Book Image

Mastering Microsoft Power BI

By : Brett Powell
5 (1)
Book Image

Mastering Microsoft Power BI

5 (1)
By: Brett Powell

Overview of this book

This book is intended for business intelligence professionals responsible for the design and development of Power BI content as well as managers, architects and administrators who oversee Power BI projects and deployments. The chapters flow from the planning of a Power BI project through the development and distribution of content to the administration of Power BI for an organization. BI developers will learn how to create sustainable and impactful Power BI datasets, reports, and dashboards. This includes connecting to data sources, shaping and enhancing source data, and developing an analytical data model. Additionally, top report and dashboard design practices are described using features such as Bookmarks and the Power KPI visual. BI managers will learn how Power BI’s tools work together such as with the On-premises data gateway and how content can be staged and securely distributed via Apps. Additionally, both the Power BI Report Server and Power BI Premium are reviewed. By the end of this book, you will be confident in creating effective charts, tables, reports or dashboards for any kind of data using the tools and techniques in Microsoft Power BI.
Table of Contents (15 chapters)

Report planning

Power BI reports can take on a variety of forms and use cases, ranging from executive-level dashboard layouts to highly detailed and focused reports. Prior to designing and developing Power BI reports, some level of planning and documentation is recommended to ensure that the reports are well aligned with the needs of the users and the organization.

Effective report planning can be encapsulated in the following five steps:

  1. Identify the users or consumers of this report:
    • Senior managers generally prefer less self-service interactivity and value simple, intuitive visuals, such as KPIs.
    • Analysts often require significant flexibility to filter and interact with more detailed reports. For example, reports used by analysts generally include more slicer visuals and may include table or matrix visuals as well.

Separating reports by user role or group serves to keep...