University of Washington Foundations of Data Analysis Course

Posted on by Jen Stirrup

I'm pleased to announce that the University of Washington are running a Foundations of Data Analysis course, starting in January 2020.  In this 10-week course, you'll learn how to understand and analyze data. We’ll start with fundamental data-related concepts, terminology and ethical considerations. You’ll learn how to articulate business problems and identify required data. Using Microsoft Excel and SQL, you’ll practice gathering, cleaning and organizing data. Finally you’ll use Tableau to effectively describe, analyze and visualize data.

Fun DataDive with DataKind UK

Posted on by Jen Stirrup

This weekend, I volunteered with DataKind UK on their Summer DataDive, which took place on the weekend of 28th and 29th July 2018 in the Pivotal London offices in Shoreditch. I had a fantastic, memorable weekend, mixing with around 200 other data scientists. I'd like to thank the DataKind team for being so inspirational, giving, … Continue reading Fun DataDive with DataKind UK

Tableau Prep, Power Query and Power BI – Good together?

Posted on by Jen Stirrup

A question I often here is this: Which tool should I use, Tableau or Power BI? The truth is: They are not mutually exclusive. Tableau is great at business mysteries: ill-defined questions where you have to surf the data for results. Power BI is particularly great at modelling and cleaning the data, with clean, crisp … Continue reading Tableau Prep, Power Query and Power BI – Good together?

How do you choose the right data visualisation in Power BI to show your data?

Posted on by Jen Stirrup

How do you choose the right visualisation to show your data? Usually the customer wants one thing, the business user want something else, the business sponsor wants something flashy.... and it's hard to tease out the requirements, and that's before you've even opened up Power BI such as Power View, Excel, Tableau or whatever your … Continue reading How do you choose the right data visualisation in Power BI to show your data?

Data Visualisation: lifting the curse of Cassandra

Posted on by Jen Stirrup

Information is the new currency, the lifeblood of organisations. However, it has to be explored, and evangelised throughout the organisation before it can have any real impact. SQL Server 2012 now helps business users to access the data; a real paradigm shift in the 'umbrella' of users who touch SQL Server.However, does that mean that … Continue reading Data Visualisation: lifting the curse of Cassandra

Tabular models and Tableau

Posted on by Jen Stirrup

I was recently asked how to connect Tableau to a Microsoft Tabular model. The concept itself is straightforward in Tableau. In my opinion, tabular models will become more prevalent, so I will start to look at them more detail.It turns out that the individual who questioned me was struggling, unfortunately. The resolution was that he … Continue reading Tabular models and Tableau

SQLUniversity: PowerPivot, Tableau and Jedi Knights

Posted on by Jen Stirrup

This blog will show an overview of how I mobilised PowerPivot using Tableau. I've previously given this session at SQLBits, NEBytes Microsoft Technology User Group, and SQLServerDays in Belgium but thought it would also be useful to supply the files for you. The steps are very simple since I intended to show the end-to-end solution … Continue reading SQLUniversity: PowerPivot, Tableau and Jedi Knights

SQLUniversity: Introduction to PowerPivot and Mobile Business Intelligence

Posted on by Jen Stirrup

Here is the second post for SQL University, where we introduce the topic of mobilising PowerPivot data. As an introduction, I thought it might be useful to share the presentations that I did recently. Tomorrow's blog will talk more about the details of mobilising PowerPivot data using Tableau, but I thought that these articles might … Continue reading SQLUniversity: Introduction to PowerPivot and Mobile Business Intelligence

Windows Azure Marketplace – what data sources would you like to see?

Posted on by Jen Stirrup

During my presentations at SQLBits, SQLRelay and other UK User Group meetings, I have been dismayed by the lack of awareness of the Windows Azure Marketplace. This blog aims to explore some of the reasons that this may be happening, and I'd also like to canvass you, dear reader, so you can highlight the data … Continue reading Windows Azure Marketplace – what data sources would you like to see?

Mobile Business Intelligence – Try it out!

Posted on by Jen Stirrup

Thank you to everyone who attended my SQLBits 'Mobile Business Intelligence in Action' session recently. If you are interested to try out Mobile Business Intelligence on your iPad or mobile device, here are the links below:Jedi Knight Actuals of UK Census 2001 Dashboard Jedi Knights Percentage of UK Census 2001 DashboardAdventureWorks Sales by Geography DashboardAdventureWorks Actuals … Continue reading Mobile Business Intelligence – Try it out!

Representing data about the iPad

Posted on by Jen Stirrup

The current blog will take three different ways of representing the same data set, in order to see how it can be done simply and clearly - or not so clearly. I have taken some samples, and reworked them as a progression throughout this blog.Although I am discussing the iPad here, this is not a … Continue reading Representing data about the iPad