1. Microsoft SQL Server Overview: Product, Courses & Background
by George SQUILLACE
September 5, 2017

2. George SQUILLACE “SQL” is in the name!
Husband & Dad
Twenty Four Years of New Horizons service (June 2016)
~30 years in Information Technology
Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) since 1997
99 times in the exam booth!
Microsoft SQL Server certifications
MCSE: Business Intelligence
MCSE: Data Platform
MCSA
Microsoft Virtual Academy presenter
SQLSaturday presenter
Certified in every version of SQL Server since SQL 2000
Certified in every version of Windows Server from NT 4.0 – Windows Server 2008
For fun: (no particular order)
Movies
Reading
Bicycling (road / city / trail)
Travel
Music / Acoustic Guitar
Computers
Aircraft +
"

3. Why should you care about selling SQL Server courses?
Product expertise is in high demand
It’s a sophisticated product
Microsoft SQL Server is frequently used for “back-end” data storage
The product is becoming increasingly entrenched
It’s market share is growing
The following Microsoft products (and a zillion third-party applications) require some edition of SQL Server
SharePoint
System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM)
System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVM)
System Center Operations Manager (SCOM)
System Center Data Protection Manager (SCDPM)
System Center Endpoint Protection
Team Foundation Server
Microsoft Dynamics CRM
More confidently sell high margin courses that are not provided by many vendors
Be able to respond to customer questions more rapidly
Make better course recommendations
Grow in your career skills
Make the assumption that every I.T. person would like to know their products better, and probably NEEDS to.
The seriousness of managing data solutions is greater (opinion) than managing other kinds of systems.

4. What is “SQL”, Anyway?
SQL (Structured Query Language) is a data-oriented programming language
SQL is an industry standard (ANSI, ISO)
SQL permits a nearly universal method of querying (interacting with and changing) database data
Most popular database servers support their own “dialect” or form of SQL (Microsoft’s “dialect” is “Transact-SQL” or “T-SQL”)
Microsoft SQL Server is a software product which supports the SQL language (among other languages).

5. A bit of Microsoft SQL Server Product History
SQL Server originated as a joint development between Sybase and Microsoft (for the OS/2 operating system)
Microsoft later developed a version for the Windows NT operation system
There have been many versions of Microsoft SQL Server spanning ~25 years
Having gone through many versions and refinements SQL Server is a mature, robust, & stable product
For the last decade Microsoft has released a new version about every two years.
SQL Server 2016 (latest version) was released on June 1, 2016
SQL Server 2017, support Linux, is right around the corner.
Point out the trivia question.
Reference:
“Microsoft SQL Server” at Wikipedia
Trivia: How many developers at Microsoft work on SQL Server?
2,000

6. SQL Server Features /Components In other words, “What does this product do?
What SQL Server is best known for, the relational database service.
There are many installable components available within the SQL Server product
All these features are included with the price (depending on the Edition purchased <see next slide>)
Reference:

7. SQL Server Editions Standard Edition
(no longer) Business Intelligence Edition (more B.I. features than Standard)
Enterprise Edition (every product feature)
Trial Edition
Every feature of Enterprise Edition
Will function for 180 days
Developer Edition
Only for development purposes
Now free!
SQL Server Express Edition
Totally free
Can be used in production
Strict feature limitations
Can only address 1GB of RAM
Database size cannot exceed 10GB
No SQL Agent Service (for automation purposes)
Several packaging options
There are also free editions of the Visual Studio development tools!
Visual Studio Community Edition
Team Foundation Server 2015 Express

8. List of SQL Server – related Job Roles which are Candidates for SQL Server Training
Note: these numbers are low
Database Administrator (DBA) (including “Accidental DBAs”)
Candidate course(s): , 20764, 20765
Database Developers
Candidate course(s): 20761, 20762
Business Intelligence Developers (implementers of “Managed BI”)
Report Writers / Developers
Candidate course(s): 10990, or,
OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) and Data Mining Developers and Users
Candidate course(s):
ETL/Data Warehouse Developers (ETL = Extract, Transform, & Load)
Candidate course(s): or 20767
Business Analysts
Candidate course(s):
20778 for Power BI, Analyzing Data with Excel
Diagram courtesy of Pragmatic Works

9. Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) SQL Server 2012/2014 Course Portfolio
20461D – Querying
Retrieving and modifying data
20462D – Database Administration
Database Engine Installation, maintenance & administration, disaster recovery, security, automation
20463D – Data Warehousing
DW design and population, SSIS (mostly), DQS, MDS
20464D – Database Development
Views, Functions, Stored Procedures, Triggers, Error Handling, Transactions
20465D – Designing a Data Solution with Microsoft SQL Server
Sort of like an Advanced Administration course
High availability features
Revision “D” changed to 3 days; Cloud content was removed
20466D – Data Models and Reports (a.k.a. “Managed BI”)
SSRS, SSAS Multidimensional & Tabular Models, Data Mining Models
20467D - Implementing Self Service BI and Big Data Solutions
Revision “D” completely changed the course
10977B - Updating Your SQL Server Skills to Microsoft SQL Server 2014
10988B – Managing Business Intelligence Operations (3 days) [beware, our NHLS website has the correct course content but the Microsoft Learning website DOES NOT]
Most of these Microsoft courses are five days in duration
These courses uniformly apply to both SQL Server 2012 and 2014.
In some cases they apply much further backward.

10. Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) SQL Server 2016 Course Portfolio
10985 – Introduction to SQL Databases (3 days) [relational database design, normalization)
10986 – Updating Your Skills to SQL Server 2016 (3 days)
10987 – Performance Tuning and Optimizing SQL Server Databases (4 days)
20778 – Analyzing Data with Power BI (3 days, somewhat revised new course, formerly [two days])
10990 – Analyzing Data with SQL Server Reporting Services (3 days) Consider also the combination and for those that only need report development skills and focus on Report Builder as the development tool.
20761B – Querying Data with Transact-SQL (5 days)
20762B – Developing SQL Databases (5 days)
20764B – Administering a SQL Database Infrastructure (5 days, no installation)
20765B – Provisioning SQL Databases (5 days, includes installation and storage management)
20767B – Implementing a SQL Data Warehouse (5 days, data warehouse design, SSIS, DQS, MDS, Azure SQL Data Warehouse)
20768B – Developing SQL Data Models (3 days, focus on SSAS multidimensional and tabular data models and one module on data mining)
These courses uniformly apply to both SQL Server 2012 and 2014.
In some cases they apply much further backward.

11. Other query course alternatives are:
Microsoft Course 2778 (SQL 2008 – based, three days)
SQL Querying - Level 1 Fundamentals of Querying
SQL Querying - Level 2 Advanced Querying

12. Great opportunity area #1: Business Intelligence (BI)
From Wikipedia: Business intelligence (BI) is a business management term which refers to applications and technologies which are used to gather, provide access to, and analyze data and information about company operations
Business intelligence systems can help companies have a more comprehensive knowledge of the factors affecting their business, such as metrics on sales, production, internal operations, and they can help companies to make better business decisions
So, BI is about using tools and data to make better decisions.
Humor: just because I have good data and tools doesn’t mean I make good decisions 
Remember four key words as related to monitoring anything:
Use Tools >> Get Facts >> Draw Conclusions >> Implement Changes
This is an especially hot area of opportunity.
The data world is literally exploding. All the data being generated must be collected, secured, backed up, analyzed for trends, and more.
Some of the time data is presented in the form of a dashboard, or a collection of “visualizations”.

13. What is a data warehouse?
Combined sources of data
Historical data included
Cleansed and standardized data
Very different “schema” or arrangement of tables
Often, the foundation of a reporting and business intelligence solution

14. Great opportunity area #2:
SQL Server 2016 Skills Upgrade, 10986
Especially because of the improvements in Reporting Services

15. SQL Server Course Prerequisites
Basic Windows User Interface Knowledge
Basic Windows Server Operating System Knowledge
User and Group Accounts
Services and Service Accounts
File System and Shared Folder Permissions
Relational Database Experience helps a lot
(Microsoft Access experience “counts”)
This slide answers the question, “What must a SQL Server student bring to the table to be successful in these courses.

16. Common Sales Mistakes Student doesn’t meet pre-requisites
Querying student is not placed in the correct quering course
Student is placed in a Microsoft querying course using Microsoft query writing tools even though the student uses a different database engine
Salesperson promises instructor will work with customer’s own data
Objects:
Permissions
Exercises and development time
Liability
If you violate the SQL Server sales principals I’ll make you an offer you can’t refuse.
The Fangorn Forest

19. This diagram represents the former “mis-alignment” between courses and exams; now exams and courses match more closely…mostly.

20. Why Should a Student Certify?
Increases product knowledge
Increases competency; can solve more and different kinds of problems
Increases confidence
May lead to other job opportunities within and outside of your current organization
“You don’t know where you’ll be working next Monday, so pack a parachute!” –me
The current certification track is extremely challenging

21. Resources (for you and your clients)
Microsoft SQL Server homepage
Microsoft Learning homepage
My website
Homepage
Search button, Test taking tips link
Diagrams
Several SQL and SQL BI diagrams
Screenshot Gallery
Look in the SQL screenshot category; a SQL BI category exists too
SQL Server reference homepage
Huuuuge amount of links
SQL Server BI reference homepage
Also a huuuuge amount of links
My Library Books (click on this link)
NHLS SQL blog posts
I have several blog posts on free resources for SQL Server

22. What Are Your Action Items?
Learn & study?
Download and install SQL Server?
Call a client with a recommendation or new opportunity?
Fair assumption: almost any business mid-range and above likely has one more more database servers
Second assumption: everyone in charge of a SQL Server needs to know the product better than they do today
Flee?
Other?
Reference: Suggested Action Items List

23. Don’t forget to wear an Aloha shirt on Aloha shirt Fridays!
Thank you for your time!
instructor profile
describe SQL Server job roles
show Pragmatic Works BI pyramid
courseware portfolio and student placement
Resources
strategies for passing certification exams
NH Blog posts
local SQL Server User Group
?? my website
Aloha shirt Friday
Don’t forget to wear an Aloha shirt on Aloha shirt Fridays!