Power BI Data Analysis and Visualization

Power BI Data Analysis and Visualization provides a roadmap to vendor choices and highlights why Microsoft's Power BI is a very viable, cost effective option for data visualization. The book covers the fundamentals and most commonly used features of Power BI, but also includes an in-depth discussion of advanced Power BI features such as natural language queries; embedding Power BI dashboards; and live streaming data. It discusses real solutions to extract data from the ERP application, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and also offers ways to host the Power BI Dashboard as an Azure application, extracting data from popular data sources like Microsoft SQL Server and open-source PostgreSQL.

Authored by Microsoft experts, this book uses real-world coding samples and screenshots to spotlight how to create reports, embed them in a webpage, view them across multiple platforms, and more. Business owners, IT professionals, data scientists, and analysts will benefit from this thorough presentation of Power BI and its functions.

Autorentext

Suren Machiraju is Technical Business Partner with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where he provides technology guidance and designs software solutions to help partners achieve organization objectives. Previously he was Engineering Manager, Azure Services at Microsoft; the founding member/manager of the Azure Customer Advisory Team; and Group Program Manager of the Connected Systems, Windows Server Customer Advisory Team. He is an innovator with over 20 patents relating to Electronic Document Interchange and Transport Protocols.

Suraj Gaurav is a cloud technologist and previously worked at Microsoft as Principal Engineering Manager where he led a team of talented engineers who built and ran the Exchange datacenter services. Prior to that, he worked on the Commerce Platform where he designed the first consumption based billing model for Microsoft which was used by Azure for its commercial launch in February 2010. Suraj specializes in cloud services, commerce transactions, B2B messaging, EDI, and healthcare protocols.

Inhalt

Chapter 1: Introducing Data Visualization 1

Overview of Technology 1

Importance of Data Visualization 1

Data Visualization Tools 2

Understanding Power BI 2

Comparing Microsoft Power BI and Tableau 3

Key Features of Power BI 4

Sign Up for Free 5

Receive Data from Multiple Data Sources 5

Obtain Key Metrics of Your Business 5

Quick Insights 5

Data-Driven Decision Making from Anywhere 6

Advanced Features of Power BI 6

Embed Power BI Reports and Dashboards into a Web App 6

Real-Time Streaming 6

Support for Natural Language Query 6

Share Content Pack 7

Integration with Cortana 7

Variants of Power BI 7

Power BI Desktop 7

Power BI Service 30

Publishing a Report 38

Summary 41

Chapter 2: Power BI Azure Application 43

Embedding Power BI Reports into a Web App 43

Real-Time Streaming 47

Exploring Real-Time Streaming Datasets 47

Different Ways of Pushing Data 48

Viewing Real-Time Streaming of Data 48

Quick Insights 58

Summary 64

Chapter 3: Power BI on Microsoft Stack 65

Getting Data into Power BI from SQL Server 65

Using the Import Option 65

Using the DirectQuery Option 69

Data Modeling 74

Creating Relationships Among Tables 74

Using Data Analysis Expressions 82

Using Calculated Columns 84

Using Calculated Tables 86

Creating a Report 88

Creating a Report Using the DirectQuery Option 89

Creating a Report Using the Import Option 95

Saving the Report 96

Publishing the Report 98

Gateway Setup 100

Understanding Gateways 100

Types of Gateways 100

Downloading and Installing the On-Premises Data Gateway 101

Configuring Gateway 107

Adding a Data Source 110

Natural Language Querying 116

Data Refresh in Power BI 123

Configuring Scheduled Refresh 124

Creating Content Packs 129

Power BI Integration with Cortana Suite 133

Creating a Cortana Answer Page and Publishing It 133

Enabling Cortana to Access the Dataset 136

Adding Power BI Credentials to Windows 10 140

Accessing the Report through Cortana 144

Summary 149

Chapter 4: Power BI on Open Source Stack 151

Integrating PostgreSQL with Power BI 151

Downloading and Installing Npgsql Connector 151

Getting Data into Power BI 155

Data Modeling 158

Creating Relationship between Tables 159

Data Analysis Expressions 162

Creating a Calculated Column 163

Creating a Report 165

Saving the Report 185

Publishing the Report 186

Data Refresh in Power BI 188

Setting Up Scheduled Refresh 189

Creating Content Packs 204

Summary 210

Chapter 5: Power BI on ERP Applications 211

Defining CRM 211

Functions of a CRM Solution 211

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 212

Benefits of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 212

Sign Up for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online 213

Creating Sample Data for Dynamics CRM 217

Getting Data into Power BI 219

Creating Reports 222

Leads Revenue by Employee 222

Leads Revenue by Company 228

Loans by Category 230

Loans Summary 231

Deep Linking in Power BI 233

Adding a New User 233

Row-Level Security in Power BI 237

Defining Roles and Rules 238

Validating the Role within Power BI Desktop 240

Deploying the Report 242

Managing Security 242

Working with Members 244

Validating the Role within Power BI Service 246

Sharing the Report 247

Summary 249

Chapter 6: Conclusion 251

Introducing Data Visualization 251

Power BI Azure Application 252

Power BI on Microsoft Stack 252

Power BI on Open Source Stack 253

Power BI on ERP Applications 254

Index 255