Dev first or BI first?

Question

Dev first or BI first?

Brandie Tarvin

SSC Guru

Points: 173108
More actions
January 10, 2008 at 4:42 am

#127498

Okay, I'm buckling down to get the other two SQL Certs, Developer & BI, but haven't done a lot of studying. I blame the holidays for my sudden rush of "lazy". @=)
Anyway, for those of you who have taken both, which one is harder or which one should I study for first? Does it help to have the Developer under your belt to get the BI or does it even matter?
I've got the MS Self-Paced Training kits for both 441 & 442. Any thoughts as to other good resources? Classes are out because my boss won't pay for them and I can't afford them myself, so it's going to be self-study all the way. But if you found a book for the Dev certs invaluble, I'd love to hear about it.
I've got the articles & posts about BI study materials bookmarked already. If anyone's seen any newly published study materials, though, I'd love to hear about those also.
Lastly, I can't remember if I heard the Dev exams are harder or easier than the Upgrade Admin cert. Thoughts on this? Or is it all relative?
Brandie Tarvin, MCITP Database AdministratorLiveJournal Blog: http://brandietarvin.livejournal.com/[/url]On LinkedIn!, Google+, and Twitter.Freelance Writer: ShadowrunLatchkeys: Nevermore, Latchkeys: The Bootleg War, and Latchkeys: Roscoes in the Night are now available on Nook and Kindle.

Viewing 5 posts - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply

Steve Jones - SSC Editor SSC Guru Points: 738632 More actions · Answer 1

Don't know about the BI ones, but 441 wasn't too bad. I'd go with the ones you're more comfortable with based on the subjects being covered.

Tim Mitchell SSCoach Points: 15685 More actions · Answer 2

I'm studying for the BI exams now. I haven't taken the Dev tests, but I would suspect that the BI exams are more difficult. They cover some very large bullet-point topics (SSRS, SSAS, SSIS) which could easily take up an entire exam individually.

Tim Mitchell
TimMitchell.net | @tmitch.net | Tyleris.com
ETL Best Practices

Gail Shaw SSC Guru Points: 1004514 More actions · Answer 3

Brandie Tarvin (1/10/2008) Lastly, I can't remember if I heard the Dev exams are harder or easier than the Upgrade Admin cert. Thoughts on this? Or is it all relative?

I found the admin upgrade much easier than the dev exams. It's odd, because I do the dev stuff daily. It's very rare I do any admin work.

Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

We walk in the dark places no others will enter
We stand on the bridge and no one may pass

Brandie Tarvin SSC Guru Points: 173108 More actions · Answer 4

I started reading the Self Paced training kit for 70-441 (one of the Dev exams) and found that it discusses some of the BI stuff at an "introductory" level. That being the case, I've decided to go for the Dev cert first and work my way up to the BI stuff.

I feel confident in my current SSRS and SSIS knowledge, but I might as well start from scratch as far as the studying goes and see if there's stuff that I've missed because I don't use it that much. Especially as I don't know SSAS at all.

Thanks, All, for your input into this thread. It is greatly appreciated! @=)

Brandie Tarvin, MCITP Database AdministratorLiveJournal Blog: http://brandietarvin.livejournal.com/[/url]On LinkedIn!, Google+, and Twitter.Freelance Writer: ShadowrunLatchkeys: Nevermore, Latchkeys: The Bootleg War, and Latchkeys: Roscoes in the Night are now available on Nook and Kindle.