So rumor has it that there is a cool data modeling tool in VSTS. I haven't actually seen it yet, but I will tomorrow night at the Central Ohio SQL Server SIG as Corie Curcillo is presenting on it. See here for details. BTW...Geek Dinner @ Hoggy's Polaris (3 little pigs rock!).
I wonder however, how many DBAs are doing data modeling these days, and which tools they are using to do it. I have done a good bit of modeling over the last few years using mostly ERWIN (yuk!). I'd love to hear about other's experiences. When I heard Microsoft was getting into the modeling game a bit, I was surprised. There are a lot of tools out there already (none of which are very good mind you). But then I thought, "gee wouldn't it be great if I didn't have to leave the VS IDE to do a large piece of my work?" Then I kinda got excited about this new tool.
I'll give a bit of a review of the tool after I've seen it tomorrow. If you are interested in the topic, stop by the SIG. We'd love to have you. We are also getting a presentation on practical uses of Analysis Services by Dave Wichert (live meeting). Should be pretty good. Hope to see you there. No swag list yet. I'll have to climb into the prize box and see what I come up with. There are a few options, like t-shirts, books, etc. We'll see what falls on my head tonight.
Jon