What is Microsoft Power BI?

Microsoft Power BI is a collection of business analytics services that enables users to create data visualizations that can be shared within organizations or on websites. This suite of architectures, technologies, processes, reporting, and data visualization products can be used to extract meaningful information from raw data.

Power BI users cite many benefits to working with this service. It’s simple to set up and has a clear and easy-to-use interface with which users can design their own dashboards and reports. Those who wish to upload visualizations or reports can easily share them with others using the Power BI service, which has the added perk of refreshing their data each time there’s an update to the underlying dataset. Because Power BI was constructed using Microsoft Excel as a foundation, those who are familiar with Excel can easily transition to using Power BI.

Those working with Power BI have access to powerful AI capacities. They can use image recognition, design machine learning models, perform text analytics, and even integrate with Azure Machine Learning. In addition, Power BI provides users with the ability to customize app navigation using the “app navigation experiences” feature, as well as to tailor security features to their needs in order to ensure their information is kept safe and private. In addition, Power BI has many cloud-based services and apps that are designed for managing, collating, and analyzing data. After data is processed in Power BI, insights can be gleaned, and charts and graphs of the information can be created to convey a visual snapshot of what’s happening at a business.

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Versions of Microsoft Power BI

There are currently three versions of Microsoft Power BI: Power BI Desktop, Power BI Pro, and Power BI Premium:

  • Power BI Desktop: A free service that can be installed onto a computer or local system. It allows users to access the basic Power BI features as well as connect to 70-plus data sources.
  • Power BI Pro: The full version of Power BI. It can create and share data, reports, and dashboards with others who have a Power BI Pro license.
  • Power BI Premium: Provides capacity-based service. Organizations can purchase a Premium Workspace that can be accessed by multiple users. Is able to host datasets up to 50GB, as well as 100 TB in the cloud. Three Premium capacity sizes are available, with different memory sizes.

8 of the Best Analytic Features of Power BI

Those who work with Microsoft Power BI for their data analytic and data visualization draw from many features to streamline the analytics process. The following eight are just a few of the most popular Power BI features currently available:

  1. Visualization features: One of the main components of Power BI is its ability to create stunning data visualizations. Users can generate both simple and complex dashboards and reports. In addition, Power BI includes a library devoted to custom visualizations. Visualization options include ribbon charts, stacked area charts, clustered column charts, and maps, among others.
  2. Power Query: This feature of Power BI enables users to search for data online or through corporate data sources, then easily import the desired dataset into an Excel table. This feature also performs other related tasks to streamline this process, such as replacing values, merging data, and renaming columns. Users can also opt to integrate Power BI with Excel for collaborative purposes.
  3. Reports: Power BI reports draw from various dashboards that have visualizations that are pertinent to a topic or issue. These reports are valuable because they present data in a complete, structured manner, highlighting the most important findings. Users can also use Power BI to share these reports with both internal and external stakeholders. In addition, Power BI’s smart narrative toolbar is designed to assist users in making their own AI visualization that can instantaneously analyze a report and impart the key points using natural language.
  4. Filtering features: Dataset is one set of data comprised of data from multiple sources, such as Excel. It has applications for making a variety of visualizations. By using Power BI’s built-in data connectors, like SQL database or Oracle, those working with data can seamlessly connect to sources and make datasets by easily importing data.
  5. Q&A box: The natural language Q&A box is one of Power BI’s most helpful and unique features. By typing questions into the box in simple, non-technical language, users can search the entire Power BI system for information relevant to their business needs. Any pertinent component of data, a report, or a visualization is provided to the user. This cutting-edge, cognitive technology relies on techniques such as autofill and rephrasing to locate the most helpful results.
  6. Flexible tiles: Power BI tiles are blocks that contain a visualization on a dashboard. They separate the visualizations so that users can more easily view the contents. Not only can the size of these tiles be altered, but they can be moved around on the dashboard to create a more effective way of presenting findings.
  7. Integration capabilities: Power BI is designed to support R, an open-source programming language commonly used by Data Scientists, Data Miners, and Statisticians. R incorporates detailed statistical computing and graphical techniques that have applications for machine learning, data visualization, and statistical modeling. By allowing R’s visualizations to be integrated directly into standard dashboards, those working with Power BI can easily present their findings to various audiences.
  8. PowerApps: One of the most helpful features of Power BI is for those on the go is its ability to use its custom visual for embedding Power BI tiles directly inside an app. Power BI provides native integration with PowerApps, a collection of services, connectors, and apps that offer users an environment in which they can create custom apps to suit their professional needs. PowerApps can run on mobile devices as well as browsers, and users don't need prior coding experience to share their findings with others.

As the above list indicates, Microsoft Power BI is one of the most effective and powerful tools available for Data Analysts.

Learn Microsoft Power BI With Hands-On Classes

For those who want to learn how to create dynamic data visualizations for business reports, Noble Desktop’s Power BI Bootcamp is for you. This class is available in-person in NYC, as well as in the live online format. It teaches participants such skills as how to use a single relational model when connecting to multiple data sources, how to create comprehensive time intelligence reports, and how to work with Power Query.

There are also other live online Power BI classes currently available for those who are new to Power BI, as well as intermediate and advanced learners. These interactive courses are taught in real-time and provide all learners with access to an instructor who is teaching live (in-person and online) and is ready to provide feedback and answer questions.

If you are interested in finding additional Power BI classes in your area, check out Noble’s Classes Near Me tool to locate Power BI classes. This tool provides an easy way to locate and browse more than two dozen Power BI classes currently offered in the in-person and live online formats.