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PROLOGIKA BLOG · IDEAS FROM THE FIELD

Making sense of data.
Sharing what we learn.

Practical perspectives on Microsoft Fabric, Power BI, semantic models, and the work of turning data into insight.

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Not Your Kimball’s DW

BI practitioners, myself included, have been following the Kimbal tenets for dimensional schema design for years. In fact, it's a second nature to dimensionalize every BI project the "proper" way. You identify fact tables, grain, dimensions, etc. Dimensions of course would have surrogate keys – your insurance against weird things happening down the road, such as tracking Type 2 changes, unreliable business keys, acquisitions, and…

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Atlanta MS BI and Power BI Group Meeting on August 1st (Power BI Automation)

Please join us online for the next Atlanta MS BI and Power BI Group meeting on Monday, August 1st, at 6:30 PM ET.  We'll have two presentations by 3Cloud. For more details and sign up, visit our group page. Presentation: 1.   “Power BI Meets Programmability – TOM, XMLA, and C#” by Kristyna Hughes 2.  “Automation Using Tabular Editor Advanced Scripting” by Tim Keeler Date: August…

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Datasets vs Datamarts

I sent a proposal for implementing a classic BI solution: Azure SQL-based datamart (not Power BI datamart please), ETL, semantic model, and reports. The client had a sticker shock. Return to sender … as other BI companies that quoted can do it for half! Upon digging, it turned out the other companies would build the semantic model (aka Power BI dataset) directly on top of…

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Power BI Field Parameters

Coming back from a long vacation and I almost missed this new Power BI killer feature: Field Parameters! Not to be confused with Dynamic M Query Parameters that I ranted about here, field parameters solve a long-standing limitation of Power BI that prevents binding dynamically fields to a visual. Dynamic binding isn't an issue with measures because they are dynamic and can evaluate runtime conditions,…

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Power BI Datamarts: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

As Microsoft announced here, Power BI datamarts are upon us. I can almost see an important enterprise client demanding "self-service datamarts me now or else… ", thus inspiring an opportunity for another premium feature, spearheaded with great vision and effort, but questionable practical value. In a nutshell, a Power BI datamart is a combo of Power BI Premium and a Microsoft-hosted Azure SQL Database aiming…

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A Case for Azure Analysis Services

Microsoft BI practitioners have three options for hosting semantic models: SSAS (on prem), Azure Analysis Services (cloud), and Power BI (cloud). AAS is somewhat caught between a rock and a hard place. Given that Power BI gets the most attention for cloud deployment, why would you consider AAS at all? There are two main reasons: Cost – Organizational semantic models might require a lot of…

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Atlanta MS BI and Power BI Group Meeting on June 6th (How Power Query Thinks)

Please join us online for the next Atlanta MS BI and Power BI Group meeting on Monday, June 6th, at 6:30 PM ET.  For more details and sign up, visit our group page. Presentation: How Power Query Thinks: Taking the Mystery Out of Streaming and Query Folding Date: June 6th Time: 6:30 – 8:30 PM ET Place: Click here to join the meeting Overview: How…

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Power BI Dataflows vs ADF Mapping Data Flows

An enterprise client wants to migrate many Alteryx workflows created over years by smart business users to the Microsoft ecosystem. During the initial intake, we discussed Power BI dataflows vs Azure Data Factory mapping data flows. Yep, Microsoft loves to confuse us, but these technologies have nothing to do with each other. Power BI Dataflows ADF mapping data flows Target audience Business users Professionals Availability…

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FastTrack Recognized Solution Architect 2022

Microsoft re-awarded me as a FastTrack Recognized Solution Architect - Power BI for 2022! This prestigious recognition is conferred by the Power Platform product engineering team for consistently exhibiting deep architecture expertise and creating high quality solutions for customers during project engagements. I'm one of the 36 individuals worldwide who met the following criteria: Must have a minimum of 2 years of experience with Power BI…

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