The modern business world is data-driven. All types of organisations need powerful tools to make sense of their data and gain valuable insights. Microsoft Power BI is a comprehensive suite of business intelligence (BI), reporting, and data visualisations. This enables individuals and teams to bring their data into meaningful dashboard summaries.
Power BI uses
The programme has a user-friendly interface and seamless integration with other Microsoft products. Power BI has become a popular choice for businesses worldwide. It is also used in all types of jobs and businesses. In more specific terms, let’s explore what Power BI is used for.
1. Quick and Easy Setup
With Power BI, you can hit the ground running and start gaining insights quickly. The setup process is straightforward, and you don’t need extensive training to get started. Additionally, Power BI offers pre-built dashboards that can work with popular systems like Salesforce and other systems that generate big data enabling you to leverage your existing data sources right away.
2. Integrated Publications
Gone are the days when people used to email large files or store reports on shared drives. Power BI provides a centralised platform where analysts can generate reports and visualisations. Once uploaded, the data is automatically refreshed whenever your data is updated, ensuring that everyone has access to the most up-to-date information. This streamlined approach improves the sharing of data across your organisation.
3. Real-Time Data and Visuals
In today’s fast-paced business environment, real-time information is crucial. Power BI allows you to create dashboards that update in real-time. It provides you with the ability to monitor key metrics, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions that are totally real-time. Whether you’re collecting data from HR, market research, finance, social media sources, or any other time-sensitive data stream, Power BI can handle it all.
4. Customisable Navigation and Security Features
Power BI offers the ability to customise options and meet your unique requirements. With the “app navigation experiences” feature, report developers can tailor the navigation within Power BI apps. It is, therefore, easier for viewers to find relevant content and understand the relationships between different reports and dashboards. Furthermore, Power BI enables the implementation of row-level security (RLS) access filters, this means that users can only see data that is relevant to them. This feature mitigates the risk of unauthorised access and provides peace of mind when dealing with sensitive information.
5. Cortana Integration
Seamless integration with Microsoft’s digital assistant, Cortana, gives Power BI the advantage over other business intelligence tools. Users can leverage Cortana’s natural language processing capabilities to verbally ask questions and access charts and graphs within Power BI. This voice-activated functionality is particularly useful for users on the go, allowing them to interact with their data hands-free.
6. Artificial Intelligence Capabilities
Power BI harnesses the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to take data analysis to the next level. Users can leverage image recognition and text analytics, create custom machine learning models, and integrate with Azure Machine Learning. These AI capabilities provide advanced insights and predictive analytics, empowering businesses to make proactive decisions based on data-driven forecasts.
7. Microsoft Ecosystem Integration
As part of the extensive Microsoft ecosystem, Power BI seamlessly integrates with other Microsoft solutions such as Azure data services. This integration allows you to streamline your data analysis workflow. Power BI’s compatibility with Azure Machine Learning further enhances its capabilities by providing a comprehensive platform for advanced analytics and data exploration. You can find us how to use Power BI, with our courses that are provided by Microsoft Learning Partners.
However, it’s worth noting that Power BI Desktop, the authoring tool, is not available for Linux or Mac operating systems. If your organisation operates solely on these platforms, alternative solutions may better suit your needs.
Alternatively, you can make the most of Power BI by using it in conjunction with a third-party cloud-based service, to ensure a smooth data ingestion process. With it, you can simplify data replication from various sources into a centralised data warehouse.