As the most influential thought leaders in the data warehousing and business intelligence industry, the Kimball Group has developed pioneering techniques that serve as industry standards for DW/BI system design, development, and management. With this new edition of their bestseller, veteran experts from the Kimball Group get you up to speed with using the new Business Intelligence release of SQL Server: SQL Server 2008 R2. Covering the complete suite of data warehousing and BI tools that are part of SQL Server 2008 R2, the authors follow the full project lifecycle, including design, development, deployment, and maintenance.

In addition to a substantial update to the content of the previous edition as well as a look at the new features and functionality of SQL Server 2008 R2 such as PowerPivot and Master Data Services, this new version includes detailed examples that illustrate how to best apply the techniques described in the book. The authors share their own trial-and-error experiences of building a DW/BI system with the Microsoft tools so that you can benefit from their challenges and successes. You'll also discover how using the Kimball Lifecycle to build your DW/BI system encourages you to zero in on four primary principles: focus on the business, build an information infrastructure, deliver in meaningfulincrements, and deliver the entire solution. With these principles in hand, you'll be well on your way to building a successful DW/BI system that supports business intelligence requirements common to most organizations.

No matter your role in the process of working on a DW/BI project, The Microsoft Data Warehouse Toolkit, Second Edition shows you how to:

• Focus your efforts on the best opportunities

• Select, install, and configure the appropriate components of SQL Server 2008 R2 and other Microsoft products

• Design the dimensional model and create the database structures for the relational and Analysis Services databases

• Build an ETL System in Integration Services to populate the DW/BI databases

• Build the BI applications and data mining models to deliver value to your organization

• Manage, secure, and grow the DW/BI system for long-term success

With SQL Server 2008 R2 and the Microsoft Business Intelligence Toolset

In this book, leading data warehouse experts from the Kimball Group share best practices for using the upcoming "Business Intelligence release" of SQL Server, referred to as SQL Server 2008 R2. In this new edition, the authors explain how SQL Server 2008 R2 provides a collection of powerful new tools that extend the power of its BI toolset to Excel and SharePoint users and they show how to use SQL Server to build a successful data warehouse that supports the business intelligence requirements that are common to most organizations. Covering the complete suite of data warehousing and BI tools that are part of SQL Server 2008 R2, as well as Microsoft Office, the authors walk you through a full project lifecycle, including design, development, deployment and maintenance.

• Features more than 50 percent new and revised material that covers the rich new feature set of the SQL Server 2008 R2 release, as well as the Office 2010 release
• Includes brand new content that focuses on PowerPivot for Excel and SharePoint, Master Data Services, and discusses updated capabilities of SQL Server Analysis, Integration, and Reporting Services
• Shares detailed case examples that clearly illustrate how to best apply the techniques described in the book
• The accompanying Web site contains all code samples as well as the sample database used throughout the case studies

The Microsoft Data Warehouse Toolkit, Second Edition provides you with the knowledge of how and when to use BI tools such as Analysis Services and Integration Services to accomplish your most essential data warehousing tasks.