Microsoft data and analytics

Familiar Microsoft tools, applications and interfaces, with business intelligence tools built in, for self-service, collaborative BI.

You’re in experienced hands with our analytics team - we have delivered hundreds of business intelligence and data warehouse solutions using the Microsoft technology stack, and won Business Intelligence Solution of the Year at the 2013 Microsoft New Zealand Partner Awards, and were a finalist in the Data Analytics category in 2015.

SQL Server

A high-performance and feature rich foundation for data warehouse and business intelligence solutions whatever your requirements.

SQL Server on-premises or in the Azure SQL Server in the cloud
Polybase to query non-relational data sources
Enterprise features in Standard Edition (SQL Server 2016 SP1) such as table partitioning, encryption and polybase
Massively Parallel Processing (MPP) with Azure SQL Data Warehouse and APS to scale to massive relational and non-relational data volumes while provide lightning quick response times

Integration Services (SSIS)

Integration Services provides the ability to connect to cloud and on-premises data sources and apply a wide range of built-in tasks, transformations and tools for data to be extracted, transformed and loaded as required.

SSIS is included in Microsoft SQL server and ETL solutions are developed using the familiar Visual Studio IDE. Use SSIS to effectively and efficiently apply data driven designs, implement complex business logic to ETL and orchestrate data loads.

Analysis Services (SSAS)

An analytics data engine used for providing consistent business analytics and decision support, Analysis Services includes the tools to create and manage Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) and data mining.

Analysis services includes two models:

Tabular - In-memory relational data modelling
Multidimensional - implements OLAP modelling

Analysis services is available on-premises and in the Azure cloud as PaaS (Platform As A Service).

Use Analysis Services to provide business users with consistent data and with the ability to do self-service data analysis, reporting and dashboarding using client tools such as Power BI, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services.

Azure Services

The Azure cloud environment offers many services that can be used to develop analytical solutions or complement existing solutions in the cloud or on-premises.

Streaming Analytics for real time analysis
Machine learning/predictive analytics
Data lake - analysis over different types of data
HDInsight - HDFS
Integration and orchestration
- Data Factory
- Logic Apps
Data Catalog for business glossary and metadata
IoT and event hubs for Internet of Things

Sharepoint Server

Centrally manage, share and publish your business intelligence applications, dashboards, reports and more. More on SharePoint.

Visualisation and analysis

Visualise and report on data how you want using the right tools.

Reporting Services

Self-service, pixel-perfect, paginated reporting that allows users to subscribe to reports and choose different delivery and output options.

Power BI

Powerful interactive visualisation tools that help users easily analyse and find insights in their data. Power BI integrates easily with other Microsoft tools including Teams and Dynamics NAV.

Check out our Power BI Health and Safety Dashboard. Want to build your own Power BI dashboards? We can provide Dashboard in a Day training.

More info on Power BI.

Excel

Data analysis using the familiar Excel environment

Advanced analytics

Microsoft provides several ways to do advanced analytics:

Azure Machine Learning - a cloud service providing a self-contained design and modelling application with simple drag and drop interface. Developers and analysts are able to load, profile and cleanse data to develop models using predefined algorithms (as well as custom R or Python scripts). Interfacing with the model can be done using REST APIs making integration with the BI environment simple.

SQL Server 2016 provides R Services which enables R code to be executed in T-SQL over datasets in the SQL Server database.

Power BI Desktop allows R scripts to be run over datasets and also provides the R visualisation component.

Azure Data Catalog

Azure Data Catalog is an Azure cloud service that allows for enterprise-wide metadata discovery and data source access across an organisation's data stores. It’s a fully managed service and lets any user—from analyst to data scientist to developer—register, enrich, discover, understand, and consume data sources.

Supported objects that can be catalogued include:

SQL Server databases, Analysis Services and Reporting Services
Azure Data Lake Store File
Azure Storage
HDSF and Hadoop
Oracle
SQL Hana
OData, and more.

Metadata captured in Azure Data Catalog includes the data source, asset definitions (tables, views, reports) and data profiles (types, row counts, max/min). Users can enrich the metadata by adding documentation, notes, tags or common terms to build up a business glossary.

Users can work with data in their tool of choice, eg Power BI, Reporting Services or Excel. Your data stays where you want it, and the Data Catalog user portal helps you discover it and work with it where you want. It’s also possible to integrate into existing tools and processes with open REST APIs.

Implementing Azure Data Catalog will enable users to get more value out of the BI environment and encourage self-service reporting and analysis. Contact us to see how Azure Data Catalog can help you get more value from your data.