Training

“I recently took From Zero to SSIS with Andy Leonard. What I discovered about Andy’s personality matched his teaching style. Andy treated each student as a respected friend; he focused on the most important aspects of SSIS, using real world examples for labs; he willingly offered his time and resources; he has an immense understanding of SSIS. This is the best week of training I have had in the 15 years I have been in the industry.” Why Train with Andy Leonard? Andy is an author with decades of ETL experience and years of SQL Server Integration Services experience. Andy is a professional trainer and mentor, and is passionate about SSIS. He regularly provides advice and free instruction at his blog at SQLBlog.com and on Twitter (@AndyLeonard). When respected members of the SQL Server community have SSIS questions, they seek out Andy Leonard.

Andy Leonard offers SQL Server Integration Services training:  
From Zero To SSIS!

The next 5-Day Course scheduled for 17-21 Oct 2011!

When: 17-21 Oct 2011 (5 days)
Cost: $2,500 USD
Where: Farmville Virginia
Maximum Class Size: 8

More details:

You will need to bring your laptop and you will need a version of SQL Server 2005 or newer - preferably 2008 or 2008 R2. SSIS will need to be installed and functioning. You can obtain a 180-day Trial Edition of SQL Server 2008 R2 here.

We're meeting at the Hampton Inn in Farmville, where we have negotiated a corporate rate for rooms ($89/night - just mention you are attending this class). This is a really nice hotel, among Hampton Inns it's rated #1 in Virginia and #4 in the nation. There's a mini-mall within walking distance of the hotel that includes Sunchase Cinema 8. Farmville is home to Longwood University and Hampton-Syndey College, so you can get just about any kind of food you want in town. Speaking of food... 

Breakfast is provided by the Hampton Inn and lunch will be catered by my lovely bride, Christy Leonard (Blog | @ChristyLeonard). That might be worth the cost of the class right there!

I'm limiting the class size to eight people. The Hampton Inn has a couple rooms that accommodate between 14 and 50 people but I'm not limiting the class based on this. I'm imposing the limit because I can deliver my full attention to eight students and not be hurried or feel like I'm leaving someone behind or out. I think eight is about the perfect class size.

To sign up or get more information, contact Andy Leonard.

From Zero to SSIS! is designed to train technology professionals in the fine art of using SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) to build data integration and Extract-Transform-Load (ETL) solutions. The course is focused around labs and emphasizes a hands-on approach.

The target audience for this training is database professionals, application developers, and business intelligence practitioners interested in acquiring or expanding their existing SSIS skill set. No experience with SQL Server or SQL Server Integration Services is required before attending this training. It is helpful (but not required) that students possess some knowledge of and experience with relational databases. SQL Server knowledge/experience will be more helpful than experience and knowledge with other technologies.

For more information, email Andy Leonard.

Lesson 0: Introduction

· Training Overview, Expectations, and Introductions

Lesson 1: Creating Your First SSIS package

· Introduction to Business Intelligence Development Studio

o Visual Studio tips and tricks, menu contents and locations

o Exercise: Create an SSIS Project

Lesson 2: Introduction to the Data Flow Task

· Introduction to the Data Flow Task

o Connection Manager and Data Flow Task basics: source and destination adapters.

o Exercise: Straight to the Data Flow

DAY 2

Lesson 3: Data Flow Task 201

· Intermediate Data Flow Concepts

o Building re-executable data loaders

o Exercise: Create a Real Data Flow, Parts 1 and 2

Lesson 4: Data Flow Task 202

· Advanced Data Flow Concepts

o Building and tuning robust incremental loader

o Exercise: Create a Real Data Flow, Parts 3 and 4

Lesson 5: Data Flow Task 301

· Data Cleansing Basics.

o Building an incremental loader for real-world data.

o Exercise: Data Cleansing, Part 1

DAY 3

Lesson 6: The Control Flow

· Containers, Precedence, and Workflow

o Transactions, restart-ability, and blocking

o Exercise: Sequence Containers

Lesson 7: Loop Containers

· Using For Loop and Foreach Loop Containers.

o Exercise: Loading Multiple Source Files

Lesson 8: Data Flow Task 302

· Intermediate Data Cleansing. Managing real-world changes to data sources.

o Exercise: Data Cleansing, Part 2

DAY 4

Lesson 9: Data Flow Task 303

· Advanced Data Cleansing

o Loading uneven flat file sources.

o Exercise: Design Pattern: Loading Variable-Length File Sources.

Lesson 10: Event Handlers, Logging, and Configurations

· Survey of SSIS Event Handlers Focusing on OnError and OnInformation Events

o Using SSIS’s built-in logging facility to capture package execution details and statistics, and built-in package configurations to externalize variable values

o Exercise: Trapping and Logging Errors, Part 1

Lesson 11: Security, Deployment, and Execution

· SSIS Package Deployment Options and Security Implications

o Execution options

o Exercise: Package Execution Options

DAY 5

Lesson 12: ETL Design Patterns

· Leveraging Less-Documented Features of SSIS with the Parent-Child Design Pattern to Achieve “hands-free” Custom Logging and Creative Custom Configuration.

o ETL Instrumentation

o Exercise: Trapping and Logging Errors, Part 2

Lesson 13: Enterprise Execution Patterns

· Leveraging the Parent-Child design pattern to build a metadata-driven SSIS execution engine.

Lesson 14: SSIS Performance

· Demonstrations of common SSIS performance-killers and “SSIS deadlocks”. A methodology for troubleshooting SSIS performance.