TARGET AUDIENCE
The primary audience for this course is BI professionals who need to analyse data utilizing Power BI.
The secondary audiences for this course are technically proficient business users.
PRE-REQUISITE
Before attending this course, students must have:
Basic knowledge of the Microsoft Windows operating system and its core functionality.
Basic knowledge of data warehouse schema topology (including star and snowflake schemas).
Some exposure to basic programming concepts (such as looping and branching).
An awareness of key business priorities such as revenue, profitability, and financial accounting is desirable.
Familiarity with Microsoft Office applications – particularly Excel.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After completing this course, students will be able to:
Perform Power BI desktop data transformation.
Describe Power BI desktop modelling.
Create a Power BI desktop visualization.
Implement the Power BI service.
Describe how to connect to Excel data.
Describe how to collaborate with Power BI data.
Connect directly to data stores.
Describe the Power BI developer API.
Describe the Power BI mobile app.
COURSE OUTLINE :: Analysing Data with Power BI::
Module 1: Introducing Power BI
Self-Service Business Intelligence (BI) has rapidly grown in popularity because of its ability to empower users to generate reports, process data, perform analysis, and more—all without having to depend on a report developer. The Self-Service BI trend is driven by Microsoft's commitment to improving Excel and Power BI, both products having seen many enhancements over recent years.
However, despite Microsoft enabling deeper data analysis with the four power tools added to Excel—
Power Pivot, Power View, Power Query, and Power Map—they are not fully integrated into the Excel interface. Instead, they exist in separate windows. Add to this the complexity of publishing to
SharePoint to share reports with colleagues, and it all becomes a time-consuming effort.
Lessons
Power BI
The Power BI Service
Lab : Creating a Power BI Dashboard
Connecting to Power BI Data
Create a Power BI Dashboard
After completing this module, students will be able to:
Develop reports using the Power BI Desktop app.
Use report items to create dashboards on the Power BI portal.
Understand the components of the Power BI service, including licensing and tenant management.
Module 2: Power BI Data
Power BI offers a straightforward approach to report creation, and the ability to create and share dashboards without dependency on a report developer, or the need for Microsoft SharePoint.
Microsoft Excel has long been the tool of choice for data analysts who work in a self-service style.
However, Excel does not offer a quick and easy way to share reports without the use of either
SharePoint, or the creation of multiple copies of spreadsheets that quickly become out of date, or exist outside source control.
Lessons
Using Excel as a Data Source for Power BI
The Power BI Data Model
COURSE OUTLINE :: Analysing Data with Power BI::
Using Databases as a Data Source for Power BI
The Power BI Service
Lab : Importing Data into Power BI
Importing Excel files into Power BI
Viewing Reports from Excel Files
After completing this module, students will be able to:
Describe the data model and know how to optimize your data within the model.
Connect to Excel files and import data.
Use on-premises & cloud SQL Server databases as data sources, with the R script data connector.
Take advantage of the features of the Power BI service.
Use Q&A to ask questions in natural query language and create apps.
Module 3: Shaping and Combining Data
Power BI Desktop offers a self-service solution for creating visual, interactive reports and dashboards. Users can connect to a wide variety of data sources, combining data from on-premises databases, Software as a Solution (SaaS) providers, cloud-based services, and local files such as
Microsoft Excel, into one report. The beauty of Power BI reports and dashboards is the ability to rapidly build reports to present this data, so it is instantly readable—with clusters, outliers, and patterns in data visually brought to light. To achieve this, each report must have a dataset comprising tables and columns that are ready to add straight into visualizations. Data must be formatted for relevant currencies, numbers should have correct decimal places, additional columns and measures might be required, and data may have to be combined from multiple tables. With Power BI Desktop, you can do all of this, with powerful, built-in tools for shaping your data. This module introduces the tools that are available for preparing your data and transforming it into a form ready for reporting.
Lessons
Power BI Desktop Queries
Shaping Data
Combining Data
Lab : Shaping and Combining Data
Shape Power BI Data
Combine Power BI Data
COURSE OUTLINE :: Analysing Data with Power BI::
After completing this module, students will be able to:
Perform a range of query editing tasks in Power BI.
Shape data, using formatting and transformations.
Combine data together from tables in your dataset.
Module 4: Modelling Data
Microsoft Power BI is making its mark in the self-service BI world—because it can quickly create visually stunning, interactive reports, and dashboards. Power BI provides a straightforward way to combine data from a wide range of sources into a single dataset, and then work with that data to create cohesive reports. This module goes behind the scenes of the visualizations and explores the techniques and features on offer to shape and enhance your data. With automatic relationship creation, a vast library of DAX functions, and the ability to add calculated columns, tables, and measures quickly, you will see how Power BI creates attractive reports, while helping you find hidden insights into data.
Lessons
Relationships
DAX Queries
Calculations and Measures
Lab : Modeling Data
Create Relationships
Calculations
After completing this module, students will be able to:
Describe relationships between data tables.
Understand the DAX syntax and use DAX functions to enhance your dataset.
Create calculated columns, calculated tables, and measures.
Module 5: Interactive Data Visualizations
Self-service business intelligence (BI) is becoming increasingly popular in organizations. This approach enables business users to access corporate data and create and share reports and key performance indicators (KPIs) without dependency on a dedicated report developer. Business users can use the Microsoft Power BI suite of tools to connect to a wide variety of data sources. These include the main industry-standard databases, Microsoft cloud-based services—Microsoft Azure SQL
Database, Azure Data Lake, and Azure Machine Learning—alongside Microsoft Excel and other files, and software as a service (SaaS) provider such as Microsoft Bing, Facebook, and Mail Chimp. The
COURSE OUTLINE :: Analysing Data with Power BI::
combination of flexibility and the ability to create visually stunning, interactive dashboards quickly makes Power BI an obvious choice for any organization that needs to provide its users with a selfservice BI solution.
Lessons
Creating Power BI Reports
Managing a Power BI Solution
Lab : Creating a Power BI Report
Connecting to Power BI Data
Building Power BI Reports
Creating a Power BI Dashboard
After completing this module, students will be able to:
Use Power BI Desktop to create interactive data visualizations.
Manage a Power BI solution.
Programme scope, delivery arrangements and suitability are confirmed during enquiry.