Part of an ongoing series, we're highlighting the excellent speakers we have handpicked to present phenomenal and extremely valuable content at the IT/Dev Connections conference. Want more? Get the Insider’s Scoop About IT/Dev Connections 2016 on September 8!
This speaker highlight is Ginger Grant.
Ginger's IT/Dev Connection sessions:
Recently, we asked Ginger to give us a little information about himself. Here's what he shared:
ITDC: Give us a brief introduction to you.
Ginger: My name is Ginger Grant, and I live in the desert. I try to avoid the heat and sun all summer long by staying in the air conditioning and pounding on my keyboard in reach of a cool beverage and a fan. In addition to achieving a robust florescent bulb tan, my outdoor aversion has provided me a lot of time to learn more about the latest evolutions in data and keep up with my blog www.desertislesql.com. I work primarily in the Microsoft data space, and as a result I have a lot of Microsoft letters, TSP, MSCA and MVP in data platform. I also like to talk and am very happy to be able to have been offered to speak at IT/Dev Connections.
ITDC: Describe the sessions you are presenting and why you feel the topic is important.
Ginger: After working to help clients with Power BI and talking to people at various technical events about Power BI, one topic is often repeated. What processes have to happen to take Power BI from the Desktop to an Enterprise-wide released solution? Issues around security, administration, release procedures, data access are all areas which people continue to struggle. It’s easy to see why as these issues are not topics which have a lot of available information available online.
Since SQL Server 2016 was released later this year, there are a lot of questions regarding R integration. How does R code perform within SQL Server? Are there any modifications to the R code which need to be made to improve performance? What needs to be monitored to ensure R is not adversely impacting other SQL tasks? All of the answers to these questions will be well understood by attendees of my session R and SQL Server 2016 Internals for Data Analysis.
ITDC: What should attendees expect to be able to take away from your sessions?
Ginger: In this session, attendees learn how to avoid common pitfalls and implement successful practices to provide a robust data insight solution using Power BI. After absorbing the session’s information on Power BI administration internals, attendees will understand what needs to be done to set up processes ensuring the Power BI visualizations can be maintained and viewed while applying the appropriate kind of security.
In order to know how running R in SQL Server will impact current production processes users will need to know the internals of how R it works and interacts in the same space as other SQL processes. This session provides that knowledge so attendees will have the knowledge they need to make decisions about how R should be incorporated into their environments.
ITDC: What is your primary reason to be excited about IT/Dev Connections?
Ginger: Technology is exploding right now with new products and solutions that are changing the environment where we work and live. It’s impossible to keep up with everything as there are just too many new features and applications being released. IT/Dev Connections helps make it possible to keep up with new changes by providing access to the accumulated knowledge of people who have been able to keep up with a topic or two. Combining all of that knowledge in one place will provide the ability to learn it all.
ITDC: What is the one key technology you believe is changing the technology industry right now?
Ginger: The increased interest in all things data is truly changing the industry. People want to analyze their own data and they expect tools to make that possible. It’s not enough anymore to dump things into excel. People want more. Having skills in areas to make data understandable with tools, processes and language are required now more than ever before.
ITDC: Assuming attendees want to know, what’s your favorite, non-technical hobby or pastime? What’s one thing that totally irks you.
Ginger: My favorite non-tech hobby is cooking as my kitchen is the only place I know where you can find both chocolate cake and sufficiently hot Tacos al Carbon all in the same place.
I get completely annoyed by people who have never learned how to park and cannot confine their vehicle to one space.
IT/Dev Connections runs from October 10 – October 13, at the ARIA Resort in Las Vegas. IT/Dev Connections has been designed specifically for IT, DevOps, and Developers. You can read all about what IT/Dev Connections offers you HERE.
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