Introduction to Power BI

Power BI is Microsoft's business analytics platform, used to connect to data sources, transform raw data, and build interactive reports and dashboards.

What Power BI Does

  • Connects to hundreds of data sources - spreadsheets, databases, cloud services, and web APIs.
  • Transforms and cleans data using its built-in Power Query engine.
  • Builds interactive visuals, reports, and dashboards.
  • Shares insights across an organization through Power BI Service.

The Power BI Product Family

  • Power BI Desktop - the free authoring application used to build reports.
  • Power BI Service - the cloud platform for publishing and sharing reports and dashboards.
  • Power BI Mobile - apps for viewing reports on phones and tablets.
  • Power BI Report Server - an on-premises option for organizations that can't use the cloud service.

Typical Workflow

Connect to data -> Transform with Power Query -> Model relationships -> Build visuals -> Publish to Power BI Service -> Share as a dashboard
Power BI is closely integrated with the rest of the Microsoft ecosystem - Excel, Azure, and Teams - which is one reason it's widely adopted in organizations already using Microsoft 365.

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