Common challenges for BI

Time spent on setup and management of BI systems. Ongoing

Management of BI systems hardware acquisitions and maintenance to meet SLAs

Complexity of connecting to on-premise and cloud (SaaS) data

Variety of data sources sources

Security, privacy and data refresh concerns for moving data

Managing data in the cloud into the cloud

Integration with existing Cost and time involved in integration of solution into existing
environment environment. Extensibility of system

Complexity of refreshing data from variety of data sources,

Keeping data current increased demand for real-time data

Ease of adoption by business and IT orgs. Time spent on

Ease of use and adoption creating reports and visualizations
Power BI: analytics for every organization
Data sources Power BI Service
Cloud-based SaaS solutions
e.g. Marketo, Salesforce, Quickbooks,
Google Analytics, …
Content packs Natural language query Sharing & collaboration
On-premises data
e.g. Analysis Services, SQL Server
Live dashboards
Organizational content packs
Corporate data sources or external
data services
Visualizations
Azure services
Azure SQL, Stream Analytics…
Reports
Excel and CSV files
Workbook data, flat files

Power BI Desktop files

01001
10101
Datasets
Data from files, databases, Azure,
Online Services, and other sources
Data refresh

Power BI Desktop Power BI Platform

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Prepare Explore Report Share
embed, extend, integrate
Key benefits and differentiators of Power BI for IT

Fast deployment with a hybrid solution, ease of

maintenance and 99.9% uptime SLA

Live connection to your data sources,

on-premises and in the cloud

Keep your data secure, use groups to manage

access and sharing

Integrated with familiar Microsoft products, utilizes

infrastructure, scale & availability in Azure & O365

Open APIs for integration and new scenarios, e.g.

real-time insights from devices

Content delivery (dashboards, reports, models) for

ease of consumption across your organizations
Why Power BI ?
IT challenges Faster time to solution and ease of management
Management of BI
Feature
systems
 Power BI is a Software as a Service (SaaS) BI solution
o No need to setup your own hardware
Variety of data o 99.9% uptime SLA
sources
o Grows with your needs for number of users and data volumes
o Ease of maintenance with automatic updates
Managing data in the
cloud
 Realize the benefits of a SaaS-based BI solution without moving
your data to the cloud
Integration with  More time to focus on business needs and creating better solutions
existing environment
for end users
 Power BI will meet your security and compliance requirements
Keeping data current
o Use Azure Conditional Access policies for secure access
o Manage users, groups, admins (in O365 admin portal)
o View and search audit logs (in O365 Security and Compliance portal)
Ease of use and
adoption o View usage metrics
o Specify tenant settings – what features are available in your organization
IT challenges Built-in connectivity to all of your data
Management of BI
Feature
systems
 Lowered IT investment in ETL infrastructure
 Data from services
Variety of data
sources o Content packs for SaaS services that you already use
o Growing number of supported SaaS solutions
 Data from databases
Managing data in the
cloud o Cloud: Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Data
Warehouse, Spark on HDInsight
o On-premise: SQL Server Analysis Services tabular or
Integration with multi-dimensional, SQL Server, SAP HANA, Oracle,
existing environment Teradata (Gateway required)
 Data from your organization
o Content published by others in your org
Keeping data current
 Data from files
o Import data from Excel, Power BI Desktop, or CSV files
Ease of use and
o Connect (upload), manage and view Excel in Power BI
adoption  Solution templates
o Quickly provision end-to-end, enterprise solutions
IT challenges Get instant value from your cloud data sources
Management of BI
Feature
systems
 No need to build connectors or
develop data extraction processes for
Variety of data your SaaS solutions
sources
 Business can quickly start with
solution-specific content packs which
Managing data in the
cloud include
o pre-configured dashboards
o reports
Integration with o data models
existing environment
 Users can explore data with fast data
processing
Keeping data current
 Automatic data refresh is built-in

Ease of use and

adoption
Please refer to powerbi.com for latest list of SaaS partners
IT challenges Consume structured/unstructured data using
Management of BI
Featureother Azure services
systems
 Connect directly to data from Azure services,
including
Variety of data o Azure SQL Database
sources o Azure SQL Data Warehouse
Event
o Spark on HDInsight Stream
Analytics Hubs

Managing data in the  Push live, streaming data from Azure Stream
cloud Analytics with built-in destination for Power BI Machine
for real-time dashboards at any scale Learning

Integration with  Integration with other Azure services, including Power BI

existing environment
Azure ML, opens up new scenarios, without Storage

writing thousands of lines of code

Keeping data current SQL Server

HDInsight

Ease of use and

adoption
IT challenges Live connectivity to your on-premises data
Management of BI
Feature
systems
 Connect live to your existing on-
premises data sources:
Variety of data o Analysis Services
sources
(tabular and multidimensional)
o SQL Server
Managing data in the
o SAP HANA
cloud o Oracle
o Teradata
 Requires On-Premises Data Gateway
Integration with
existing environment
 Role-based and row-level data security
 Data remains on-premise, only query
Keeping data current is stored in Power BI

Ease of use and

adoption
IT challenges Connect to data from your files
Management of BI
Feature
systems
 Import data into Power BI from files
o Microsoft Excel (xlxs or xlsm)
Variety of data o Power BI Desktop (pbix)
sources o Comma Separated Value (csv)
 Files can be located on
Managing data in the o Local machine
cloud o OneDrive Business or Personal
o SharePoint Team Sites
 Two ways to use Excel files
Integration with
existing environment o Import into Power BI
o Connect (upload), manage and view in
Power BI
Keeping data current  Any changes to a file in OneDrive or
SharePoint are synced automatically
(hourly)
Ease of use and
adoption  Data and reports from Power BI
Desktop files
IT challenges Keep your data where it is and connect securely
Management of BI
Feature
systems
 Faster time to insight with a hybrid
BI solution
Variety of data
sources  Cloud data sources
o SaaS sources
o Azure – SQL, DW, Blob, Table,
Managing data in the HDInsight, Marketplace
cloud o SharePoint, web sources
o OData (SAP HANA)
o OneDrive
Integration with
existing environment
 On-premise data sources
o SQL Server, Teradata, Oracle, DB2,
MySQL, PostgreSQL, Sybase, SAP
HANA, Access, Custom SQL, Custom
Keeping data current
ODBC Drivers
o SQL Server Analysis Services (tabular
and multi-dimensional)
Ease of use and o Files/folder, SharePoint on-premises
adoption
IT challenges Embed, extend, and integrate with the Power BI Platform
Management of BI
Feature
systems
 Application developers can embed Power BI tiles
and reports as an IFrame into an app, such as a
Variety of data mobile app or web app.
sources
 Use the REST API to push data directly from your
application into Power BI
Managing data in the
cloud  Programmatically access Power BI resources
(datasets, tables, schemas)
Integration with  Secure access to Power BI service using Azure
existing environment
Active Directory and OAuth 2.0 authentication
 Create your own custom visuals from the
Keeping data current published open source visuals and the provided
framework
Ease of use and
adoption
IT challenges Keep your data current
Management of BI
Feature
systems
 Access and refresh the data via
o Direct Query (Azure SQL, DW
Variety of data and Spark HDInsight)
sources o Import (with scheduled refresh)
o REST APIs to stream data
Managing data in the
cloud  Refresh on-premise data with
o Power BI Personal Gateway
Integration with o On-Premises Data Gateway
existing environment

Keeping data current

Ease of use and

adoption
IT challenges Scheduled refresh with Power BI Personal Gateway
Management of BI
Feature
systems
 Personal Gateway empowers the
business analyst to securely and
Variety of data easily refresh on-premise data
sources
 Self-service data refresh - no help
from IT required
Managing data in the
cloud  Easy & simple to use - lightweight
one-click installer
Integration with  One Personal Gateway per user
existing environment
 Runs either as a service or an app

Keeping data current

 Import of data with scheduled
refresh

Ease of use and

adoption
IT challenges Centralized data refresh with On-Premises Data Gateway
Management of BI
Feature
systems
 IT departments can deploy and
manage on-premise data PowerApps
Variety of data access centrally
sources Microsoft Flow
 BI governance: IT can monitor
and audit usage Azure Logic Apps
Managing data in the
cloud  Live, interactive query to on-
premises data sources (e.g. SQL
Integration with
Server) and scheduled refresh
existing environment
 One gateway for multiple cloud
services and experiences: Power
Keeping data current
BI, PowerApps, Microsoft Flow,
Azure Logic Apps
 Gateway recovery and restore
Ease of use and
adoption
features built-in
IT challenges Easy to use and drive adoption
Management of BI
Feature
systems  Easy to use
o For end users: intuitive and interactive
Variety of data dashboards and reports
sources
o For BI analysts: familiar tools to create data
models and reports
Managing data in the
cloud
o For IT: Administering Power BI tenants, users,
and groups is the same as in Office 365

Integration with
 Easy to share
existing environment
o End users can easily share dashboards and
reports, inside and outside the organization

Keeping data current o Collaborate with others in a group workspace

o Create content packs and publish them to
your organization
Ease of use and
adoption
Power BI Desktop:
Connecting to Data
Power BI Desktop
Connecting to Data
 The “Get Data” option allows the
definition of connections to data
Prepare sources and the selection of
entities and columns

 Authentication options can be

Explore specified including credential types
such as Windows or others

 Data can be imported in-memory

Report or be accessed live for some data
sources

 Each selected entity will become a

Share & query that can be further
collaborate enhanced to meet business
requirements
Power BI Desktop Connecting to Data
Data sources available through Power BI Desktop (not all listed)
File Database Azure Online Services Other
Prepare • Excel • SQL Server (DQ) • SQL Database (DQ) • SharePoint Online List • SparkPost1 • Web
• Text / CSV • Access • SQL Data • Dynamics 365 • Smartsheet • SharePoint List
• XML • SQL Server Warehouse (DQ) • PowerApps • SQL Sentry1 • OData Feed
• JSON Analysis Services • Marketplace • Facebook • Stripe1 • Hadoop File (HDFS)
• Folder (LQ) • HDInsight • Salesforce Objects • SweetIQ1 • Active Directory
• Sharepoint • Oracle (DQ) • Blob Storage • Salesforce Reports • Troux1 • Microsoft Exchange
Folder • IBM DB2 • Table Storage • Google Analytics • Twilio1 • ODBC
Explore • MySQL • HDInsight Spark1 • appFigures1 • tyGraph1 • OLE DB
• PostgreSQL • DocumentDB1 • Azure Enterprise1 • Visual Studio • R Script
• Sybase • Data Lake1 • comScore Digital Analytix1 Team Services1 • Spark1
• Teradata (DQ) • GitHub1 • Webtrends1 • Blank Query
• SAP HANA (DQ) • MailChimp1 • ZenDesk1
• IBM Informix • Marketo1
database1 • Dynamics 365 for
Report • SAP BW Financials1
• Amazon • MixPanel1
Redshift1 • Planview Enterprise1
• Impala1 • Projectplace1
• Snowflake1 • QuickBooks Online1
1 In Beta

Share &
collaborate  The available data sources are constantly evolving
 Some of them support Direct Query (DQ). No data is imported but cannot mix import
modes or data sources
 There are also some limitations on the transformations that can be done with DQ
Power BI Desktop Connecting to Data
Feature Changing connections

Prepare  Once connections are

established, you can easily
change them

Explore  For instance change from Test

to Production Environment

 Go to File -> Options and

Report Settings -> Data Source
Settings

 Specified credentials can be

Share &
cleared
collaborate
 The scope can be current file
or previous created
connections
Power BI Desktop:
Preparing Data
Power BI Desktop
Shaping Data
 Shaping is the act of transforming the data to meet our business requirements
Prepare

 Apply data cleaning operations and correct/remove errors

 Rename the data so it is more meaningful

Explore

 Combine data from different data sources in a single table

 Create personal (reusable) views of the data

Report

 A set of out-of-the box transformations are available to help

 A programming language is available for addressing more complex use-cases

Share &
collaborate
 Source data is not changed, all the transformations are applied on the Desktop
engine
Power BI Desktop
Query Editor

Prepare
 Once the data is loaded or referenced
into Power BI Desktop, the “Edit Queries”
option in the “Home” ribbon allows the
edition of the imported entities
Explore

 Each entity that was loaded

Report
from each data source will
generate a separate query

 Transformations are applied

Share & per-entity, although it is
collaborate
possible to combine them.
Power BI Desktop
Query Editor

Prepare

Explore

Report

Share &
collaborate

Query Ribbon The Left Pane The Center Pane The Query Settings
Pane
Power BI Desktop
Query Editor - Query Ribbon

Prepare  The “Home” tab contains the common query tasks including the combination of
queries

Explore

 The “Transform” tab provides access to common data transformation tasks, such as
Report adding or removing columns, changing data types, splitting columns, and other data-
driven tasks

Share &
collaborate
Power BI Desktop
Query Editor - Query Ribbon

Prepare  The “Add Column” tab provides additional tasks associated with columns such as
formatting column data, adding custom columns or invoking functions

Explore

Report  The “View” tab provides access to query settings and the Advanced Editor where we
can develop our own data transformation scripts.

Share &
collaborate
Power BI Desktop Shaping Data
Feature Available Data Transformations – Advanced Editor

Prepare
• Advanced Editor
• Every transformation generates code automatically
• For more advanced scenarios
Explore
• OOB transformations will cover more than 90% of the cases

Report

Share &
collaborate
Power BI Desktop:
Creating a Data Model
Power BI Desktop Creating a Data Model
Feature
• After data connections were created and data was shaped
Prepare according to business requirements, we start modeling it

• Relationships between the extracted tables can be established to

Explore
allow filtering

• Calculations can be created for additional context or for

implementing business metrics or even key performance
Report
indicators

• Data can be categorized, typed and formatted

Share &
collaborate
• Custom sorting can be implemented for the attributes
Power BI Desktop Creating a Data Model
Feature Data View

Prepare
Data View icon

Data Grid – Shows the

data for the selected
Explore table
Modeling Ribbon –
Manage relationships,
calculations, data types,
formats and
Report
categorization
Formula bar – DAX
formulas for calculations

Share & Search – Search for

collaborate tables or column names

Fields List – Select a

table or column to view
in the Data Grid
Power BI Desktop Creating a Data Model
Feature Relationship View

Prepare Relationship View icon – Shows the

relationships in the model. Here you
can create relationships or view
them.

Explore Relationship – You can hover your

cursor over a relationship to show
the columns used.
Double-click on a relationship to
open it in the Edit Relationship
Report dialog box

In the example, Sales and Stores

have a relationship via StoreKey
Share &
collaborate
Power BI Desktop Creating a Data Model
Feature Relationships

Prepare • They connect two tables allowing filtering and calculations that
leverage columns from both. No need to flatten!

Explore
• They are based on a single column from each table. One table
acts as a lookup table and the other as a referencing table

• The datatypes for the columns do not have to be the same

Report

• Relationships can be created manually or automatically inferred

by the tool
Share &
collaborate
• More than one relationship can exist between two tables
Power BI Desktop Creating a Data Model
Feature Relationships – Active and Inactive

Prepare • It is possible to control what relationship is active via the Manage

Relationships window

Explore

Report

Share &
collaborate

• It is also possible to use DAX to activate a relationship in a

calculation or import the lookup table more than once.
Power BI Desktop Creating a Data Model
Feature Relationships – Creation

Prepare
• Relationships can be created manually via the Manage
Relationships tab.

Explore

Report

• Or by dragging-and-dropping in the Relationship Viewer

Share & • There is also an auto-detect feature where Power BI desktop will
collaborate
rely on column names and data types (or constraints defined in
the data source) to detect relationships.
Power BI Desktop Creating a Data Model
Feature Data Types

Prepare • Power BI Desktop optimizes data types automatically when

loading the data for more efficient storage, calculations and data
visualization
Explore
• Data types can be set both at the Query Editor and in the
Modeling tab

Report

Share &
collaborate
Power BI Desktop Creating a Data Model
Feature Data Categorization

Prepare
• Categorizing fields is relevant for
geographical fields or for image or URL fields

Explore
Am I seeing country sales or US
states’ sales?
Is AL, Albania or Alabama? Or, is
AR, Argentina or Arkansas?
Report

• In the modeling tab a field can be classified at

a certain geographical granularity or as an
Share &
image that comes from an URL or a text field
collaborate which is actually an URL.

• Power BI desktop will render data based on

this categorization
Power BI Desktop Creating a Data Model
Feature Sorting by Column

Prepare
• By default, Power BI desktop will sort data in a column based on
the alphabet

Explore • It is possible to use a separate column to determine sorting

Report

Share &
collaborate
Power BI Desktop Creating a Data Model
Feature Hierarchies

Prepare
• Can be created in the Data View

Explore

Report
• They must use attributes from a single entity

• Can be used in the different visualizations, allowing drilling

Share &
collaborate
• Imported Power Pivot models or connected to SSAS models with
hierarchies are also usable.
Power BI Desktop:
Building a Report
Power BI Desktop
Report View

Prepare • The first canvas that is presented to the user

Explore

Report

Share &
collaborate
Let’s hands-on