with Nextbridge Technology – Norway’s leading network of independent BI Consultants  Worked with SQL Server since 2000  MCTS, MCITP, MCSA, MCSE:BI, MCT (on and off)  SQL Server UG Board Member erik@acuit.no

5. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no …but first  Have you used Datazen?

6. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no Session Agenda  What is Datazen?  And what is it not  What are the components of Datazen?  Server side  Client side  Presenting the UI and the dashboard design process  Lets make some demos!  A simple dashboard with drilldown  A KPI based on a tabular cube  A dashboard using maps  The pros and cons of Datazen  Extras if there is time  Q&A

7. What is Datazen?

8. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no Datazen – just aquired  Aquired by Microsoft in April 2015, http://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2015/04/14/micro soft-acquires-mobile-business-intelligence-leader- datazen/ http://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2015/04/14/micro soft-acquires-mobile-business-intelligence-leader- datazen/  Anyone with an Enterprise SQL 2008 Enterprise Edition or later, and active Software Assurance can download it for free: https://www.microsoft.com/en- us/download/details.aspx?id=48112 https://www.microsoft.com/en- us/download/details.aspx?id=48112

9. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no What is Datazen – the buzzwords  Create BI Dashboards  “ publish with complete confidence that your dashboards will work on all mobile platforms and scale perfectly to any screen size”  Native Apps for All Platforms  …” feature parity and offline capabilities on all platforms”  KPI Repository…”for quick, timely insights”  Team Collaboration, Stay on top of BI hub activity,  Participate in KPI & dashboard conversations…”Collaborate on the go from any device”

10. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no What is Datazen – the components 1/3  Environment for creating and serving corporate dashboards  Components:  Server to render and get data  IIS and ASP.NET based  Mobile Apps for viewing report  IOS, Android, Windows  Desktop App for creation of dashboard  That is, an actual Windows 8 Store App….  The Datazen viewer desktop app  Can be used with tiles

11. What is Datazen – the components 2/3

12. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no What is Datazen – the components  Control Panel  Administer users, groups, hubs, caching, refresh etc  Also: KPIs, Data Sources, Dataviews  Usually lives at http://datazenserver/cphttp://datazenserver/cp

13. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no What is Datazen – the components  Viewer  The HTML5 web page. Starting point for interacting with dashboards and KPIs.  Use if you don’t have the viewer apps  Usually lives av http://datazenserver/viewerhttp://datazenserver/viewer

14. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no What is Datazen NOT?  Cloud based – only on premise  A tool for data exploration  A tool for data manipulation  A tool that requires no knowledge of queries  No “self-service” or “democratization of BI”  A tool that gives you full control over your reports – no SSRS pixel perfection  Subscription-engine for reports

15. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no Datazen Server – Installation and system requirements  Can only be installed on Windows 2008 R2 or later. Windows 7, 8 or 10 not possible.  The server has these main components: Core Service & Rendering, Data Acquisition, Web applications and Caching  Require IIS,.NET (version depending on Windows version), Web applications feature  For full system requirements, see http://www.datazen.com/docs/?article=server/installatio n_requirements http://www.datazen.com/docs/?article=server/installatio n_requirements  Advanced installation scenarions with own servers for Data Aquistion, caching and web applications are possible

16. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no Dashboard design process Two ways:  Design first  Data first  Part of the design process is anyways always on the server side  Datasources  Dataviews  Parameters  KPIs

17. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no Dashboard design process – design first  Work in the Layout View prior to having the Data View set up  The query does not need to be ready  A simulated table with required data is generated by the tool -> guide for columns and granularity  Can be helpful for rapid prototyping and refining- layout-iterations  Allows for non-(MDX||DAX||SQL||CAML) experts to be part of the design process  Makes it look you are closer to completion than you really are?

18. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no Dashboard design process – data first  Data first  More like good ‘ol SSRS  Create the queries first  Then create the dashboard, with real data  See how it looks, refine and repeat  Immediately identifies granularity problems etc  Datazen can’t manipulate your data in many ways, so often this approach is needed

19. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no Data sources and data views  Data source is the connection to the data  Lives on the Datazen server, in the control panel  Is set up by the admin, only  Data views  Like datasets in RS  Accepts parameters  Can be cached, on-demand, and return different data for different users

20. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no Demo 1  Objective 1: We want to first have a look at Internet Sales per day, per Product Category over time  Objective 2: Aquaint ourselves with the Publisher UI while doing 1  Objective 3: We want to drilldown to every transaction in one day  Afterwards we are going to look into our richest customers and see what they buy

21. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no Demo 1  Actual demo

22. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no Introduction to KPIs and the KPI store  Great for showing a lot of concise executive information in a small area  Support Value, Goal, Status, Trend – all can be dynamic  All are shown on the frontpage  Linked to other KPIs and dashboard  Can be pinned to the Windows 8 Start menu  Social component with comments

23. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no Our own KPI – “Yesterdays Sales” Have a look!

24. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no KPI caveats  Can’t be put on dashboard by themselves  Can’t be the source for gauges  Their queries can’t be reused  Goals can not be referenced in queries

25. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no Maps data introduction  Used for spatial reporting  Coloring, Bubbling og Heating vectorbased graphics  Very solid offering  70 maps included  Be sure to check the simulated data for IDs!  Norwegian counties are misnamed  Custom maps are supported

26. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no Demo Maps - Livestock  What kind of livestock is common in the different Norwegian counties?

27. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no Demo Maps - Livestock  SSB to the rescue!  Search for “03791” on the frontpage

28. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no Demo Maps - Livestock  Actual demo here

29. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no Demo Maps - Livestock  Post livestock demo  Shows the design-first paradigm  And the problems with coloring  And the problems with inserting pictures or logos (unless you do a complete branding package)

30. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no Customer.esri maps  Floor plans  Seats  Places  Can you think of some others?

31. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no Datazen Pros  Just works on different mobile devices (if the infrastructure is in place)  Good looking dashboards  Easy to create  Sitting down with customers and creating great looking dashboards (and business ) right away

32. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no Datazen cons – Teo Lachev All quotes from Teo Lachevs blog, http://prologika.com/CS/blogs/blog/archive/2015/04/19/first-look-at- datazen.aspx http://prologika.com/CS/blogs/blog/archive/2015/04/19/first-look-at- datazen.aspx  There is nothing that Datazen can do that SSRS can't.  Except maybe one thing: The user can slide the finger to select multiple date periods and the page doesn't repost  No data exploration – Similar to SSRS, the query is fixed at design time. Therefore, the user cannot change the report layout or add/remove fields.  Great front, weak back– It's obvious that the Datazen developers have focused exclusively on the presentation layer. I didn't see alerts, subscriptions, printing, exporting, execution log, etc.  Little options for expressions, conditional formatting, etc.

33. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no Personal datazen cons  I don’t like Windows Store Apps!  Absolutely horrible MDX date handling (or MDX handling in general)  Non customizable coloring of maps (at least without branding)  KPIs are not integrated into dashboards  Datazen drilldown targets requires non-intuitive and spacewasting setup  No zoom (on maps etc)

34. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no If there is time…  Drilldown to Reporting Services  Show example from our demo  MDX handling of dates  http://www.datazen.com/blogs/post/working-with- dates-in-datazen-3-0 http://www.datazen.com/blogs/post/working-with- dates-in-datazen-3-0  cdate(format([Date].[Date].CURRENTMEMBER.ME MBER_VALUE, "yyyy-MM-dd"))

35. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no Q & A

36. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no Datazen - More Information http://www.datazen.com/docs/ http://blogs.technet.com/b/cansql/archive/2015/06/25/datazen-vs-power-bi- when-and-why.aspx http://www.blue-granite.com/blog/bid/404942/5-Reasons-Microsoft-Customers- Should-Try-Datazen Comparison of Datazen vs SSRS vs Power ViewComparison of Datazen vs SSRS vs Power View : http://www.sqlchick.com/entries/2015/6/20/comparison-of-datazen-vs-ssrs- reporting-services-vs-power-view http://prologika.com/CS/blogs/blog/archive/2015/04/19/first-look-at- datazen.aspx36

37. An introduction to Datazen. SQL Saturday 414, 29.08.2015. Erik@acuit.no Your feedback is important! Please let us know what you thought of this session http://sqlsaturday.com/414/sessions/sessionevaluation.aspx