22-25 April 2026
SQLBits 2017

Azure SQL DataWarehouse: 0-100 (DWUs)

Azure SQLDW - WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and HOW to use it.
So Azure SQL DataWarehouse is now available and starting to be use, but what does that mean to you and why should you care?

Reflecting on a large-scale Azure DW project, this session gathers together learnings, successes, failures and general opinions into a crash course in using Azure DataWarehouse “properly”.

We'll start by quickly putting the technology in context, so you know WHEN to use it, WHERE it’s appropriate and WHY it works the way it does.
  • Introducing the ADW technology
  • Explaining distributions & performance
  • Explaining polybase
Then we'll dive into HOW to use it, looking at some real-life design patterns, best practice and some “tales from the trenches” from a recent large Azure DW project.
  • Performance tips & tricks (designing for minimal data movement, managing distribution skew, CTAS, Resource classes and more)
  • ETL Patterns (Surrogate keys & Orchestration)
  • Common Mistakes & Pitfalls
  • Conclusions & Recommendations

Speakers

Simon Whiteley

advancinganalytics.co.uk/blog

Simon Whiteley's previous sessions

Behind the Hype - Architecture Trends in Data
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Ever spent an age releasing a data model, only to find no-one uses it? There's a better way of working, driven by both technology & agile working practices, let me tell you about Value Driven Development & DataOps
 
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Databricks, Lakes & Parquet are a match made in heaven, but explode with extra power when using Delta Lake. This session will dive into the details of how Databricks Delta works and how to make the most of it.
 
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Azure now has two slick, platform-as-a-service spark offerings, but which one should you choose? A separate specialist tools or a one-size-fits-all solution? Join Simon as he compares and contrasts the spark offerings.
 
Azure SQL DataWarehouse: 0-100 (DWUs)
Azure SQLDW - WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and HOW to use it.