Introduction to Power BI

What is Power BI
Power BI is a Data Visualization and Business Intelligence tool that converts data from
different data sources to interactive dashboards and BI reports.
Parts of Power BI
Power BI suite provides

1. Power BI Desktop

Microsoft Windows desktop application. Power BI desktop app is used to create

reports.

1. Power BI service

An online SaaS (Software as a Service) service. Power BI service is used to publish

the reports.

1. Power BI apps

An mobile application available on windows phones and tablets and also in Apple
iOS. Power BI mobile app is used to view the reports and dashboards.
What can you do with Power BI service as a
consumer?
● Every day, colleagues send you all types of data, from reports to spreadsheets, emails
with charts, and even printed handouts. As the data accumulates, the task of quickly
finding what you need, when you need it, becomes more difficult. Too much data
increases the risk that you're not using the most recent information.

● Power BI can help make your job easier and more effective at the same time by
converting all that data into charts and graphs to help you visualize your data in
meaningful ways.
What can you do with Power BI service as a
consumer?
● You can view data insights from colorful and compelling visuals instead of just lists
and tables.

● You and your colleagues can work from the same trusted dashboards and reports from
a browser or mobile device. Because your data updates and refreshes automatically,
you’re always working with the freshest content.
Flow of work in Power BI
A common flow of work in Power BI begins in Power BI Desktop, where a report is
created. That report is then published to the Power BI service and finally shared, so that
users of Power BI Mobile apps can consume the information.
Power BI service
Power BI desktop
Building blocks of Power BI
Everything you do in Microsoft Power BI can be broken down into a few basic building
blocks.

Here are the basic building blocks in Power BI:

● Visualizations
● Datasets
● Reports
● Dashboards
● Tiles
Building blocks of Power BI
Visualization

Visual representation of data.

For example: charts,

color-coded map,

word count, etc.

Building blocks of Power BI
Dataset

A dataset is a collection of data that Power BI uses to create its visualizations.

Reports

In Power BI, a report is a collection of visualizations that appear together on one or more
pages. Reports let you create many visualizations, on multiple pages if necessary, and let
you arrange those visualization in whatever way best tells your story.

Dashboards

When you're ready to share a single page from a report, or a collection of visualizations,
you create a dashboard
Building blocks of Power BI
Tiles

In Power BI, a tile is a single visualization on a report or a dashboard. It's the rectangular
box that holds an individual visual.
Power BI Desktop

Power BI Desktop is a free application for PCs that lets you gather, transform, and
visualize your data.

Power BI Desktop and the Power BI Service work together. You can create your reports
and dashboards in Power BI Desktop, and then publish them to the Power BI Service for
others to consume.
1. Ribbon - Displays common tasks that are associated with reports and visualizations.
2. Report view, or canvas - Where visualizations are created and arranged. You can switch
between Report, Data, and Model views by selecting the icons in the left column.
3. Pages tab - Located along the bottom of the page, this area is where you would select or
add a report page.
4. Visualizations pane - Where you can change visualizations, customize colors or axes,
apply filters, drag fields, and more.
5. Fields pane - Where query elements and filters can be dragged onto the Report view or
dragged to the Filters area of the Visualizations pane.
Types of Charts
● Basic Area charts
● Bar and column charts
● Cards
● Donut charts
● Gauge charts
● Line charts
● Maps
● Matrix
● Tables
● Pie charts
● Q&A visuals
● Tree maps
● Waterfall charts
Connect to data sources
You can connect Power BI Desktop to many types of data sources, including on-premises
databases, Microsoft Excel workbooks, and cloud services.
Get data from Excel
Steps

1. Home tab -> Get data

2. Select Excel-> connect
3. Select the excel sheet -> Load
Get data from database
Steps

1. Click the Database option.

2. Select the database connection name.
3. Click connect.

You have to pass Server name/ User name

and password to connect.

1. Select the connectivity mode.

Import or DirectQuery.
Import vs DirectQuery
1. DirectQuery:

DirectQuery Connectivity mode lets you connect directly to data. DirectQuery mode
used to build Real-time or near real-time BI solutions when the data is changing frequently,
and Data volume is very large.

2. Import:

Import Data Connectivity mode lets you import data into Power BI cache.

When you publish the data to PBI service, limit is 1GB. It consumes and pushes data into
Power BI Azure backend and data can be refreshed up to 8 times a day and a schedule can
be set up for data refresh.
SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS)
SQL Server Analysis Services databases are

one of the most common data sources for Power BI.

steps

1. Get data
2. Analysis Service
3. Insert Server and database name
4. Next, you have two options to choose from:
● Import – Loads data from database into Power BI Desktop
● Connect Live – Data stays in the database and the query is
executed each time you interact with visuals
Cloud data Vs On-premises
● Power BI can connect with just an Excel spreadsheet or bring together cloud-based
and on-premises data warehouses.

● With cloud data warehouses, data is collected, stored, queried, and analyzed in a
cloud environment, without the need for upfront investments in hardware or IT teams
and the extra time needed to configure and maintain the infrastructure.

● on-prem data warehouse servers located onsite at your organization collect, store,
and analyze your data. These data warehouses often require extensive investment —
buying all the hardware you’ll need up front, regardless of how long before you can
use it — and staffing a team to manage it all.
Transform data to include in a report
Sometimes, your data might contain extra data or have data in the wrong format. Power BI
Desktop includes the Power Query Editor tool, which can help you shape and transform
data so that it's ready for your models and visualizations.
Transform data to include in a report
On the center pane,
right-clicking a column displays
the available transformations.
Transform data to include in a report