Professional SQL Server 2005 Integration Services (Programmer to Programmer)

The Microsoft Data Warehouse Toolkit : With SQL Server 2005 and the Microsoft Business Intelligence Toolset

Data Mining with SQL Server 2005

Delivering Business Intelligence with Microsoft SQL Server 2005

Databases

Professional SQL Server Analysis Services 2005 with MDX (Programmer to Programmer)

Format: Paperback
Author: Sivakumar Harinath
ReleaseDate: 30 May, 2006
Publisher: Wrox
Rating:

The Definitive Book on Analysis Services
As is often the case, the first version of the product to make it to market isn't everything that the customer might want. Microsoft has been extending the capabilities of their SQL Server product to make it more useful in enterprise environments. In fact the authors make the comment that the user interface was about as complex as driving a nuclear submarine.

The purpose of Analysis Services is to handle data warehousing and data mining applications where the goal is to look at the vast amounts of data stored in enterprise systems and extract information that will be useful to management.

Because of the multiple places where data is typically stored, Analysis Services uses a distinct query language called MDX (Multi-Dimensional eXpressions) which is based on the Microsoft Visual Studio IDE.

This book is part of the Wrox Professional to Professional series, and is not exactly a beginner book. You'd best have some basic understanding of databases before you start this one. The authors are a good combination. Dr. Harinath is a Ph. D. computer scientist and has been working in the development of Analysis Services. Mr. Quinn's degree is in psychology, so he has some understanding of what is needed in writing. This will probably be the definitive book on Analysis Services.