All, I thank you for each of your responses. Much appreciated.

Here is the deal. I'm not a total newbie but due to the time I've been out of SQL I will be starting afresh. I'm a little long in the tooth and have done some VB6/C# development ten years ago. I did work with SQL and SSIS/SSRS for a short time but then my company moved to SAP. For the past five years I've been on SAP BW and very much disliked it from the beginning. The problem is I feel I only know SAP now (drag and drop, segregation of duties) and have lost my other skills (SQL, stakeholder engagement). Why I haven't opted to leave before now - I don't know. I feel my old technical mind has disappeared and I'm now very much a SAP person:crying: I enjoy working with data (SQL, ETL tools) more so than using Java/C#. A thought is to train up again in SQL Development and seek to re-enter that area, considering it is on my CV I know what the job entails.

I am located in Southampton (UK) and am concerned about job security (and demand). Why? well SAP is not common place and I now have a mindset that there are no jobs out there, due to my experience with SAP.

I agree that understanding DB design, Indexes, SP etc.. is key. SSIS to me is a drag n drop/cofiguration way of producing code, with some extra functionality.

I have never heard that SQL is dying. You are the first I have heard say that. While there is RDBMS I would imagine SQL being around. I can't see RDBMS disappearing - right?

What I would like is job security in that I should always find work. SAP has scared me. The beauty of data development over programming is programming is usually a software house activity but data development/reporting can be any kind of company (ex SMEs and not necessary the IT dept either). Do you have any tips on what areas of data development will provide the most demand for my skills?

With the Big Data concept and the file system method of capturing it do you think traditional databases have had their day or do you feel that they will be around for the next 30+ years?

So I need to install:

SQL Server 2016 (which includes SSMS) - which edition?

VS2015 SSDT - which edition and is there a 2016 version?

Cheers guys,

Christopher.