Bradley Ball

Bradley Ball is a Sr. FastTrack Azure Engineer on the Microsoft CXP Product Group. He is a current Microsoft MVP Reconnect member and former MVP. Bradley spent 8 years working as a Defense contractor for clients such as the U.S. Army and The Executive Office of the President of the United States, was the Data Platform Practice Manager for Pragmatic Works Consulting, and a Sr. Consultant for Microsoft Premier Support for Developers. He has presented at many SQL Saturdays, for PASS SSUG’s across the US from California to Puerto Rico to New Hampshire, SQL Rally, DevConnections, SQLBits 2015, TechReady 24, SQL Live 360 2011-2019, SQL Intersections 2019 - 2021, & the PASS Summit 2011-2015. He wrote Chapter 14 Page & Row Compression for PRO SQL Server 2012 Best Practices, he hosts the Tales from the Field weekly Azure Data Community Round table and technical videos on https://www.youtube.com/@Tales-from-the-Field with his Azure FastTrack PG colleagues, and he can be found blogging on http://www.sqlballs.com about anything else that interests him.

Bradley Ball's Sessions

Indexing Internals for Developers & DBAsSQLBits 2024

This is a dive into how indexes work within SQL Server. The goal of this session is for attendees to gain a greater understanding of how Indexes work and how to use them to gain performance.

What we’ve learned running a YouTube channel (so far)SQLBits 2024

This session is suitable for anyone who is interested in starting or growing their own YouTube channel, or who wants to learn more about the YouTube ecosystem.

Soft Skills eat Technical Skills for BreakfastSQLBits 2023

Over the years I’ve faced some very difficult situations. Talking down angry customers, de-escalating tense situations, and focusing on the right outcomes. There are a few key books that cover these concepts. In 20 minutes I will tell you what they are, why they are important, and how they saved me more than a few times.

The Most Powerful Azure Service You’ve Never Heard OfSQLBits 2023

Join Patrick Leblanc from the Power BI CAT team, Josh Luedeman, and Bradley Ball from the Azure FastTrack PG as we talk about the most powerful Azure Service you’ve never heard of. If only you knew the name of the service. Come to this session, and you’ll never forget it!

Migration to Azure Customer Experiences & Best PracticesSQLBits 2022

How to create a roadmap to migrate to Azure, best practices, and using Azure Migrate to start, & customer stories

Inside the Query OptimizerSQLBits 2015

In this session discuss the query optimizer, the individual phases of optimization, and how understanding these items can impact our queries in a positive way

BI DBA Performance TuningSQLBits 2015

Understanding how SQL Server performance tuning works is not just a job for DBA's. It is important for BI professionals to understand as well