SQL Server^® 2008 Reporting Services:
Hands-On

What is this course about?

SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services augments the ability of SQL Server, and other relational database management systems, to seamlessly deliver reports to customers, partners, suppliers and employees across the enterprise. In this course, you gain the knowledge required to author reports to extract business intelligence out of your data, deploy reports to a Report Server for centralized access and administration, and and share reports throughout the organization by deploying to SharePoint. A series of extensive hands-on exercises help you acquire the skills to exploit the full power of Reporting Services, and teaches you how to go beyond the physical limitations of your organization to deliver data and share information with others; when you want and how you want.

Who will benefit from this course?

This course is valuable for database developers, data analysts, application developers, administrators, managers, and anyone responsible for designing, creating or using reports. Those who need to understand Reporting Services, or plan to employ Reporting Services within their organization, will also greatly benefit.

What background do I need?

It is assumed that you have a working database knowledge (i.e., SQL statements, relational model concepts) at the level of Course 137: SQL Server^® 2008: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction, or equivalent experience on other relational database management systems such as Access or Oracle. A basic understanding of the Windows environment is assumed. Visual Studio knowledge and a fundamental programming background are helpful, but not required.

What types of upgrades from SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services will I see in this course?

This course introduces enhanced reporting features. You learn how to build a Tablix, an interactive report, which is a blending of a table and a matrix. You also learn how to create charts and gauge data regions.

I am currently using a database other than SQL Server. Will this course benefit me?

Yes! While SQL Server is the database used on the course, you will find that the material in this course is applicable to any OLE DB-compliant relational database management system (RDBMS), such as Access or Oracle. One of the primary advantages of SQL Server Reporting Services is that it supports any RDBMS.

My organization uses multidimensional cubes to analyze data. Why do I need Reporting Services?

SQL Server Reporting Services provides a centralized server-based solution with deployment options such as subscription-based delivery of reports, centralized management, enhanced security and snapshots, that exceed the feature set of Access. This course has a hands-on exercise that will show you how to create reports that are based on an Analysis Services cube.

I'm a manager, will this course be too technical for me?

Although there are strong technical elements of this course, as a manager, the more you understand about the capabilities and advantages of Reporting Services, the better you will be able to work with your team on an effective product implementation.

I'm not a programmer. How much programming is done on this course?

There is no programming on the course. However, the ability to write VB expressions would be beneficial. Learning Tree has been a pioneer in the application of "Active Learning" techniques, featuring paired hands-on exercises and group activities. This ensures that, even if you have basic programming skills, you can be teamed with a fellow course participant whose skills are stronger. With this method you can learn, not only from your instructor, but from the experience of other participants.

How much time is spent on each topic?

What platform is used for the hands-on exercises?

This course uses Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 running on Windows Server 2008.

What kinds of hands-on exercises are in this course?

Approximately 40 percent of class time is spent in hands-on exercises. Practical exercises provide experience administering SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services. Exercises include:

• Producing customized reports with expressions

• Employing Tablix to produce new report formats

• Leveraging advanced reporting charts with linear and radial gauges

• Creating cached instances, snapshots and subscriptions

• Deploying reports to SharePoint sites

• Configuring and testing security on report items

• Creating reports based on Analysis Services cubes

My company is switching from Crystal Reports to SQL Server Reporting Services. Will this course address this specific report conversion?

No. This course will allow you to re-author your Crystal Reports, but does not cover converting Crystal Reports to SQL Server Reporting Services.

I am not confident in my ability to write SQL queries. Will I struggle in this course?

No. This course does not expect you to write SQL queries. All of the queries used in the hands-on exercises are already written for you, you will deploy them to get data from the RDBMS.

To learn more about writing basic queries, Learning Tree offers both Course 534: Developing SQL Queries for SQL Server^®: Hands-On, and Course 234: Developing SQL Queries for Oracle^® Databases: Hands-On.

How does this course relate to other Learning Tree courses?

The SQL Server 2008 courses you take vary depending on the role you play in your organization. Please refer to the SQL Server 2008 Curriculum Q&A for details on which courses are most appropriate to your role and the order in which you should take them.

• 134: SQL Server® Integration Services: Hands-On provides the skills necessary to solve data management problems by creating dynamic packages for migrating, processing and reporting on data for business intelligence.
• 139: SQL Server® Analysis Services: Hands-On In this course you gain the skills to analyze and discover trends in your data warehouse.
• 137: SQL Server® 2008: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction is strongly recommended for anyone who is not familiar with the basics of SQL Server. It is a prerequisite for this course.
• 534: Developing SQL Queries for SQL Server®: Hands-On offers the knowledge and skills needed to develop complex and robust SQL queries for SQL Server 2000 and 2005.
• 234: Developing SQL Queries for Oracle® Databases: Hands-On In this course you learn to use the full potential of SQL to write complex and robust queries for your Oracle databases.
• 538: SharePoint® 2007 Technologies: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction teaches you how to create, manage and customize SharePoint across your enterprise
• 901: Introduction to Business Intelligence: Designing a Successful BI Program In this course you learn best practices to implement and effect BI program that maximizes organization's business opportunities.

US Dates