Time is running out to sign up for these exclusive Power BI Events brought to you by Prologika and Microsoft!
FORMULATING POWER BI ENTERPRISE STRATEGY Date: Aug 31st , 8:30-12:00 Place: Microsoft Office in Alpharetta Cost: Free To learn more and register: http://bit.ly/powerbiseminar
2-DAY APPLIED POWER BI TRAINING CLASS Date: Sep 14-15, 8:30-5:00 Place: Microsoft Office in Alpharetta Cost: $999/person (use coupon POWERBI20160914 to get 10% discount when signing up two or more people) To learn more and register: http://bit.ly/powerbiworkshop
https://prologika.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo.png00Prologika - Teo Lachevhttps://prologika.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo.pngPrologika - Teo Lachev2016-08-25 09:13:262021-02-17 01:00:39Upcoming Power BI Events in Atlanta
Power BI Desktop has a very useful feature that lets you create tables by manually entering the data. This could be useful in a variety of scenarios, such as entering some reference data, defining KPI goals, creating simple lookup tables, or prototyping some data. If you’re familiar with creating tables in Power Pivot by copying and pasting tabular data, think of Enter Data as the Power BI Desktop equivalent. However, Enter Data is more flexible because it lets you also the edit the data! This makes it more similar to the Power Pivot linked tables that automatically synchronize changes in the Excel source tables.
Creating a new table is straightforward. You click the Enter Data button in the Home ribbon. Don’t confuse this with the New Table button in the Modeling ribbon that allows to create a read-only table from a DAX table-producing expression. While entering the initial data and columns is easy, finding how to make changes is not that obvious. To do so:
Click the Edit Queries button in the Home ribbon to open the Query Editor.
In the Queries pane, select the query that corresponds to the “Enter Data” table.
In the Applied Steps pane, click the gear icon next to the Source step.
https://prologika.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo.png00Prologika - Teo Lachevhttps://prologika.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo.pngPrologika - Teo Lachev2016-08-23 21:28:482016-08-26 12:01:26“Enter Data” Feature in Power BI Desktop
Now that Power BI Desktop supports Row-level Security (RLS), modelers have a little predicament. On the desktop, the USERNAME() function returns the user’s domain login (domain\login). However, when the model is deployed to powerbi.com, Username() returns the user principal name, which typically (but not always depending on how your AD is set up) is the user’s email address. To simplify dynamic security based on the user identity, DAX introduces a new USERPRINCIPALNAME() function that can help you secure on a column that has the user principal name. This avoids having to use an OR filter to support both deployment scenarios.
Notice that if your computer is not joined to a domain, both USERNAME() and USERPRINCIPALNAME() return the same thing (domain\login).
There is a lot of interest surrounding Power BI Embedded from organizations looking for cost-effective ways to embed customer-facing (external) reports in custom apps. And there will be even more interest now that Microsoft reduced the Power BI Embedded cost dramatically by switching from per-render to a session-based pricing model. The best way to get started with Power BI Embedded is with the Microsoft sample app, which is well documented here. Here are a few notes for a better configuration experience:
Register a native Azure app even if your custom app is web-based. That’s because the ProvisionSample console app (inside the sample solution) expects to be configured in Azure as a native app.
Instead of using the Azure Portal, the easiest way to register the app is to go to http://dev.powerbi.com/apps. On the registration page, specify app name (it should typically correspond to your web app name although you can enter anything), and then enter https://login.live.com/oauth20_desktop.srf as a redirect URL because it’s hardcoded in the ProvisionSample app. Once you register the app, the registration page will give you the client id, which you need to enter in the App.config file of the ProvisionSample app, together with your subscription id, azureresourcegroup, and access key (the most important piece) of your Power BI Embedded Service. You can obtain the subscription id, access key, and azureresourcegroup settings from the Power BI Service page as explained here.
Apparently, something has changed in Azure but trying to run the ProvisionSample app gave me an error “AADSTS65005: The client application has requested access to resource ‘https://management.core.windows.net/’. This request has failed because the client has not specified this resource in its requiredResourceAccess list“. To fix this, follow these steps:
Go to the Azure Portal (http://portal.azure.com), click More Services, then Active Directory.
Click the Applications tab and then change the Show drop-down to “Applications my company owns” and then click the checkmark next to it.
Click the application you just registered (PowerBIEmbeddedDemo in my case). In the application page, click Configure.
Click the “Add application” button and add the “Windows Azure Service Management API” application. Expand the Delegated Permissions drop-down and check the only permission there. You need to delegate the necessary permissions to the Power BI Service.
Now you should be able to run the ProvisionSample console app successfully. If you still have issues, verify the configuration settings in the App.config file.
https://prologika.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo.png00Prologika - Teo Lachevhttps://prologika.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo.pngPrologika - Teo Lachev2016-08-16 15:04:402016-08-16 15:04:40Configuring Power BI Embedded
Are you looking for an agile self-service platform that doesn’t require reporting and query skills to get basic analytics done without reliance on IT? Or, perhaps you’ve heard or evaluating Power BI but not sure where to start or how to take the most out of it? If so, this workshop is for you. A year ago Microsoft unveiled the new Power BI platform consisting of the PowerBI.com cloud service, Power BI Desktop, and Power BI Mobile. Since then, Prologika has helped organizations of all sizes to adopt Power BI. Packed with features, Power BI supports a dizzying variety of features and integration scenarios and it offers plenty to all types of users interested in data analytics: information workers, data analysts, BI pros, and developers.
Reserve your seat today to attend this insightful 2-day workshop for only $999 (use coupon POWERBI20160914 to get 10% discount when signing up two or more people) at the Microsoft Office in Alpharetta, when Teo Lachev (CEO of Prologika, a Power BI Red Carpet Partner) teaches you practical Power BI knowledge and data analytics skills that you can immediately apply to your job. See how Power BI can improve your usability and productivity even further.
Understand how Power BI changed the way users (information workers, data analysts, BI pros, and developers) gain and share data insights.
Learn how to connect to popular cloud services to derive instant insights, create interactive reports and dashboards, and view them in the browser and on the go.
Discover how to integrate and transform data from virtually everywhere and then implement sophisticated self-service models and business calculations.
Find how to implement hybrid architectures and strict security requirements by leaving data on premise and deploying reports and dashboards to the cloud.
Learn how to share your BI artifacts and collaborate with other teammates.
Gain practical skills by creating a self-service model in the lab exercises.
Learn Power BI best practices, limitations (every tool has them) and workarounds.
Get your questions answered.
and much more…
You won’t want to miss this educational and engaging training event! Attend it and get a free paper copy of the bookApplied Microsoft Power BI! Please registertoday as seating is limited.
Audience
Information workers
Business analysts
BI professionals
In general, anyone interested in self-service data analytics with Power BI
Prerequisites
Students are encouraged to bring their laptops for the exercises. Detail setup instructions and source files will be sent before the event.
Instructor
Teo Lachev is an internationally-recognized authority on Data Analytics and CEO of Prologika. Teo helps organizations make sense of their most valuable asset: their data. His strategy formulation, trusted advisory and mentoring, design and implementation services empower his clients to apply effectively data analytics in order to understand, improve, and transform their business. Teo has authored and coauthored several books and his latest one is “Applied Microsoft Power BI (Bring your data to life!)” He has been leading the Atlanta Microsoft Business Intelligence group since he founded it in 2010. Microsoft has recognized Teo’s expertise and contributions to the technical community by awarding him the prestigious Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for Data Platform award since 2004.
https://prologika.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo.png00Prologika - Teo Lachevhttps://prologika.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo.pngPrologika - Teo Lachev2016-08-08 21:43:002016-08-08 22:47:132-Day Applied Power BI Workshop – Atlanta
A year ago Microsoft unveiled the new Power BI platform consisting of the PowerBI.com cloud service, Power BI Desktop, and Power BI Mobile. Since then, Prologika has helped organizations of all sizes to plan and adopt Power BI. Packed with features, Power BI supports a dizzying variety of features and integration scenarios but it might be difficult to understand how Power BI fits in your data analytics ecosystem.
Join Prologika and Microsoft for a 3-hour free seminar on Wednesday, August 31th, 8:30 AM -12 PM ET, at the Microsoft Office in Alpharetta, when Teo Lachev (CEO of Prologika) and Brian Jackson (Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft) share practical knowledge and experience to help you to formulate a Power BI enterprise strategy. If you’re considering Power BI but you’re not sure how it fits within your organizational data strategy, this event is for you.
Key Takeaways
Understand how Power BI changed the way users (information workers, data analysts, BI pros, and developers) gain and share data insights.
Learn 10 areas where Power BI excels compared to other popular BI tools, such as Tableau, Qlik Sense, Sisense, Domo, and others.
Plan a data access strategy for:
Importing data
Connecting live to cloud sources with content packs and solution templates
Connecting live to on-premises data sources
Implementing real-time dashboards
Embedded reporting
Taking a deep dive to learn how Prologika designed and implemented a hybrid architecture solution for a Fortune 50 organization and meet security requirements that prevented exporting data to the cloud
Join in a discussion about other business use cases and gaps between Power BI and other BI products, and find how to address them. Get your questions answered.
9:00-10:30 – How Power BI empowers businesses like yours
10:30-10:40 – Break
10:40-11:45 – Plan a data access strategy and go “under the hood” of a hybrid architecture case study
11:45-12:00 – Q&A
Presenters
Teo Lachev is an internationally-recognized authority on Data Analytics and CEO of Prologika. Teo helps organizations make sense of their most valuable asset: their data. His strategy formulation, trusted advisory and mentoring, design and implementation services empower his clients to apply effectively data analytics in order to understand, improve, and transform their business. Teo has authored and coauthored several books and his latest one is “Applied Microsoft Power BI (Bring your data to life!)” Prologika is a Microsoft Gold Partner in Data Analytics, demonstrating a “best-in-class” ability and commitment to meet Microsoft customers’ evolving needs and distinguishing itself within the top one percent of Microsoft’s partner ecosystem. Learn more at www.prologika.com.
Brian Jackson is a Microsoft Certified Architect and Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft. He has deep technical expertise in the SQL Server and Azure platform and served as a subject matter expert for Microsoft’s SQL Server Master and Business Intelligence certification programs. Brian has more than 20 years of experience in solution architecture and software development with a focus on business intelligence, data warehousing and database design. He has strong customer relationship skills with over 15 of years of IT consulting to several Fortune 500 companies and proven success in leading and delivering large scale implementations with globally distributed teams.
https://prologika.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo.png00Prologika - Teo Lachevhttps://prologika.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo.pngPrologika - Teo Lachev2016-08-08 21:10:412021-02-17 01:00:37Formulating a Power BI Enterprise Strategy Seminar – Atlanta
Currently in preview, Microsoft Flow is a cloud service for creating automation flows without writing code, similar to Zapier’s “zaps” and IFTTT’s “recipes”. How is this useful for BI? Let’s consider an example. Power BI has recently introduced data-driven alerts in Power BI Service (previously alerts were supported on iPhone only). Currently, alerts can be created only on single-card and gauge dashboard tiles that are connected to imported datasets. You can go to the tile properties and click the Manage Alerts (bell) icon to create an alert rule, such as “SalesAmount is above 1,000,000.”
When the alert rule condition is met, you are notified in the Power BI notification center and by e-mail. But what if you want to broadcast the alert to a large audience? Currently, this feature is not a Power BI native feature. Sure, you can forward the email manually but what if you’re on vacation or the alert is triggered outside working hours but you need to notify certain people immediately? Enters Microsoft Flow that allows you to create simple if-then-else flows. In the screenshot below, I’ve created a trigger that checks my Office 365 email account for emails sent from noreply@powerbi.com and the subject contains “Alert”. If this condition is met, the “yes” action forwards the email to additional people.
Microsoft flows has a comprehensive list of triggers and actions for integration with many popular services, such as Dynamics CRM, Salesforce, SQL Server, MailChimp, SharePoint, Facebook, GitHub, and many more. Naturally, Microsoft Flow integrates very well with Microsoft cloud and on-prem services. It also has an extensible architecture that allows developers to plug in additional services. Together with PowerApps, Microsoft Flow has a bright future to help you automate your business processes and get actionable insights.
https://prologika.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo.png00Prologika - Teo Lachevhttps://prologika.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo.pngPrologika - Teo Lachev2016-08-01 09:29:232016-09-01 09:46:23Going with the Flow
Recently, Power BI charts introduced trend lines. However, they require numeric or date values on X-axis, which must have a continuous type. In fact, if you use a text field for the X-axis, a warning indicator will be displayed in the top left corner of the chart to warn you that non-numeric values are used.
This requirement presents issues if the report is connected to a Multidimensional cube because by default all attributes are text-based. As a workaround, in the Multidimensional project set the ValueColumn property of the attribute to a column in the underlying table of a numeric or date data type, and deploy the cube.
Back to Power BI Desktop, bind the corresponding .Value field to the X-axis.
https://prologika.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo.png00Prologika - Teo Lachevhttps://prologika.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo.pngPrologika - Teo Lachev2016-07-28 21:13:352016-07-28 21:13:35Trend Lines in Power BI Charts
Power BI is one-year old. it’s hard to imagine that one year has passed but here we are. The momentum behind Power BI is huge both from development and customer perspectives. It’s exiting to see a product that evolves so fast based on feedback from users. So, there will be many more birthdays. And for the nay sayers out there, no, Power BI is not immature as its building blocks (Power Pivot, Power Query, Power View, Tabular, Azure) have been around for many years.
Anyway, it’s time to recognize all the effort that went behind the new Power BI. Happy Birthday from the community!
MS BI fans, join me for the next Atlanta MS BI and Power BI Group meeting on July 25th at 6:30 PM. Shabnam Watson will teach you MDX fundamentals. Pyramid Analytics, our sponsor, will show us why they are Microsoft Power BI preferred vendor. And I’ll demo the Power BI Publisher for Excel.
MDX is an industry standard query language for OLAP systems and is used to query Microsoft Analysis Services (SSAS). Custom MDX queries can be authored in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), Reporting Services, Power BI and custom applications. While SQL and MDX share some common keywords, they have very different syntax and concepts. This session is for anyone familiar with SQL who wants to get started with MDX. In this session we will first explore data organization in SSAS in multidimensional mode using AdventureWorks sample database. Then we will review a couple of MDX and SQL queries that return the same results and continue to learn MDX fundamentals by running queries in SSMS. We will see how certain queries are much easier to write in MDX, especially when it comes to querying data with hierarchies such as a date rollup. Finally, we will learn how to capture MDX queries generated by Excel and SSMS, to use as practical examples of how to write MDX queries.
Speaker:
Shabnam Watson is an independent business intelligence consultant with 15 years of experience developing end-to-end data warehouse and business intelligence solutions using Microsoft technologies. She holds a master’s degree in computer science and a Certified Business Intelligence Professional (CBIP) certification by The Data Warehouse Institute (TDWI). She has worked with OLAP since SQL Server 7.0 and specializes in solving complex MDX and design challenges with Analysis Services.
Sponsor:
Pyramid Analytics is a global BI&A leader offering an analytics platform that helps companies compete as world-class data-driven organizations. Pyramid Analytics’ mature BI Office Version 6 is an enterprise business analytics platform that puts the power of analytics into the hands of every user across an organization, making it possible to model, discover, communicate and distribute data for better corporate decision making. Pyramid Analytics was again recognized in Gartner’s 2016 Magic Quadrant Business Intelligence and Analytics (BI&A) Platforms Report for BI Office’s capabilities as a balanced analytics platform with strong governance, metadata management, security, and user administration.
https://prologika.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo.png00Prologika - Teo Lachevhttps://prologika.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo.pngPrologika - Teo Lachev2016-07-24 19:22:402016-07-24 19:22:40Atlanta MS BI Group Meeting on July 25th
