Leaving the Land of Confusion…

I've been a big fan of Genesis since as long as I can remember, and I especially like their 1986 album Invisible Touch with the cool song Land of Confusion.

 

Over the last couple of months we've led you into the Land of Confusion. We revamped and expanded our training classes late last year and changed the name of them from SQL Immersion to Master Immersion, to reflect the fact that the classes will help anyone studying for the MCM certification.

Unfortunately that gave many of you the impression that the classes are *only* for those people, and that the Immersion events you know and love had disappeared.

We've dropped the word 'Master' from the class names. Our classes are the same as they were last year, except we have a *lot* more content now, which is why we've got four separate classes instead of one class where we try to jam everything in to one week.

Our classes are suitable for everyone from involuntary DBAs to developers to architects to seasoned DBAs.

If you're an involuntary DBA you'll need to do quite a bit of pre-reading, but you'll walk away from our class with the best grounding you can get to help you become a DBA, with clear (and correct!) explanations of how SQL Server works and *why* it behaves the way it does. A lot of the 400-level information may be a stretch right now, but will be invaluable as you progress in your DBA career. We'll fire up your enthusiasm for getting stuck into SQL Server like no-one else can!

If you're a developer you'll walk away from our class with a new-found respect for your DBAs and the ability to write scalable code the first time. You'll understand why you need to test your code against a production volume of data. You'll understand why you need the right nonclustered indexes to get good performance. You'll understand so many of the things that your DBA keeps telling you. We'll show you how to be the SQL developer rock star in your group!

If you're an architect you'll walk away from our class armed with the knowledge to make informed design decisions. You'll understand the ramifications of data type choices. You'll understand some the design anti-patterns we see time and time again. We'll show you how to gain the respect of your developers and DBAs by showing you understand the systems they deal with day in and day out!

If you're a seasoned DBA you'll walk away from our class feeling refreshed and reinvigorated. We'll help you unlearn all the old behaviors of SQL Server and learn the new ones. We'll debunk all the myths and misconceptions you've heard over the years. We'll show you all the new tools, tips and tricks that can make your life so much easier. We're going to put the spring back into your step and make you want to get up and go to work every day to play with SQL Server!

Our internals and performance class in Dallas next week only has 2 seats left, but we have more classes on the books, including a performance tuning class in Dallas in March. We're about to announce a class in London in June, and we're choosing the city for another US class (likely in May).

Stay tuned for details. If you want advance notice of these classes, along with exclusive discount codes to help you sell the class to your boss, join our community – and leave the Land of Confusion behind.

6 thoughts on “Leaving the Land of Confusion…

  1. Paul, I never thought these classes were only useful as a preparation for the MCM since they obviously offered great content that is not available anywhere else. However, I also thought they were the (only) Microsoft-endorsed preparation courses for the MCM. Now the Microsoft SQL Server Master page says that "Instructor-led training. Microsoft plans to release four new courses in 2011 that will cover topics such as high availability, performance, security, and management. This training will be offered through Microsoft Learning partners." Does this mean that were will be other providers offering these classes or are they simply talking about the four already announced SqlSkills classes? At the same time SqlSkills seems to deemphasize that your classes are the preparation for the MCM.

  2. No – the classes you’re thinking about have been developed by Microsoft. They’re only 3 days long and a much less in-depth than the classes we provide. They are nothing to do with SQLskills.

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