What Is Power BI?
Power BI is Microsoft ‘s data assessment and visualization tool , whose main purpose is to support assertive decisions through Business Intelligence (BI).
“A unified, scalable platform for enterprise and self-service BI (Business Intelligence) that is easy to use and helps you gain deeper insights into your data.”
The concept may seem complex to those who are not familiar with the vocabulary of the Information Technology area , but it is not a seven-headed bug.
Power BI meets the demand for data management – a set of tasks that aim to achieve data governance .
In a generic way, we can define data as sequences of quantified or quantifiable symbols, which need to be categorized and analyzed to generate useful information for people and companies.
The date and time you are reading this text are given. Note that, on their own, they don’t mean much.
If they are subjected to an evaluation , however superficial, they can offer important insights.
For a site administrator, the date and time you accessed a page, combined with the same data about other visitors, can reveal peak times when that site receives a lot of hits.
From this indicator, the site administrator can improve the users’ experience , providing a robust structure so that navigation is more agile.
A marketer can take the opportunity to show a popup or banner at this time, talking about the most interesting subject for the audience.
Did you realize the potential of data management to improve the strategy of an organization, venture or even a freelancer?
But this task is not so simple when you have to deal with a massive amount of data, also called big data .
Imagine collecting and categorizing thousands or even millions of user data, not to mention the data generated internally by companies.
In this scenario, the organization is a key factor for managers, data scientists and even lay employees in this regard – from the marketing, administration, sales department, etc. – can get quality information to make decisions quickly.
That’s where tools like Power BI come in, which make it easy to create reports using data, in an intuitive and automatic way.
The functionalities of this tool support the addition of business intelligence (BI) to the routine of organizations, as detailed below.
What Is Business Intelligence?
Business Intelligence (BI) is a dynamic that starts from the analysis, categorization and transformation of raw data into relevant information, helping professionals to choose with greater certainty.
This process was born in response to the need for organizations to become more competitive and flexible, reducing the margin of error that exists in any business operation.
Faced with an uncertain future, it is quite useful to use data to predict consumer and market behaviors and preferences for more efficient management .
Of course, there can be room for trial and error and intuition, however, companies that use data about the past and present are able to adapt, progress or even correct failures more quickly.
In other words, they have an advantage in relying on business intelligence.
Instead of deciding based solely on subjective and volatile issues, they have the reinforcement of data and insights to define the next steps.
To enhance the company’s results, BI must be part of the routine, with the predictive and prescriptive fronts working continuously.
The predictive front works with short, medium and long-term planning, in order to recognize patterns capable of influencing future scenarios .
This is how the organization can prepare itself for increased competition, crises in its market, devaluation of a product, high raw material prices, among other unfavorable contexts.
As a complement, the prescriptive front is the one that works on maintaining operations that happen frequently, improving and optimizing processes .
It provides for the continuous improvement of activities within the company, through specific or major changes.
Knowing that there is wasted material in a department, for example, leaders and employees can anticipate and put an end to unnecessary spending, before it impacts the company’s budget.
Understand How Power BI Works
One of the main premises of Power BI is to reduce the need to call in IT professionals and other technology experts.
Therefore, its interface, commands and creations are guided by simplicity , as if there were a decoding of technologies for professionals who do not work in these segments.
Anyone who has already opened or tried to edit a database recognizes this feature as soon as they have contact with the Microsoft tool, as punctual actions already reveal the complexity that exists in dealing with raw data.
Especially when it comes to big data, that is, massive amounts of data.
In summary, we can say that Power BI captures, gathers and presents reports and spreadsheets in one place, in the format that the user defines.
In addition, it allows comparisons, observation and analysis of indicators or KPI (Key Performance Indicators), enabling, for example, the visualization of the evolution of an internal campaign of the company.
And the best part: after assembling new files with the desired information, the user can share everything with one or more people.
The tool is available in four different versions, which contribute to quick distribution and access to any update:
- Power BI Desktop : It is inserted as an app on the desktop of the computer, like other Microsoft programs
- Power BI service: it is a SaaS (software as a service) that the internet user accesses directly in the cloud – the storage location on the internet. It is worth mentioning the speed to update information entered directly in the service
- Power BI mobile app: given the growth in the use of smartphones and tablets, Microsoft created apps not only for devices that have Windows installed, but also for the most popular systems in the world – Android and iOS.
Everyday tasks can be learned directly from the Power BI platform.
However, there are courses that go deeper into the subject, showing actions at an advanced level, especially to analyze the data and organize it properly so that your team understands it.
This is the case of the extension in Business Intelligence Application for Business Management by FIA (Fundação Instituto de Administração) , which broadly addresses the concepts of BI and databases.
Over the course of 24 hours, divided into 6 days of classes, the student learns to build dashboards, which are personalized panels with charts to monitor, in real time, the performance of important commercial, marketing and financial indicators.
What Are The Benefits Of Power BI?
Power BI can meet personal, company or team goals, making it possible to monitor strategies in an optimized way.
With the tool, there is no need to spend long periods searching for data spread across programs, collection and/or storage platforms.
In just a few clicks, the user obtains relevant information , which can be updated, combined or compared, with the advantage of being displayed in graphics aligned with the purpose defined in advance.
See below for details on these and other benefits of using Power BI.
Convenience To Get Started
Installation and registration in Microsoft Power BI are done in a few steps , quickly and securely.
Simplicity
As we explained above, the tool’s target audience is not just technology experts, but also users who work in other business sectors.
Therefore, the entire system is quite simple to use, taking advantage of popular applications from the Office Package programs to make everything intuitive.
Thus, managers and employees from different departments can enter data, modify patterns and create dashboards according to their needs, without having to resort to the IT team.
Strengthening Data Management
If one of the challenges in front of you is to achieve data governance, making efficient and strategic management , you will surely benefit from Power BI.
This is because the resources help in a complete, integrated and updated organization, with access to all interested parties.
Thus, teams can access and use reliable information to qualify decision making.
Autonomy And Agility
Faced with less dependence on technology specialists, Power BI users gain greater autonomy to produce and share their reports .
In this way, processes become more agile, as there is no need to wait for constant evaluation or guidance from the IT department.
Versatility
Available for desktop, cloud (SaaS) and mobile devices, the tool provides versatility and can be adapted to whatever is best for the user at any given time.
While in the office, you can access your app from your desktop.
When you leave, you don’t even need to turn on your notebook to check the reports, as you can view everything from your cell phone or tablet.
Synchronization
Power BI can be connected to a variety of sources, from robust databases to Word documents and Excel spreadsheets.
Everything is brought together in one place, making it easy to build panels from different angles and/or from a broad perspective.
Low Investment
There are different ways to use the tool, but none of them require a high investment.
Depending on the case, you can try Power BI for free .
Saving Time And Resources
You know that maxim that says that time is the most valuable resource we have, because it cannot be replaced?
It applies here.
In a competitive and volatile market like the information and knowledge age, organizations cannot afford to waste time and effort on low-value tasks such as manually searching and organizing data.
Investments in Business Intelligence, put into practice through Power BI, put an end to this unproductive dynamic that may even be behind the company’s financial losses.
Complement For Your Presentations
As part of Microsoft’s range of solutions, Power BI graphics can be easily exported to Power Point, a program widely used in business presentations.
Who Should Use Power BI?
Due to its versatility and connection to various sources, Microsoft Power BI can be used by any person, team or company that wants to optimize the construction and visualization of reports for their projects.
It is true that the advantages that we presented in the previous topics are evidenced by large companies, for reasons such as working with big data.
In other words, the greater the volume of data worked on, the more complex it becomes and the more important it is to have a business intelligence tool .
Large corporations realized this decades ago, mainly with the invention of the internet and exponential increase in the amount of data generated every day.
Much of this data does not yield information, that is, it does not contribute to the company obtaining insights into the market , its internal or external audience.
So, the way out is to create databases that gather only what is important, doing an initial sorting, if possible, automatically.
Data management and BI made these operations possible, proving their value to different organizations.
However, is it useful for small and medium-sized companies , individual micro-entrepreneurs and self-employed professionals?
The answer is yes, because everyone needs to manage risk to be successful.
If it is critical that large companies base their decisions on data to avoid failures that impact the company’s structure, imagine who is starting or establishing themselves in the market.
Obviously, mistakes will be part of the way and can serve as a lesson to improve processes , products and services.
However, faced with a scenario as uncertain as the current one, making a big mistake can cost the dream of achieving success in front of the enterprise itself, compromising the budget or the company’s reputation.
Companies that do not continually compile and analyze their data end up subjecting themselves to greater risks, and not always calculated well enough.
On the other hand, those who manage them focusing on efficiency end up gaining an important competitive advantage , as they are one step ahead of many competitors.
And data management is even more complete and useful when you choose tools that are optimized and focused on intelligence, such as Power BI.
Therefore, any professional or organization that wants to stand out and improve information management can benefit from using the platform developed by Microsoft.
How To Acquire Power BI?
Now that you know some of the features and benefits of the tool, let’s explain how it can be acquired.
First, it is worth making it clear that Power BI can only be used through corporate or student emails , because it does not provide service to consumer emails.
So, there is no way to access the system from your Gmail, Outlook or Yahoo, for example.
There are three types of license, separated into free and paid , as explained below.
Free Power BI
If you want to try Power BI or just use the basic features to manage some data, this solution fits your needs.
Just go to this link and click the “Get Started Free” button, and you will be taken to a page with instructions.
In the next step , enter your work or school email and go ahead.
You will receive a confirmation message saying that you are almost there (or, almost there, in English) and you can click on “Start” to make your first login.
Paid Power BI
Power BI Pro and Power BI Premium are the paid licenses, ideal for companies that want more features.
Power BI Pro allows collaboration, analysis and report sharing, while Premium is suggested for companies that need to process big data and evaluate analytics in an advanced way.
Both can be purchased by upgrading the free account or contracting directly, by clicking on the buttons on this page .
