With data volumes exploding, “having the right technology to find insights from your data is critical to long-term success” in business, writes Eron Kelly on the SQL Server Blog. “Leading organizations are adjusting their strategies to focus on data management and analytics, and we are seeing a consistent increase in organizations adopting the Microsoft data platform to address their growing needs around data.”
To learn about the technology that makes up Microsoft’s data platform, there are new courses available in the Microsoft Virtual Academy. The sessions are geared to IT professionals, developers, database administrators and technical decision makers to help “grow your skills and better understand what differentiates Microsoft’s data offerings.”
“This calendar year we will be delivering an unprecedented lineup of new and updated products and services,” Kelly writes. As outlined in Microsoft’s data platform vision, those products and services include SQL Server 2014, Power BI (Business Intelligence) for Office 365, Windows Azure SQL Database, Windows Azure HDInsight and Parallel Data Warehouse.
Among the Microsoft Virtual Academy sessions coming up that you may want to consider, Kelly writes:
Feb. 11, Business Intelligence course:Faster Insights with Power BI Jumpstart. “Join this Jumpstart, and learn about the tools you need to provide faster data insights to your organization, including Power Query, Power Map and natural language querying,” the course description says. “This live, demo-rich session provides a full-day drilldown into Power BI features and capabilities, led by the team of Microsoft experts who own them.”
Feb. 18, Data management for modern business applications course:SQL Server in Windows Azure VM Role Jumpstart. “If you're wondering how to use Windows Azure as a hosting environment for your SQL Server virtual machines, join the experts as they walk you through it, with practical, real-world demos,” the course description says. “SQL Server in Windows Azure VM is an easy and full-featured way to be up and running in 10 minutes with a database server in the cloud. You use it on demand and pay as you go, and you get the full functionality of your own data center.”
To read Kelly’s entire post, head over to the SQL Server Blog.
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Suzanne Choney
Microsoft News Center Staff