Power BI - Everything You Need to Know

The biggest characteristic that has emerged out of the currently prevalent digital age is the massive amounts of data that is being produced with each day. When utilized and analyzed correctly, this data holds substantial answers for much of the problems related to growth and efficiency and provision of better services face by organizations in today’s world.

However data itself is not useful, it’s the information it holds within that businesses are after and that’s exactly where the many emerging software for business intelligence exactly come in handy.

One of the most influential and highly optimized business software is Power BI, a flagship BI software offered by a top IT firm of our times, Microsoft.

Organizations that want to implement the Power BI in their businesses need to develop knowledge regarding the platform’s functionalities, its costs, uses and a wide variety of other factors and that’s exactly what this article will explore in detail.

But first, a brief introduction of Power BI.

Power BI:

Power BI is not a name for a singular service, but its actually more aptly described as a platform which offers app and services in the cloud to run a wide variety of tasks related to data management. Businesses who use this platform will be able to collate all their data in one place which also powers analysis, security and management needs.

Once BI is implemented in your business, you will be able to utilize it to collect data from various sources and convert them into actionable insights that are primed to assist in more informed business decision making. The interface is highly optimized to be easy to use for everyone, with the feature of extensive report generation for all sorts of data types.

The best feature of Power BI is its compatibility with Microsoft’s data sourcing platforms like Ms Excel, from where it can directly pull data to make processes highly streamlined.

In the suite, you will be able to gain access to variances primed for different tasks like Power BI Desktop, Power BI Service, Power BI apps etc. These variances hold high device compatibility and can work on cloud and on premises functionalities as well.

Microsoft Excel was previously the prime data tool offered by Microsoft before Power BI came along, but the former is not very different from the latter and anyone who has a great command over Ms Excel will not face high difficulties in learning Power BI. However, the Power BI has many more functionalities in comparison to the simplicity afforded by Ms Excel.

What is Power BI Actually Used For:

To give a more introspective review of the platform, Power BI is used to generate reports through the data fed to it that can be shared organization wide. The platform capitalizes on machine learning capabilities to make it competent enough to run pattern analysis that can be used for not just answering current questions from data but also for running highly accurate future predictions.

This helps businesses in forecasting things like future product demands and preparing accordingly for it.

Advantages of Using Power BI:

As must be evident to you by know, Power BI is a stronger variant to Ms Excel, offering much powerful analytical and reporting abilities for businesses who require it. But what exactly are its real, tangible benefits that it offers to firms?

Here is a list allowing you to understand the specific advantages that accrue to business using Power BI:

• Much bigger data processing abilities than peer platforms
• Machine learning capabilities that move from primary data analysis to trend spotting to aid in future and long term analysis
• Data analysis is presented in the form of graphs and other appealing formats to make the results more comprehensible
• The platform’s base is in the cloud, allowing it draw on latest updates to its capabilities, features pack and algorithms without the businesses having to worry about updating it on their own
• Dashboards can be created in a customized manner to suit different workplace environments
• User friendly and optimized user interface for easy navigation and use
• Compatible with multiple Microsoft and non-Microsoft Products like Office 365 and Hadoop
• Self-conditioned to offer granular access to data stored in the platform to ensure heightened data security

What are its other Ffeatures?

Power BI can be used by literally anyone in an organization process any form of data. From HR metrics to sales forecasts, Power BI will not disappoint you irrespective of what kind of data you feed in to its arsenal.

While using it is not that difficult, but since the platform has so many diverse functionalities, its highly recommended that business intelligence professionals who are tasked with working on the platform get a Microsoft Power BI certification. This certification will enable them to develop relevant knowledge on how to utilize the platform optimally and work on all its various capabilities in order to leverage the highest amount of advantage to a business from its implementation and usage.

The repertoire of apps offered in Power BI package serve different needs like the Power Pivot is used for running data models and the Power Q&A is used for posing different questions with regards to data analysis to the platform.

Power BI offers both free and paid capabilities to business intended to use it. For e.g. the Power BI desktop app is free to use while services included in the Power BI Service like Power BI Pro and Power BI premium run on paid user licensing and scale licensing.

Wrapping Things Up

This was just a brief overview of what Power BI is and what services it entails along with the models it works on. But there is lot more that is platform offers like customization capabilities and product integrations that your business can definitely derive benefit from, so if you are looking for a powerful yet flexible BI software for your firm’s data analysis needs, then Power BI is the platform you need to start implementing as soon as possible.