Microsoft Power BI training course is a powerful data analytics tool to create rich and impactful business reports. It is part of the Microsoft Power Platform which also includes Power Apps and SQL Server Analysis Services.
This course teaches how to use the web-based Power BI service to import data, create visualizations and arrange them into reports. It covers basic concepts as well as advanced topics such as creating AI insights.
Basics
Power BI is Microsoft’s Business Intelligence tool that allows users to connect to data from various sources, visualize that data in reports and dashboards, and then share that data with others. It includes Power BI Desktop, a free desktop application for building and designing reports, as well as the Power BI service for publishing and viewing those reports and dashboards online.
This course will introduce you to the basics of Power BI and how it can be used to create powerful visualizations. You’ll start by exploring how you can quickly and easily gather data from multiple sources, then cleanse and transform that data to load it into a report-ready, self-service enabled Data Model.
This will be followed by an exploration of how that data can be used to create effective visualizations for reporting and analysis. We’ll also cover how you can use those visualizations to communicate your data story and make more informed decisions based on the information that is available to you. This course will include some lecture and topic instruction, but the majority of the class will be focused on hands-on experience with working with actual Power BI data and projects that you can take back to your organization.
Getting Started
Power BI is an easy-to-use self-service data analytics tool that provides business users tools for aggregating, analyzing and visualizing data. Its intuitive interface makes it simple to use and integrate with other Microsoft applications such as Excel. Its wide data connectivity, flexible visualizations, and interactive dashboards provide an excellent solution for analyzing business intelligence. However, it has some shortcomings including a steep learning curve, limited customization, and performance issues with large datasets.
Whether you’re just getting started or want to learn advanced techniques, this course will teach you the foundational knowledge of Power BI. You’ll learn how to import and transform data from various sources, creating basic and advanced visualizations, and how to create powerful reports and dashboards.
Throughout this video, you’ll be working with a finance data set from the Power BI service. You’ll also explore how to pin visualizations to dashboards and how to organize your visualizations into a report. You’ll then learn how to ask questions about your data using Power BI Q&A. You’ll also explore how to leverage the DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) language and work with Power Query.
Data Modeling
Microsoft’s Power BI is one of the most popular business intelligence and data analytics platforms used by thousands of companies across the world. It helps people make better informed decisions by allowing them to connect and analyze data from multiple sources in an intuitive way. Its ease of use means it doesn’t require any coding experience.
One of the key components to using Power BI is building data models, which can be thought of as a blueprint for how data will be structured and interconnected. A good model will help you understand how to best organize your data, design tables that are easily understood, and determine primary keys that will provide fast and efficient access to your data.
You can create and modify a model by visiting the ‘Models’ tab of any table in Power BI after data import. Alternatively, you can also automatically detect and edit relations between your tables by using the Manage Relationship tool on the top menu as highlighted in the image below. Adding a new relationship is as simple as clicking ‘New Relationship’ and dragging & dropping the desired columns from one table to another.
Visualizations
Power BI provides visuals for data analytics reports and dashboards. These are the most powerful components of a report that bring your data to life and help you tell a better story.
The type of visualization you use depends on the kind of information you wish to communicate, and it can be categorized into 6 types: Comparison visuals compare data points between categories; Timelines show data over time; Scatter Charts display data in a scattered form; Pie charts break down data into slices that represent percentages; and Part-to-whole visuals show how the components of a whole add up. You can also create custom visuals and store them in files with the pbiviz extension or import visuals from the Marketplace or organization portal of Microsoft.
You can also connect to a range of data sources through Hevo, a No-code Data Pipeline. Hevo automatically transfers data from multiple sources to a database or destination of your choice and transforms it into live interactive visuals and customizable real-time business view dashboards.
Reporting
Depending on your role, you may be responsible for creating reports to share with others. Reports can be delivered in a variety of formats, from PDFs to interactive dashboards that allow your users to interact with the data. It’s important to understand how your reports will be consumed so you can create them accordingly.
Power BI can help you build rich, interactive reports that are easy to share with your team. Its user interface is familiar to anyone who has used Microsoft Excel, and it can handle a range of data analysis tasks. The tool also offers a free version for small to midsize business owners and a professional version with additional features for a monthly subscription fee.
Whether you’re looking to improve your own reporting capabilities or want to learn how to develop reports for others, our Power BI training courses can help. These online courses cover the core skills needed to analyze and visualize your data with this powerful tool. Our instructors are experienced Power BI professionals who can teach you everything from how to structure your data to how to create effective visualizations and dashboards.