Power BI

At its core, Power BI is a collection of software services, apps, and connectors that work together to turn disparate sources of raw data into meaningful and interactive reports and dashboards. It provides tools for:

• Connecting to data: Power BI can connect to a vast array of data sources, both on-premises and in the cloud, including Excel spreadsheets, databases (SQL Server, Oracle, etc.), cloud services (Azure, Salesforce), web pages, PDFs, and more.

• Transforming and cleaning data (Power Query): It includes a robust data preparation tool called Power Query Editor, which allows users to clean, shape, and combine data from multiple sources. This process, often called ETL (Extract, Transform, Load), ensures data is in a usable format for analysis.

• Data modeling: Users can create relationships between different data tables, define calculations (measures) using a formula language called DAX (Data Analysis Expressions), and build a robust data model that supports complex analysis.

• Creating visuals and reports: Power BI offers a rich library of pre-built and custom visualizations (charts, graphs, maps, tables, KPIs, etc.) that users can drag and drop onto a canvas to create interactive reports.

• Building dashboards: Dashboards are single-page canvases that display key visualizations from one or more reports, providing a high-level overview of important metrics.

• Sharing and collaboration: Reports and dashboards can be published to the Power BI Service (cloud-based) for sharing with colleagues, collaborating on insights, and accessing on various devices, including mobile apps.

Components of Power BI:

• Power BI Desktop: A free desktop application for Windows where users primarily design and publish reports. This is where most of the data connection, transformation, modeling, and report creation happens.

• Power BI Service (PowerBI.com): A cloud-based SaaS (Software as a Service) where users can publish, share, and consume reports and dashboards. It offers features for collaboration, data refresh scheduling, and security.

• Power BI Mobile Apps: Available for iOS, Android, and Windows devices, these apps allow users to view and interact with reports and dashboards on the go.

• Power BI Report Server: An on-premises solution for organizations that need to keep their data and reports behind a firewall.

• Power BI Embedded: Allows developers to embed Power BI reports and dashboards into their own applications.