Tuesday, May 24, 2022

SSRS Font Weight expressions

Recently I was tasked to edit an old SSRS report, the report has multiple columns and I need to change the font weight to BOLD based on a specific value.

It's so simple but annoying that it needs to be done manually to all the columns that you need the expression to check. which was 25 columns in my case!

Steps:

  1. Right-click on the column and select "text Box Properties"
  2. Select "Font" from the left menu
  3. Next to BOLD click on the expression menu
  4. In the expression screen; write the expression based on your column and the condition.








=IIF(Fields!JB.Value > 0, "Bold","Normal")

So here I'm setting the Property "FontWeight" of the textbox to be "Bold" when the value is greater than 0, otherwise, you're setting it to "Normal".


hope that helps!

Friday, April 8, 2022

Splunk - Mini Blog - Why learn Splunk after the age of 40! my Journey from MSBI to Splunk certified!

Why would you learn Splunk! Why particularly I choose Splunk!

In today's world, data is king! we know that as a BI developers already !!  and cybersecurity is a critical component of every organization's IT infrastructure. As a business intelligence and data scientist developer, you may have heard of Splunk, a powerful software platform used for analyzing and monitoring machine-generated data.

If you are looking to enhance your career and be open to new opportunities in the new hot trend of cybersecurity, learning Splunk and getting certified can be a game-changer for you, you still also can write dashboards, reports and alerts in Splunk! Yep!!

So, why should you learn Splunk and get certified in it? Let's take a closer look at some of the reasons why Splunk is the future of cybersecurity.

Splunk is a Leader in the Cybersecurity Industry

Splunk is one of the most widely used cybersecurity tools in the industry. It has been recognized as a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) for multiple years. Splunk's popularity is due to its ability to collect and analyze large amounts of data, providing organizations with valuable insights into their IT infrastructure's security posture.

Growing Demand for Splunk Professionals

As cybersecurity becomes increasingly important, the demand for Splunk professionals is on the rise. According to a recent report by Burning Glass Technologies, job postings for Splunk professionals have grown by over 70% in the past year alone. This trend is expected to continue as more organizations recognize the importance of cybersecurity and the role that Splunk can play in it.

Splunk Offers a Variety of Job Opportunities

Learning Splunk opens up a world of job opportunities in the cybersecurity industry. Some of the roles that you can pursue with a Splunk certification include Security Engineer, Security Analyst, Security Architect, and Security Operations Center (SOC) Analyst. These roles offer competitive salaries, and the demand for Splunk professionals continues to grow.

Enhance Your Data Analytics Skills

Splunk is not just a cybersecurity tool; it is also a powerful data analytics platform. Learning Splunk can help you develop your data analytics skills, including data collection, processing, analysis, and visualization. These skills are highly sought after in the business intelligence and data science industries.

Splunk is Open-Source and Easy to Learn

Splunk is an open-source platform, which means that anyone can download and use it for free. Additionally, Splunk offers a comprehensive set of online training courses that are designed to help users learn the platform quickly and efficiently. These courses cover everything from the basics of Splunk to advanced topics like Splunk Enterprise Security and Splunk Machine Learning Toolkit.

In conclusion, learning Splunk and getting certified in it can be an excellent career move for business intelligence and data scientist developers who want to expand their skillset and be open to new opportunities in the growing field of cybersecurity. 

As more organizations recognize the importance of cybersecurity and the role that Splunk can play in it, the demand for Splunk professionals will only continue to grow. By learning Splunk, you can position yourself for success in this exciting and rapidly growing industry.


Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Splunk - Mini Blog - How to learn Splunk after the age of 40! my Journey to get Splunk certified!

Learning Splunk, or any new technology, can be challenging at any age, but it's never too late to start. In this series I'll blog and document my personal experience at age of 40 to learn about Splunk to get certified to further enhance my career

Here are some tips that can help you learn Splunk quickly and effectively:

  • Start with the basics: Familiarize yourself with the Splunk architecture and its core concepts, such as indexing, search, and reporting.
    • Why?
    • How?
    • When?
  • Get hands-on experience: Splunk is a tool that can be learned best by doing. Create your own instances and practice with sample data to get a feel for how it works.
    • How?
    • Cost?
    • When?
  • Take online courses: There are many online courses and tutorials available that can help you learn Splunk quickly. Consider taking an online course to get a comprehensive understanding of the tool.
    • Where?
    • Cost?
    • When?
  • Join the Splunk Community: The Splunk community is a great resource for learning and getting support. Join the Splunk community forums and attend webinars to stay updated with the latest developments and learn from experts.
    • Immerse yourself!
    • How?
    • When?
  • Practice, practice, practice: The more you use Splunk, the more comfortable you will become with it. Consider taking on a small project or working on real-life scenarios to get hands-on experience.
    • How?
    • What?
    • When?
    • Cost?
  • Get certified: Splunk offers several certification programs, such as the Splunk Certified Power User, Splunk Certified Admin, and Splunk Certified Architect. These certifications can help validate your skills and demonstrate your proficiency in Splunk.
    • What?
    • How?
    • When?
    • Am I ready?
    • Cost?
    • Certification path?
    • What's next?

Remember, learning a new technology can be challenging, but with perseverance and dedication, you can achieve your goal.


In the next steps I'll elaborate on each of the bullet points, I'll blog step by step what I did and how to follow my foot steps.