SSRS 2008 Event in Cork

If anyone is in Cork on Thursday 4th June, I'll be presenting a seminar on Reporting services 2008 Architecture and Report Builder 2.0 for the MTUG.

Well be covering:

- Key Engine Changes in 2008

- Rendering Improvements

- A Walk through of how to sue Report Builder 2.0 for end user reporting.

For me, Report Builder 2.0 is really exciting as it really helps empower end user reporting, and allow ISV's and IT to focus more on the model and the data than on the specific of reporting.

So often we see a cycle where the IT department makes hundreds of reports, none of which actually do exactly what's wanted. The basic problem is that while the IT department gives the business what they "ask, the business and end users can be very visual in nature: they can't fully articulate exactly what they need until the see something that's close, which is just after the IT department has made them sign off on the project.

One solution is to try and treat reporting as more a proto-typing exercise and another is to use tools like Report Builder 2.0 and other tools from the BI stack to let end users make up their own reports.

One definite "anti-pattern" for reporting is where you need to develop 100+ reports, and users don't see the goods till the end of the project and a big formal "UAT" period. A much better approach is to break the reports down into subject area and implement small sets of reports at a time. It might take longer to implement, but the risk is much less and the final result is better.

The link for the event is here
https://www.cork.mtug.ie/Events/EventInfo.aspx?ID=74aac54f-ede2-4f20-b30f-2be7723388d2