What Makes Microsoft Power BI The One-Stop Solution To Business Data Visualization

Trisha Manna
Learnbay_data-science and full-stack
8 min readJun 17, 2021

The‌ ‌Best‌ ‌Data‌ ‌Visualisation‌ ‌Tool of 2021-‌ ‌Microsoft‌ ‌Power‌ ‌BI‌

microsoft-power-bi-the-best-data-visualization-tool

Your last sales presentation lacked client appreciation. But you worked too hard on it and presented elaborated insights. Still, your friend from the competitor company earned long buzzing claps and stole the deal! And for the first time! But how? You know he spent hardly seven days on that presentation, while you spent sleepless months on it. Well, at this time, your friend got shielded with a superpower called ‘Microsoft Power BI.’

Yes. All the credits of making a powerful business decision or handling business threats with the most unique and sustainable solution, now inlined with your power of hypnotising the clients/ customers. And how to hypnotise them? With your unique and extraordinarily insightful data visualisation techniques.

Achieving such a level of hypnotising power is not that arduous. Just choose the right Business Intelligence tools.

Microsoft Power BI is such a tool that provides you with a continuous, powerful, and insightful business solution with its amazing automation features.

So let’s shed light on the facts that promote Microsoft Power BI as the power resource of business intelligence analytics.

How good is Power BI as a Data Visualization tool?

If you ask a set of business intelligence analysts, which data visualisation tool is best? Above 80% of responses will say ‘Microsoft Power BI.’ For the last two years, this business intelligence solution backed up by the trust of Microsoft has become the first choice for data science beginners too, in terms of data visualisation.

But what special feature Microsoft offered that smashed out the incredible popularity of tableau? Before we head into the answer to this question, let’s first brush up on the definition of data visualisation.

So, How data visualisation helps you in intelligent business decision making?

According to Microsoft, “Data visualisation helps you turn all that granular data into easily understood, visually compelling — and useful — business information. By tapping into external data sources, today’s data visualisation tools don’t simply let you see your KPIs more clearly, they unify data and apply AI-driven analytics to reveal relationships between your KPIs, the market, and the world.

The above definition can also be a promising answer to our key question regarding the data visualisation ability of power BI. So now, let’s have a look at the detained visualisation features packed up with this powerful Microsoft solution.

Under Power BI, you will get the following two key data visualisation segments with embed several features-

  • Graphs and charts
  • Maps

Graphs and Charts- The key to successful insight generation

Graphs and charts are the most common and basic feature that every data visualisation tool offers. Then how Power BI became the buzzword?

Well. Microsoft has made a difference by expanding its chart varieties and scope of three-dimensional presentation. Below are the few available chart presentation options under this powerful data visualisation tool.

Bar chart

Nothing can be classy than a bar chart presentation in the case of simple insight generation.

For example, suppose you research the latest salary trends for machine learning professionals varying with years of experience. Then, a bar chart becomes your handy solution.

For a second thought, if you want to check the same trend but instead of working experience now, the variable becomes a range of years. Again power BI bar charts seem insightful. No matter if at some point the trend becomes negative, Power BI will handle that too with an impressive optical influence.

Column chart

Next comes the column chart. It’s almost similar to the bar one, but the only difference is that it offers visualisation in a vertical orientation. But under which scenario you need these?

Suppose you got stuck with data having identical categories. Then you need to do clustering of the data sets followed by cluster correlations assessments. At this point, a column chart will help you to visualise the changes based on clustered variables.

A handy example can be visualising the drop or rise of the market share for one of your frontline company products.

Pie Chart

For basic insight generations accompanying two variables, until now, the pie chart has been the most demanding one.

E.g., you want to draw insights into the overall productivities across different departments of your company. Nothing can be as effective as the pie chart.

If the dilemma is concerning the boring circular look, then Power BI has solved your problem. Choose a trendy but clear 3D effect and play with your presentation.

Line Chart

The set of important data points are becoming super impossible and you have multiple variables. The best is to use a line chart in such scenarios. This will help you to visualise the inclination of the variable in detail.

Suppose you want to trace the trend of your latest launch of 3 cars, in terms of monthly slates number. Then, using a line chart, you can easily make a powerful analytical report.

And in case you don’t like the conventional bar, line, and column charts, but due to data representation clarity, you can’t become trendy with other options; use the combo chart. The presence of both column/ bar and line chart on the same page is enough to greet the boredom of your audience.

Until now, I have discussed the trendy but altered features of Power BI’s graphical measures. Now let’s dig out the trendy styles.Funnel chart

Suppose you are in a creative domain of a tech company and you are going to launch a blog site that will promote your organisation’s business.

You have decided to segregate the content types as follows-

  • Career guidance: 40%
  • Course promotion-30%
  • Company promotion- 20%
  • Technical content (fact and technology updates)- 10%

Instead of a traditional one, if you choose a trendy funnel to look at, your presentation will become more eye-soothing and enjoyable.

Gauge Chart

Measuring the success rate of gross sales based on a specific target is not at all optically worthy through pie, bar or line chart. To break the monotonous environment of the conference room, you can use the gauge chart that looks like a speedometer of 90’s scooters.

Waterfall Chart

While it comes to the impressive, clear, in-depth, but trendy presentation of your analytics, the ‘Waterfall chart’ becomes the one-stop solution. Easy analysis of a series of variables ranging between the lower and upper limits is now possible through such types of charts. Waterfall charts make your complex insight generation task super smooth and time-saving.

Power BI provides you ample opportunities for such chart’s customisations and animation implementation.

Hence, attaining a sales presentation is not a boring job any more.

Doughnut chart

If you love circular charts, but your boss wants a trendy look at your report presentation, make a large central hole in your prepared pie chart. Just kidding.

Doughnut charts offer similar features as the pie one but look more appealing for analytical presentation consisting of two simple variables.

type of charts in Mocrosoft power BI data visualisation

How Microsoft Power BI’s data visualisation tool supports powerful business intelligence operations?

From the above discussion, it’s clear that insight generation is no longer a matter of obstacles. But how power BI is easing the path of a business intelligence operation with its visual features.

The answer is ‘map’. This amazing tool by the tech giant Microsoft has become the hot favourite for top MNCs and the midscale business, which wants to expand their business locations.

Maps- Microsoft Made the difference

Power BI offers three different types of mapping options-

  • Flow Option
  • Regional Option
  • Point Option

Flow Option

Suppose you need to map different colour themes for your next company product and analyse customer preferences based on regional location. In that case, the flow option becomes a smart selection. Moreover, with ongoing sales, you can track the live trends of your colour scheme’s popularities.

Besides, for logistic operations, an inventory management flow map becomes the ultimate solution.

Regional Option

If you need to track the spread of different variables as per regional alternation, then the regional map seems to be the best fit for the visual solution.

Point Option

Suppose you have the chance to bypass the addressing of very specific data and want to show the overall user performance (or another similar variable) of specific areas. In that case, you can use the point option. Greater the size of the point, the higher the density of your chosen variable operation on the specified region.

Based on the data mapping, your reporting ability becomes more enriched in future insights, and you can carry out the most promising and powerful BI operations.

What makes data visualisation by Power BI more effective?

On the very first day of your data science course, what did you hear about programming?

‘Learn the python well; it’s going to save you for the first few years of your data science career.”

Power BI is loaded with unbelievable advanced data visualisation options. Still, you can run all of its features with your foundational level of python knowledge. Don’t you think it’s an amazing feature?

The robust charts and maps of this multifunctional tool can be generated with the data-set input gathered with the help of the most common python libraries.

The beauty of these demanding data visualisation tools is that it does not depress the advanced programmer too. Advanced programmers using the R language can also work with these tools. Microsoft Power BI is equally compatible with R too.

Last but not least, the efficacy of this Microsoft tool lies in instant and 24X7 community support. Other than the dedicated Microsoft website for this particular tool, several Microsoft power BI consultancy services are now available that keep your data visualisation tasks uninterrupted, no matter how much new you are in terms of experience.

Where can you learn Microsoft Power BI? Is it easy to learn?

You can choose any of the available Microsoft power BI certification courses across the internet. But if you are stepping forward with the aim of a successful data science career switch, then Learbay can be the best choice for you.

Learnbay data science and Machine Learning courses are equipped with end-to-end scopes of mastering in Microsoft Power BI. The data analytics sub-module of the Learbay data science certification courses train you on every single measure of data visualisation using Microsoft Power BI. Additionally, before you start attending the interviews, Learnbay instructors teach you the basic use of R in the same too.

Indeed, earning proficiency in every aspect of power BI data visualisation is not easy within a few months. But, the comprehensive data analytics learning module of learning may make the power BI tool easy to learn.

To make your career transition plan faster and future proof, take help from Learnbay’s Data Science Experts and submit your profile for review here.

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Trisha Manna
Learnbay_data-science and full-stack
0 Followers

Trisha is a Data Science and AI enthusiastic. She loves exploring the magic of technologies and is a passionate blogger.