Power BI Basics Get started
with your Data
Analysis in just 5 Steps

Before you can get started: install Power BI Desktop via the Microsoft Store

Your first to-do is to install the “basic tool” Power BI Desktop. This is free for all users. There are several ways to install it, one of which is via the Microsoft Store .

This installation variant has some advantages:

• Regular updates: Windows downloads available updates without asking so that your version is always up to date.
  Compact downloads: it is ensured that you only download changed components in the respective updates. This saves you from having to make large downloads that take up unnecessary storage space.
• Rollout by IT: the version is easier to make available to all users in the company.
  No administrator: if you download Power BI Desktop from the Microsoft Store, no authorization is required, in contrast to a direct download.

And this is what the default view in Power BI Desktop looks like:

You’ll notice it at first glance: the design of Power BI Desktop is based on the Office 365 design. So if you regularly work with Word, Excel and the like, it will probably look familiar to you. “Blog” is our example report, which we will refer to again and again in the course of this article.

And now you’re ready to get started! There are 5 “basic steps” when working with Power BI:

1. Import data
2. Transform and clean data
3. Visualize data
4. Create reports
5. Publish reports

Step 1: Import Database from any Source

If you have installed Power BI Desktop, there is of course no data available yet, so the next step is to establish a connection to your data. There are many different sources available and this does not end with Excel and SQL.

What is particularly nice about Power BI is that the tool always offers you several options for interaction. When importing data, you can either retrieve sources via the start screen, select one of the fields in the top bar or follow this path: Home > Get data > Other. In the “Get data” window, you will see a comprehensive list of all the data sources that are available to you.

Little side note: the illustrations in this article show data from the CRONUS AG database. The CRONUS AG is a fictitious company , which is available in Dynamics 365 Business Central as a demo client for testing the ERP software. This enables us to integrate the data into Power BI Desktop via an OData interface. This also saves us having to export the data to an Excel spreadsheet.

Step 2: Transform and clean Data as required

You now have imported the data in Power BI. However, it is possible that not everything is formatted uniformly, for example, there may still be empty fields or the column names may not yet match.

You can solve this without much effort: clean and transform your data with the integrated Power Query Editor. This also gives you the option of changing a data type, removing columns or rows or combining data from multiple sources, for example. Think of it like working on a clay figure: you start with a large block of clay - that’s your data. Then you take something away in some places and add material in other places. This continues until your data is shaped or structured in such a way that you can continue working with it.

You can edit the data directly during import. Alternatively, select the option “Transform data” on the “Home” tab. If you have not yet established any data connections, an empty area is displayed for the Power Query Editor.

Each step that you perform during the transformation is documented under the Query settings in the Power Query Editor. You can see this on the right-hand side of the window. In our example, we remove the superfluous “Type” column in the item list and change the unit costs to decimal form.

As soon as you have finally structured your data, you can start creating your visuals in the next step.

Step 3: Visualize Data

What is a visual anyway? Quite simply, it is a graphic, such as the classic bar chart. In Power BI Desktop, you can choose from many different visual types.

To create or modify a visual, select the relevant icon in the “Visualizations” area. This changes the shape of an existing visual with a click of the mouse. If you have not yet selected a visual, Power BI creates a new visual based on your selection.

In our example, we first illustrate the turnover figures of the five customers with the highest turnover using a bar chart:

Step 4: Create individual Reports

Most likely you will not only use a single visualization, but a complete collection of visuals that focus on different aspects of your data. The collection of visualizations in a single Power BI desktop file is a report. The report can contain either one or multiple pages. Just as an Excel file can consist of one or more worksheets.

In the image below, you can see the first page of our example report named “Blog” The name is displayed on the tab at the bottom of the image. Our report has six pages. It is divided into CEO, Controlling, Sales, Purchasing, Articles and Customers. The pages are listed at the bottom in the typical “Excel spreadsheet form”. You can duplicate existing pages or add further pages using the “+” field.

Step 5: Publish Reports in the Service - for all Pro Users of your Choice

If you are happy with your report and would like to share it with your colleagues, you can continue in the Power BI Service to publish it for specific users. Remember: this works for all report recipients who have at least a Pro license for Power BI. To publish a Power BI Desktop report, click on “Publish” in the “Home” menu in Power BI Desktop.

After clicking on “Publish”, Power BI Desktop establishes a connection with the Power BI Service via your Microsoft account. You then need to specify where in the Power BI Service you want to share your report. For example, in your personal workspace, in a workspace for a team of several people or another destination.

All our visualizations of sales are also made available to other users:

Get started with Power BI in 5 simple Steps

You’ve now learned the five basic steps for working productively with the BI solution as a Power BI beginner. With the three analysis tools you can do this without weeks of training.

You will probably spend most of your time in the Power BI Desktop, which you can download free of charge from the Microsoft Store. Here you first create visualizations and reports based on the data, before publishing them via the Power BI Service. There, both you and your colleagues can put together individual dashboards. And they provide you with all the necessary information in a clear form at a glance.

In your “data cockpit” with a 360° overview, it is easier for you to make decisions that have a solid foundation and will sustainably advance your company. What’s more, Dynamics 365 Business Central and Power BI harmonize like a symbiosis. So it makes sense to use both solutions directly in daily business, doesn’t it? 😊