THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS intelligence tool in the Microsoft Swiss Army knife of tools is SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS). This is because the other tools would be nothing without the cleansing and movement of data into a presentable format. The product can extract, transform, and load (ETL) data astonishingly fast. A 2010 benchmark showed movement of more than a terabyte an hour with SSIS! If you’re new to SSIS, you’ve picked a fantastic fi eld to become involved in. The one consistent skill needed in today’s technical job market is ETL. If a company wants to establish a partnership with another company, it’ll need to communicate data back and forth between the two companies. If your company wants to launch new products, it’ll need a way to integrate those products into its website and catalog. All of these types of tasks are going to require the skill set you are developing and will learn in this book.

Companies that had never used SQL Server before are now allowing it in their environment because SSIS is such an easy-to-use and cost-effective way to move data. SSIS competes with the largest ETL tools on the market like Informatica, DataStage, and Ab Initio at a tiny fraction of the price. SQL Server 2012 now offers more components that you use to make your life even easier and the performance scales to a level never seen on the SQL Server platform.

The best thing about SSIS is its price tag: free with your SQL Server purchase. Many ETL vendors charge hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, for what you will see in this book. SSIS is also a great platform for you to expand and integrate into, which many ETL vendors do not offer. Once you get past the initial learning curve, you’ll be amazed with the power of the tool, and it can take weeks off your time to market. This author team has trained hundreds of people over the years, and you’ll fi nd that the learning curve of SSIS is shallow relative to competing platforms. In SQL Server 2012, the product has matured to its third major envisioning. In this release the focus was on scalability, management, and more advanced data cleansing.

An in-depth look at the radical changes to the newest release of SISS

Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Integration Services (SISS) builds on the revolutionary database product suite first introduced in 2005. With this crucial resource, you will explore how this newest release serves as a powerful tool for performing extraction, transformation, and load operations (ETL). A team of SQL Server experts deciphers this complex topic and provides detailed coverage of the new features of the 2012 product release. In addition to technical updates and additions, the authors present you with a new set of SISS best practices, based on years of real-world experience that have transpired since the previous edition was published.

• Details the newest features of the 2012 SISS product release, which is the most significant release since 2005
• Addresses the keys to a successful ETL solution, such as using the right enterprise ETL tool and employing the right ETL architecture in order to meet the system requirements
• Includes additional case studies and tutorial examples to illustrate advanced concepts and techniques

Professional Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Integration Services is a valuable resource that meets the demands and high expectations of experienced SSIS professionals.