The Microsoft Self-Service BI Toolset: A Quick and Efficient Way to Mine Business Intelligence

Business Intelligence can help you turn mountains of data into manageable, meaningful information, which can give your business decision-makers the insights they need to make better-informed decisions.

Having the right BI right tool is the key to making this process quick and efficient.

Without the right tools, it can take months for highly specialized IT professionals to gather, assimilate and share Business Intelligence data. With the right tools, that process can be done in mere days by business professionals.

Microsoft has made a way for business professionals to “help yourself” to the data, aggregate it, and format it in a meaningful way, without a lengthy and complicated “data warehouse” project.

The secret? Microsoft’s Self-Service BI Toolset.

Our new webinar “What is Microsoft’s Self-Service BI Toolset?” gives an overview of the evolution of Business Intelligence and a description of Microsoft’s BI Tools:

• PowerPivot
• Power View
• SQL Report Builder and
• SharePoint

The webinar takes place March 21 at 11 a.m. EDT and is hosted by Jeff Cate, president of SharePoint Solutions and author/instructor of the course Business Intelligence Training – the Microsoft Self-Service BI Toolset.

If you want to learn more about how this set of powerful, user-friendly tools can empower you to quickly and efficiently mine important data your organization’s decision makers need – leading to better-informed business decisions – click here to register for the FREE webinar.

You also may want to check out Jeff’s next BI class, which takes place April 2-4, 2013.  The class is being taught Live Online through our new Live Online Remote Attendance option.

Getting Something Extra

by Randy Moody

I walked into an ice cream store in Georgia while on a road trip. It was a hot, dusty summer afternoon, and I was feeling parched and ready for something cool and refreshing.

I ordered a single-dip waffle cone. The lady turned around, took a normal size ice cream scoop, and began to cram ice cream into my cone until there was an orb about the size of a softball there. When she brought it to me, I said, “I’m sorry, but I just wanted a single-dip cone.” She responded, “That IS our single-dip cone.” WOW!

Then I tried the ice cream, and it was absolutely unbelievable. “We make it right here in the store,” she told me. They made an enthusiastic customer out of me in just one visit!

I would have been happy with just a “normal” single-dip cone with “normal” quality ice cream. But what I got was something extra – more ice cream and far more delicious than I expected.

Something extra!  Don’t you love it when that happens?

When our students attend our SharePoint Solutions trainingclasses, they tell us they feel like they’re getting something extra from us:

·         “Ricky gave us a lot of added information that might not normally be covered in this type of class.”

·          “Thank you. I got much more out of your training course than I expected. I will definitely recommend your company to others.”

·         “I expected to learn the ‘course content’ listed on the website, but throughout the course, I gained ‘above & beyond’ knowledge that is invaluable.”

·         “This was a great course! All of my specific needs were met within the first day. The second and third days were just icing on the cake!”

Ready to have YOUR expectations exceeded? Our instructors are ready and waiting to exceed them!

Browse our course catalog for that course that offers the skills you’re looking for. And don’t be surprised if you get more than you expected.

New Video Tutorial Takes You Through the Basics of SharePoint 2010 – and It’s Free!

How would you like a guided tour of the basic features and functionality of SharePoint 2010? SharePoint training course author and instructor T.L. Ferrell walks you through a functional introduction to SharePoint 2010 in our new video tutorial, “Introduction to SharePoint 2010.” The video is a part of our Free Video Training Library, and is available to anyone who would like to view it.

Refreshingly simple, clear and easy to understand, T.L.’s presentation is appropriate for SharePoint beginners, managers, users who are currently using SharePoint 2003 or 2007, or those who are not yet using SharePoint at all in their organization and who simply want to assess SharePoint’s capabilities.

Beginning with navigating the SharePoint 2010 interface, this free SharePoint tutorial covers the foundational concepts of SharePoint technologies and explains and demonstrates the fundamental capabilities and features of SharePoint 2010. These include sites, subsites, lists, views, libraries, alerts, security/permissions, search, web parts, and customizing SharePoint’s look-and-feel.

Lively and informative, this rich one-hour tutorial gives you a taste of the power of SharePoint’s collaboration features, showing you step-by-step how to use it.

T.L. has packed a truckload of information into this highly practical video, and we trust that you will find it enjoyable and helpful. And just think:  if we can pack this much useful information into a one-hour video, imagine all that our 2- or 4-day Introduction to SharePoint class could provide!

A Whole New Way to Learn SharePoint 2010

We are very excited to introduce a new training alternative for those needing SharePoint 2010 training. And it’s so affordable, you could have your WHOLE ORGANIZATION trained on SharePoint, right at their desks.

I’m talking about our new Self-Paced Online SharePoint Training. We’ve taken our most basic course, Introduction to SharePoint 2010 – Using SharePoint Foundation 2010, and made it available in an online eLearning format that you can go through at your own pace.

The Self-Paced Online option is a lot like auditing a college course: you will see SharePoint’s features explained and demonstrated by a skilled instructor in a recorded presentation, but you will not have the printed course manual, the hands-on lab experience, or the assistance of a live instructor. Our goal is that at the end of the course, you will have a practical understanding of the basic features of SharePoint 2010.

Affordably priced at just $399, our new self-paced online course is available for a limited time at an introductory price of just:

                                                $199!

Please show this to your bosses, your training coordinator, your co-workers – and anyone else you know who needs to get an understanding of the basics of SharePoint. Getting everybody up to speed on SharePoint 2010 will streamline communication and improve your office’s efficiency. And at this price, it’s a no-brainer!

Want to know more?  Go to our Self-Paced Online SharePoint Training page and view the explanatory video there. You can also access the FAQ page here.

But that’s not all. Should you subsequently choose to take the full classroom-based course, you may use your Certificate of Completion for this class to receive $199 off the purchase price of one of our live 2-day Introduction to SharePoint Foundation classes or 4-day Introduction to SharePoint Server 2010 classes! The classroom-based courses give you the additional benefits of a comprehensive course manual, the scripted step-by-step hands-on lab exercises, and the live instructor.

The Self-Paced Online Training class has been created in a SCORM-compliant format, so it can be imported into most LMS systems. If you are interested in finding out more about licensing the class for your company, please contact us.

So spread the word! This new affordable training option might be the perfect fit for your co-workers.