- Hello everyone.
I'm Marco Russo, and I'm happy to introduce
our latest project, SQLBI+.
This new service gives you access to advanced content
we constantly add to and update
to support professional model authors
who create semantic models
for Power BI and Analysis Services.
We already have a portfolio of courses
for DAX, data modeling and the Tabular technology
behind these Microsoft products.
We offer free introductory courses,
while medium to advanced courses are for sale on our website.
When we think of new courses,
we can only justify the expense of creating the content,
recording and delivering a new product
if it's about topics that are of a certain length
and serve a larger audience.
But it's impossible to create
tens of separate, focused products for niche, specific topics
that might very well be crucial to a much smaller audience.
Well, it was impossible.
Now, we can do that with SQLBI+.
A subscription to SQLBI+
will give you immediate access
to more advanced and specialized content.
Structured courses, white papers, and individual sessions
are the primary formats we're going to use.
You don't have to consume everything.
There will be topics that don't apply to your requirements
at this time.
Yet, when you need something specific,
for example, to create a DAX query
or to understand how composite model work in more detail,
then you will find a dedicated video course
to make you an expert in that area.
These video courses
come loaded with the usual awesome features
of our learning platform:
progress tracking, translated subtitles, transcripts,
bookmarks, highlights,
and a private discussion area with Alberto and I.
SQLBI+ also includes individual sessions
that explore specific topics.
They don't follow the structure of regular courses.
They are more similar to conference sessions
that you will always have available in your subscription.
The value proposition with SQLBI+
is that each single piece of content
may be the exact technical information
you need for your requirements,
and is immediately available on demand.
Hopefully, you will use several of these topics in a year
which makes the subscription a good deal.
This business model is how we provide you
with new, specialized content
whose market is not wide enough
to justify the production of each module.
But by putting all the pieces together
inside SQLBI+, we come to a win-win:
you get what you need at an affordable price,
we can work on niche areas
that become vital when you need them.
We're committed to adding at least two new courses
and four other pieces of content
to the SQLBI+ subscription every year.
Stay tuned for more information
about the upcoming release of new content in SQLBI+,
so you can better evaluate (and explain to others)
the value of your subscription.
So don't wait,
subscribe to SQLBI+, and - as usual - enjoy DAX!
Wait a minute, I guess you want to know
the content already published on SQLBI+
and what we're scheming for the next few months, right?
You should!
We start with two courses and several sessions.
The first course is called Writing DAX Queries,
where you learn how to write
the DAX queries for your report.
You can use DAX queries in Excel and paginated reports,
and 80% of the content is also useful
to create calculated tables in Power BI
and Analysis Services.
The second course is about Composite Models,
which is the shorter name for a feature called
DirectQuery for Power BI datasets
and Azure Analysis Services,
it's too long as a name.
In practice, these are the models you obtain
when extending an existing Power BI dataset
by adding tables imported in local model
or connecting tables stored in other Power BI datasets
or Analysis Services databases.
This feature is very powerful
and you might want to know how it works internally
to avoid performance bottlenecks
and to design the best architecture for your solution.
The next course that will be published
in the next few months is about calculation groups.
When the mid range content available
in our books, articles, and in Mastering DAX is not enough
for your more complex projects,
this highly technical piece will dive
into more details and possibilities enabled
by Calculation Groups in DAX.
Probably it should be named
"Everything you always wanted to know
about calculation groups but were afraid to ask".
But I think that
the phrase is very much protected by copyright
so I don't think we can use it.
Anyway, this content comes as a collection of video courses
integrated with a white paper about the same content.
So, depending on your learning style,
there is plenty to work with.
Other courses will follow:
as I said, we are committed
to publishing at least two new courses per year.
Now, in addition, we also have prepared video mini sessions
which as the name indicates, are usually shorter
and more spontaneous than courses,
while still containing valuable information.
We start with "Introducing Calculation Groups",
"Inside a VertiPaq Engine",
and "My Power BI Report is Slow,
What can I do?"
Yes, these sessions
were delivered in conferences around the world,
and they are now available in a studio recorded version,
thus with better video and audio quality.
There are more to come.
"Time intelligence with DAX",
"Different types of many-to-many relationships",
and many others.
That's all for now.
I have to continue the preparation of the next session,
so... see you soon on SQLBI+.