Power BI (Business Intelligence)

Business intelligence and analytics are the procedures that help business managers and concerned users with collecting and analyzing data. All the raw data that is collected from the different sources is then examined and converted to core information. This information can then be utilized to further the business processes in alignment with the business goals. The essential and crucial insights derived at this stage are used for improving the overall performance of the business.

BI or Business Intelligence refers to the extraction of data. There are many different sources such as spreadsheets that provide meaningful data. The users can leverage the BI process to transform this information into actionable items. This includes data mining and visualization. Even the important aspects such as historical trends and patterns can be identified with this data.

Business Intelligence software is the platform or the set of tools that enable business managers to use BI processes. The most important capabilities including data visualization, integration, modeling, and reporting are made available through BI software. All these functionalities together contribute to the success of the business by helping them make informed decisions based on the data collected.

When we speak of a comprehensive set of tools to enable organizations to obtain and understand the insights. These insights can guide them in making decisions and moving swiftly toward their objectives.

The BI workflow can be summarized through the following steps:

• Data sources connection: The users can connect to an array of cloud sources through the connectors. These connectors facilitate the users with mechanisms to connect to these sources.
• Report building: The Power BI desktop offers the users the facility to create reports. It is an application that the Power BI provides.
• Publishing: The created reports in the Power BI desktop application can be published and shared with the Power BI service.
• Collaboration: The technology of Power BI ascertains that there is a combined collaboration of all the users who can access and work on the created reports. They can work together on these reports simultaneously.

All these features together help the users work in an ecosystem that enables them to make clear and guided decisions.

While there are many different platforms to enable business owners to make great decisions, they may be in a fix when it comes to choosing between Tableau and Power BI. In such a scenario it is important to note that the decision of making a choice between these two will largely depend on the individual business’s objectives.

The businesses that are seeking data visualization can choose either of them but can consider the following points before the final decision.

Power BI: This is a tool from the house of Microsoft. Companies looking for an intuitive and user-friendly design of the tool can opt for Power BI. It is easy to integrate with the existing systems and can be a great choice for companies that have already used or are using other Microsoft products and technologies. If yours is a business that widely applies Microsoft tools and capabilities, you will find Power BI simple to integrate with your current systems.

Tableau: This is a tool that offers a more advanced capability of data visualization. With a host of customization options and advanced offerings, Tableau is widely used by data analysts as it can handle vast amounts of complex data. Companies that need to handle and work with complicated data sets also utilize Tableau.

Before getting to a decision, companies must also note that Tableau may be a bit more expensive than Power BI; yet, the level of customization desired and implementation will be the determinant of the ultimate cost.

Organizational deployment of Power BI can be a huge step. It is a game-changing decision that must be carefully considered. Let’s look at some steps that can be taken into consideration before the implementation:

The clear vision of goals: The business owners and the steering committee must carefully define the goals and objectives. They must understand the fundamental necessities and requirements of the business and the outcomes they want to achieve. They must also have a clear vision as to how can Power BI fit into the scheme of addressing their concerns.

Acquiring license: The companies will need to acquire the license for the tool to be able to deploy Power PI in their organization. For this, they must consider the requirements and also set up the framework for the implementation. The framework can be either in the cloud or on-premises.

Data connectivity: Companies can avail of the connectors that are provided by the Power BI which facilitate the connection of Power BI with the company’s data sources. Thus, all the data from databases and other sources like spreadsheets is accessed and analyzed with this functionality.

Data transformation: The users must carry out data modeling and transformation by using Power BI capabilities. They can also undertake actions to format the data in a way that it can be used for analysis.
Reporting and Dashboard: Power BI empowers users to generate reports. They can also include a lot of visual presentations in the dashboard with the help of Power BI. This way, they can present the data in a much more efficient manner.

Publish: Once the reports are created, the users can publish them. As Power BI is a cloud-based platform, it can be accessed by all the stakeholders, users, and concerned authorities within the organization easily. Moreover, the dashboard and reports can be accessed through mobile devices.

Governance: With good governance comes adequate security measures that the users will need to ensure. Who accesses the data and ascertaining data privacy is the responsibility of the businesses at this stage.

Training: To extract the most out of the Power BI implementation, business owners must ensure that their workers, users, and staff are appropriately trained to use the system. This will help them carry out better actions related to data analysis and decision-making.

Continuous monitoring: To ensure that the system runs smoothly, the business must keep monitoring the newly implemented system to enable an optimized performance.

BPX comes with a vast set of benefits and utilizing BPX for Power BI implementation can significantly benefit the companies.

Expertise in the domain: BPX has proven expertise in providing for different requirements of diverse domains and industries. This expertise enables them to guide businesses on how to make the best use of their Power BI implementations.

Tailored solutions: BPX offers consulting services to let businesses customize and align the Power BI solutions based on their business needs.

Efficient implementation: With years of experience comes the ability to assist businesses with a smooth deployment. BPX shoulders the responsibility of important tasks such as data connectivity, modeling, and reporting.

Support and training: BPX is a customer-centric company and provides extensive support to its customers after the implementation. They can also help businesses by imparting training to their employees.