An in-depth Guide for learning Microsoft Power BI for beginners

By Archer Charles 05-Apr-2023

It is not easy to grow any business. The first step towards growth for any company is the analysis of past data and making changes in operation based on its results.

If you continue to implement your plans without analyzing your actions and their results, you run the risk of going in the wrong direction completely.

Therefore, businesses are now focusing more on data analytics and making use of AI tools. It is not an easy task to comprehend complex statistical data.

So, businesses need experts to use such tools and deliver results in a digestible format. One, such tool is Power Bi and, today, we explain this tool to you and also offer all the information you need to learn about Power Bi.

Overview About Power Bi:

Bi in Power Bi stands for Business Intelligence. It is a technology used by corporate and businesses to organize unrelated data and attribute some meaning to it. Such collected information is then capable of helping companies to make the right decision at the right time.

The technology represents data in the form of dashboards and reports making it more straightforward for understanding.

Additionally, the platform also offers cloud services for creating interactive visuals for users. It is available in different formats, such as the desktop and mobile versions, making it simpler and accessible to everyone.

Businesses are trying to figure out how to learn and use Power Bi to successfully incorporate this technology into their system. It helps them to make informed decisions which are very valuable for their growth. This is where Microsoft Power Bi training comes in.

Components of Power BI

There are ten major components of Power BI. They are as follows.

Power Query
Power Pivot
Power View
Power Map
Power Q & A
Power BI Desktop
Power BI Report Server
Power BI Website
Power BI Mobile Apps
Power BI Service

Let us discuss them in detail.

Power Query

Power Query is used to extracting data from different databases. It enables the user to discover, connect, delete, combine, and extract data from sources, including Oracle, MySQL, and SQL Server. Power Query can be added to excel as an add-in apart from being used in the Power BI Desktop.

Power Pivot

Power Pivot is used to create data models using simple and complex data. It is a data modeling technique that lets you set or create relationships using tables and view them in Pivot tables. Power Pivot uses a functional language called Data Analysis Expression (DAX) language.

Power View

As the name suggests, Power View enables you to create attractive visuals, including interactive graphs, charts, and maps. It can be used in excel, Power BI, SQL Server, and Sharepoint. It also helps retrieve metadata you can use for data analysis and provides blueprints for visualization.

Power Q & A

Power Q & A provides you the ability to explore your datasets in natural language. Any user can ask questions using this component, and Power BI will provide them with solutions. Power Q & A can be used with Power View to allow users to ask questions from data visualizations. It also has some shortcuts that enable the user to make models that allow Power Q & A to answer questions in the best possible way.

Power Map

Power Map is a data visualization tool that allows you to map geospatial data in 3D mode. You can plot millions of rows of data using this component. To make the most out of it, consider using Bing Maps. Bing maps enable you to get the best possible visualizations. The visualizations can be based on the latitude or longitude of a country, street, city, etc.

Power BI Mobile Apps

Power BI Mobile Apps aids in providing interactive reports and dashboards on the official Power BI site. The operating systems providers included in this includes Android, iOS, and Windows. It also enables you to share parts of reports with others.

Power BI Desktop

Power BI Desktop is an integrated development tool that includes Power Query, Power View, and Power Pivot. This gives you the convenience of having everything under one solution and building advanced models, reports, queries, etc. It also provides an enhanced experience to users.

Power BI Website

The Power BI Website allows you to create and share reports/dashboards directly. Users using Power BI can also publish them on the website. It also allows them to use operations like slice and dice without requiring any extra tools.

Power BI Service

Power BI Service is a cloud-based service that allows users to share and collaborate on reports and dashboards created with Power BI Desktop. It also offers features like data refresh and sharing files with external stakeholders.

Power BI Report Server

Power BI Report Server is an on-premises solution for hosting, managing, and delivering Power BI reports. This gives organizations more control over their data and enables them to deploy reports and dashboards on their own infrastructure.

Why Learn Power Bi?

It is easy to learn Power Bi with Microsoft Power Bi training.
Microsoft offers the technology in two versions. It can be used on mobile as well as desktop. Moreover, it supports multiple operating systems.
It has a broad capacity to connect to a variety of sources using cloud computing. Such a feature help data scientists in analyzing data collected from various sources.
The desktop version users can easily manipulate the data and represent in the form of bars, graph, chart, etc. The data generated can also be shared with other stakeholders.
The service is available in both free as well paid forms. The charges of the paid form begin at $10.

Understanding DAX In Power Bi:

DAX is the first term you encounter when you begin to learn Power Bi. Data Analysis Expression (DAX ) is a formula used to express data in Power Bi.

DAX is present in almost all Bi tools. The expressions are formed using a collection of operators and constants. These formulas are essential in Power Bi as they help data analysts to evaluate the data extensively. They can easily calculate data values and make appropriate decisions.

Therefore, a user is expected to have knowledge about DAX to create reports with the available data. If you are used to the features of Microsoft Excel, DAX becomes easy to understand. Just like excel, it will let you create formulas for each row.

So, to learn Power Bi, you will have first to get your basics clear about DAX.

Pre-Requisites to Learning Power Bi:

It is imperative to have some basic knowledge of certain software when you begin to learn Power Bi. In the age of big data, everyone is expected to have some exposure to Microsoft Excel. If you understand Excel functions, it is easy to use and manipulate data in Power Bi.

Similarly, most of the systems make use of relational database management systems. My SQL is one such system. It helps in establishing the relationship between different datasets. Therefore, if you are searching for how to learn Power Bi, start with Excel and SQL.

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Guide To Learning Power Bi:

Microsoft Power Bi is very famous in the corporate industry. Due to its popularity, Koenig Solutions has released specialised courses that offer Power Bi guided learning.

It is essential to know every aspect when you are trying to learn Power Bi. Our courses are available online for your comfort.

Apart from our dedicated Power Bi course, Microsoft also has several courses through which you can understand the fundamentals of Power Bi.

Some of the courses of Power Bi are listed below-

Microsoft’s Learning Platform
Webinars conducted by Microsoft
Microsoft Power Bi training videos
The blog of Power Bi’s development team.

Also Read: Top Power BI Interview Questions You Must Prepare

If you would like to try a hand at Power Bi before choosing to take a course, here are some steps on how to use Power Bi:

Install the desktop version of Power Bi from the Microsoft official website.
Sign in or register.
The Home Page appears more or less similar to excel with tabs such as View, Help, etc.
The working area of Power Bi has three icons to the left: Report, Data, and Model.
The Data tab will consist of the data uploaded.
The Model tab will show you the relationship between two data sets.
The right side consists of visualizations to help the user to create reports and dashboards.

Now that you have an idea about the interface of Power Bi. The next step is to start using Power Bi. Keep reading to know how to use Power Bi.

1. Starting With Data-

Every Power Bi guided learning starts with preparing data. First, you will have to import data which is almost like importing data in Microsoft Excel. The tool used to import data is known as Power Query. It is capable of collecting data from multiple sources and transforms it the way you want.

2. Establishing a relationship with data-

This feature is not present in Excel. But if you are acquainted with SQL, you will know the importance of establishing a relationship between tables.

It is the key to analyzing data and interactions between different data sets. This is where DAX comes into the picture, which we have already dealt with in the previous section. It is DAX that helps in calculating and preparing reports.

3. Creating visuals-

It is important to visualize data for easy and effective understanding. Therefore, the data interpreted is represented in graphs and bars to help the user analyze it.

4. Sharing report-

The report generated is now ready to be shared with your peers. You can also publish it to increase its visibility.

The knowledge provided in this section will save you time when you start working with Power Bi. We have tried to introduce you to all the fundamentals. Now let’s understand the advantages of using Power Bi.

Major Advantages Of Using Power Bi:

It is one of the most affordable Bi tools. The Power Bi desktop version is available free of cost. The free version itself includes multiple features. If the user wishes to move to the paid version, that is also possible.
The interface of Power Bi is easy to understand and use, especially if you have used Excel.
It offers multiple options for visualization. You can visualize the data in the form of graphs, bars, maps, KPIs, etc.
It is well integrated into Excel and can view your data created in Excel.
The data generated is easily accessed since it is stored at one location.

Best Power BI Courses

Microsoft provides many Power BI certifications that can help you learn relevant skills. Let us discuss some of them.

Microsoft Certified: Data Analyst Associate

This certification is for people who work with data and use Power BI to analyze and visualize it. You need to pass two exams to get this certification - Analyzing data with Microsoft Power BI DA 100) and data modeling and preparation using Microsoft Power BI (exam DA 120).

Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate

This certification is for data engineering using Power BI along with other Azure data services to build and manage data pipelines. You must pass two exams to get this certification - implementing an Azure data solution (DP 200) and designing an Azure data solution (DP 201).

Microsoft Certified: Power Platform App Maker Associate

This certification is for people building custom business applications using the Power Platform, including Power BI. You have to pass two exams to get it - Microsoft Power Platform app maker (PL 100) and Microsoft Power Platform functional consultant (PL 200).

Microsoft Certified: Power Platform Solution Architect Expert

This certification is suitable for solutions architects involved in designing and implementing solutions that use Power Platform, including Power BI. You need to pass two exams to get this certification - Microsoft Power Platform solution architect (PL 600) and designing and implementing Microsoft Power Platform solutions (PL 400).

Apart from these certifications, here are some of the best Power BI courses that can help you get started with this iconic software.

Koenig Solutions’ Introduction to Power BI Course

This is a 1-day course that introduces you to Power BI. It covers skills that can help you build reports and dashboards using interactive visualizations. The course is meant for beginners, business users, business analysts, and students.

The group training costs Rs. 20,000 and covers the following skills:

Business value and features of Power BI
Working on Power BI
Workflow of Power BI and data modeling

Koenig Solutions’ Power BI Advance

This is a 5-day course that covers advanced Power BI concepts. It is suitable for business analysts, data analysts, and people who want to learn advanced-level data processing and visualization.

The course requires you to have a working knowledge of creating reports using Power BI. The group training costs Rs. 43,900. The course covers the following skills:

Building queries
Preparing data for analysts
Building scalable data models across multiple databases
Power Query
Building live dashboards

edX’s Analyzing and Visualizing Data with Power BI

This course is a four-week free course perfect for beginners, students, data analysts, and researchers. The course will cover beginner-level skills, including working with data, preparing dashboards, and creating visualizations.

It will cover the following topics:

Identifying data sets and working with them
Creating dashboards and reports in Power BI
Preparing data

Mindmajix’s Power BI Training

Mindmajix’s Power BI Training is perfect for beginners who want to learn about data analysis. It is a 36-hour course that provides hands-on projects and assignments. You can choose the self-paced or live online courses.

The self-paced course costs Rs. 8,000, while the live online course costs Rs. 15,600. The course covers the following skills:

Introduction to Power BI and Power BI Desktop
Creating and working on reports
Visualizing data
Power BI Service and Power BI Mobile

edX’s Professional Certificate in Fundamentals of Data Visualization with Power BI

This course is best for data analysts with intermediate-level experience. It covers skills like analyzing and visualizing data with Power BI. The course is of two months and includes expert instruction.

The cost of the course is Rs. 29,441. It will cover the following topics:

Working with Power BI reports and dashboards
Marketing your data skills
Developing data visualizations
Using R to analyze and manage data

Datacamp’s Introduction to Power BI

Another beginner-level course, Datacamp’s Introduction to Power BI is available free of cost and includes six hours of coursework. The course will cover real-world scenarios and allow learners to do hands-on exercises.

The course covers the following skills.

Learning Power BI basics
Creating data visualizations on Power BI
Transforming data

Udemy’s Microsoft Power BI Desktop for Business Intelligence

This course is suitable for beginners who want to learn Power BI desktop and advanced analysis. It includes 10.5 hours of videos and costs Rs. 3,399. The course will be taught by a professional Power BI developer.

The skills include:

Creating dashboards and reports
Using Power BI for business
Designing and implementing bi tools
Analyzing data with DAX calculations

Koenig Solutions’ Learn R and Visualization with Power BI

This is a 32-hour course that teaches using R language and Power BI to create data visualizations. The course is suitable for data analysts, business analysts, and anyone interested in learning how these R and Power BI work together.

You will get hands-on experience with Power BI. The course will cover the following skills:

Creating custom visuals with R
Integrating R scripts with Power BI
Using R to create advanced data models
Using Power BI to collaborate and share insights

Power BI Apps

Power BI apps are collections of dashboards, reports, and datasets designed to deliver insights to specific audiences within an organization. The designer can share the app in more than one way. The main feature of the app is that it allows users to share data and insights with their colleagues and customers in a secure and controlled way.

You can download apps from the marketplace or get them from app designers. Power BI Apps are powerful tools for organizations that enable sharing of data securely and conveniently. Here are the benefits of Power BI Apps.

Apps allow administrators to control access to data and insights, ensuring that users see only the data they are authorized to see.
It provides an easy-to-use interface for users to access data and insights.
It also enhances user experience.

Koenig Solutions has multiple courses that can help you if you want to learn Power Bi. Take a look at our training modules and enrol yourself instantly to gain expertise in Microsoft Power Bi.

To conclude, Power Bi is one of the best tools you can integrate into your system for analyzing data.

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Archer Charles

Archer Charles has top education industry knowledge with 4 years of experience. Being a passionate blogger also does blogging on the technology niche.