Overview

As data acquisition, access, analysis, and reporting are interwoven with our businesses and lives, more and more data is collected about business and personal activities. This abundance of data and the computing power to analyze it has increased the use of data analysis and data visualization across a broad range of job roles. Decision makers of all types, including managers and executives, must interact with, interpret, and develop reports based on data and analysis provided to them. Microsoft® Power BI® software is designed for data analysis and the creation of visualizations. Data analysts prepare data, perform initial analysis, and create visualizations that are then passed to business data decision makers. These decision makers can use Power BI's tools to explore the data, perform further analysis to find new insights, make decisions, and create customized reports to share their findings. This course is designed for professionals in a variety of job roles who receive Power BI data visualizations and reports from data analysts or from data visualization engineers. These data report recipients want to use the features and capabilities of Power BI to fully explore the visualizations and initial analyses provided to them in reports, perform additional analysis to ask next-level questions of the data, and to customize and create new visualizations and dashboards in order to share new insights and create compelling reports. In this course, you will: explore Power BI reports; analyze data to get answers and insights; sort and group data for analysis and reporting; filter visualizations; prepare reports; and troubleshoot, collaborate, and share reports. This course requires that you have access to a trial version of Microsoft 365 Business Premium, along with Power BI Desktop. The course setup instructions provided in the first module of the course go into more detail about the hardware and software requirements.

Syllabus

Exploring Power BI Reports

As a data-driven decision maker, you will receive a variety of reports that contain data, visualizations, and related information relevant to your job. If you want to make sense of the insights, arguments, and data provided, and then make recommendations and decisions, you must be able to view and explore the reports you're given. In this lesson, you will explore Microsoft® Power BI® reports.

Analyzing Data to Get Answers and Insights

Decision makers must analyze the data and visualizations they are given to find insights related to their role and incorporate the unique perspective they have. In this lesson, you will analyze data to get answers and find insights.

Sorting and Grouping Data for Analysis and Reporting

If you need to work with large and complex semantic models in Microsoft® Power BI®, you're going to need to adjust, organize, sort, and group data to analyze it effectively and to create meaningful visualizations. In this lesson, you will sort and group data.

Filtering Visualizations

Having extraneous information in your reports and visualizations can detract from the insights and story you're trying to tell with the data. If you want to keep visualizations and reports focused so that you can perform better analysis, it's necessary to filter what you don't want to see so that you can focus on what you want. In this lesson, you will configure worksheet filters, apply advanced filtering options, and create interactive filters.

Preparing Reports

If you need to explain your data analysis, back up your recommendations and decisions with data that provides evidence that your decisions are sound, or give presentations of your findings, then you will need to prepare reports that are well formatted, emphasize your insights and evidence, and can be delivered in a compelling visual way. In this lesson, you will format and annotate visualizations, emphasize data in reports, and animate visualizations for clarity.

Troubleshooting, Sharing, and Collaborating

When you're analyzing data with Microsoft® Power BI®, you may have issues that you need to troubleshoot, and you will often wish to share your findings and visualizations with others. In this lesson, you will troubleshoot data issues, and share and collaborate with Power BI.