What is Power BI?

Power BI is a powerful business analytics tool that allows users to analyse, visualise, and share data insights across an organisation. With regular updates and improvements, Power BI continues to evolve and expand its capabilities. In this blog post, we will explore some of the latest updates to Power BI and how they can benefit businesses and users.

Power BI Premium Per User (PPU)

Power BI PPU is a new licensing option that allows users to access the full capabilities of Power BI Premium without the need for a dedicated capacity. This means that users can take advantage of features such as paginated (formatted to fit well on a page) reports, AI insights, and large data volumes without the need for an entire organisation to upgrade to Premium. This new licensing option provides more flexibility for businesses and allows them to scale their Power BI usage more easily.

Paginated Reports Updates 

Paginated reports are a type of reporting format that allows users to create highly formatted, pixel-perfect reports that are optimised for printing or PDF export. With the latest updates to paginated reports, users can now embed Power BI visuals directly within a paginated report. This allows users to combine the flexibility and interactivity of Power BI with the highly formatted and printable nature of paginated reports.

New Data Types

Power BI now supports new data types, including geographic and image data. With geographic data types, users can plot locations on a map and perform geospatial analysis. Image data types allow users to store images directly within a dataset and use them within visuals or reports. These new data types provide more options for users to incorporate different types of data into their analyses and reports.

DirectQuery Enhancements

DirectQuery is a method of connecting to a data source where the data remains in the source system and is queried in real time as needed. With the latest enhancements to DirectQuery, users can now take advantage of query acceleration for Azure Synapse Analytics and SQL Server Analysis Services. This provides faster query performance and allows users to analyse large volumes of data more efficiently.

Improved Mobile Experience

Power BI's mobile app has also received updates to improve the user experience. Users can now create custom homepages within the app and access them with a single tap. Additionally, users can now access shared dashboards and reports directly within the app, making it easier to view and share insights while on the go.

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How we use Power BI

 At STC INSISO, we use Power BI dashboards within COMET, our root cause analysis tool. Data is pulled through from COMET and then presented via cleverly designed dashboards that allow you to gain insights from your data at a glance. Furthermore, Power BI dashboards allow you to create ad-hoc analysis, live dashboards and interactive reports that are easy to consume on the web and mobile devices.

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In conclusion, Power BI continues to evolve and improve, providing users with more options for analysing and visualising their data. With the latest updates, businesses can take advantage of new licensing options, enhanced reporting capabilities, and improved mobile experiences. These updates allow businesses to make better decisions based on their data and provide more value to their customers.

Interested in learning more? Contact info@stcinsiso.com.

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