Business Transformation using
Microsoft Power BI
As companies around the globe turn to digitalization and interfacing with coworkers online becomes as commonplace as greeting them in a boardroom, businesses have been pushed into a new era of shared infrastructure and connection.
And one of the best ways to keep you ahead of the curve is to strengthen the bond between data and decision making within your corporation — and that’s where Microsoft Power BI comes into the picture.
Read on for more information on how Power BI can revolutionize your company’s operations and transform your business for the better.
Power BI
Basics
Before we can explore the various advantages of using Microsoft Power BI within your corporation, it’s important to understand the very basic tenets of the software and how it works.
What Is Power BI?
Before we can explore the various advantages of using Microsoft Power BI within your corporation, it’s important to understand the very basic tenets of the software and how it works.
Now, let’s break that down a little bit: Power BI software includes several active components within its ecosystem that integrate every business function.
Even the name lets you know the software’s core purpose— what does Power BI stand for, you might ask? The name uses “Power” as nomenclature for the overall MS product service, and shortens “business intelligence” to BI.
And with every new update, this business intelligence engine is able to learn and adapt, including real-world data and analytics.
Using Power BI
You might be wondering, what is Power BI used for? Let’s take a quick look at the functions of Microsoft Power BI, why it’s useful, and some key features that make its services run.
What Does Power BI Do?
In essence, Power BI handles behind-the-scenes work with business data; analyzing data, reformatting data into intelligible statistics, and generating visuals and reports.
And because Power BI is cloud-based, all its applications and services are accessible company-wide. Cross-functional team members can use the tools, resources, and statistics generators built into Power BI.
From on-site data warehouses to Excel spreadsheets in the cloud, Microsoft Power BI can access and transform a variety of information sources, compiling them into visually coherent and interactive results.
Why Do People Use Power BI?
Now more than ever, integration and connectivity are the keys to a successful workplace particularly for remote and hybrid workplaces. Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, companies have been forced to alter their workflow significantly.
It’s easy, fast, and seamless, all of which are important for connectivity software when bridging the gaps between business centers and remote workers.
Though this versatile solution has been in place for nearly a decade since its release in 2014/2015, each of the newest updates that Microsoft has put in place for Power BI keeps revolutionizing to meet the continued needs of a remote workforce.
Key Features of Power BI
To accomplish tasks and better your workplace, whether remote or on-site, Power BI uses a variety of key features that are constantly being updated and improved by Microsoft. These analytic and sharing features include the following:
Artificial Intelligence
In this case, Power BI’s intelligence software is an offshoot of Microsoft’s powerful AI itself. This lets users access creative machine capabilities, including analytics and innate recognition.
APIs for Integration
Supporting API (application program interface) performance, Power BI uses embedded information from other dashboard programs and uses it to update the dependent interfaces.
Common Data Model Support
By using a comprehensive analysis of data schemas that come in, including attributes, entities, and relationships, Power BI can support a variety of common data models seamlessly.
Self-Service Data Prep
Power BI is always learning, so this feature lets its Power Query component upload and integrate data into the core of the service, which is then compiled and shared across the Power BI model infrastructure.
Modeling View
With this feature, no data model is too complex and can be separated into easily manageable and separate diagrams, with customizable tools, adjustable properties, and formatting parameters for each.
Hybrid Deployment Support
Multiplying its effectiveness, Power BI uses built-in connectors to easily connect to data sources from other Microsoft products, as well as other vendors like Salesforce.
Quick Insights
With swift access analytics, users can see and subcategorize their data with access right at their fingertips.
Customization
Power BI is highly customizable in terms of visualization features, reporting tools, and developers can even import new and improved tools to the interface.
Cortana Integration
Power BI’s software even integrates with Cortana, the Microsoft digital assistant present on virtually every platform. This includes mobile device integration, where full verbal query and natural language processors work to make it as human a response as possible.
The Consumers of Power BI
When it comes to the corporations and businesses that use Power BI, there are several examples of the typical consumer base that Microsoft’s business intelligence engine has garnered.
From worldwide customers to specific industries, let’s take a closer look at some of the companies that use Microsoft’s Power BI now.
Who Uses Power BI?
Because Power BI is primarily a data visualization and analytics resource for business data, its users tend to be within a business environment , instead of personal use. The metrics of Power BI Microsoft use can further be broken down into sectors and services.
And these sectors are not restricted to one country or even one continent, either— Microsoft Power BI users are charted within the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, India, Australia, and across Europe.
And these sectors are not restricted to one country or even one continent, either— Microsoft Power BI users are charted within the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, India, Australia, and across Europe.
Companies that rely on Microsoft Power BI include:
London School of Business & Finance
Private educational institution specializing in financial and corporate degrees.
Lorven Technologies
Professional technology consultancy and staffing firm.
MWW Group LLC
Worldwide public relations agency.
20th Century Fox Film Corporation
Movie production and distribution studio.
Power BI Basics: Architecture
With such international usage, Power BI is the backbone for a variety of company sizes, including smaller organizations with under 100 personnel and multi-million dollar corporations with a global workforce!
Instead of being relegated to one type of data analysis, such as only being able to make tables and graphs, for example, Power BI tackles many different processes and delivers a variety of visual results.
From answering your questions with desktop AI to managing tabular data modeling, Power BI has the tools to get the job done.
Use Cases
of Power BI with Microsoft Teams
To further test the usefulness of this interface when integrated with another essential workplace application, Microsoft Teams, let’s go over some Power BI use situations at different company levels and gauge the outcome.
Project Management
One of the top priorities of integrating Power BI with your workforce is to encourage heightened productivity and resource management, no matter the task.
Project management can be enhanced by using seamless connectivity apps to allocate resources, assign jobs, and ensure the project is being completed on track with real-time progress updates. People managing the project can use Teams to keep each other informed and encourage dynamic problem solving no matter their location.
Sales Management
Among other metrics, the health of your business is based on the numbers coming out of the sales department, so making sure your sales team is working together cohesively is essential.
With Power BI and Teams together, lines of communication are always open for employees and management to evaluate product performance, revenue patterns, and overall performance. It makes it easier than ever to track sales trends and progress, before evaluating where changes can be made.
Marketing Team
With marketing, it’s all about customer outreach and getting your company out there. So, because the AI aspect of the Microsoft Power Platform makes it easier to monitor business outputs, web traffic, referral rates, leads, and more..
The marketing team can share metrics with their team in Microsoft Teams for immediate connectivity!
What Are Power BI’s
Areas for Improvement?
Like every piece of software, there are inevitably areas that could be improved based on user experience and customer reviews. And Microsoft’s Power Platform BI is no different.
What Are the
System Requirements
for Power BI?
So, now that you have heard all about the fascinating features and intriguing uses of Power BI, you might want to give it a try. But what about the Microsoft system requirements necessary for this powerful software?
The following component metrics are what you need to set up Power BI:
Database Server Versions
SQL Server 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, or 2019; Azure SQL Managed Instance.
Windows Display Settings
It is recommended to have your display settings at the default 100% under Settings→System→Display.
Hard Disk
A minimum of 1 GB available space on the hard disk, with additional space for the host server of the report database.
Display
The recommended display size is 1600×900 (16:9), or at least 1440×900, as certain desktop controls will not show on the screen at lower resolutions.
.NET Framework
Version 4.8.
Web Browser
Internet Explorer 9, or later.
Processor Speed
The recommended CPU speed is at least 2.0 GHz on an x86 Processor or x64 Processor; the minimum is 1.4 GHz on an x64 Processor.
Processor Type
x64 Processor, either Intel Xeon or Pentium IV with EM64T data support; or AMD Athlon 64, Opteron processors.
Operating System
Windows 11, 10 Enterprise, 10 Professional, 10, Home; Windows Server 2016 Standard, 2016 Datacenter; Windows Server 2019 Standard, 2019 Datacenter.
Memory
The recommended size is at least 4 GB; the minimum is 1 GB.
For example, Parallels Desktop for Mac allows you to access a Windows “desktop” while within your Apple device, and from there you can download and use Power BI.
Can Power BI
Be Customized?
Did you know that many aspects of the Power BI applications and displays can be customized? This is not only a great feature for employees who want to focus visuals on a specific point of data, but also for clients requesting for a unique view of their information— Power BI customization tools can handle it.
From swapping aggregations to changing the entire type of visualization a project uses, there are several formats that Power BI users can alter based on their requirements, or even work to create Power BI custom visuals!
Why Your Organization Needs
the Microsoft Power Platform in 2022
Microsoft Power BI is one of the most useful tools for a business to adopt, and can optimize and revolutionize the ways in which your teams work virtually overnight.
Read on for some of the top Power BI advantages that you can give your organization simply by integrating the Microsoft Power Platform into company infrastructures, and revolutionizing your workplace today.
All Enterprise Business Processes in A Single Platform
Microsoft Power BI solves the age-old issue of producing and maintaining a central model of data statistics and reports by removing the need for multi-system reporting.
Because the reliance on disparate or third-party tools can often slow down your system, operating without the comprehensive services of Power BI can be a frustrating experience.
With Power BI you can rely on all your corporate information being centralized in one place, ready to be shared at the press of a button without losing the integrity of the primary digital analysis.
Cut Costs
Training and maintaining an expert in-house IT team can come at a very high cost to a company.
But because Power BI’s applications are low-code and easy for even new users to adopt, you don’t have to worry about your IT team spending time and money introducing the system, paying for an outside expert to come in, or extending overtime for your workers to learn the platform.
And by crafting your own data infrastructure within the bounds of Power BI, you save costs via simply creating the tools and metrics that you need to run the company and reach your targets.
Enhance Security and Compliance
These days, data is one of the most highly-coveted commodities on the planet, and protecting information should be a priority for every company.
In particular, Power Apps and Power Automate work together to safeguard your data through specially designed Microsoft Information Protection (MIP), privilege principles, and user compliance before access is granted.
Get Ahead with Microsoft Power Platform
The entire Power BI application and services platform is under the Microsoft umbrella of technology. It’s incredibly easy to interface all your other types of Microsoft processors within the ecosystem of Power BI, including OneDrive, PowerPoint, Teams, Excel, and Word.
So, for a company that already uses the Microsoft Office suite of programs, why not save time and costs by adding Power BI to your infrastructure!
Improve Your Remote Working Setup
For many companies and workforces, working remotely has become the new normal.
And while there are advantages to connecting with your business, clients, and employees outside of a cubicle, there are also drawbacks to sharing, communications. But with the implementation of Microsoft’s Power BI, working remotely does not seem so remote anymore. Collaborations on workplace tasks, creative problem solving, and employee brainstorming is all possible, thanks to the power and connectivity of the Power Automate system.
With custom workplace applications that are simple to assign and can handle a variety of your specific business’s needs, it’s never been easier to work both remotely and together.
Self-Service for Easy Adoption and Use
Instead of dealing with a system that is unnecessarily complex and difficult to understand, the Power BI platform is easy for users to pick up and learn quickly.
The applications and tools within Power BI truly make it easier than ever to control data interfaces, create visuals and diagrams out of complex information, and bring your corporation to life both digitally and in a boardroom.
Visualize and Connect Your Business Data
Why let your data remain static, just numbers on a screen?
With Microsoft’s Power BI you can bring any metrics to life with stunning visuals and diagrams that allow your employees to get leverage data to create positive business outcomes.
Plus, by allowing employees to use the native data visualization formatting inherent to Power BI, their creativity and connectivity increase, making your space more productive.
Though sharing and explaining static data can be difficult, particularly in a remote working situation, by enhancing the product further with Power BI’s in-depth annotations and analysis, bringing new people onto a project or switching lanes has never been easier.
Power BI Features
That Help Your Organization Enhance Productivity
It’s one thing to promote communications and transparency in a company, and another to actively introduce it.
Top Reasons to Integrate
Microsoft Teams and Power BI
Power BI can only take your company so far in terms of connectivity and collaboration, so it’s important to take advantage of other Microsoft platforms that encourage continued growth and new ways to implement digital transformation in your workplace. Here are some reasons to integrate Microsoft Teams and Power BI today!
Simply put, when your entire company is able to communicate seamlessly and efficiently, it’s easier to see where you are headed, the accomplishments along the way, and share this vision of empowerment with everyone involved.
Power BI is built to match your role in business— whether compiling annual revenue reports or developing a new service processor, the support and AI-driven expertise of Microsoft Power BI will be alongside you.
The Teams app store actually has an extension app for your Power BI platform, making downloading and integrating the two easier than ever. Simply pin the extension to your taskbar and connect!
Easily share data, reports, and analytics between users by combining the Power BI Service readers and direct messaging or video conferencing via Microsoft Teams. Request and give access, monitor meetings, and more with the push of a button.
Difference Between the
Power BI Desktop and Power BI Service
We have talked a lot about Power BI— but companies should understand that Microsoft’s Power Platform is separated into two primary products that work together for business success.
While the two are separate entities with different purposes, both the Desktop tool and Service viewer do fall under the umbrella of Power BI and are essential for businesses that want to adopt Microsoft’s business intelligence software for success.
Desktop is a comprehensive reporting tool for compiling data and producing easily-readable documentation from those sources.
From report writing to adding visuals, the Power BI Desktop offers a free data analyzing format able to handle multiple sources of information.
This is a cloud-based service exclusive to Microsoft users, that allows companies to interact with data reports, statistics, and the output of other Power BI applications, such as Power Query and Power Pivot.
Essentially, the Power BI Service functions primarily as a viewing portal for Desktop output.
Power BI vs Tableau vs Google Data Studio
Microsoft’s Power Platform is not the only business intelligence software on the market. Two top contenders include Tableau and Google Data Studio, which are well-respected in their own right. But what does this mean for Power BI? Let’s take a brief look at the different aspects in play.
Power BI
- User-friendly
- Compatible with other Microsoft applications
- Easy, single data model extrapolated from multiple sources.
Tableau
- Versatile formats
- Plenty of data source integrations.
Google Studio
- Free to use
- Data uploads from several sources are supported.
Power BI
- Limited support of third-party visuals in export
Tableau
- Limited graph options
- Large data files slow the system and take a long time to load
Google Studio
- Capabilities for in-depth annotation can be limited.
- Third-party data sources tend to disconnect.
Conclusion
Power BI is a place where data compilers and analysts alike can access essential tools and features to create the comprehensive visuals and reports needed to do better business.
These insights are essential to a company’s data processing, showing employees and managers alike the statistics behind any sector in question with reliable results. With Microsoft Power BI Platforms, you will always be on top of your corporation’s details.
