MSBI newb Contractor - whole lifecycle delivery question

[wannagopro]

Hey.

I`m a freelance BI consultant (MS BI backend SSIS, SSAS, SAP BI - all of it, JasperSoft, SAS, LogiAnalytics, Kimball etc) but mainly the SAP BO stuff. The market for MS BI guys seems good at the moment due to many of the traditional BO\Cognos etc customers migrating to it. In fact 50% of the recruiters that call me have seen SQL Server and SSIS on my CV (and presume I know the full stack), so there seems to be a lot of demand. Half the time if you have your first principles down (data modelling, star schemae, ETL concepts) you can apply yourself quickly, especially if you are a true BI specialist, not some DBA who sat next to a guy doing some SSAS for a week (I`ve met them!).

I was also a consultant previously, which helps a lot, I`ve a good few ex-customers and contacts who would welcome paying less than half of what they used to pay for my services!

Thanks for the response!

I have considered going with a consultancy - though this would be a means to an end so I need to weigh up the benefits of putting off contracting for a year or so to get the consultancy under the belt. I guess it would make the switch to contracting a little easier, as clients/agents would have more faith in my ability to 'hit the ground running'. That being said, I would rather just jump into contracting if I can. hmmm

[MrMarkyMark]

Hey.

I`m a freelance BI consultant (MS BI backend SSIS, SSAS, SAP BI - all of it, JasperSoft, SAS, LogiAnalytics, Kimball etc) but mainly the SAP BO stuff. The market for MS BI guys seems good at the moment due to many of the traditional BO\Cognos etc customers migrating to it. In fact 50% of the recruiters that call me have seen SQL Server and SSIS on my CV (and presume I know the full stack), so there seems to be a lot of demand. Half the time if you have your first principles down (data modelling, star schemae, ETL concepts) you can apply yourself quickly, especially if you are a true BI specialist, not some DBA who sat next to a guy doing some SSAS for a week (I`ve met them!).

I was also a consultant previously, which helps a lot, I`ve a good few ex-customers and contacts who would welcome paying less than half of what they used to pay for my services!

Good advice there. However, my issue with the MS products is they seem cheap, but then you have all the rest of the system to build up, which costs.
Also, I don't find their metadata layer as strong as Business Objects and their reporting tool requires a strong technical capability. On the other hand, Business Objects is stronger on the adhoc side, providing it has been set up correctly.

[Drkarnivore]

Good advice there. However, my issue with the MS products is they seem cheap, but then you have all the rest of the system to build up, which costs.
Also, I don't find their metadata layer as strong as Business Objects and their reporting tool requires a strong technical capability. On the other hand, Business Objects is stronger on the adhoc side, providing it has been set up correctly.

Agreed, I've had a good few prospective MSBI customers think it's was free until they hit the need for some share point licenses.

[LondonManc]

Good advice there. However, my issue with the MS products is they seem cheap, but then you have all the rest of the system to build up, which costs.
Also, I don't find their metadata layer as strong as Business Objects and their reporting tool requires a strong technical capability. On the other hand, Business Objects is stronger on the adhoc side, providing it has been set up correctly.

Good points. I think Business Objects is more comparable with Cognos, with, imho, BO coming out on top in most areas with OLAP functionality being its biggest failing compared to Cognos.