Power BI for Business Analytics

Introduction:

Power BI is a powerful business analytics tool from Microsoft that enables organizations to visualize their data, share insights, and make informed decisions. This course is designed to provide participants with a comprehensive understanding of Power BI's capabilities and features, empowering them to transform raw data into meaningful visualizations and reports. Whether you're a business analyst, data professional, or manager, this course will help you harness the full potential of Power BI for effective business analytics.

Course Objective:

By the end of this course, participants will:

• Understand the core functionalities and benefits of Power BI for business analytics.

• Create interactive and insightful reports and dashboards using Power BI Desktop.

• Utilize Power Query to transform and clean data for analysis.

• Design effective data models to support reporting and visualization.

• Implement data visualization best practices to communicate insights clearly.

• Share and collaborate on Power BI reports using the Power BI Service.

Course Outline:

Module 1: Introduction to Power BI

• Overview of Power BI and its components: Power BI Desktop, Power BI Service, Power BI Mobile.

• Understanding the role of business analytics in decision-making.

• Exploring the Power BI ecosystem and its integration with other Microsoft tools.

• Hands-on: Setting up a Power BI account and exploring the interface.

Module 2: Data Sources and Data Connections

• Understanding data sources: cloud, on-premises, and web.

• Connecting Power BI to various data sources (Excel, SQL Server, SharePoint, etc.).

• Using Power Query to connect and import data into Power BI.

• Hands-on: Connecting Power BI to multiple data sources.

Module 3: Data Transformation and Preparation

• Introduction to Power Query and its transformation capabilities.

• Cleaning and shaping data: removing duplicates, filtering, and merging tables.

• Creating calculated columns and measures using DAX (Data Analysis Expressions).

• Hands-on: Transforming raw data into an analysis-ready format.

Module 4: Data Modeling

• Understanding data modeling concepts and relationships.

• Creating relationships between tables to enhance data analysis.

• Designing star and snowflake schemas for optimized reporting.

• Hands-on: Building a data model using sample datasets.

Module 5: Data Visualization Techniques

• Overview of Power BI visualizations: charts, maps, tables, and more.

• Choosing the right visualization for your data story.

• Customizing visuals: colors, labels, and formatting options.

• Hands-on: Creating a variety of visualizations to represent data.

Module 6: Building Interactive Reports and Dashboards

• Designing compelling reports with multiple pages and drill-through functionality.

• Implementing slicers and filters for dynamic data exploration.

• Creating interactive dashboards to summarize key insights.

• Hands-on: Developing a report and dashboard using Power BI Desktop.

Module 7: Advanced DAX Functions

• Introduction to advanced DAX functions for complex calculations.

• Understanding context: row context vs. filter context.

• Using time intelligence functions for trend analysis.

• Hands-on: Implementing advanced DAX measures in reports.

Module 8: Sharing and Collaborating with Power BI Service

• Publishing reports to Power BI Service for sharing and collaboration.

• Understanding workspaces and app workspaces in Power BI Service.

• Setting up data refresh and managing report access permissions.

• Hands-on: Publishing and sharing a report in Power BI Service.

Module 9: Power BI Best Practices

• Data visualization best practices: storytelling with data.

• Ensuring data accuracy and integrity in reports.

• Performance optimization tips for large datasets and complex reports.

• Hands-on: Reviewing and optimizing existing reports.

Module 10: Integrating Power BI with Other Tools

• Integrating Power BI with Excel, SharePoint, and Teams for enhanced collaboration.

• Exploring Power BI Mobile for on-the-go data access.

• Utilizing Power Automate for automating workflows with Power BI.

• Hands-on: Integrating Power BI with Excel and Teams.

Capstone Project: Developing a Business Analytics Dashboard
Participants will create a comprehensive business analytics dashboard in Power BI, integrating data from various sources, applying advanced visualization techniques, and presenting insights to drive business decisions.

Course Duration:

40 hours of instructor-led or self-paced learning.

Target Audience:

Business analysts, data professionals, managers, and anyone interested in mastering business analytics using Power BI.