Back in July 20, 2023, I had the opportunity to site for an open form interview with Alan Shimel, founder and CEO of the Techstrong Group, a media group with a host of excellent content sites such as DevOps.com and TechStrong.TV. The abstract for the interview follows - After a brief hiatus, Kevin Kline has re-joined the SolarWinds team as a senior staff technical marketing manager where he serves as a subject matter expert on a variety of relational database management systems. Ahead of his participation in TechStrong’s DataOps Day, Kevin brings his experience, particularly with Microsoft … [Read more...]
The Ghosts of IT Past and Present Can Help Improve the Future
June 12, 2024 by Leave a Comment
December 21, 2023 "I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach."― Ebenezer Scrooge, in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens has remained one of the most iconic and beloved stories of the holiday season. Part of the reason the story has stuck with us since its Victorian-era publication lies in the lessons it teaches us. At its heart, the story is about the need for kindness and charity, and most importantly, how we can use the lessons of our … [Read more...]
Building Modern Data Pipelines Using DBT
June 11, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Back in May 2024, I had the opportunity to write a guest column for Database Trends and Applications Magazine, a publication I once where I once wrote a monthly column on Microsoft SQL Server and Azure SQL for many years. I thought I'd take a moment to bring it to your attention. I'd love to hear your feedback! Cheers, -Kevin Earlier this year, I had the privilege of serving on the organizing committee for the DataTune conference in my hometown of Nashville, Tenn. Unlike many database-specific or platform-specific conferences, which tend to focus on analytics and data science, … [Read more...]
Celebrating SysAdmin Day 2023
June 7, 2024 by Leave a Comment
It's been almost a year since July 28, 2023 for our last SysAdmin Day. I thought it might be fun to point to last year's VMware blog in which I had a part. https://vmblog.com/archive/2023/07/28/show-your-appreciation-celebrating-sysadminday-2023.aspx Many other IT experts also provided quotes for this. Following here is the introduction of the article as well as my small part. I hope you enjoy! -Kevin Today, July 28, 2023, the tech world is gearing up to celebrate one of its unsung heroes—the SysAdmins! On this special occasion of SysAdmin Appreciation Day, we take a moment to … [Read more...]
T-SQL Tuesday 153 Roundup: The Conference That Changed Everything
August 16, 2022 by Leave a Comment
I received a great collection of blog posts in response to T-SQL Tuesday 153 which I kicked off on Tuesday, August 2nd – asking you to write about a conference or event that had a significant event on their life. As one of the small handful of people who attended every PASS Summit from its founding through the pandemic lockdown, I've witnessed so many transformational experiences firsthand. Human beings are social creatures and though we as IT pros like to focus on hard technology skills first and foremost, I think we can all admit that having a great social experience at a conference like … [Read more...]
T-SQL Tuesday 153 Invite: The Conference That Changed Everything For Me
August 2, 2022 by 9 Comments
T-SQL Tuesday is the blog party started by Adam Machanic (b|t) over a decade ago and is now maintained by Steve Jones (b|t) on tsqltuesday.com. On the first Tuesday of each month, a blogger hosts the party and suggests a topic. Anyone interested in the topic gets to blog about it. You have one week to write your blog post. It has to go live on the second Tuesday of the month, in this case August 9th. The host then compiles a list of posts and creates a blog post, for a summarized read. It is a great way to get thinking on subjects you may not have thought of, read other people’s ideas on … [Read more...]
DBTA – Keep Up With the Latest SQL Server Updates
June 12, 2020 by Leave a Comment
Here’s one big advantage to moving to Microsoft Azure SQL Database—you never have to patch. That’s right. The various SKUs available in Azure’s Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offering are automatically always kept up-to-date with the latest updates In fact, with Microsoft’s “cloud first” product development strategy, new code is deployed to Azure first and then made available to on-premise versions of SQL Server after. And, if you want to live on the bleeding edge of technology afnd act as a “canary in the coal mine,” you can work with your Microsoft liaison to run your workload in its specially … [Read more...]
DBTA – Azure Cosmos DB Adds Features and Free Tier
May 30, 2020 by Leave a Comment
I’ve kept you informed over the years about not just the latest news and features in SQL Server, but across the entire Microsoft Data Platform, both on-premise and in the cloud This includes additional products such as SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS), SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), and their cloud siblings, Azure Synapse Analytics, and Azure Data Factory (ADF). Another important and powerful sibling product is Azure Cosmos DB, previously dknown as Document DB, which I first wrote about here many years ago. WHAT IS COSMOS DB? Click HERE to read more … [Read more...]
SQL Server 2008 End of Life: What Are Your Support Options?
May 13, 2020 by Leave a Comment
It’s no secret that Microsoft wants us to move off old and unsupported versions of SQL Server. It’s good for their bottom line. But it is definitely not simply a money grab To be hones, as a Mdicrosoft Data Platform MVP and an independent software vendor (ISV), I also want you to move off old, unsupported versions of SQL Server. Why, you might ask? For the same reasons that Microsoft does from a technical perspective—supporting a never-ending parade of software versions makes life harder and harder. Consider the test matrix for ISVs to ensure that their app can work for both old and new … [Read more...]
Join Me for Office Hours, Online Learning, and Conversation
April 27, 2020 by Leave a Comment
After some internal conversations last week, the rest of the SentryOne team and I decided to kick it up a notch with more knowledge sharing and more opportunities for conversation and fellowship. With all the stress of the global pandemic, I look forward to a bit of extra carousing and kibitzing with y’all. Announcing Monthly Open Office Hours Click HERE to read more … [Read more...]
