Posts

Deep Dive Into Data Lakes: SQL Bits

At SQL Bits, Europe’s largest data conference, I presented a Deep Dive Into Data Lakes. It was my first solo speaking session and was the 08:00 session on the Saturday - right after the Friday night party. Video to the session can be found on the SQL Bits website.

April 1, 2017 Read

Introduction to Data Lakes

Data Lakes are the new hot topic in the big data and BI communities. Data Lakes have been around for a few years now, but have only gained popular notice within the last year. In this blog I will take you through the concept of a Data Lake, so that you can begin your own voyage on the lakes. What is a Data Lake? Before we can answer this question, it’s worth reflecting on a concept which most of us know and love – Data Warehouses.

May 13, 2016 Read

Forecasting: Methods and Principles

What comes to your mind when you hear the words forecasting, forecasts etc? Invariably, you’ll think of weather forecasts. But forecasts are much more than that. Forecasting is the process of making predictions of the future based on past and present data and analysis of trends. It’s a process that has existed for millennia, though often with dubious methodologies… Instead of looking in to a crystal ball to predict the future we are going to employ the power of statistics!

November 16, 2015 Read

Currency Conversion in SQL using Triangulation Arbitrage

Some systems use a single currency as a base, which is something that I noticed recently when working with IBM Cognos Controller, e.g. USD to convert local currencies into. But what if you want / need to rebase into another currency but still retain the original base? This doesn’t appear to be easy to achieve within Cognos Controller itself, but it is achievable within SQL and a wider ETL framework.

May 12, 2015 Read

January 1, 0001 Read