SSIS

So to quote the following Microsoft page: 

What is SSIS?:

"Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Integration Services (SSIS) is the toolset used to help you implement data integration process applications among your business application system’s files and databases. SSIS is much more than a simple extract, transform, and load (ETL) process. SSIS enables database administrators and application developers to design, implement, and manage complex, high-performance ETL applications. Using SSIS, you can select data from one or more sources and standardize, join, merge, cleanse, augment, derive, calculate, and perform just about any other function and operation required for your data integration applications. SSIS also provides procedures to automate many of the administrative functions for SQL Server databases, tables, On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) Cubes, and many other functions for components of SQL Server"

Why?

I have been using SSIS at work, self taught stuff and I wanted to get a bit more exposure to it as it is such a great tool. I have therefore installed SSIS and SSRS (well SQL Server Data Tools) on Visual Studio 2017 and started to have a play. I am using SSIS at work for the automation and development of a data warehouse, this is going pretty well and we are starting to migrate our reporting over to use of the data warehouse. 

The developer editions, like the SQL Server Develop edition, is free for you to have a play with at home and gives you the ability to use it properly, you just need to have some data to work with. 

I could go into massive detail etc. but will wait until I have created some packages on my home PC that I can share, however the following video series contains loads of great information and is worth checking out. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cPq9FXk-RA&list=PLNIs-AWhQzcmPg_uV2BZi_KRG4LKs6cRs&index=1