What is Power BI and its Use Case - Notes

What is Business Intelligence?

Business intelligence, or BI, is a technique that depends on technology. Business managers,

corporate leaders, and others can use it to evaluate data and give useful information for
decision-making. Essentially, BI is a collection of ideas, tools, and technologies that transform
unprocessed data into information that is valuable. It is a collection of tools and services that aid
in converting data into knowledge and information that can be used.

Speaking of its importance, BI has a direct impact on the strategic, tactical, and operational
business choices made by a company. It encourages fact-based decision-making by substituting
historical facts for conjecture and intuition. Data analysis is carried out by BI tools, which also
produce reports, dashboards, maps, graphs, and charts to give users extensive information on
the nature of the business.

Business Intelligence is Essential for an Organization's Operations and Growth

since it assists in

1. Create KPI using historical data

2. Determine and establish standards for a range of procedures
3. Recognize market trends and company issues that require attention.
4. aids in data visualization, which improves the quality of the data and, as a result, the
decision-making process.
5. Both big businesses and small and medium-sized businesses may employ BI systems.

Let's study more about Power BI now that we have a better understanding of what a business
intelligence solution is.

What is Power BI?

Power BI is a group of software services, applications, and connections that combine to

transform your disparate data sources into coherent, engaging visuals, and interactive insights.
Your data may be stored in a hybrid data warehouse that is both cloud-based and on-premises,
or it could be an Excel spreadsheet.

Power BI makes it simple to connect to your data sources, view the data, identify the key
information, and share it with whoever you choose.

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Power BI is a business intelligence and data visualization application that aids in transforming
data from various data sources into interactive dashboards and BI reports. It offers dynamic
visualizations with self-service business intelligence capabilities so that customers may build
their own reports and dashboards without relying on database administrators or information
technology employees.

Multiple connections, programmes, and services are offered by Power BI. These services are
built on mobile Power BI applications and SaaS, both of which are accessible on several
platforms. Business users utilize this group of services to access data and create BI reports.

What is Power BI going to do for my Business?

Every sector can benefit from Power BI's offerings. All organizations gather data to some level,
and Power BI enables you to use that data for decision-making, marketing, and sales.

We've worked with several clients across a wide range of sectors throughout our thirty years as
a BI integrator. But more often than not, we find ourselves collaborating with insurance and
industrial firms to ensure that they get the most of Power BI.

Our Power BI services may help you with a proof of concept, ad hoc consulting, or a fully
managed project. Our Power BI experience produces a variety of results, including seamless
integration, speedy launches, and unique features.

For all of your data needs, Microsoft Power BI offers an approachable, logical, and user-friendly
solution. Although different organizations will want access to various degrees of the visual
analytics tool, your team still has to be familiar with the platform.

We are more than capable of guiding your team through Power BI because we are a Microsoft
Gold Partner. You may get anything from high-quality training to Power BI integration thanks to
our customized range of Power BI services. Our full-service offerings are unmatched.

Using Power BI Connectors, you can Connect with the following Data Sources:

Files (e.g. excel .xlsx, .pdf, .csv, .xml, .json)

a database (e.g. MS SQL, Oracle, SAP HANA, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Amazon Redshift,
Snowflake, others)

Folders (cloud-based e.g. SharePoint and locally-based)

Cloud Services (Azure SQL Database, Azure Blob Storage, Azure Data Lake, others)

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Web-based Services (e.g. Microsoft Exchange, Dynamics 365, Salesforce Objects, Google
Analytics)

Various Sources (e.g. websites, OData feed, ODBC, Active Directory, others)
connecting inadvertently through other services (e.g. Microsoft Azure Data Factory)
With the help of Power BI queries, the data is processed and changed to the apparent data
model. Measures, computed columns, and parameters are used to generate the data objects
needed for a Power BI report.

Why Power BI

1. It enables dashboard changes in real time.

2. It offers dependable and safe connectivity to the cloud's data sources.
3. It enables the use of a natural language query for data exploration.
4. Power BI offers a secure environment, easy setup, and hybrid configuration.
5. It offers dashboard visualization options that are often updated by the community.
6. For SaaS solutions, it offers pre-built dashboards and reports.

Power BI Advantages

1. Secure Report Publishing: You can automate data refresh settings and publish reports so that
all users may see the most recent data.

2. There are no memory or speed restrictions when a current business intelligence system is
moved to a potent cloud environment with inbuilt Power BI. Speed restrictions make it possible
to swiftly get and evaluate data.

3. Quick inquiry and analysis are provided by Power BI without the requirement for professional
technical help. Additionally, it allows the use of logical graphical designer tools and a strong
natural language interface.

4. User-Friendly: Power BI is easy to use. Users can quickly discover it thanks to a low learning
curve.
5. Constant innovation: New features and functionalities are added to the Power BI solution
every month.

6. Rich, individualized dashboards: Power BI's information dashboards, which can be tailored to
match every enterprise's specific needs, are its standout feature.
To offer a consistent user experience, you may easily incorporate dashboards and BI reports in
the apps.

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Power BI Disadvantages

1. Users who have the same email domains are the only ones who can access the
dashboards and reports.

2. Imported data that is retrieved through real-time connections will not be combined by
Power BI.

3. Only files with a maximum size of 250 Mb and zip files that have been compressed using
data from the x-velocity in-memory database are accepted by Power BI.

4. User, account, or any other entity parameters are never accepted or passed by the
dashboard.

5. Real Time connectivity to Power BI reports and dashboards are possible with very few data
sources.

Power BI use cases

This issue may be resolved with the aid of Microsoft Power BI, a potent business intelligence
application that places a strong emphasis on visualization
.
Microsoft Power BI is a core programming foundation for businesses that deal with massive
volumes of diverse data produced by everyday operations.
There are several ways to use Power BI while creating a software solution.
Check out some of Power BI's useful applications below:

1. Visualization = Built-in capability

2. Analytics for Server-Level Data Management Using Internal Software Systems
3. Deliver complicated data in applications and software
4. Improve organizational procedures
5. Easily visualize details to improve marketing
6. A glance at the business's financial performance in real time
7. Establish Reliable Reporting Standards

Applications of Power BI

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Big Data nowadays has enormous potential, there is no doubt about it.
Most businesses utilizing Power BI are now reaping the rewards, including increased
productivity, enhanced performance, and more effective data utilization.
Here are a few Power BI real-world examples that will show you how businesses are using
Power BI to achieve commercial success.

1. MediaCom

The most well-known media company in the world and the biggest cable television provider,
MediaCom, needed a module that could quickly assess and depict the health of several diverse
data sets.

They came up with a system called "health check" that can measure all aspects of
multi-platform media in a single score, including realized customer value, earned media
effectiveness, earned media effectiveness as a percentage of paid media, and longitudinal
performance.

The "health-check" function is based on Power BI, which offers a campaign dashboard and a
community website where the account team may ask clients questions.
The organisation expanded campaign optimization reviews from weekly to daily basis after
implementing Power BI.

2. Pittsburgh-Mellon University

A global research institution with a reputation for producing top-notch research, Carnegie Mellon
University (CMU), was searching for a solution that could maximise power (energy) and
operational efficiency in buildings all over the world.

A PI system and a comprehensive building automation system were implemented by the

institution.
Additionally, they set up data sources for lighting, ventilation, air quality, weather, and security.

Then, they added Electricity BI for Office 365 to offer unique reporting capabilities to all the
ongoing data generated by the various frameworks, providing staff with maps, visualizations,
and dashboards displaying data like building kinds, geographic areas, and power use.

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Employees are given the ability to recognise the surroundings and learn how to use less energy
thanks to this data.
With the use of Power BI, CMU detected 30% less energy consumption

3. Heathrow

Power BI is used by Heathrow Airport in the UK's travel and transportation sector to lessen the
strain on travellers.

To help staff members be ready for the constantly changing traffic circumstances, this airport
utilizes Power BI to show the real-time passenger flow at the airport.
With the use of Power BI, they will be able to connect with a variety of data sources more easily
and use this information to manage Heathrow airport more efficiently than before.