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.
Table of Contents:
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
About the Author :
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.
