SSIS | ETL: Create Integration Service Project and Package

SSIS is commonly known as an “ETL” product, a means to move and transform data from one point to another from various data sources (SQL Server or Oracle databases, Excel, CSV or Text files and more). But SSIS is so much more. In its bare essence, SSIS is a workflow orchestrator: it executes different tasks, either sequentially or in parallel, and different execution paths can be executed, depending on success, failure or other factors including precedence constraints. This means SSIS can be used in other scenarios than just data warehousing with the corresponding SSAS and SSRS Microsoft Data Platform products. Database administrators can use it for example to schedule and execute backups of their databases.

SSIS is mainly a visual tool. Packages are developed in Visual Studio and they use a visual canvas to arrange tasks on the Control Flow tab. This means the solution is more easily understood by someone new to the project.