One of the big struggles I have had over the past few years is the ability to do a comprehensive sales, proof of concept or training demo that covers the entire Microsoft BI Stack and always being able to present practically anything in any combination without the luxury of a huge lead time. Why has this been a problem? Well it is all due to the fact that the robustness of the Microsoft BI stack is really a double-edged sword. On the positive side, I have a ton of great functionality to choose from that can be molded to fit the unique needs of the client. On the downside side, staying on top of all the potential moving parts has become more and more difficult over time as the product line has grown.
So up to this point I have been pretty much been relying upon the virtual images that Microsoft creates, albeit it with tweaks and modifications of my own. Over the course of time I have worked with many versions of the Microsoft All-Up BI demo. The 7.1 version was a great start and the first one with which I ever worked. I am not sure if a 8.x image was ever produced, but if it was I don’t believe it was ever made available to the general public. The 9.2 image sucked big time and that is an understatement. And the latest image entitled “X” (for 10 I assume) is fantastic and really shows the potential of the products and has a great deal of “eye candy” as well. In fact, you can visit the Microsoft Online Demo Solutions site and check out 9.5 and X and judge for yourself.
Now I know Microsoft puts in a lot of effort into these and for the most part does a great job, but all these images share one fatal flaw. Read the rest of this entry »