Best Practices Implementing Packages and Control Flow in SQL Server Integration Services 2008

1. Create an SSIS package that performs a single operation to simplify troubleshooting of packages.
2. Create package templates that contain common SSIS package components.
3. Define data sources within Solution Explorer that need to be available for multiple packages.
4. Create connection managers in an SSIS package so that the connection information is embedded within a package.
5. Identify the Control Flow tasks that are required to complete operations of the package.
6. Identify the Control Flow tasks that will provide error control within a package.
7. Use precedence constraints to control the flow of task execution within a package.
8. Use the Data Profiling task to gain familiarity with new data or identify quality issues with existing data.
9. Use the Bulk Insert task to move data from a text file to a SQL Server table when no error checking or transformations are required.
10. Use the Data Flow task for data loads that requires error checking and transformations.
11. Use the Script task to create custom Control Flow tasks that cannot be met by existing tasks.
12. Use the Execute Package task to control the flow of multiple packages using precedence constraints.
13. Use Sequence containers to group related tasks within a single container that can have package properties set from one object.
14. Use For Loop containers when you know the amount of times the iteration of a loop needs to occur.
15. Use the Foreach Loop when you are required to iterate through objects but do not know how many times the loop should iterate.
16. Use variables as the platform for passing the values between tasks when you are required to pass values from one Control Flow task to another.
17. Ensure that variables are set at the correct scope to operate correctly.