Passed 70-448: SQL 2008 BI Developer
Hurrah! At long last I finally got round to taking 70-448: SQL 2008 BI Developer and passed!
Test Exams
As well as blowing my own trumpet, there is also a point to this post about studying for these exams – and specifically using practice exams. This is a bit controversial – as evidenced by this recent thread in the MSDN SSIS Forums. Some exams are a brain dump – like Test King – and if you just want to learn the questions and answers, then that will serve you well, but your certification will be worthless once people find that you don’t actually know what you are talking about.
I’ve been using Transcender‘s exams to get me through 70-448 (and it’s 2005 predecessor) and found in useful because it helped me understand what kind of questions I’d be facing, but also where I needed to study. So rather than a rote learning exercise, I used them as a springboard to guide where I needed to study.
I’m not going to endorse Transcender particularly – I found myself having to correct far too manyof their questions where either the question was misleading, or the answer was simply wrong. To their credit they did actually respond to the issues I raised and corrected them, but it’s frustrating when you review your answers from a practice run and come to the realisation that the exam itself was wrong.
I’ve also found their customer service unacceptably slow – being a consultant I migrate laptops and o/s a lot and have burnt through my allotted product activations – I’ve had to request a manual activation code. I did this 4 days ago and am still waiting…
Also, the Exam Sucks – a bit
Some of the critiques levelled above at Transcender’s practice exam also apply to the real thing. Some of the questions and answers are vaguely worded or use terms that don’t match the product itself.
However my biggest bugbear is the scope of the exam. There’s quite a few questions on things that bear no relevance to the day to day experience of a BI Developer. I point heavily to the questions on SSRS Configuration files which in practice are rarely touched, or the emphasis on the use of Checkpoints in SSIS which most people avoid due to their poor implementation. But I guess this is true of many exams regardless of subject so is a bit forgivable.
Regardless, I still think certifications have their value – they force you to study areas you are less familiar with. It won’t make you proficient, but it will at least make you aware of capabilities. Experience, however, still trumps a bit of paper 
SSAS Training Resource
I have added a link to Craig Utley’s excellent SSAS training video resource site LearnMicrosoftBI.com, which contains training videos on a variety of subjects in SSAS – dimensional modelling, Actions and the one I found most useful explaining the tricky but critical subject of Attribute Relationships (Video SSAS 109). Recommended for anyone starting out in SSAS or needing concepts clarifying.
Registration is required to download the videos (not sure why) – but it seems to generate no spam so not a big issue, and the content is very high quality for free content.
Learning SSIS – first steps
I will be starting my series of posts on SSIS components shortly but for now I’ll introduce the resource that got me started on moving from DTS to SSIS.
LearnIntegrationServices.com offers a series of easy to follow videos – just recordings of the tutor’s screen as he walks through various SSIS concepts and techniques. Unless you are an American (or perhaps even if you are) his sense of humour will slowly drive you nuts, but it’s a small price to pay. According to the website today a 60 day subscription costs a mere 70 US Dollars, and gives plenty of time to yank down all the videos you are interested in. There are some free videos available so you can gauge the suitability to your learning style.
I advise having a PC with SQL Server / BIDS installed on it to play with as you watch – I found trying to replicate the tutor’s actions – and try other things – a helpful way to embed the knowledge quickly.
In case you are wondering, i’m not being paid for this, nor have I been asked to – it’s simply a good, cheap resource.
Passed MCTS BI
Phew, managed to pass my MCTS (2005 BI) this morning – this makes me the one of less than 3,000 in the world!
It’s been a long road, i’ve learnt alot – though I still struggle with Data Mining, and I think the exam puts far too much emphasis on what is a complex and little used feature. But glad it’s over… now to go for MCITP.