Item: SQL Server Integration Services
Rating: 6
Author: Sean Ford

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

SQL Server Integration Services is an extremely powerful tool that we're using exclusively for SQL Server inventory and other jobs. While it is very powerful, it's also not exactly intuitive in my opinion. I had not used this before my current job, and it was already setup when I joined. I've had to edit some of those jobs a handful of times and I just have not yet been able to make it 'click' in how it works. I seem to think oppositely of how this was designed (potentially just the jobs I've had to interact with), but almost everything is counter-intuitive.

Pros and Cons

Runs flawlessly after setup properly
Powerful, as mentioned
Free

Confusing operation, even with its gui
Requires special install and setup
Requires the Visual studio integration services install (separate interface from SSMS)
Could be more easily integrated into SSMS, but may also be used for other products that I'm not aware of

Return on Investment

Without this, we would have to manually update a spreadsheet of our SQL Server inventory
We would also have poor alerting; if an instance was down we wouldn't know until it was reported by a user
We only have one other person who uses SQL Server Integration Services , he's the expert. It would fall to me without him and I would not enjoy being responsible for it.

Alternatives Considered

I had nothing to do with the choice or install. I assume it was made because it's easy to integrate with our SQL Server environment and free. I'm not sure of any other enterprise level solution that would solve this problem, but I would likely have approached it with traditional scripting. Comparably free, but my own familiarity with trad scripts would be my final deciding factor. Perhaps with some further training on SSIS I would have a different answer.

Key Insights

Do you think SQL Server Integration Services delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with SQL Server Integration Services's feature set?

Yes

Did SQL Server Integration Services live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of SQL Server Integration Services go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy SQL Server Integration Services again?

Likelihood to Recommend

I'd give it a 6 because it's very useful functionality that isn't available elsewhere. My preference would be to use python or some other scripting to do the same thing where it makes sense to me, instead of how it forces you to think in a specific way.

GUI is nice and it's very cool to see your project actually running in real time.

SSIS, free but not intuitive

Overall Satisfaction with SQL Server Integration Services