Blog Business Intelligence Evaluation

SSAS Tabular or Multidimensional approach for creating a business intelligence semantic model

Recently a client asked me whether they should use tabular or multidimensional model for creating the BI (business intelligence) semantic model. I choose the tabular route due to the following reasons. Reasons to go the Tabular route If you want to use DAX (based on Excel formulas, but is often seen as having a steep […]

Blog Evaluation Integration IT PM

Microsoft’s SQL Server: 27 features of SQL Server 2014 that you don’t find in 2012 version

SQL Server is Microsoft’s flagship database product and has been in use for more than a decade. Microsoft recently announced to release SQL Server 2016 next year and has already released the preview version. The new 2016 release will have significant improvements in security features, in-memory OLTP, analytics and Stretch Database. Here is a list of […]

Biztalk Blog Integration

Outsourcing IT: Do’s and Don’ts of building offshore teams for integration development projects

Deloitte is bullish on IT outsourcing. The consulting giant conducted 2014 Global Outsourcing and Insourcing Survey and reported that “companies have begun to segment their IT environments and pursue a ‘portfolio approach” by benefiting from the capabilities of smaller, specialized service providers”. However, hiring good developers offshore/nearshore is expensive, hard to get and even harder to […]

Biztalk Blog Integration

Will Azure Logic Apps replace BizTalk on the cloud?

Microsoft released the preview of Azure Logic Apps in March 2015. Comparing to Biztalk, Azure Logic Apps is a paradigm shift. GA (general availability) is expected in January next year. It can be used in many ways such as: Enterprise grade integration of high-volume, mission-critical business applications Integration of on-premise and cloud systems Integrating cloud apps […]

Biztalk Blog Execution (dev, test, release) Integration IT PM

Turning software services projects into products: Challenges, solutions and ideas

Idea in brief Making products out of projects is always a point of discussion in the software services firms. I have identified 8 major challenges and proposed their solutions. It is generally after 5-10 years of starting a consulting career that we feel this need. Initially passion attracts the IT consultants into the field; you […]

Biztalk Blog Integration

Elephant in the room: Managing 24/7 support for your EDI projects

BizTalk consulting firms can increase their profitability and customer satisfaction by addressing a recurring problem that I see in BizTalk space. There is a mismatch between the end clients’ price appetite for EDI support services and the consulting firms’ cost of maintaining 24/7 EDI support services. Some customers operate globally, and they need 24/7 support […]

Biztalk Blog Integration
Enterprise Application Integration

BizTalk Blog: Notes for beginners on BizTalk Server

1. Introduction A company or an enterprise uses many technological applications to speed up and automate their business processes. Each of these applications is independent and implemented differently from one another. With company expansion, new systems merge with each other that makes it important for these heterogeneous systems to work together. There is a critical need for […]