Microsoft® Business Intelligence For Dummies®

Chapter 5. Taking a Closer Look at Data Collection

In This Chapter

• Exploring the Extract Transform Load (ETL) process

• Understanding how SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) does ETL

• Checking out a simple example of SSIS in action

• Discovering the components of modern data generation

Leaders have to act more quickly today. The pressure comes much faster.

—Andy Grove

Before data can be turned into information that an organization can use, it has to be collected and transformed into a standard format. The many different systems that generate data often speak only their own languages. Imagine that you're the leader of a group of people and everyone gets a clue to a puzzle. Putting the puzzle together unlocks the key to massive fortunes. The catch is that each person speaks a different language. Everyone knows only his or her piece but can't put the entire puzzle together. What you need is someone who can speak all the languages, collect all the clues, and then translate them in a way that makes sense to you, the decision-maker.

In business intelligence, the tool that speaks those multiple languages is called an Extract Transform Load (ETL) tool. In Microsoft BI, the ETL tool is called SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) — and it's included with the SQL Server product.

In this chapter, you discover how ETL works and how SSIS is used to extract, transform, and load data into a data warehouse.

The King of BI Concepts — ETL

Extract, transform, and load — ETL — is the process of pulling data out ...