BI Developer 2005 or 2008

Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum so I apologize if this question should have been added to an existing forum instead of a new thread.

I am interested in getting the BI Developer certification. My only questions is should I get the 2005 and then take the 70-455 to upgrade to 2008 or just start with 2008. I am a Finance major and use Cognos 7.3 and Cognos 8 for my job. I don't really have any hands on experience using or writin SQL, but I grasp the basic concept and greatly enjoy creating reports using Cognos.

With not much hands on using SQL, should I start with another exam to get some SQL knowledge or will I be okay just doing the BI Developer certifications. I appreciate any help with this.

Thanks
Shannon Marshall

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eMeS

Welcome to TE!

I'd recommend building some basic SQL skills first.

There's probably only about 2 other people on the board that might be interested in this topic, and they might be able to add something to what I'm about to say.

It seems to me that BI was a huge buzzword around 2008, everyone wanted classes on it and there was a ton of interest. These days I rarely hear it mentioned; it's as if it fell off the face of the Earth. Based on that I wonder what value the BI cert would provide over the DBD or DBA certs???

MS

aaronchristenson

I agree. I would start with the DBA certs or Database Development to get you a handle on the SQL language, you will need a good grasp of syntax for the BI exams.

eMeS

swmarshall wrote: »

My only questions is should I get the 2005 and then take the 70-455 to upgrade to 2008 or just start with 2008. I am a Finance major and use Cognos 7.3 and Cognos 8 for my job. I don't really have any hands on experience using or writin SQL, but I grasp the basic concept and greatly enjoy creating reports using Cognos.

Now that's I've reread this, it makes me ask the question, if you are experienced with Cognos, is there something specific driving you towards Microsoft?

MS

RobertKaucher

Welcome on board!

I agree with eMeS and Aaron, but I am going to go a little further and make some suggestions. First to respond to eMeS about the BI buzz word. It's still there but I think it is much less enchanting as it has become over-used and a lot of people seem to be using business analytics more.

Shannon, as I said I agree with the other posters about your path. I would suggest the following:

70-432 SQL Server 2008 Implementation and Maintenance.
70-433 SQL Server 2008 Database Development
70-448 SQL Server 2008 BI Development and Maintenance
Then
70-452 for the MCITP: BI Developer

I'm actually going through this path right now and I am finding the BI stuff very challenging. I'm getting some on the job training for the BI stuff, but I know I would be lost without a firm, basic understanding of SQL Server and T-SQL.

I'm currently working in both 2005 and 2008 and I have to say there are some big differences in the way things are presented in BIDS and I would argue just go with the 2008. If I did not have to deal with both it would probably be much easier to learn 2008 and then go back and look at 2005. Conceptually they are basically identical. It's really just changes in the wizards and such that are making my life hard. I know that might sound silly but when you are trying to learn the theory and two different platforms, it's a pain. So, in summary - go for 2008. I don't see the 2005 certs adding any extra value.

swmarshall

eMeS wrote: »

Now that's I've reread this, it makes me ask the question, if you are experienced with Cognos, is there something specific driving you towards Microsoft?

MS

I enjoy using Cognos, but I want to get more experience using SQL and it appears a lot of the jobs want people with Server 2005/2008 experience. The bad thing about Cognos is that I just use the metadata that is provided and create my own queries, I don't actually right the sql's for the metadata.

Thanks
Shannon