Join us this month with three lightning talk from local speakers. Thanks to Jenny, Sabrina and Yit Lim.

Please see sessions below:

SQL Server 2017 - STRING_AGG Function

Speaker: Jenny Richardson, Data Management Specialist

Summary: SQL Server 2017 was released in October last year and you have probably heard about SQL on Linux, adaptive query processing, automatic tuning, graph databases and other major enhancements. However, for some of us the more exciting news is the introduction of new T-SQL functions which will make development faster and simplify our code. In this session I will be giving an overview of the new STRING_AGG function, how to use it and advantages over previous methods of string aggregation.

About Jenny: Jenny is a Data Management Specialist in the resources sector and has been working with SQL Server (including SSRS, SSIS and SSAS) for approximately 15 years. She has been co-leader of the SQL Server User Group for the last 6 years and a Fringe Festival artist for the last 3.

Azure Analysis Services

Speaker: Sabrina da Motta Zenatti, Data & Advanced Analytics Consultant Satalyst

Summary: Azure Analysis Services provides enterprise-grade data modelling in the cloud. It is a fully managed platform as a service (PaaS), integrated with Azure data platform services. In this session, Sabrina will give an overview on Azure Analysis Services (AAS), showing how to setup, deploy and explore an Analysis Service model on AAS.

About Sabrina: Sabrina da Motta Zenatti is a Data & Advanced Analytics Consultant at Satalyst with over 3 years' experience in Data & Analytics and over 10 years' experience in the Accounting and Financial Services fields, across a wide variety of industries such as Automotive, Packaging, Cooperative, Government, Logistics, Retail and Facility Management. She is a dog lover and enjoys traveling.

Using SSIS Package Environment Variables

Speaker: Yit Lim Soon, Business Intelligence Consultant Velrada

Summary: Yit Lim is going to talk about when to use environment variables in SSIS packages. She will also do a brief demo on how to configure environment variables through SSMS.

About Yit Lim: Yit Lim Soon is a software developer who has over 10 years of experience in .Net development and Microsoft BI stack. In recent years, she has developed her passion in data warehousing and business intelligence. She loves to turn data into information that can assist businesses in their decision-making processes.