dataMinds News Round up – May 2021

SQL

When developing an application that accesses SQL Server, you need to set up a security model, so each user gets the access they need based on their job duties. Some applications require the same access for all users, while other application might require different security access rights based on the role a user has in the organization. The best practice for providing user access is to use role-based security. SQL Server provides user-defined Server and Database roles for defining security rules for different user security needs.
Greg Larsen discusses how to use user-defined server and database roles to provide secure access to SQL Server resources.

How can you create and publish SQL Database Projects without using SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) in Visual Studio?
Haroon Ashraf guides you through the job in a pragmatic manner using Azure Data Studio.

Azure Synapse

Azure Synapse brings the capabilities of Azure AI directly to the Synapse Studio. Vinod Kurpad explains how you can now apply AI models to analyze structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data like forms, audio, video and text documents without having to write a single line of code or be a data scientist. Want to test out no-code AI? Get started now as Microsoft offers free quantities for both the serverless SQL and Apache Spark pool resources in Azure Synapse until July 31st, 2021.

Ever struggled with (performantly) calculating column based max or min values in SQL Server? T-SQL functions GREATEST() and LEAST() are now generally available in Azure Synapse Analytics and are expected to be included in the next SQL Server release as well.
John Steen describes the functionality and common use cases of both functions in Azure Synapse Analytics, as well as how they provide a more concise and efficient solution for developers compared to existing T-SQL alternatives.

Kicking off an exciting new project using Azure Synapse? Having seperate environments, each serving their own purposes, is advisable: a development environment that will serve as a playground, where features can be built, experimented and enhanced as needed; UAT, where it is expected that all these features can be tested as a whole, integrated with other applications, quality ensured and approved by end users; last, a production environment, where these features can be approved and exposed to users and applications.
What about reduced flexbility, extended time to delivery? In this article Rui Cunha demonstrates how you can use Azure Synapse Analytics integrated with an Azure DevOps Git repository to automate deployment of Synapse workspaces over multiple environments.

Power BI

Did you miss out on May 4th’s Microsoft Business Application Summit (MBAS) 2021? Then you sadly also missed out on tons of exciting announcements. Luckily, Marc Lelijveld shares his top 5 releases for the Power BI playground.

“I didn’t know it could do that!” is one of the statements Tom Weinand hears a lot when talking to data analysts about Power BI’s AI features. Tom walks the talk by going through his ultimate list of AI features in Power BI.

As Power BI is getting more and more traction, Power BI skills are getting valued higher. “One of the biggest improvements you can make to your life and career is embracing a learning mentality.”, dixit Seth Bauer. In this article, which is the 2nd of his series, he helps individuals identify where their current skill strengths are, and where they have room for improvement.