22-25 April 2026 
SQLBits 2023
Behind the Hype - Architecture Trends in Data
In this session, seasoned data engineer and youtube grumbler Simon Whiteley takes us on a journey through the current industry trends and buzzwords, carving through the hype to get at the underlying ideals.
As an industry, us data folks love a buzzword. We see huge swings between centralisation and decentralisation, we debate ferociously between warehousing methodologies from decades past and yet we're fairly susceptible to the latest and greatest thing taking the industry by storm. So what's the latest buzz?
In this session, seasoned data engineer and youtube grumbler Simon Whiteley takes us on a journey through the current industry trends and buzzwords, carving through the hype to get at the underlying ideals. Which is going to last and which is a sales gimmick? Which bandwagon might actually take you in the right strategic direction? This session aims to answer these questions with a heady mix of option & optimism!
In this session, seasoned data engineer and youtube grumbler Simon Whiteley takes us on a journey through the current industry trends and buzzwords, carving through the hype to get at the underlying ideals. Which is going to last and which is a sales gimmick? Which bandwagon might actually take you in the right strategic direction? This session aims to answer these questions with a heady mix of option & optimism!
Speakers
Simon Whiteley's previous sessions
Behind the Hype - Architecture Trends in Data
Seasoned Data Engineer and YouTube grumbler Simon Whiteley takes us on a journey through the current industry trends and buzzwords, carving through the hype to get at the underlying ideals. Which is going to last and which is a sales gimmick? Which bandwagon might actually take you in the right strategic direction?
Nose-Dive Narratives: Slide Karaoke 2024
Get ready to wrap up a serious day of learning with a dash of humor, spontaneity, and friendly competition! SQLBits presents "Slide Karaoke" where SQLBits speakers reveal their hidden talents while vying for bragging rights. This session promises to be a one-of-a-kind experience that will leave you in stitches and awe, and the speakers scrambling for their non-existent notes!
Behind the Hype - Architecture Trends in Data
In this session, seasoned data engineer and youtube grumbler Simon Whiteley takes us on a journey through the current industry trends and buzzwords, carving through the hype to get at the underlying ideals.
Building a Lakehouse on the Microsoft Intelligent Data Platform
This session session aims to give you that context. We'll look at how spark-based engines work and how we can use them within Synapse Analytics. We'll dig into Delta, the underlying file format that enables the Lakehouse, and take a tour of how the Synapse compute engines interact with it. Finally, we'll draw out our whole Lakehouse architecture
Bringing Data Lakes to your Purview
A short, fast dive into the specific elements of Azure Purview that work well with Data Lakes, and how you implement them yourselves
Value-Driven Analytics Development
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
Databricks, Delta Lake and You
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.
The Azure Spark Showdown - Databricks VS Synapse Analytics
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.