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Power BI as a Tool for Business Intelligence
Following my previous article on the Strata Data Science Conference, I started to ponder future developments in data science and business intelligence — namely, how these two simple terms will change the way we work, think, and live.
To be honest, “data science” seems somewhat distant to me; however, the concept of “business intelligence” can roughly summarise my job, at least according to this definition by Forrester Research:
“A set of methodologies, processes, architectures, and technologies that transform raw data into meaningful and useful information used to enable more effective strategic, tactical, and operational insights and decision making.”
I work for a Microsoft Partner; we use Microsoft Dynamics 365 to help clients in their digital transformation journeys. Recently, Microsoft Dynamics 365 has expanded significantly: Core applications for Sales, Customer Service, Marketing, etc. can integrate seamlessly with Microsoft Power Platform (which consists of Power BI, Power Apps, and Microsoft Flow) to automate business processes, manage data more efficiently, and improve customer experience.
I first heard about Power BI a few years ago when writing my dissertation on data visualisation. As part of my research, I analysed some Power BI reports. After that, I had the opportunity to work…