I had the pleasure of being a guest on the SQL Data Partners podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts. In my case, I get this podcast straight from LinkedIn. It's a very informative and often fun podcast put on by three friends of mine from the Microsoft Data Platform MVP program: Carlos Chaco, Kevin Feasle, and Eugene Meidinger. These fellows are all geniuses in their own right. Follow them on social media and follow their blogs! (Click the image below to hear the podcast). Early in my career when I worked for the U.S. DoD, I had the good fortune to experience the development … [Read more...]
Four Major Trends that Defined 2023 in Data
June 25, 2024 by Leave a Comment
At the close of January 2024, I wrote an article for Database Trends and Applications Magazine recapping four major trends that helped define the year in data for 2023: AI, Machine Learning, DevOps, and Data Governance. In no small way, 2023 was a year marked by innovation and change in the enterprise technology landscape. Companies of all sizes continue to accelerate their digital transformation efforts, to leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning-powered solutions, including observability tools, to keep up with today's increasingly complex infrastructure environments. But to … [Read more...]
Big Data Industry Predictions for 2024
June 20, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Back on 03-Jan, 2024, the publication insideBIGDATA published a collection of predictions for the coming year in an article written by Daniel Gutierrez. I, along with many other experts on the subject, was invited to provide my thoughts on the topic. I suggest you give it a review. Read the full article here - https://insidebigdata.com/2024/01/03/big-data-industry-predictions-for-2024. For my part, I wrote... AI Answers The Call for Help Managing Data Overabundance: Today’s data professionals have an overwhelming amount of information at their fingertips but many may lack the … [Read more...]
Observability: The Central Watchtower for Your All-Seeing IT Needs
June 19, 2024 by Leave a Comment
As we were closing out 2023, I wrote the article Observability: The Central Watchtower for Your All-Seeing IT Needs for DevOps.com. I've enclosed the first few paragraphs below, but I'd love for you to read the entire article and provide your feedback and thoughts. Enjoy! -Kevin If there’s something you need to keep secure, it’s natural to want to keep it sealed away under lock and key. However, even keeping something in a vault, far from prying eyes and ill intent, may not be enough to offer peace of mind. After all, how can you have the peace of mind of knowing it’s safe if you don’t … [Read more...]
The Top Six Benefits of Database DevOps for Streamlined and Stronger Database Operations
June 18, 2024 by Leave a Comment
DevOps is a very popular approach for running and managing development projects. But it shouldn't be restricted to only development projects. Databases have lots of code as well, from triggers to functions to stored procedures, and these too should be managed under the umbrella of DevOps. Back in July of 2023, I wrote about this idea in greater detail at DBTA.com. Click the link to read more. Here's a brief snippet of the article: Data is the cornerstone of the modern digital business. IT teams, database professionals, and business leaders use data to make informed decisions, … [Read more...]
TechStrong TV and SolarWinds Database Observability
June 13, 2024 by Leave a Comment
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...]
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...]
Proof of Concepts: Making Hard Things Easy with Azure
December 5, 2017 by Leave a Comment
PROOF OF CONCEPTS: MAKING HARD THINGS EASY WITH AZURE Back when I managed my employer's enterprise architecture, prior to the days of virtualization and cloud computing, one of my most difficult projects was to build out a sandbox environment for a major proof of concept (POC). Locally hosted servers and all of the required licenses were expensive and scarce. If you're still struggling with scarcity when conducting research and performing POCs, I've got to tell you you're doing it wrong. READ MORE... Posted November 02, 2016 … [Read more...]
SQL Server 2016 – The Cool is in the Tool (SSMS That is)
November 28, 2017 by Leave a Comment
SQL SERVER 2016 – THE COOL IS IN THE TOOL (SSMS THAT IS) As a heavy user of other RDBMS data platforms, I have long appreciated the extra effort that Microsoft put into their data management and administration tool, the SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). While SSMS is an outstanding administration and T-SQL programming tool, it does have its minor qualms and quibbles. READ MORE... Originally Posted September 02, 2016 … [Read more...]
SQL Server 2016 is Simply Faster… A Lot Faster
November 22, 2017 by Leave a Comment
SQL SERVER 2016 IS SIMPLY FASTER…A LOT FASTER I had the pleasure to spend some time with my old friend Mark Souza, a general manager in the Data Platform team at Microsoft, while speaking at the SQL Saturday event in Dublin, Ireland in the summer of 2016. Now keep in mind that Mark and I have known each other since the 1990s when SQL Server was just being ported to a brand new operating system called Windows NT. Mark and I were having a laugh and more than a twinge of nostalgia about how much SQL Server has improved over the decades and now sits atop the heap on most analysts' "best database" … [Read more...]
