Last night I attended a presentation hosted by OttawaSQL.net and presented by Matt Masson on the newly released SQL Server 2012. I was principally interested in the new SQL Server service Data Quality Services (DQS), the latest addition to the SQL Server lineup.
Boiled down to its simplest form, DQS acts as a data “spell checker” that can apply statistical data correction, user-defined knowledge base data correction, or third party web service data correction. In the DQS interface, users define Term Based Relations (TBR) rules which can be applied against the data set. While correcting data, DQS will generate its own list of rules which you can validate.
Another relative newcomer to the SQL Server lineup is Master Data Services (MDS), which first appeared in SQL Server 2008 R2. This serves as a central repository of “golden” records, the single source of validated truth. It allows for a Master Data model to be generated and kept. This then serves as a lookup source for Integration Services packages.
SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) is still the linchpin of data movement in the SQL Server environment. It integrates seamlessly with the DQS and MDS services. It has seen feature enhancements and improvements such as a catalog feature (for ease of configuration, security and management), change data capture, and built in reports for troubleshooting and logging.
Anyone interested in a deeper understanding of SQL Server 2012 should note that Microsoft will be hosting a free day-long workshop on June 22 at their Ottawa office.
