Power BI Fundamentals - Getting Started with Business Intelligence

What is Power BI?

Power BI is a business analytics tool that helps you visualize data and share insights across your organization.

Key Components:

• Power BI Desktop: Create reports and dashboards
• Power BI Service: Cloud-based sharing and collaboration
• Power BI Mobile: View reports on the go
• Power Query: Data transformation and cleaning

Power BI Desktop Interface

Left Sidebar:
- Home: Get started
- Insert: Add visualizations
- Data: View and manage data
- Modeling: Create relationships
- View: Display options

Canvas Area:
- Where you build reports
- Add visualizations here
- Arrange and resize elements

Right Sidebar:
- Visualizations: Chart types
- Fields: Data columns to use
- Formatting: Customize appearance

Getting Data Into Power BI

Data Sources:
- Excel files
- CSV files
- SQL databases
- Web APIs
- Cloud services (Azure, Salesforce)
- Streaming data

Basic Steps:
1. Home tab → Get Data
2. Choose source type
3. Browse/enter connection details
4. Select tables to load
5. Click Load or Transform (Power Query)

Creating Your First Visualization

Steps:
1. Select data from Fields panel
2. Choose visualization type from Visualizations panel
3. Drag fields to appropriate areas:
   - Axis: Categories
   - Values: Metrics to visualize
   - Legend: Groups
   - Filters: Conditions
4. Resize and position on canvas
5. Format appearance

Visualization Types

Key Charts:
- Column/Bar: Compare categories
- Line: Show trends
- Pie/Donut: Parts of whole
- Scatter: Relationships
- Table: Detailed data
- Card: Single metric
- Gauge: Progress/KPI
- Map: Geographic data

Filtering and Slicing

Page-Level Filters:
- Apply to all visuals on page
- Filters pane → Page Filters
- Set conditions

Visual-Level Filters:
- Apply to single visual
- Filters pane → Visual Filters
- More specific control

Slicers:
- Interactive filters
- Insert → Slicer
- Users can click to filter
- Great for dashboards

Report Pages and Navigation

Add Pages:
- Right-click page tab
- Insert → New page
- Name the page

Organize Reports:
- Logical flow
- Related visualizations together
- Use page names effectively
- Create bookmarks for navigation

Formatting and Styling

Visual Formatting:
- Format pane (paint brush icon)
- Customize colors
- Adjust titles and labels
- Change axis settings

Report-Level:
- View tab → Page size
- Choose: 16:9, 4:3, Custom
- Set background colors

Data Labels:
- Show values on charts
- Format numbers
- Adjust positioning

Publishing and Sharing

To Power BI Service:
1. File → Publish
2. Select workspace
3. Report goes to cloud
4. Share with colleagues
5. Set permissions

Sharing Options:
- Share report link
- Embed in website
- Export as PDF/PowerPoint
- Schedule refreshes

Power BI Best Practices

• ✓ Start with clean data
• ✓ Clear, descriptive titles
• ✓ Consistent color schemes
• ✓ Meaningful metrics
• ✓ Mobile-responsive design
• ✗ Don't overcrowd pages
• ✗ Avoid unnecessary details
• ✗ Don't ignore data quality

Next Steps

• Learn Power Query for data transformation
• Explore DAX formulas for calculations
• Build multi-page reports
• Create interactive dashboards