General

Over the years, I’ve seen so many discussions regarding the certification process and exams. I’ve seen posts from many people that are very experienced with products saying they can’t see any point in the certification exams and also argue that competencies in the Microsoft Partner program shouldn’t be based on exams. They feel these people should somehow just be recognised for their other contributions.

Grandfathering

Regarding the certification process, I don’t agree that anyone should be just grandfathered in. Any of the people that have a great deal of knowledge and experience really should be able to just take the exams and be done with it.

2026-03-17

Something I really struggle with in this industry is when newcomers to a system want to change standards within existing systems because they think something else is better. It’s a sign of immaturity yet it often applies to people who should be senior. Many system architects fall into this category.

What’s in a PK name?

For example, a vendor system that I’ve been working with has single column primary keys in all tables, and all the primary key columns are named PKey_ID (I’ve changed it a bit to protect the guilty). Now I can’t say I like that naming at all, but that’s not the point. There are a large number of tables that already have that naming scheme.

2026-03-15

There is a hotel in Sydney that we often stayed at several times per year, either for training or mentoring/consulting work. I really like it. If you asked me why though, I would find it hard to list all the reasons why I like it. (There are some things I don’t like about it too but that’s a topic for another day).

But one of the things that had always surprised me, each and every time I ate breakfast there, is how sharp the knives were. It might seem an odd thing to notice but I’ve never noticed this in any other hotel that I’ve ever stayed at.

2026-02-21

It’s Chinese New Year this week, and I want to offer my best wishes to all my readers that celebrate the lunar new year.

新年快乐 ！(Happy new year)

It’s the start of the year of the Fire Horse.

The start of a new lunar year is a time of renewal, reflection, and optimism. Across the world, families and communities are come together to celebrate with traditions that emphasise good fortune, gratitude, and fresh beginnings.

2026-02-17

A while back, I got an interesting reply to a blog entry about LINQ and Entity Framework terminology. The reader asked if I’d worked with the Progress DBMS.

I have.

Here are my thoughts on it. Obviously others will have a different view of history but I mention Progress over and over again when I’m teaching classes as three examples related to them really hit home for me.

Background

I worked with Progress for many years, starting in about 1983 through to some time in the late 1990’s.

2026-02-07

Crocodiles fascinate me. They’ve been around since the dinosaurs, and until we came along and made weapons, they were a top-tier predator.

Recently I watched the end of a wonderful documentary from the BBC called Dragons Alive . Although my wife didn’t really want to discuss it at 12:30am, it really got me thinking about the nature of curiosity and its importance in how we advance science and through it, society.

2026-02-05

When government funding is tight, it gets harder and harder to get grants to perform fundamental research. The government always wants to see outcomes, and this means that the grants committees need to show outcomes. In turn, this often leads to research funding bodies doing one of three things:

• Only funding research that’s nearly complete
• Only funding well-known researchers with a track record of outcomes
• Only funding research in areas that are already showing promise

Now while at first glance, that might sound a reasonable way to proceed, it’s not.

2026-01-22

So 2025 is done. It was both an interesting and a challenging year for me. I’m so glad for all you who have been reading my blog and hope you’ll continue into the future.

What Will Matter Most for Data Professionals in 2026?

As a new year begins, it’s a good time to pause and look ahead — not with hype or predictions, but with a practical view of what will genuinely matter for data professionals in 2026. Across consulting projects, training course development, and hands-on work with SQL Server, Microsoft Fabric, and modern data platforms, several patterns have emerged that are shaping how teams build and operate data solutions.

2026-01-01

2025 has been a busy and challenging year for me. I want to thank all of you who have been reading my blog. Every week, there are more views than before. I’m pleased to see that, even when I’ve been posting daily.

Whatever your belief system, Christmas is a moment of pause for many of us, but it’s also a reminder of how much data shapes the world around us — even in the stories we grew up with.

2025-12-25

Recently, I read a news report about a study that concluded that cybersecurity training doesn’t work. I can’t say that I’m surprised by that.

I spend a lot of time mentoring on client sites, and many of the clients are large organizations. Often these organizations require me to attend “training” on a regular basis, to satisfy their corporate compliance goals.

I don’t mind doing this at all, even though it’s incredibly repetitive. The course on conflicts of interest, or handling private or sensitive data, or IT security at company A is invariably almost word for word the equivalent course that I do at company B, and company C.

2025-12-04