Meet Microsoft Power BI
Introduction
“Data is the new oil…”, this phrase was created by Clive Humby, a London mathematician specialized in data science. This expression has been widely cited in the market and by executives around the world using it to defend the idea that data is as valuable as oil. But Humby goes further: “It’s valuable, but if unrefined it really isn’t usefull (…) so data must be broken down and analyzed to gain value”.
According to this thought, the true value is in the ability to use this data analytically. The intelligence behind these analyses is the one who determinates its value, because through it will be extracted discoveries capable of transforming Organizations and Markets and why not the World. Correct data analysis produces effective results. Important decisions can be made with a solid information base. To do this, you need to have precise tools, such as Microsoft Power BI.
What is Power BI
Microsoft Power BI is Microsoft’s Business Intelligence tool. It’s a collection of software services, applications, and connectors that work together to transform your unrelated data sources into coherent, visually engaging and interactive information.
Launched in 2015 Power BI has been receiving strong market recognition. In February 2019, Gartner confirms Power BI as the leader in the “Gartner Magic Quadrant”. And this position has been sustained in 2021.
How does Power BI work?
It all starts with installing Power BI Desktop, which can be downloaded directly from the Microsoft website or Microsoft store. Power BI is the result of the combination of three add-ins, which are: POWER QUERY, POWER PIVOT and POWER VIEW (Already included in Excel). These three combined add-ins allow you to perform the entire ETL process: Extract, Transform, and Load. Let’s get into each add-in:
POWER QUERY:
It is a data transformation and preparation engine that offers either a graphical interface (represented below), or an advanced query editor with a great flexibility.
Underneath the Graphical Power Query interface, the Power Query Formula Language, better known as the M Language, is the code used in the Power BI Query Editor data transformation. This language allows the user to automate data connections, replace or elaborate logic, creating a serie of steps that are executed automatically whenever the database is updated, allowing a more effective data processing.
POWER PIVOT:
It is a data modeling technology that allows you to create data models, define links and create calculations through the DAX Language.
Dax (Data Analysis Expressions) is a formula expression language used in Analysis Services, in Power BI and Excel. DAX formulas include functions, operators, and values to perform advanced calculations and queries on data, in tables and related columns, in tabular data models.
POWER VIEW:
It is a technology that allows the creation of interactive graphics, maps and other visual devices to represent data effectively.
Much more than reports
One of the main aim of Power BI is the reduction of the need to relay on IT department within the organizations. As seen above, its entire interface is guided by simplicity since it provides a type of decoding of technologies for professionals who are not proficency in IT.
To sum up we can say that Power BI is able to capture data from various sources such as: Excel files, CSV, JSON, XML to Azure databases, Oracle as well as Web Scraping operations, etc… loading such information into tables that, organized and related to each other, enable the visualization of the data and the entire process of “Story Telling” in the way prefered from the user.
Data publishing
So far we have seen that Power BI is able to gather data from the most different platforms and data sources, transforming them and demonstrating structured information through interactive dashboards, as in the diagram below:
In order to make all data available for Stakenholders, we may use Power BI Service, that consists in a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) to which the internet user accesses directly to the cloud — the internet storage location. It is worth highlighting the speed of updating information inserted directly in the service. Moreover the owner of the report / dashboard can relay on a strong security by configuring levels of access and interaction with information and pages.
Licenses
Currently, Pro and Premium licenses are available for users directly on the Microsoft website; on the other hand companies may prefer Premium licenses for business, more usefull to process huge amounts of data. (This “companies licenses” include database structure with a reporting service directly on physical servers “on site” or Azure Cloud. Licenses like these have excencially large corporations as targets, in reason of their structure and cost).Goes by itself, however, with regard to users and analysts, that such licenses do not prevent the free download of Power Bi Desktop; the licence will be necessary only at the moment the information needs to be published directly in the Power BI Service.
Benefits of Power BI
No wonder that this software, even if compared to some of its competitors, is already the market leader among the solutions for Business Intelligence worldwide. The benefits of Power BI are relevant:
- Handy to start using: the download and installation are done in a few steps;
- Simplicity: Power BI is designed for all publics, from amateur and junior figures to IT professionals and Data Analysis. Using elements already existing in the office package (such as POWER QUERY, POWER PIVOT and POWER VIEW), making everything more intuitive;
- Data Management: efficient management and strategy of data with great integration, synchronization, autonomy and agility for all users;
- Low investment: Licenses are priced below competitors. The fact that you can start for free from the Power BI Desktop download allows immediate access and therefore facilitates the learning of this Software.
Conclusion
Power BI is one of the preferred tools among professionals and managers, who are looking for better data management. Thanks to its ability of capturing data from diffrent sources, the treatment of different amounts of information, as well as the intuitive visualization, have been recognized among the most innovative and robust solutions in the Business Intelligence market. Every month users can benefit new uploadings from Microsoft and a huge community to connect with.
As stated earlier, “Data is the new Oil”, so nothing better than one of the most powerful software on the market to add value, so necessary for the correct strategic positioning of companies in their technical markets.
References
Strumenti di sviluppo, documentazione tecnica ed esempi di codice | Microsoft Docs
