while waiting for the Superbowl, I thought I would write this.....

2014 will not only see the release of a new version of SQL Server, but also accompanying this is the release of courses and certification tracks from Microsoft Learning Experience – formerly Microsoft Learning -- that will support the education of SQL Server and related technologies.

The notable addition in the curriculum, is substantial material on cloud and big data features that pertain to data and business intelligence. There are entire module/chapters that are dedicated Power BI, SQL Azure and HDInsight.

Certifications and courses from Microsoft can get stick – sometimes fair and sometimes unfairly. Whilst I am a massive advocate of community to get information and education. Microsoft’s new courses will bring clarity to the burning topics of the moment and help you to understand the capabilities of Power BI and HDInsight.

From a business intelligence perspective there will be three courses:

20463C: Data warehousing in SQL Server 2014

20466C: data models and reports in SQL Server 2014

20467A: Designing Self-Service Business Intelligence and Big Data Solutions

These are not the exact titles of the course, but will be confirmed prior to the release. And if you have already completed the SQL Server 2012 or 2008 curriculum, there is an upgrade course from

10977A: Upgrading business intelligence skills from 2008 to 2014.

Again this is not the exact title, but these should give you an idea.

Look out for announcements from Microsoft Learning Experience….

CHRIS