Business intelligence is not a strange thing in today’s world. In cloud computing, business intelligence is the most crucial weapon. It helps them solve crises, find solutions to challenges, and grow at an unprecedented rate.
Microsoft Power BI is one of the most popular business intelligence software with the highest (36%) market share in 2021, as per TrustRadius. If you are new to Power BI, this write-up will take you through all its crucial facets of it.
What is Power BI?
Before moving further, let us understand what Power BI is. It is a business intelligence and data visualization tool that helps organizations convert raw data into usable data.
It contains apps, software, and connectors that enable this to happen. It can be connected to various data sources, such as Excel, data warehouses, and the cloud. The aim is to enable organizations to make the right decisions at the right time with the help of data-backed insights.
Power BI is a powerful BI and data visualization tool. In this competitive, digital, and fast-moving world, it is a necessary thing to know. Power BI training can help you advance your career and open many doors.
What is the architecture of Power BI?
There are three phases in Power BI’s architecture. Let us discuss them.
● Data Integration: Organizations get their data from different data sources. In this phase, all the data is integrated and stored in a standard format.
● Data Processing: The integrated data is processed to remove redundancy. It is cleaned, made presentable, and loaded into a data warehouse.
● Data Presentation: Now, data can be visualized using the different tools offered by Power BI. You can form reports and enable data-driven decision-making through the data.
What are the features of Power BI?
Power BI has the following features.
● Visualizations: Power BI offers different visualizations, such as cards, waterfall charts, tables, KPIs, and tables.
● Sourcing varied datasets: You can get datasets from different sources, such as Excel, JSON, and XML.
● Dataset filtration: Power BI allows users to import a subset of the data instead of the entire dataset, along with many other filter options.
● Reports and dashboards: You can create reports and dashboards in Power BI. A dashboard forms a single page in a report.
Other features include flexible tiles, a navigation pane, a Q&A box, and a DAX data analysis function.
How to install Power BI?
Microsoft has made it incredibly convenient for organizations to install and use it. Follow these steps to install Power BI.
● Go to the Power BI desktop website (https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/desktop/).
● Click on the ‘Download Free’ button.
● You will get the option to select your language. Select it and click on download.
● Download the file.
● Open the downloaded file – Power BI Setup.
● Accept the terms and conditions, check the necessary fields, and install Power BI.
● Click on the Finish button.
If you want an in-depth understanding of Power BI, you can enroll in Microsoft certification courses.
How to create a report using Power BI?
In the last section, you learned how to install Power BI. Now, let us learn how to create a simple report. After downloading and installing Power BI, you need to create your account. You can use your organizational email ID to do so.
To create a report, you need a data set. You can use these free dataset samples provided by Microsoft. Link: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/create-reports/sample-datasets.
● Open Power BI. The report workspace will open by default.
● Click on the Get Data tab to import your data. You will get the option to choose different file formats. Choose your file.
● You will get the option to Load or Edit Data. If you are using one of the samples by Microsoft, you can directly choose load data.
● You will see the Visualization and Fields options on the right-hand side of the report workspace. Select the visualization you want to use. A template will appear in the workspace.
● Now, you can choose the fields you want to reflect in your visualization. Feel free to resize them, move the image, or change the graphics. Use the Format tab to make your visualization attractive.
● You can also perform statistical operations by using the Fields tab.
● Once you are done, you can also publish your report. Power BI will also provide insights into the data you have used.
