What is Power BI?

Global Data 365
October 1, 2024

Modern businesses depend on data, and we’re producing more of it than ever before. However, accumulating volumes of digital data is useless unless companies can make use of it. Business intelligence tools can help with this. Are you planning to introduce a platform to assist you in extracting valuable, actionable insight from your data? You have arrived at the right place. In this blog, we will go over the fundamentals of Microsoft Power BI, like what it can do, what it costs, and what benefits it can provide to your company.

What is Power BI?

Power BI is a business analytics tool by Microsoft that empowers organizations to visualize and analyze data, enabling data-driven decision-making. It allows users to connect to various data sources, transform data, and create interactive reports and dashboards.

Mainly, it draws data together and transforms it, transforming it into meaningful insights, including using visually convincing and easy-to-process charts and graphs. This allows users to create and share simple and useful snapshots of what’s happening in their market.

What is Power BI Used For?

It is primarily used for:

Data Visualization: Creating visually appealing reports and dashboards that help users understand data trends and patterns.
Business Intelligence: Transforming raw data into actionable insights to support strategic decision-making.
Data Analysis: Allowing businesses to analyze data from multiple sources in real-time.
Reporting: Developing detailed, interactive reports that provide in-depth insights and promote alignment across the organization.
Sharing & Collaboration: Facilitating collaboration among team members by sharing insights and reports in a secure and controlled environment.
Financial Analysis: Create and analyze financial reports to understand business performance.
Marketing and Sales: Leverage data to improve customer engagement and sales strategies.

Components of Power BI

The tool comprises several key components, each serving a specific purpose:

Power BI Desktop: A desktop application used to create and publish reports. It offers robust data modeling and visualization capabilities and serves as the primary tool for data analysts.
Power Query: Power Query is a powerful tool for data cleaning and transformation, enabling users to manipulate data from various sources effortlessly. Its intuitive interface streamlines complex processes, ensuring data is efficiently prepared for analysis.
Model View: A data modeling component that allows users to create complex models, define relationships, and perform calculations using DAX.
Report View: An interactive data visualization tool that allows users to create dynamic charts, graphs, and maps for data exploration.
Power BI Service: A cloud-based platform that allows users to share, collaborate, and consume Power BI reports and dashboards. It is ideal for distributing insights across an organization.
Power BI Mobile: Mobile applications available for iOS, Android, and Windows devices, enabling users to access their reports and dashboards on the go.
Power BI Report Server: An on-premises server that can host and manage Power BI reports and paginated reports. It is particularly useful for organizations that need to keep their data on-premises due to security or compliance requirements.

Benefits of Using Power BI

Power BI transforms a company’s data into actionable reports and insights by connecting to various data sources and cleaning the information for better comprehension. This enables the creation of shareable reports and visualizations that enhance collaboration across teams.

Comprehensive Data Insights: Users can analyze historical data, monitor current trends, and leverage predictive analytics to anticipate future outcomes.
Advanced Analytics: Power BI harnesses machine learning capabilities to identify patterns in data, helping businesses make informed decisions and generate forecasts.
Interactive Dashboards: Users can create personalized dashboards tailored to their specific needs, ensuring quick access to vital information.

As a stable Microsoft-hosted cloud service, Power BI provides users with seamless access to dashboards, reports, and applications via web browsers or mobile apps for Windows, iOS, and Android. Other benefits of using it include:

Powerful Visualization Tools: Enhance data understanding with robust visualization features that turn complex data into clear, actionable insights.
Cloud-Based Advantages: Benefit from cutting-edge intelligence technologies and powerful algorithms that are regularly updated, ensuring users always have access to the latest tools.
Customizable Dashboards: Tailor dashboards to highlight the most relevant data, allowing users to focus on key performance indicators (KPIs).
Real-Time Alerts: Set up alerts for critical metrics, keeping users informed of any significant changes or updates in their data.
User-Friendly Interface: Enjoy a more intuitive experience compared to complex spreadsheets, making data analysis accessible to users at all skill levels.
Robust Data Security: Ensure data protection with granular access controls, allowing for secure sharing of information both internally and externally.

Power BI Architecture

The Power BI architecture is designed to provide flexibility and scalability. It consists of the following layers:

Data Sources: Power BI connects to various data sources, including databases, cloud services, and files. Data is extracted and transformed.
Data Storage: After extraction and transformation, data is stored in the Power BI cloud-based service or on-premises in the Power BI Report Server.
Data Modeling: Users can create relationships between different data tables, define calculations, and create data models using Power BI Desktop.
Data Visualization: Users create interactive reports and dashboards using the visualization tools provided in Power BI Desktop.
Report Publishing & Collaboration: The Power BI Service is where reports and dashboards are published and shared. It also handles user management, security, and data refresh.

Power BI Services

It offers several services that enhance its functionality:

Power BI Pro: A subscription-based service that provides enhanced collaboration and sharing features.
Power BI Premium: Offers dedicated cloud resources, greater data capacity, and advanced features, such as paginated reports and AI capabilities.
Power BI Embedded: Aimed at developers, this service allows reports and dashboards to be embedded within custom applications.

Power BI Dashboard

A Power BI Dashboard is a single-page, interactive view of your data, created from one or more reports. It allows users to monitor business metrics briefly and drill down into details as needed. Dashboards can be customized with various visualizations, such as charts, graphs, and tables, and can be shared with others for collaborative decision-making.

Top Power BI Pack of Dashboards

We offer a customized dashboard package tailored to meet the unique needs of your business. Our dashboards are designed to provide real-time insights and help you make data-driven decisions with ease. Whether you’re looking to optimize financial performance, streamline inventory management, or drive sales, our Power BI dashboards will give you the tools you need to achieve your business goals.

Here’s what you can expect in our Top Pack of BI Dashboards which includes following:

Finance Dashboard: Gain in-depth insights into your financial operations, track key financial KPIs, and improve budgeting and forecasting accuracy.
Inventory Dashboard: Track inventory levels, reduce waste, optimize stock levels, and improve inventory turnover rates with real-time data insights.
Sales Dashboard: Get a comprehensive view of your sales data, identify high-performing products, and make strategic decisions to boost revenue.
Purchases Dashboard: Manage purchasing activities, monitor supplier performance, and control procurement costs effectively.
Retail Sales Dashboard: Analyze retail sales performance, track customer trends, and optimize inventory levels for maximum profitability.
HR Dashboard: Track employee analysis, record payroll and recruitment for informed organizational decision-making.

Why Choose Our Dashboard Packs?

Ready-to-Use: Get started quickly with pre-built dashboards tailored to your industry.
Customizable: Easily adjust visualizations and data models to fit your specific needs.
Comprehensive Insights: Access a wide range of metrics and KPIs for in-depth analysis.
Expert Support: Benefit from our dedicated support team to help you get the most out of your dashboard packs.

Who Can Use it?

Although business intelligence products are usually the territory of business analysts and data scientists, Power BI’s user-friendly nature enables it to be used by a wide range of people within an organization. Power BI will build customized dashboards based on the data you want to see and the details you need.

It’s mainly used by business intelligence practitioners to build data models and reports that are then circulated to their company. It is frequently used as a self-service tool by different sections of the business to check on progress and gain insight into their team’s success. Not all companies, however, would have the scale or need to support a full-time data whiz, so it is frequently used as a self-service tool by various branches of the business to check on performance and gain insight into their team’s performance. Power BI will report on almost anything because it operates with whatever data you give it. Finance, Retail Sales, Inventory, Sales, and operations are among the divisions that use it the most.

Takeaway

Global Data 365 offers financial analytics solutions for the entire Microsoft Dynamics software products. We have been assisting business leaders in getting the knowledge they need effectively, reliably, and efficiently for almost 8+ years. We offer a wide range of Power BI Training Programs, if you want to learn it from beginner to advanced level. Get Consultation and choose the best training for you or your team, to revolutionize your reporting.

If you want to learn more about how Power BI can transform your business operations, we suggest learning more about the advantages of our quick but efficient reporting tools.

Register Now and Get 25% off on Power BI Training!

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About Us

Global Data 365 is composed of highly skilled professionals who specialize in streamlining the data and automate the reporting process through the utilization of various business intelligence tools.

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Automated Forecasting with Jet Reports

Global Data 365
April 3, 2021

In today’s fast-paced business environment, organizations need efficient methods to streamline budgeting and forecasting processes. This article introduces the Break-back concept and demonstrates how it can be implemented with Jet Reports to automated forecasting. Organizations typically employ top-down, bottom-up, or hybrid methodologies in their budgeting and forecasting. Additionally, they often create multiple budget versions using what-if planning to simulate different scenarios. Break-back is a powerful tool that can assist in these processes across an organization.

The Power of Break-back in Decision Making

Break-back is a valuable management tool that facilitates what-if analysis and supports key decision-making. It empowers organizations to quickly adapt to changing market conditions by providing accurate automated forecasting based on historical trends and assumptions. This article explores how Jet Reports can harness Break-back to enhance forecasting and budgeting processes, making it an indispensable tool for any organization.

What is Break-back?

Break-back is a process that allows the automatic calculation of transaction details (i.e. budget or forecast figures) based on summary value(s). For instance, automated forecasting all natural accounts based on the user entering a single net income target value.

It is calculated based on assumptions that can be determined on historical averages, trends, or an infinite number of other factors. The example below will allow a user to enter a Net Income value and then automatically calculate values for all GL accounts. It also enables the user to increase or decrease values from a macro or micro level, which allows for deeper what-if analysis.

As an example, project a 25% increase in Net Income while knowing that revenues will only increase by 3%, then the Break-back will calculate the amount that all expenses need to decrease to match the 25% increase in Net Income.

Example of break-back:

This example will detail the building of a Break-back template that has year-to-date actual figures and will calculate the general ledger-level forecast based on a few assumptions.

The main driver and the only mandatory input is the desired Net Income. This alone will enable the calculation of the general ledger (GL) forecast for the remaining months.

The first step is to create a profit and loss report with a column for year-to-date actual data. Then we will use the concept of annualized actual based on the prior year’s actual revenue. There is a hidden section that brings in the prior year’s revenue, calculates the percentage of revenue for year-to-date, and then assumes that the annualized total will follow the same trend as last year. As an example, if the period parameter is entered April 2019, then the annualized actual will be year-to-date actual figures divided by the percentage of the sum of the revenue for Jan 2018 to April 2018 against all of 2018.

– Revenue Year-to-Date April 2019: $8,675,315
– Total Revenue Year-to-Date 2018 (January – April): $5,889,672
– Total Revenue 2018: $20,400,768
– Percentage of Total Revenue 2018 Year-to-Date: 28.87%
– Annualized Product Revenue 2019 (8,675,315/28.87%): $30,049,584

The next column is of What-If Scenario that is based on two drivers:

– Net Income Projected Amount
– Account Increase/Decrease %

This column projects what GL Accounts should be like to achieve the Net Income projected amount. If only the Net Income driver is set up, Excel will calculate all GL Accounts based on the historical trend and multiplying it by the new set goal for Net Income. However, if account Increase/Decrease % is also set up like 3% increase in Revenue, it will predict other GL accounts like COGS and Expenses to achieve target goal of Net Income.

Once the What-if scenario is completed, it is then divided across months to predict forecasting of each month. This uses historical trend of how each month contributes to the total year’s figures.

Benefits of break-back:

This template could help businesses in many ways such as:

Helps create top-down budgets and forecasts based on organizational targets.
Quickly create multiple budget or forecast versions (i.e. optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely).
Starting point of forecast or budget.
Can use as guidelines for budget users.
Save labor hours by eliminating time consuming end user data entry.
Helps business to stay on track each month.
Helps in decision making.
Helps in future cash projection.

Resources

Using Jet suite of products, you are now able to pull your actual data right into Excel and can-do automated forecasting using break-back. In case you need to design What-If scenario templates for your organization, you can reach out to one of our Jet Reports experts.