Microsoft Ignite 2024 - My Key Highlights

Last week was the annual Microsoft Ignite conference in Chicago. In this blog, I will take you through my most important highlights of the sessions.

Fabric SQL Database (Preview): The future of SQL in the cloud

Let's get straight to the point with the biggest announcement: Fabric SQL Database! 

SQL Database in Microsoft Fabric is a developer-friendly, transactional database, based on Azure SQL Database, with which you can easily create an operational (OLTP) database in Fabric. In addition to the Fabric Lakehouse and the Warehouse, you now also have an efficient SaaS SQL database at your disposal as a developer with the performance of a transactional database and under the hood a(n extra) storage that is optimized for analytical purposes (Delta Parquet).

SQL Database in Fabric is:

• The home of OLTP workloads in Fabric
• Easy to configure and manage
• Set up for analytics by automatically replicating data to OneLake in near-real-time
• Based on the underlying technology of Mirroring in Fabric
• Under the hood, the same as Azure SQL Database, plus you have a web-based editor in the Fabric portal

With the introduction of Fabric SQL Database, Microsoft is taking traditional database management to a new level:

• Simple and secure architecture: Automated management and scaling optimizations
• Source control integration and CI/CD support: Essential for modern DevOps processes
• Capacity billing: Pausable compute resources ensure cost efficiency
• Unique cross-platform capabilities: Perform JOINs across databases, warehouses, and lakehouses

In addition to SQL Database in Fabric, the next version of SQL Server was also announced: SQL Server 2025. It is currently in Private Preview. It also supports mirroring to Fabric.

Metrics Hub: Standardized Metric management in Fabric (Preview)

The introduction of the Metrics Hub in Fabric is a new standard in how organizations define, track, and share KPIs. This new approach integrates seamlessly with Power BI and provides centralized management for metrics, enabling consistency and better collaboration. You might be thinking, this sounds familiar? You are! 😊 First there was Metrics, then Goals, and now the Metrics Hub where you can create Metric sets.

The advantage of being able to create and share metrics centrally is that you still have that one single version of the truth. Users can then use these measures in Power BI reports. But developers and data scientists can also use them in notebooks, using Semantic Link (Labs)!

Fabric AI Capacities

There will be an option to run all AI (=Copilot) compute on a separate capacity, so that other Fabric workloads are not affected by the use of Copilot. You still need at least an F64, and it's not available in all Azure regions, so be sure to check the Copilot FAQ for all your questions.

Fabric Org Apps

Org apps is a new item in your workspace, which now allows you to create an app as you did before by publishing an App in your workspace. One of the benefits of this is that you can create multiple Org apps per workspace!

In addition, you can customize more things like the design and behavior of the app. However, you can still only add items from the current workspace.

It is important to know that there is a tenant setting for Org apps that you need to activate. You can also use Org apps with a trial capacity.

Some other important updates for org apps compared to workspace apps:

• In addition to Power BI reports, you can now also add Fabric notebooks and real-time dashboards
• The distribution of org apps has been simplified, because access to underlying items (e.g. semantic models) is also applied, even in other workspaces. Users will therefore receive read access to all items that are dependent on the items in the app. These rights will also be removed when a user is deleted. There are a few exceptions, so check this.
• The items in an Org app are no longer a copy of the item, but the original items from the workspace
• Check all the differences between workspace and Org apps here

This week, an extensive blog about Org apps was also published where you can find even more information.

Power BI

• The biggest update by far: write-back with User Data Functions: native write-back integration with reusable functions and new options to link these to buttons in Power BI, with which you can update data in a source
• In the Pipeline activity, you can now refresh a semantic model at table and partition level
• Dataflow Gen2 updates: this item will soon also be supported in CI/CD (in source control and deployment pipelines)

OneLake

At the heart of Fabric is OneLake, a single central repository for all data, regardless of format. Some new developments:

• Shortcuts with Iceberg tables: Direct integrations with Snowflake and other platforms
• Mirroring: Support for Azure SQL and Snowflake (GA)
• Cross-cloud JOINs: Analyze datasets spread across different clouds and formats: You can combine SQL Database, Lakehouses and Warehouses in one query
• Open mirroring (preview): this allows you to write change data from any application directly into a mirrored database in Fabric. Open mirroring is based on the open Delta Lake table format

Platform

• Workspace monitoring (not to be confused with the Admin Monitoring workspace, this is intended for tenant insights): a database in your workspace that records log data and metrics about all items in that workspace. All of this is recorded in a real-time intelligence Eventhouse database. There are example queries in the Fabric samples GitHub. 
• Surge protection for capacities: This capability is coming soon, and it allows you to set a cap on the background workload of a capacity. This helps to better guarantee the availability of interactive workloads (such as Power BI report usage). You can set this per capacity.
• OneLake catalog: This is the new central hub to find, search, and use all Fabric items. You can use all available filters, including new ones like domains and tags. You can explore in-place items and view details.

Conclusion

Ignite 2024 showed that Microsoft is strongly committed to an integrated and future-oriented data platform, with AI and Copilot as a common thread. Innovations such as workspace monitoring, improved security through service principal support, and the advanced capabilities of the OneLake Catalog make it easier than ever to manage data effectively.

I believe that with these developments, the Microsoft Intelligent Data Platform is ready to support organizations in an increasingly data-intensive world.

Do you have any highlights from Ignite that I missed? Then let me know in the comments!


Items that are being worked on now and in the future are often public via the Fabric roadmap. There you can find per workload the items that will be worked on in the coming 6-12 months.

Some examples:

• A new Fabric navigation experience
• Support for folders for Git integration
• Better ownership of Fabric items
• Fabric Capacity Metrics Cross-capacity insights
• Capacity Metrics Chargeback

My DataGrillen Adventure: Speaking, Connecting, and New Friendships

I just got back from an incredible trip to DataGrillen, and I can’t wait to share my experiences with you. If you haven’t heard of it, DataGrillen is this amazing community-driven conference in Germany, where data professionals from around the world gather to share knowledge, ideas, and, of course, some good BBQ and beers. This year was special for me because I had the honor of speaking again at the event.

A special thanks goes out to Ben (@bweissman) & William (@sql_williamd) for organizing the event! But let's start from the beginning.

The Journey Begins

The anticipation was building as I packed up the car, later picked up Eduard Koekkoek (@heartforarts) and set off on our road trip to Germany. Eduard, a great friend and fellow data enthusiast, was the perfect companion for the journey. We spent some time on the road discussing everything from the latest in data technologies to our expectations for the conference. The drive was quite long, but the conversation made it fly by.

Stepping onto the Stage

The highlight of my trip was undoubtedly my speaking session. I had the first session at the first day, just after the opening "ceremony". The preparation that goes into a talk is always intense, but the passion I have for the subject kept me going. The topic was close to my heart, Administration and Governance in Fabric, and I was thrilled to see a room of fellow data enthusiasts ready to dive into the discussion. 

The audience was incredibly receptive, and the interaction was great. There’s something deeply fulfilling about sharing knowledge and seeing that spark of understanding and curiosity in others. The Q&A session that followed was lively, with thoughtful questions. It’s moments like these that remind me why I really like what I do.

Reconnecting with Old Friends

One of the best parts of conferences is the chance to reconnect with friends and colleagues from the industry. DataGrillen was no exception. With the change of forgetting someone, I won't call out names here 😀
It was like a reunion of sorts, seeing familiar faces, catching up on the latest in our professional and personal lives, and talking about past conferences and projects. There’s a special bond that forms when you share experiences and challenges over the years, and DataGrillen provided the perfect backdrop for these reunions.

A smaller group of people, specifically people into running, like to get together for an early run on days of a conference. We created a very special, long-running thread on Twitter (a.k.a. X), that actually started 2 years ago at DataGrillen!

Ran a little bit more 😊🥵 pic.twitter.com/dWM8mNwwo4

— Koen Verbeeck 🇺🇦 🌈 (@Ko_Ver) May 17, 2024

Furthermore, we exchanged ideas over beers and BBQ, debated the future of data technologies, and shared a lot of laughs. These moments are invaluable, and they remind me of the strength and warmth of the data community. It's not just about the work we do, but the friendships we forge along the way.

Making New Connections

While reconnecting with old friends was wonderful, making new ones was equally exhilarating. DataGrillen attracted a diverse crowd of professionals, each bringing unique perspectives and experiences. I met so many passionate individuals, each conversation was a learning opportunity, and a chance to see the data world through a different lens.

The DataGrillen Vibe

What sets DataGrillen apart is its atmosphere. The organizers have created an environment that fosters learning and networking in the most enjoyable way possible. The BBQ element adds a fun twist, making the conference feel more like a community gathering than a formal event. It’s the perfect balance of professional development and relaxation.

Looking Ahead

As Eduard and I drove back home, I felt a great sense of satisfaction and inspiration. DataGrillen was more than just a conference: it was a reminder of the incredible community we’re all part of. I left with new knowledge, strengthened friendships, and a bunch of new connections that I’m excited to nurture.

If you ever get the chance to attend DataGrillen, don’t hesitate. It’s an experience that goes beyond the sessions and keynotes – it’s about the people, the conversations, and the community. I’m already looking forward to next year’s event!

Session materials

My slides were already shared with the conference, but in case you haven't found them, you can find them at my GitHub.
I've also uploaded the template file I used in my demo for Admin Monitoring to the above page.

First page of my demo file

You can also find slides of previous conferences there. I generally follow this pattern: https://github.com/NickyvVr/talks/tree/master/slides/YYYY/yyyymmdd [Conference name]

Until next time, keep learning, keep sharing, and keep grilling!

The Conference Season Has Begun!

The conference season is kicking off again! I have quite some events and sessions already lined up for the next months, so I though I'll update you here.

First up is Data Community Day Austria, in Vienna. I'm actually at Schiphol Airport now, waiting to board my plane 😀 I'm presenting a new session on Direct Lake in Microsoft Fabric.

In March, 7-9, the Dutch Power BI Gebruikersdagen are in Utrecht and I'm presenting a session on Saturday: How to use Power BI External Tools.

After that is SQLBits, which I'm skipping this year. MVP Summit is unfortunately also online for me this year, but that has a very good reason...

Because, in the last week of March the Microsoft Fabric Community Conference is happening in Las Vegas, and I'm delighted and excited to say I am presenting 2 sessions there!
The first session is with Ulrich Christ, Program Manager Azure Data Factory at Microsoft, and we are going to talk about Connecting to SAP Data with Data Factory in Microsoft Fabric.
Because the second session is still in the works I can't share any details yet, so you'll just have to wait a bit longer for that.

After that, there's also DataGrillen in Lingen, Germany on May 16 & 17. I'm presenting a session dear to my heart: Fabric Admin in a Day. Do check the amazing 2-day schedule on their site. It's also happening during the Kievelinge Fest, which happens the weekend right after DataGrillen, how convenient... 😁

I'm very excited for the coming months and hope to see many of you there, meeting up with old friends and making new ones! 💛

Ignite News: Microsoft Fabric is Now GA (and more)!

Over the (roughly) last 6 months we all had the ability to play with Microsoft Fabric, when it went Public Preview at Microsoft Build.

Now that the keynote of Microsoft Ignite by CEO Satya Nadella has been delivered, and also the amazing in-depth Fabric session by Amir Netz, Arun Alagaratchagan: Make your data AI ready with Microsoft Fabric and Azure Databricks. Back then at Build, Satya called it:

"...the biggest launch of a data product from Microsoft since the launch of SQL Server!"

Generally available

But now, Satya went one step further and announced GENERAL AVAILABITIY of Fabric!

Also, Copilot in Fabric is now in public preview.

More updates

There's a ton of updates inside Fabric on existing features on the latest Fabric blog here.

And there are also some exciting new features:

• Seamlessly connect your data sources to Fabric
  The ability to create shortcuts was already there, where you virtualize data in OneLake without having to move or duplicate that data.. You can create shortcuts to another Lakehouse and Warehouse, but also to files on ADLS or even Amazon S3 or Google storage.
  The newest feature just announced is called Mirroring, where you can add and manage existing cloud data warehouses (and databases) in Fabric's Data Warehouse experience. The way this works, is like replication in SQL Server. Fabric replicates a snapshot of that database to OneLake in Delta Parquet files and keeps that in sync in near real time, which relies on the Change Data Capture feature of the underlying source. Initially it's supported for Azure Cosmos DB, Azure SQL DB and Snowflake, more sources will follow next year.
• Copilot in Power BI (public preview)
  Just be aware that Copilot will be rolling out in stages, 
• Smart Narrative is an existing visual in Power BI Desktop, now rebranded to Narrative with Copilot
• The November Desktop update let's you generate synonyms for your fields, measures and tables using Copilot.
• In the future, there's also going to be:
• a report creation experience
• a DAX writing experience
• Direct Lake support on Data Warehouse
  There's also an update on the size limits of your Fabric capacity and when it will fallback to Direct Query.
• Stored credentials for Direct Lake semantic model
  You can now specify a fixed identity (like a service principal) for a Direct Lake mode semantic model
• Pricing on Fabric is updated!
  Reserved pricing is now available, with a rough discount of around 41% off of Pay-As-You-Go pricing.
  
• OneLake integration for Import-mode semantic models is coming!
  This allows for a seamless (at least that's what Microsoft claims 😄) integration for your import Power BI Desktop models into OneLake. I wonder if this also implies that you can convert your import report to a Direct Lake mode model afterwards. It's not totally clear to me at this point.

[update on November 16th]

• Power BI Desktop November is also out!
  Power BI November 2023 Feature Summary
• DAX query view
• Stored credentials for Direct Lake
• Explore

Conclusion

Will I now go all-in on Fabric? "It depends", but probably not 😀

I think it still depends on a case per case basis. Is it a newish customer with not too many investments in other data platform services like Synapse/Data Factory. Then it makes sense to evaluate the requirements and see if it's worthwhile to start with Fabric, considering a lot of features are still in preview, and others are not there yet.

On the other hand, if it's an existing customer with real estate in Synapse and databricks for example, where they implemented a medaillon structure and have infrastructure running there, I'd seriously reconsider if it's worth moving to Fabric. I'm leaning towards a no for now.

Keep a look out on the official Fabric and Power BI blogs and Microsoft Learn for all new content:

• https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-au/blog/
• https://blog.fabric.microsoft.com/en-US/blog
• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/get-started/whats-new

I'm updating this post live while the updates are rolling out, so come back later for more updates!😀

Data, Insights, and Community: My Reflections on Data Saturday Holland and dataMinds Connect

The Lamot conference center alongside the river Dijle in Mechelen, Belgium

The world of data and analytics is constantly evolving, with new tools, technologies, and best practices emerging almost daily. As a data enthusiast and professional, I'm always on the lookout for opportunities to expand my knowledge and stay up to date with the latest trends in the field. Recently, I had the pleasure of attending two fantastic events: Data Saturday Holland and dataMinds Connect, and you may already guess—it was amazing!

Data Saturday Holland - Where Passion Meets Expertise

Data Saturday Holland, formerly known as SQL Saturday Holland, is a renowned event that brings together data professionals, enthusiasts, and experts to share their knowledge and experiences.

One of the things that struck me the most at Data Saturday Holland was the passion of the speakers and participants. From Power BI to data engineering, there was a wide range of sessions to choose from. I attended sessions covering various topics like Direct Lake in Power BI and improving your Power BI report. These sessions provided me with valuable insights and practical tips that I could immediately apply to my work. It was enlightening to learn from experts who shared their real-world experiences and demonstrated the tools and techniques they use on a daily basis.

A highlight of the Saturday was being able to attend my favorite podcast, Knee-Deep in Tech, live in a movie theater!

Knee-Deep in Tech by Heini Ilmarinen, Alexander Arvidsson and Simon Binder

Another highlight of the event were the networking opportunities. I had the chance to meet old friends and new people, exchange ideas, and even discuss potential collaborations. It's incredible how the event fostered a sense of community and encouraged knowledge sharing. I left Data Saturday Holland inspired and motivated!

DataMinds Connect - A Deep Dive into Data and AI

Just when I thought my week couldn't get any better, I had the privilege of attending dataMinds Connect. This event is an annual conference organized by the dataMinds community, focusing on Microsoft Data Platform technologies. The event spans (for now 😏) two days and covers a wide range of topics related to data and AI.

One of the standout features of dataMinds Connect was the depth and breadth of the sessions. Experts from various domains within data and AI shared their knowledge. From advanced SQL Server features to leading AI applications, there was something for everyone. I especially enjoyed the in-depth sessions that allowed me to explore complex topics in detail, like Mathias Thierbach's Power BI Source Control precon.

I also volunteered during the two days this year, assisting speakers and visitors in making the most of their own experience. During Mathias' workshop, I helped answer questions and on the second day, I addressed general visitor questions and took care of the speakers, so they didn't have to worry about the technical aspects, drinks, or other logistics.

The community at dataMinds Connect was incredibly welcoming, and I had the opportunity to engage in conversations with participants and speakers. This sense of community and feeling of being welcome was a common theme throughout the event, and it's something that truly sets this conference apart. A beer and some chocolate certainly works wonders too! :-)

The Value of Conferences

Attending Data Saturday Holland and dataMinds Connect provided me with a comprehensive overview of the Power BI and Fabric landscape and the latest developments in this field. I left with new skills and insights and a better understanding of the latest trends and technologies. Moreover, the connections I made during these events were invaluable. Networking with professionals who share my passion and interests can lead to future collaborations, career opportunities, or simply the joy of being part of a vibrant and supportive community.

In summary, my week at Data Saturday Holland and dataMinds Connect was an incredible experience! These events not only expanded my knowledge but also allowed me to connect (and continue to connect) with fellow data enthusiasts and experts!

I have a few more things coming up in the following monhts:

• New Stars of Data with my mentee Ioannis Philippides
• Data Left Unattended
• Data Saturday Vienna
• ... A few more things are in the works, but nothing definitive yet...

Do I see you there? 😀

Microsoft Build Is Around The Corner

 I think I already shared it earlier, but in case you missed it:

In just under 2 weeks, Microsoft Build (in-person and online conference) is happening with a lot of exciting Power BI and data related updates. You should definitely watch it, either live or the recordings afterwards! It starts at Tuesday, May 23rd, 6PM CEST.

More info and registration: build.microsoft.com

A few important sessions to start with:

• General opening Keynote by Satya Nadella
• The era of the AI Copilot, follow-up keynote
• Next generation AI for developers with the Microsoft Cloud > Data & AI related keynote by Scott Guthrie
• ⭐ Analytics in the Age of AI by Arun Ulag and Amir Netz and the Synapse/Power BI team
  This is a MUST WATCH for every Power BI developer and data engineer, currently working with Synapse, Data Factory and/or Power BI!
• ⭐Empower every BI professional to do more with data by Zoe Douglas and Christian Wade from the Power BI / Analysis Services team
  This is a MUST WATCH for every Power BI developer!
  

I will also share an update shortly after Build to summarize the news and give my feedback on it, so stay tuned!

Conferences and Speaking

It's a busy time, but there is also lots of fun stuff happening! Besides my move to Powerdobs earlier this year, there are also several interesting conferences that caught my attention! Let me tell you about them.

SQLBits

For starters, at the beginning of this month there was SQLBits, were I (virtually) presented a session called Power Platform Better Together: Create a Scoring App with a Live Dashboard.
In this session I showed how to use Power BI, Power Automate and Power Apps to create an interactive application. While I loved to be there in-person, I made the decision earlier this year to present virtual due to all the uncertainty back then. Although I do regret it after seeing all the excitement on social media, I still have some travel plans to other conferences this year.

If you don't know SQLBits, it's probably the greatest Data conference in Europe, spanning a whopping 5 days, including the free community event Saturday.

Here's a few stats from the conference this year:

• Over 450 hours of training delivered
• 232 speakers, over 25% of whom identify as diverse in our industry
• 67 helpers
• Over 1600 attendees Tue-Fri, with almost 2/3 in-person
• Plus another 900 registrations for the free Saturday
• Attendees from 38 countries
• Over £8K raised for Ukraine, in support of two Ukrainian speakers and a Ukrainian helper

Session recordings are still being worked on and will become available for registered attendees. But, in case you missed out, slides are already available at their website.

Power BI Global Summit

I bet the Power BI Summit is known you all, it is the biggest Power BI conference in the world. A multi-day event with speakers from the Microsoft Power BI team’s product group, community experts and MVPs from all around the world. This time I had the honor of hosting a Table Talk around the topic of Power BI Service Administration and beyond at the Global Power BI Summit, with my friends Tom Martens ( B | @tommartens68), Štěpán Rešl ( B | @tpnRel1) and Benni De Jagere ( B | @BenniDeJagere). We actually did it twice that day, in the morning and the evening, to accommodate all time zones across the world.

There was a lot of interaction, people asking questions in chat but also coming on camera for a live chat. We even got some people answering questions from time to time, which is great for the engagement. And that way I also learned some new things!

MVP Summit

Although every conference has its perks, I am pretty sure this is the one I'm most excited about!

As a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional, you are eligible to attend the MVP Global Summit once a year, The event features a large catalog of in-depth technical discussions and feedback sessions, directly with the Microsoft product teams and engineers.

The MVP Award is a global program of recognized technology experts and community leaders who actively support technical communities through unique, innovative, and consistent knowledge sharing. These community leaders actively contribute to support the developer and IT Pro communities worldwide, helping them learn, build, and use our products.

My expectations are high! There will be a lot of demonstrations of functions and features that are not yet publicly available. Of course there are strict Non-disclosure agreements on all sessions on the MVP Summit, but that won't spoil the fun.

Due to the fact that the world is still not 100% back to normal, this year the Summit is still virtual, so the organizers are trying to accommodate all time zones. Most sessions are roughly from 4 PM until 5 AM here in Europe, so that's going to be a tough three days ahead... 😴

Power BI Gebruikersdag

Last but not least, this week also marks the start of the famous annual Dutch Power BI User Day: Power BI Gebruikersdag. It’s a great community event with lot's of local attendees and speakers.

You can have a look at a recap of one of the earlier conferences:

The association behind this user day has had a major overhaul, with 4 new board members, so I'm excited to see what they have been up to!

I'm also delighted to be presenting 2 sessions there:

• A (big) look into Query Folding on Deep Dive Friday! I've done Query Folding before, but this is a 2-hour long session going into (all) the depths! 😀
• Write-back with Power Apps in Power BI on Saturday, which is a new session, showing off how to use Power Apps inside Power BI to edit data in the backend.

Check the full schedule for all the sessions!

Closing

My very last point then, because in June I'll also be attending and speaking at DataGrillen, the only conference (I know of) that has Data, Bratwurst and Beer. 😀 But more about that later.

For everyone attending one of the conferences above, please come and say hi, ask a question, tell a story or just grab a drink and hang out! 💛

Back In Business: Power BI Next Step

So, I did a presentation last Friday on Query Folding in Power BI.
It was at the Power BI Next Step conference.
You might think it was another online, like the 2.463.345th, webinar via Teams. But...

WE WERE IN COPENHAGEN!! 😁

Meeting people again, having a chat and drink with other speakers, attendees and #pbifamily friends I haven't seen other then online... It was A-MA-ZING to be back at it! 

Because a few months ago there was still some uncertainty about all the rules, Marc, his girlfriend and me decided to take a road trip and go by car, which was pretty doable and actually quite fun.

I also went for a little run just after the conference!

We also had a lovely speaker dinner in the oldest restaurant in Copenhagen: Det Lille Apotek:

Finally, a speaking dinner again! 😀🥳 #PowerBINextStep @pkamasani pic.twitter.com/G37M5P9tIA

— Nicky van Vroenhoven (@NickyvV) September 17, 2021

And on Saturday we finished it off with a little boat trip:

Out on a lovely boat trip with all the #pbifamily still in Copenhagen! 💛 pic.twitter.com/wY4wgxVTuL

— Nicky van Vroenhoven (@NickyvV) September 18, 2021

 

Slides and more...

The conference will send out all the slides, but if you can't wait for mine, you can find them at my GitHub page, or directly download the slides as PDF here.

During the conference, several people asked if the information from my session was also available on my blog somewhere, which actually is not (yet 😀).

So with renewed energy from the conference, I'm announcing my next topic here:

A blog series on Query Folding!

Keep an eye out for the first part in the next weeks!

My Past & Upcoming Speaking Engagements

I noticed I already did quite some presentations this year (15). So I thought this would be a nice time to give a short update on what I did and what presentations are still to come.

Past Talks

• Denmark Power BI User Group (webinar), November 4th
• MVP Lightning Talks (webinar), October 21st
• DataWeekender #TheSQL (webinar), October 17th
• SQL Saturday Denmark (webinar), September 26th
• SQL Saturday Croatia (webinar), September 19th

For a full list of all my presentations have a look at my speaking page.

A while ago I decided to create a github page to host all my slidedecks, so have a look there if you are looking for materials: https://github.com/NickyvVr/talks.

Upcoming Talks

M365 Chicago, November 13th

I know, it's Friday, and it's the 13th: what could go wrong, right? :)
I'm actually delivering 2 presentations here, which you can find below, one at 7PM and one at 10PM (UTC+1).

You can still register for this event here.

Just be aware that this is a US-based event, so it starts at 3:10 PM (CET) with the keynote: Building Community Through Storytelling and ends with an EndNote Panel at midnight my time.

Power Platform French Summit, November 20th

This will actually be a 2-day event:

• Thursday, November 19th with a Business Day
• Friday, November 20th with a Technical Day

Here I'll also be giving my Forms, Flow, Power BI session at Friday afternoon.

Closing

I would also like to mention that the next event (register here) for our Power BI Days Netherlands is scheduled on November 24th with this great line-up:

• Alexander Arvidsson (b | @arcticdba): The Untruthful Art – Five Ways of Misrepresenting Data
• Meagan Longoria (b | @MMarie): What Is Inclusive Report Design and Why Should You Care?

Finally, if you are interested in having me talk for your User Group or conference, have a look at my available sessions and let me know here or on Twitter.

#MSIgnite 2020 - Power BI Recap

While there were several issues with the first sessions having no video, there was still a lot of excitement around all the announcements being made at Ignite! And luckily we can re-watch those sessions!

As I watched the sessions I made some notes, I cleaned them up a bit and thought I'd share them for anyone that likes to read up.

It's in no way a full update on Power BI related news, but highlights I found interesting. If you think I missed something that should be here, please let me know.

It's full of links to read more, also sometimes [Sessions] are linked where you can have a look yourself!

Enjoy! :-)

Icon or logo

So, what do you think about the new Logo? Or is it an Icon, or a …? :-)

Power BI Desktop September updates

Smart Narratives (September Desktop release)

Search capability for workspaces when publishing a report from Power BI Desktop

A small step for the Power BI team, a giant leap for the #pbifamily! :-)

Visual data preparation (coming soon) in Power Query: I'm really looking forward to this one!

Sessions

Demo by Kim Manis in [Session]Deliver insights where decisions are made with Power BI

• Power BI Service (with the whole left-side menu) rendered inside Teams
• Create quick reports by copy-pasting data

Power BI Premium Gen2

[Session] Advancing Power BI Premium for the enterprise analytics market and beyond

Wow, am I excited about this one! Of course we use Premium, so that's obvious, but also the announcement of Premium Per User is very exciting!

• Power BI Premium Gen 2
• Faster processing of refreshes
• No concurrency limitation
• No cumulative memory limitation, so each refresh can take up 25GB of RAM (for a P1)!
• Premium Per User, available at no cost during public preview, no price announced yet
• Autoscale (optional feature)
• Add (paid) vCores for at least 24h
• Billed through Azure subscription
• Set limits to control cost
• Cost-management on a workspace level
• Utilization breakdown

Have a look at the Power BI blog where Chris Finlan answers the most common questions around Power BI Premium Per User lincensing!

Deployment pipelines

This feature goes GA: read the GA blog, with an important excerpt:

• Using deployment pipelines, you can make updates to a model with incremental refresh configured, and deploy it to production, while retaining both data and partitions!
  *Only Datasets with the ‘Enhanced metadata format’ switch turned on

So, what else is coming? For example, Paginated reports and Dataflows will be supported with deployment pipelines in a later stadium. 

For all updates, I suggest you check the Power BI roadmap wave 2 release notes!

Free Certification exam

And of course, if you are attending Ignite, and complete at least one collection in the Microsoft Ignite Cloud Skills Challenge, you are eligible for a FREE certification exam! Have a look here for the details: Cloud Skills Challenge

Other interesting sessions still to watch:

And if you want to have a complete overview of what has happened at Ignite, not only Power BI, you should read the Ignite Book of News!

My Upcoming Speaking Engagements: Belgium and Iceland!

Before talking about my upcoming speaking engagements I would like to tell you a little story. And it goes like this.

How it all started

Back in 2018 I started my journey of getting more involved in the SQL and Power BI community. It actually all started with a Power BI User Group (the Dutch Data Dude Farewell Tour with Jeroen ter Heerdt (B | @jeroenterheerdt)) organized by PBIG (and me) at the Van Lanschot Kempen office in Den Bosch, on which I wrote about earlier last year. Jeroen Schalken (B | @JeroenSchalken) and me did a little introduction talk (around 15 minutes) about our implementation of Power BI at Van Lanschot Kempen. It was frightening and exciting at the same time. During the break of the evening Edgar Walther (B | @edgarwalther) of PBIG came to say it was a very interesting presentation and if we would like to extend that and come talk at the Power BI User Day in March 2019. It was right there that I (and Jeroen) made the decision to say YES. We still had to make a one hour presentation, but also had plenty of time left.

After that presentation I really got the feel of it and started looking for other opportunities to speak. Eventually this turned out in speaking at Power BI Days Belgium with a session and a workshop, followed by SQL Saturday Prague together with Jeroen, dataMinds Connect in Belgium, and even the Power Platform World Tour in Dublin!

It brought me so much more than I could have imagined.

The first thing is that I get the chance to share my knowledge with like-minded people. Next, it was not only amazing to travel to these venues with great speakers and people I look up to. There were also awesome social events during every trip. And that's where the real magic happens. You make contacts, chat a bit, have a beer (or drink of your choice) and make new friends. And at another event you meet even more people to connect with, but sometimes also catch up with the newly made friends from the previous conference. It's been an amazing experience so far.

It was amazing being part of this #PowerPlatformWT! Thanks @pbiusergroup @benrebooted @DublinPUG for the opportunity!
My slides are uploaded to the PPWT site and can also be found at my blog: https://t.co/qnuW3ALWFu https://t.co/FLVSH5rLz0

— Nicky van Vroenhoven (@NickyvV) October 31, 2019

Upcoming events

But now back to the title of this blog post: it was time again to update my Speaking page, because I already have a few very nice events in my calendar.

This year will start with SQL Saturday Belgium (#956) on March 7, where I will deliver (an updated version of) the presentation that started it all.

Next up is SQL Saturday Iceland (#937) on March 28, where I will deliver my new session A Form, a Flow and a Power BI Streaming Dataset Walk Into a Bar. This session is based on the lightning session I gave at the Dublin Power BI UG during the Power Platform World Tour in Dublin.

Next to those two SQL Saturday events there's also a UG meeting planned, but not officially released yet. So more info on that one later.

Teaser

And last but not least: I will have some very exciting news to share in the coming weeks hopefully. I'm currently finalizing everything, so I'll let you know when everything is signed, sealed and delivered :-)

@NickyvV

Speaking at dataMinds Connect in Belgium

I already posted a short update on LinkedIn, but I now finally also had the time to update my blog.

Query Folding in Power BI at dataMinds Connect

I had the honor of doing a session at the Newcomer track at dataMinds Connect. This was a special track for people like me that have (almost) no conference speaking experience. The conference assigned buddies to these newcomers. For that, I'd like to thank Koen Verbeeck (B | @Ko_Ver) for helping me enormously with feedback to and try-outs of my presentation.
My submission to this conference was actually the first I did earlier this year, after that I also submitted to the other places like SQL Saturday Prague. But this was actually my first technical session with lot's of demo's.

Slides on Github

The slides were already shared with the conference organizers, but are also available via my Speaking page. I recently made some changes to the way I share them because I moved all my talks and slides to my Github. I still have some things and links to add there, but the basics are there.

I also did some calculations on the feedback I received and I was pretty happy with the average of 3.9!

Feedback scores

Half marathon Eindhoven

Like I mentioned in my session at dataMinds Connect I also participated in the half marathon in Eindhoven on Sunday October 12.
As it was relatively warm with 24 degrees Celcius, I had to shelve my plans of running a PR fairly quickly after 5K. A lot of people also were struck by the warmth and humidity that day

Ouch, that was a heavy one.. hot and tough. No PR, but I DID finish it 👊 #runhappy pic.twitter.com/0cyPXiY6GU

— Nicky van Vroenhoven (@NickyvV) October 13, 2019

Power Platform World Tour in Dublin

The next stop is the Power Platform World Tour in Dublin where I'm presenting my Tips & Tricks of our Power BI implementation! I'm also doing one of the "Show & Tell" sessions at the Power Platform World Tour Meetup on the evening of October 30, organised by Ben Watt (B | @benrebooted).
I can also offer a $100 discount to all members who are part of their local Power Platform User Group community with the following code: 2019PPWT100DUB

NvV

Speaking at SQL Saturday Prague 2019

Last weekend I had the great opportunity of speaking at my first SQL Saturday, in the beautiful city of Prague in the Czech Republic. Together with my colleague Jeroen Schalken (B | @JeroenSchalken), we travelled to Prague to deliver our session on implementing Power BI (Premium) at Van Lanschot Kempen.

I also was very active on twitter during the weekend on the hashtag #sqlsatprague, I embedded every first tweet of my daily threads in the blog.

Friday

All settled and ready to go to #sqlsatprague with Jeroen Schalken! We are going to present the Tips & Tricks from our #PowerBI Implementation at Van Lanschot Kempen tomorrow at 17.15! #pbifamily https://t.co/6g7aGMQbDg

— Nicky van Vroenhoven (@NickyvV) September 20, 2019

We started Friday morning with our travel to Eindhoven Airport. After a little delay in Eindhoven, we were just in time to drop our bags at the hotel and get ready to be picked up for the speaker's dinner. It was in restaurant Kuchyň, with a beautiful view over the city next to Prague Castle.

Having a great speaker's dinner at #sqlsatprague! With @JeroenSchalken @JiriNeoral @pinaldave @christinaleo @Neil_Hambly @SQLSwimmer @tomaz_tsql @MatijaLah @sqlpass_cz @jardaminha @SQL_Alex @DejanSarka @DamianWidera @TomasTucek @jaroreken @malekpav pic.twitter.com/7gLfFy8Rkr

— Nicky van Vroenhoven (@NickyvV) September 20, 2019

We shared some starters on the table and then could pick our own food right from the kitchen, which was very nice. We were very well taken care of by the SQL Saturday Prague team!

Saturday

I started the SQL Saturday with a short run around the convention center and through the park and after having breakfast in the hotel we headed to the conference.

Rise and shine! It's #sqlsatprague time! pic.twitter.com/TLqGgG4apQ

— Nicky van Vroenhoven (@NickyvV) September 21, 2019

During the day I attended these sessions:

• Profiling Your Data by Angela Henry (B | @SQLSwimmer)
  Angela showed how you can use Power BI or the SSIS Data Profiling task (also available in Biml) to profile your data. Oh, and you should do that before the start of your project btw.
• Power BI Row Level Security Deep Dive by Jiří Neoral (B | @JiriNeoral)
  Jiri showed RLS in Desktop, from defining your security in a (hidden) table to dynamic RLS.
• Power BI as a universal analytic tool by Michal Chmelár (B)
  Michal showed several Cognitive Services for analyzing and translating text to sentiment analysis and also how to integrate the PowerApps visual into a Power BI report.
• Designing your tabular/PowerBI model for performance and scalability by Ivan Donev (B | @ikdonev)
  Ivan showed us several best practices of creating an SSAS model after breaking down Hash, Dictionary and Run Length Encoding.

There was also time for relaxing in the speaker room and taking some fresh air outside. And then finally of course our own session at the end of the day:

Tips and Tricks of a Power BI (Premium) Implementation at a Financial Institute by Jeroen Schalken and me. Because we were the latest slot of the day quite a few people already left, but our audience was very interactive and had lots of questions, so thank you!

We also went to restaurant Na Pekařce for the SQL Saturday after party, where we were joined by the speakers, organisers and also around 40 attendees.

Sunday

We had this day to enjoy the beautiful city of Prague, together with a few other speakers and Jarda, who was our awesome guide for the day!

Sightseeing after #sqlsatprague with @pinaldave @jardaminha @christinaleo @SQLSwimmer @JeroenSchalken pic.twitter.com/6Le9LbgYJo

— Nicky van Vroenhoven (@NickyvV) September 22, 2019

Monday

Because our flight was at 9.30 AM we started this day very early with a quick breakfast and on to the metro and bus to the check-in and security at the airport. It all went very smoothly so I even had some time to work on this post. At 11 o'clock we were back again on Dutch soil. As a surprise my wife and 2 youngest kids were there to pick me up.

Dobrý den: Final preparations before going back home from #sqlsatprague. Massive thanks to all the organisers @sqlpass_cz , sponsors, attendees and other speakers! A special thanks to @jardaminha for taking such good care of us and taking us on the sightseeing tour yesterday! pic.twitter.com/cXI4awH0Ah

— Nicky van Vroenhoven (@NickyvV) September 23, 2019

Closing words

All-in all it was a wonderfull weekend and I met many new great friends from the SQL Community. I hope I can some day go back to (SQL Saturday) Prague!

I also made a short video of my adventures during the weekend, so enjoy!