Power BI helps uncover stories and make decisions based on organizational data.
Key steps covered: Importing data, building a data model, adding visuals, filtering data, and sharing reports/dashboards.
Getting Power BI
Available on Microsoft Store.
Three options: Power BI (view/existing reports), Power BI Desktop (full functionality), and Report Builder (less feature-rich).
Recommendation: Use Power BI Desktop for full functionality.
Initial Setup
Initial splash screen: Get data, recent data sources, other reports, learning resources.
Disable splash screen: Uncheck the box at the bottom for future launch.
Importing Data
Main report view: Options to add data, import data via the "Get Data" dropdown.
Sources: Multiple sources including Excel workbooks.
Example: Import data from Excel workbook containing customer and order information.
Navigator: Helps preview and load data.
Data Transformation
Options: Load data as-is or transform data before importing.
Why transform data? Cases where original data can't be edited.
Power Query Editor: Used to modify and clean data without affecting the original source.
Example transformations: Standardize country names, remove unnecessary columns.
Data Modeling
Model view: Visualize and manage relationships between tables.
Relationships: Automatically detected or manually created by dragging items.
Building Reports
Reports: A collection of different visualizations.
Visualization options: Available in the right-hand panel.
Example: Line chart for cookies shipped over time (drag items to axes).
Customizations: Drill up/down in time, formatting options (e.g., title, text color).
Adding more visuals: Bar chart for revenue, table for customer names.
Interactive functionality: Filter charts by selecting items in other visuals.
Add more pages to reports if needed.
Sharing Reports
Publish: Save and publish to a specified workspace.
Power BI web service: Access, share, and export reports (embed in SharePoint, web, generate QR code, export to PowerPoint/PDF, share via email or Teams).
Conclusion
Encouragement to explore and build skills in Power BI.