Concept 1: The Components of Power BI
and How Power BI Fits into the Power Platform
The Components of Power BI
At a high level, Power BI has 3 primary parts:
1. A desktop app called Power BI Desktop, that is primarily used for authoring and creating reports.
2. The Power BI Service, a SAAS application used for the broad distribution and consumption of content.
3. Mobile apps for Apple, Android, and Windows devices.
As most analysts will work primarily in Power BI Desktop, it’s important to understand the components of the app.
1. Model view - in this view, tables are joined together to form data models.
2. Data view – I think of this as the tabular view, which looks like a data table (or a spreadsheet).
3. Report view – the canvas of Power BI Desktop, where graphs, tables and other visualizations are placed.
A final component is Power Query. Power Query is an intermediary between data sources and Power BI Desktop. It is used as an ETL tool (Extract, Transform, Load) to shape and cleanse data before it reaches Power BI Desktop. Common functions used in Power Query include adding or removing columns, filtering rows, removing errors, changing data types and pivot or unpivoting columns.
The components of Power BI can also be seen as a description of a typical workflow when building a Power BI Report.
1. Access data tables and transform data using Power Query.
2. In the Model View, join tables together to create a data model.
3. Create calculated columns and measures in the Data View.
4. Create visualizations and build out the user canvas in the Report View.
5. Publish to the Power BI Service so that users can interact with the report.
Power BI in the context of Microsoft
Apart from understanding the various parts of Power BI, it’s also important to be aware of how Power BI is connected to Microsoft’s other cloud products. There 4 primary cloud product groups: Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform. Additionally, there are 3 specialized cloud offerings: LinkedIn, GitHub and Security.
One of the strengths of Power BI which sets it apart from other Business Intelligence solutions is compatibility with Azure, Microsoft 365 and Dynamics. Azure products integrate easily as data sources and Dynamics 365 connects directly to Power BI. This means that enterprise data can quickly be analyzed in Power BI. Microsoft 365 makes use of Power BI in all kinds of ways. Some of the most useful functions:
1. Deploy Power BI data models to Excel as Power Pivots
2. Create Power BI pages in Teams
3. Export Power BI Reports to Power Point
4. Embed Reports in Sharepoint Online
Power BI is part of the Power Platform is an integrated suite of low-code tools which helps organizations to create and deploy solutions which enables users to Analyze, Act, Automate and Assist. Power BI users should know about the entire Power Platform, and how the different services can be integrated right into Power BI.
Analyze – Power BI enables creators to build analytical tools to deliver insights to users.
Act – Power Apps enables the creation of apps which allows users to interact with data, write-back to databases, trigger emails or initiate work flows.
Automate – Power Automate streamlines processes and automate repetitive tasks, such as data extraction and ETL using robotic process automation (RPA) and digital process automation.
Assist – Power Virtual Agents facilitates the creation and use of chatbots to handle routine inquiries or provide answers to frequently asked questions.
Share – Power Pages facilitates the creation of data-driven, business-centric websites that can securely host Power BI reports and other customer focused information.
Awareness of how Power BI works with other Microsoft products opens up wealth of options for how Power BI is used, enhancing the reach, capabilities and impact in the enterprise. As analysts increase their Power BI skillsets, they should make sure to take advantage of compatibility with all of Microsoft’s products.
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