Power BI Data Analysis and Visualization

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.

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