Reporting Services

As a technical lead there are some advantages and draw backs to the position. The advantages are you get to always learn new things, and if they interest you, you can really explore the topic. A draw back is there is so much to know, you can't know it all and with topics that don't excite you, in my case things like databases, and reporting, you tend to only skim the the talking points.

So, where I work, we have a few clients that have reporting needs, and I usually recommend or push SQL Server Reporting Services if the client is a .Net Framework user.

Why do I push it?

Well, I really don't have a great reason other than it ties nicely to SQL Server and the .Net Framework. As a tech lead I usually can make this decision and let the developers figure out the really in depth details. Sounds great I can continue to learn what interest me while the work still gets done.

Here's the catch. When people ask me questions about Reporting Services or the developers ask questions or tell me an answer to a question I might have, I have know way of knowing what is correct. I trust my developers but at the same time people make mistakes, take short cuts, or don't follow best practices. So for the next few weeks I will be on a crash course of SQL Server Reporting Services learning.

If anyone out there knows of good resources like books, web casts, samples or whatever please let me know.