POWER BI

INTRODUCTION
• Power BI is a technology-driven business intelligence tool provided by Microsoft
for analyzing and visualizing raw data to present actionable information.
• It combines business analytics, data visualization, and best practices that help an
organization to make data-driven decisions.
• In February 2019, Gartner confirmed Microsoft as Leader in the "2019 Gartner Magic
Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platform" as a result of the capabilities of
the Power BI platform.
WHY POWER BI?
• Access to Volumes of Data from Multiple Sources
• Interactive UI/UX Features
• Exceptional Excel Integration
• Accelerate Big Data Preparation with Azure
• Turn Insights into Action
• Real-time Stream Analytics
ADVANTAGES OF POWER BI
• User-friendly interface

• Data integration

• Customizable dashboards

• Real-time data

• Collaboration
 DISADVANTAGES OF POWER BI
• Limited data processing capabilities

• Limited customization options

• Cost
POWER BI ARCHITECTURE
Power BI is a business platform that includes several technologies to work together. It
delivers outstanding business intelligence solutions.

Power BI Architecture contains four steps.

• Data Integration
• Data Transforming
• Report & Publish
• Creating Dashboard
DATA INTEGRATION:
• Data is extracted from different sources which can be different servers or databases.
• The data from various sources can be in different types and formats.
• If you import the file into the Power BI, it compresses the data sets up to 1GB, and it uses a
direct query if the compressed data sets exceed more than 1GB.
• Then the data is integrated into a standard format and stored at a place called a staging area.
• There are two choices for big data sets. They are as follows.
• Azure Analytics Services
• Power BI premium
DATA TRANSFORMING:
• Integrated data is not ready to visualize data because the data should be transformed.

• To transform the data, it should be cleaned or pre-processed.

• For example, redundant or missing values are removed from the data sets.

• After data is pre-processed or cleaned, business rules are applied to transform the data.

• After processing the data, it is loaded into the data warehouse.

REPORT & PUBLISH:
• After sourcing and cleaning the data, you can create the reports.

• Reports are the visualization of the data in the form of slicers, graphs, and charts.

• Power BI offers a lot of custom visualization to create the reports.

• After creating reports, you can publish them to power bi services and also publish them to an
on-premise power bi server.
CREATING DASHBOARDS:
• You can create dashboards after publishing reports to Power BI services, by holding the
individual elements.

• The visual retains the filter when the report is holding the individual elements to save the
report.

• Pinning the live report page allows the dashboard users to interact with the visual by
selecting slicers and filters.
COMPONENTS OF POWER BI
ARCHITECTURE
DATA SOURCES
Data Sources supported in Power BI

• File Types: Power BI supports XML, txt/CSV, Excel, JSON, and Share point folder type files.

• Database: It supports SQL Server Analysis Services Database, SAP HANA Database, SQL Server
Database, SAP Business Warehouse server, Access Database, Google BigQuery (Beta), Amazon Redshift,
Snowflake, Impala, Oracle Database, IBM Informix database (Beta), Teradata Database, MySQL
Database, IBM Netezza (Beta), Sybase Database, PostgreSQL Database.

• Azure: Azure SQL Data Warehouse, Azure Blob Storage, Azure Analysis Services database (Beta), Azure
SQL Database, Azure Data Lake Store, Azure Table Storage, Azure HDInsight (HDFS), Azure Cosmos
DB (Beta), Azure HDInsight Spark (Beta).

• Online Services: Power BI service, Dynamics 365 (online), Microsoft Exchange Online, Common Data
Service (Beta), SharePoint Online List, Visual Studio Team Services (Beta), Dynamics 365 for Financials
(Beta), Microsoft Azure Consumption Insights (Beta), Salesforce Objects, Salesforce Reports, Google
Analytics, Dynamics 365 for Customer Insights (Beta), GitHub (Beta), appFigures (Beta), comScore
Digital Analytix (Beta), Facebook, Kusto (Beta), Planview Enterprise (Beta), MailChimp (Beta),
Mixpanel (Beta), QuickBooks Online, Projectplace (Beta).

• Other Services: Hadoop File (HDFS), Vertica (Beta), Web, OData Feed, SharePoint List, Microsoft
Exchange, Active Directory, R Script, ODBC, Spark (Beta), Blank Query, OLE DB.
POWER BI DESKTOP
• It is free software that enables you to connect, transform and visualize the data on your
desktop.

• You can connect to various data sources with the help of Power BI Desktop and combine the
data into a data model.

• This data model allows you to create a collection of images and graphics that make you
share the information within the organization as records.

• The majority of the users who work on Business Intelligence projects use Power BI Desktop
to create and share their reports with others.
POWER BI SERVICE
• Power BI Service is an On-Cloud service with a web-based platform and used to share and publish
the reports made on Power BI Desktop.
• It collaborates the data with other users and creates dashboards.
• Power BI Service is also called “Power BI Workspace”, “Power BI Web Portal”, and “Power BI
Site”.
• Power BI Service offers wonderful features like alerts and natural language Q&A.

• It is available in three versions. They are as follows:

• Premium version
• Pro version
• Free version
POWER BI REPORT SERVER
• Power BI Report Server is similar to the Power BI Service.
• It is an On-Premises server platform.
• Using Power BI Report Server, organizations can secure their data.
• It enables the users to create reports and dashboards and allows you to share the reports with
other users or organizations with proper security protocols.
• To use this service, you need to have a Power BI premium license.
 POWER BI GATEWAY
• Power BI Gateway is used to maintain fresh information by connecting to your on-site data
sources without transferring the data.
• It provides secure data and allows you to transfer the data between Microsoft cloud services
and on-premise services.
• Microsoft cloud services include PowerApps, Power BI, Azure Analysis Services, Microsoft
Flow, and Azure logic apps.
• By using a gateway, organizations can maintain the databases and other data sources
securely in cloud services.
POWER BI MOBILE APPS
Using Power BI Mobile Apps, you can stay connected with on-premises data
from anywhere.

Power BI apps are available for iOS, Windows, and Android platforms.
POWER BI EMBEDDED
• Power BI Embedded is an On-premises service in Azure.

• It offers APIs for embedding the reports and dashboards into custom
applications.
POWER BI ARCHITECTURE - WORKING
 ON-PREMISE
• Power BI Desktop is accomplished with the authenticating, development and publishing
tools.
• We can transfer the data from data sources to Power BI Desktop.
• It also allows users to create and publish reports on the Power BI Report Server or Power BI
Service.
• Power BI Publisher allows you to publish the Excel workbooks to the Power BI Report
Server.
• Report Publisher and SQL server Data tools help in creating the KPIs, datasets, paginated
reports, mobile reports, etc.
• All kinds of reports are published at the Power BI Report Server, and from there, reports are
distributed to the end-users.
 ON-CLOUD:
• Power BI Gateway is the essential component in the Power BI architecture.
• The Power BI Gateway acts as a bridge or secure channel to transfer the data from On-
premise data to On-cloud data sources or apps.
• Cloud side architecture consists of a lot of components including Power suite having
datasets, dashboards, reports, Power BI Premium, Power BI Embedded, etc.
• Users can embed the dashboards, reports into applications, SharePoint, Teams, etc.
• There are Cloud data sources and they are connected to the Power BI tools.
 POWER QUERY
• A tool used to manipulate and transform data for business intelligence projects.
• Power Query is an invaluable tool for any analyst working in Excel, saving users hours of
time, reducing manual errors, and allowing users to source data from a central source of
truth.
• Power Query remembers the user’s data transformation steps, effectively automating lengthy
and manual processes.
• Common use cases are to modify the layout of data, connected to central data sources, merge
related tables, or combine multiple files.
BENEFITS OF POWER QUERY
• Transforming data
• Repeatable steps
• Combining multiple tables
• Combining multiple files
• Connection to central data sources
EXTRACTING DATA FROM DATA SOURCES
In Power Query Select File > Home > Data Source Settings.
TRANSFORMING DATA
Load the data

– Rename the query

– Rename columns
– Remove rows and columns
– Remove rows with filters
– Remove duplicates
– Merge columns
– Replace values
– Format text
– Change data type
– Add a custom column
LOAD THE DATA
Before we can get started shaping and transforming our data we need to either upload it
or connect to the data source.
Power BI supports many databases and has connectors to support platforms like Google
Analytics and Salesforce.
1 – RENAME THE QUERY
• The query can be renamed in the Query
Settings pane on the right-hand side of the
canvas.
• If you’re loading in multiple datasets from
different sources using a descriptive name
makes it easy to find what you’re looking
for.
• This is even more important when you are
loading data from a database.
• If you have datasets named ‘Query1’,
‘Query2’, and ‘Query3’ you and your end-
user are going to have a tough time finding
what they’re looking for.
2 – RENAME COLUMNS()
• By right-clicking the column header you
can rename your column to something
that’s more user friendly or descriptive.
• Like a descriptive name for a dataset, a
descriptive column name makes it easier
to find what you’re looking for.
• This is especially important when loading
datasets with technical names for
columns.
• Have some empathy for your end-user
and they’re more likely to trust your data.
3 – REMOVE ROWS AND COLUMNS
• You can find options to remove rows and
columns under the ‘Home’ tab on the
ribbon.
• There are options to remove a single row
or column or remove all but your selected
row or column.
• By removing unnecessary columns it is
easier for our end users to get to what
they need.
• Scrolling through unnecessary columns is
especially frustrating if you have multiple
datasets to search through.
4 – REMOVE ROWS WITH
FILTERS
• We can remove specific rows that aren’t
needed in our dataset using a filter.
• The menu can help remove columns that are
empty, start or end with a specific value.
• Just like the other steps to clean the dataset,
this will make it easier to navigate for our
end-user and help them answer
their questions quicker.
5 – REMOVE DUPLICATES
• By right-clicking a column and
selecting ‘remove duplicates’ we
can remove any duplicates in the
dataset.
• This is useful when loading in an
unfamiliar dataset that hasn’t
come from a trusted source
especially if the dataset is large.
• This could also be done in a
database but if you don’t have
permission to load in data this
may not be an option for you.
 6 – MERGE COLUMNS
• By right-clicking a column and selecting
‘merge columns’ we can merge columns
using a separator and renaming it to
something useful.

• This is useful for merging a First and Last

Name column, or columns that would be
better together.

• This can also be done with a formula but

right-clicking makes this task quicker.
7 – REPLACE VALUES
• You can find the replace values option on
the ‘Transform’ tab of the ribbon.
• The advanced menu gives options to insert
special characters or match the entire cell
contents.
• Datasets may have been loaded with typos
that need cleaning up or values that aren’t as
descriptive as they could be.
• This is especially useful if product codes or
jargon have been introduced and plain
English would make it easier for end-users
to understand.
 8 – FORMAT TEXT
• Formatting options can be found in the
‘Transform’ tab of the ribbon and can
be used to trim, clean, and change the
case of text.

• Cleansing text fields make it easier to

read and perform further
transformations.

• The ‘Trim’ option is particularly useful

to remove any leading or trailing
spaces.
 9 – CHANGE DATA TYPES
• Clicking on the icon next to the column
header shows the data type
transformation options.
• This is a quick way to change the data
type if it has been loaded incorrectly.
• Changing a number that has been loaded
as text means we can start performing
calculations.
• Making sure dates are stored as dates
means we can use these as filters in
dashboards.
 10 – ADD A CUSTOM COLUMN
• The custom column option can be found
on the ‘Add column’ tab of the ribbon.
• A column can be created and named here
using a formula to build the logic.
• This can be useful to add calculations on
existing columns, adding text to an
existing value, or displaying part of a date.
• Just remember to check the data type
before you start trying to add values
together.
DATA TYPES IN POWER QUERY
• Text data type
• Boolean data type
• Decimal data type
• Fixed Decimal Number data type
• Whole number data type
• Percentage Data type
• *Date/Time data type
• *Date data type
• *Time data type
• *Date/ Time/ Timezone
• *Duration data type
• *Binary data type
• *Any data type
FILTERS IN POWER QUERY
• Report-level filters
• that affect all of the data in the report,
regardless of what you're looking at. Think
of them as universal filters.

• Page-level filters
• only filter the data on a given page, which
makes them useful for creating pages that
focus on particular subsets of your data.

• Visual-level filters
• only filter the data on a given visual,
whether that's a table, chart, card, slicer, etc.
FILTERING MODES
Basic Filtering Advanced Filtering

• With Advanced Filtering, you won't see

• In Basic Filtering, you are given a
a list of values to choose from, but you
list of values which is scrollable and can use rules to determine a range of
searchable. values the report will return.
• To search for a value, simply type a • For example, you can tell the report to
keyword or identifier into the search show all Transactions with a transaction
box, and the list of available values amount greater than or equal to
will automatically update based on $10,000.
• After determining what rules you want
the search criteria you entered.
to use, click the "Apply filter" button on
• You can then select one or multiple the filter card and the report will
entries from the list using the white recalculate.
checkboxes to the left of each entry.
FILTERING MODES
 MERGE QUERIES
A merge query creates a new query from two existing queries.
One query result contains all columns from a primary table, with one column serving as a
single column containing a relationship to a secondary table.
The related table contains all rows that match each row from a primary table based on a
common column value.
An Expand operation adds columns from a related table into a primary table.

There are two types of merge operations:

• Inline Merge You merge data into your existing query until you reach a final result. The
result is a new step at the end of the current query.
• Intermediate Merge You create a new query for each merge operation.
HOW TO PERFORM A MERGE OPERATION?
You need at least two queries that can be merged and that have at least one or more columns to match
in a join operation. They can come from different types of external data sources. The following
example uses Products and Total Sales.
1. To open a query, locate one previously loaded from the Power Query Editor, select a cell in the
data, and then select Query > Edit.
2. Select Home > Merge Queries. The default action is to do an inline merge. To do an intermediate
merge, select the arrow next to the command, and then select Merge Queries as New.

The Merge dialog box appears.

3. Select the primary table from the first drop-down list, and then select a join column by selecting
the column header.
4. Select the related table from the next drop-down list, and then select a matching column by
selecting the column header.
CONTINUE….
Ensure that you select the same
number of columns to match in the
preview of the primary and related
or secondary tables. Column
comparison is based on the order of
selection in each table. Matching
columns must be the same data type,
such as Text or Number. You can
also select multiple columns to
merge.
CONTINUE…
5. After you select columns from a primary table and related table, Power Query displays
the number of matches from a top set of rows. This action validates whether
the Merge operation was correct or whether you need to make changes to get the results you
want. You can either select different tables or columns.
6. The default join operation is an inner join, but from the Join Kind drop down list, you can
select the join operations.
7. To include only those rows from the primary table that match the related table, select Only
include matching rows. Otherwise, all rows from the primary table are included in the
resulting query.
8. Select OK.
RESULT
APPEND QUERIES
• An append query creates a new query that contains all rows from a first query
followed by all rows from a second query. This operation requires at least two
queries. These queries can also be based on different external data sources.
• You can perform two types of append operations.
• With an inline append, you append data to your existing query until you reach a
final result. The result is a new step at the end of the current query.
• With an intermediate append, you create a new query for each append operation.
CONTINUE…
1. To open a query, locate one previously loaded from the Power Query Editor, select a cell
in the data, and then select Query > Edit.
2. Select Home > Append Queries. The default action is to do an inline append. To do an
intermediate append, select the arrow next to the command, and then
select Append Queries as New.

The Append dialog box appears.

CONTINUE…
3. Decide the number of tables you want to append:
• Select Two tables, and then select the second table in the drop down list box to
append.
• Select Three or more tables. From the Available tables box, add the tables you
want to append to the Tables to append. Use the arrows on the right of that box
to change sequence.
4. Select OK.
TYPES OF JOIN OPERATION
LEFT OUTER (ALL FROM FIRST,
MATCHING FROM SECOND)
RIGHT OUTER (ALL ROWS FROM
SECOND, MATCHING FROM FIRST)
FULL OUTER (ALL ROWS FROM BOTH)
INNER (ONLY MATCHING ROWS)
LEFT ANTI (ROWS ONLY IN FIRST)
RIGHT ANTI (ROWS ONLY IN
SECOND)