Microsoft Power BI UK User Group – How to Not Drown Improving Data Literacy in Your Own Organisation With Kurt Buhler

Join our Microsoft Power BI – UK User Group for our webinar in association with Onyx Data (onyxdata.co.uk). This session we are excited to announce our host Leon Gordon will be introducing Kurt Buhler.

Join the Microsoft Power BI UK – User Group on –

Microsoft Community – https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Power-BI-UK-User-Group/gh-p/pbi_UK_usergroup
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8909321/
MeetUp – https://www.meetup.com/microsoft-power-bi-uk

Session Abstract

If users don’t understand your data solution or the data behind it, it doesn’t matter how beautiful, performant or powerful it is – it won’t deliver business value. Data literacy is fundamental for an effective organisation and is a keystone for any successful data & analytics project. It is clear, however, that data literacy is a challenge area in many businesses, and society as a whole.
A 2018 survey of business decision-makers found only 24% were “confident in their ability to read, work with, analyze and argue with data” [1], a finding recapitulated in the lay public [2] and demonstrated plainly during the global COVID-19 pandemic [3]. To traverse these rapids, we are in need of more than tools, but a wide knowledge of how they are used and the data concepts behind them.

In this talk, we examine the impact of Data Literacy on business data projects through an in-depth case study of a Sales Compensation Plan to:

I. Illustrate concretely the concept of data literacy and the threat poor data literacy poses to an organisation.
II. Understand that data literacy is about people and not solutions.
III. Define practises and report design techniques to improve data literacy with consistent interventions. Without data literacy, we will fail to navigate the waters of information that are ever-rising; we risk not only falling overboard, but even drowning. However, instilling data in organisational values, engaging people with and about information in the right ways, and implementing accessible design practises can not only keep us afloat, but propel us onward to brave new worlds of effectiveness and value.
[1] How to Drive Data Literacy in the Enterprise (2018) [2] Borner, K. et al. (2016) Investigating aspects of data visualization literacy using 20 information visualizations and 273 science museum visitors. Information Visualization 15(3) 198-213. [3] Advancing Data Literacy in the Post-Pandemic World (2021)

Biography
Kurt Buhler is a Data Visualization Consultant & Power BI expert from Ordina, Belgium. Kurt discovered his passion for working with & analysing data during his doctoral research in Biomedical Sciences. Since then, he has worked as a consultant and bridge-builder between IT & Business in organisations to derive value from their data using actionable visuals and solutions. Kurt strives to employ a design-thinking, user-centric approach to data projects to promote adoption and ensure solutions meet business needs and improve effectiveness. He’s a lover of cats, tabletop roleplaying games, and all things Power BI & data related.

Social Media / Website Links
www.data-goblins.com

What are Power BI Goals and why should I use them With Treb Gatte

Join our Microsoft Power BI – UK User Group for our webinar in association with Onyx Data (onyxdata.co.uk). This session we are excited to announce our host Leon Gordon will be introducing Microsoft MVP Treb Gatte.

Join the Microsoft Power BI UK – User Group on –

Microsoft Community – https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Power-BI-UK-User-Group/gh-p/pbi_UK_usergroup
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8909321/
MeetUp – https://www.meetup.com/microsoft-power-bi-uk

Session Abstract

At its core, Power BI Goals are about providing answers, not more reports. Power BI has made it so easy to create reports, we are now drowning in them. Power BI Goals force you to get to the point and show the metrics that matter so that decisions can be made quickly. It also enables you to present those metrics with context. The attached check-ins provide the needed commentary that give context to the results. It’s a powerful combination. In this session, you’ll get an introduction to Power BI Goals, how they can be used for status reporting, and some thoughts on how to approach implementation.

Biography
Treb is a business intelligence expert with 24 years of experience. Prior to becoming CEO of Marquee Insights, he worked in leadership positions at Microsoft, Starbucks, Wachovia (now Wells Fargo). He has been recognized as Data Platform MVP from Microsoft. Treb lives in the Seattle area with his wife, children and corgi and holds an MBA from Wake Forest University.

Social Media / Website Links
https://marqueeinsights.com/blog/
https://twitter.com/tgatte

How to Improve Power BI Performance

Computers

Having the correct information has always been crucial for business success — but for today’s companies, data is at the centre of all operations like never before. Thanks to an entirely digitised economy, each organisation collects vast amounts of data as a part of its day-to-day operations. And analysing these vast quantities of information and using actionable insights from it has become the critical competitive edge in all industries. 

Using Microsoft Power BI and similar tools for data analytics has made the process more accessible than ever. However, the competitive nature of business means that only the most efficient utilisation yields acceptable results. That’s why many organisations have found Power BI consultancy necessary for improving Power BI performance. And we’ll take a look at some of the methods for doing so right here. 

Limit the number of visuals in reports and dashboards

If you use too many visuals in one report, performance will slow to a crawl. Generally, keeping widget visuals to a maximum of eight per one report page is a good idea — as well as keeping tiles limited to 10 per dashboard. 

Also, Power BI workshops teach us that disabling unneeded interactions between visuals can also improve performance. By default, every visual on a single report page can interact with the rest. You can disable the unnecessary interactions and lower the number of queries received by the back end. 

Don’t go overboard with slicers.

Slicers are an excellent way to let users navigate data. However, they come with a cost in terms of performance. Every slicer means two queries — one that retrieves the data and another that retrieves selection details. And adding too many of these will slow performance down drastically. Luckily, the filter pane can show you what slicers people use the least. 

Import only required fields and tables.

Before undergoing Microsoft Power BI training, many people don’t know how to keep their model lean and narrow. Among other things, this means importing large data sets correctly. Instead of importing them at once, partition them and process those partitions in parallel. 

Standardise report development

Templates (.PBIT files) are a great way to develop branded reports far quicker than you could from an empty .PBIX file. You can set and save themes and colour palettes when you make these templates, ensuring all pages have corporate branding pre-applied. Plus, templates can connect to frequently used data sources automatically. 

Reduce queries

Power BI performance is all about reducing the number of queries sent by the software — and there are query reduction settings made just for that. For example, there are different query reduction options for filters and slicers, so make sure to use them. 

Use printer-friendly background colours. 

Sometimes reports have to be shared in traditional, offline ways as well — which is why it’s a good idea to make your backgrounds light or white to ensure they’re easy to print out. 

Microsoft Power BI UK User Group – Azure Data Factory, Azure Logic Apps and Power BI With Alpa Buddhabhatti

Join our Microsoft Power BI – UK User Group for our webinar in association with Onyx Data (onyxdata.co.uk). This session we are excited to announce our host Leon Gordon will be introducing Alpa Buddhabhatti.

Join the Microsoft Power BI UK – User Group on –

Microsoft Community – https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Power-BI-UK-User-Group/gh-p/pbi_UK_usergroup
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8909321/
MeetUp – https://www.meetup.com/microsoft-power-bi-uk

Session Abstract

In this session, we will provide a basic introduction of Azure Data Factory, a scalable cloud-based data integration service and Azure Logic Apps Power BI. We will show a Demo to refresh Power BI datasets with few options such as *ADF *Azure Logic Apps *Uisng above both options. This demo will also use the following technologies: *Azure Key Vault *Azure Data Factory *Azure Logic Apps *Azure SQL Server *Power BI The main goal of this session is to provide basic knowledge of ADF ,Azure Logic Apps and Power BI using Demo so attendee will leave with above technology and how to apply them in different scenarios.

Biography
Alpa is an Azure Consultant with a passion for data and technology at Cluster Reply UK. She is Microsoft Certified Trainer and certified in Azure Data engineer and Azure Data Science. She is working on Azure services such as Logic Apps, Azure Functions, Azure Key Vault , Azure , Azure Data Factory, Azure Storage and Azure Data Lake.

Social Media / Website Links
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alpabuddhabhatti/

Microsoft Power BI UK User Group – Key Elements of Actionable Reporting With Tine Ozimič

Join our Microsoft Power BI – UK User Group for our webinar in association with Onyx Data (onyxdata.co.uk). This session we are excited to announce our host Leon Gordon will be introducing Zebra BI’s Tine Ozimič.

Join the Microsoft Power BI UK – User Group on –

Microsoft Community – https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Power-BI-UK-User-Group/gh-p/pbi_UK_usergroup
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8909321/
MeetUp – https://www.meetup.com/microsoft-power-bi-uk

Session Abstract

You want your report to provide you with immediate insights. But that’s not always the case. In fact, unintuitive reports with confusing layouts will prove just the opposite. You and your team might even lose focus while digging through them and then put them aside. That’s why so many companies around the world are already looking to Actionable Reporting to help them improve their dashboards and data storytelling. Actionable Reporting happens when you implement reports that are well-structured, understandable, and actionable. Even more: they need to be appealing to use and easy to dig into. It all starts on your landing page with an informative scoreboard that tells you where your business is going. This means you should be able to learn on the fly which KPIs are performing well and which are not. You should just glance at the landing page and see the comparison to plan, forecast, or previous year, see what is driving your KPIs up or down, and make predictions. That’s what we’ll dive into during the next meetup from Zebra BI. You’ll learn: – How to create clear and consistent reports – How to collect key business drivers / KPIs on a special landing page – Elements of Actionable Reporting (advanced charts – variance analysis, small multiples, top N + others, grouped tables with variances. report page tooltips, financial reporting with formula editor, comments, and custom themes) – Hands-on practical examples in Power BI

Biography
After working at one of the biggest European mobile operators for almost a decade, Tine joined Zebra BI team to help develop the product that we use today.

Social Media / Website Links
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozimic/

Microsoft Power BI UK User Group – Getting Started with Tabular Editor with Mary Fealty

Join our Microsoft Power BI – UK User Group for our webinar in association with Onyx Data (onyxdata.co.uk). This session we are excited to announce our host Leon Gordon will be introducing Mary Fealty.

Join the Microsoft Power BI UK – User Group on –

Microsoft Community – https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Power-BI-UK-User-Group/gh-p/pbi_UK_usergroup
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8909321/
MeetUp – https://www.meetup.com/microsoft-power-bi-uk

Session Abstract

In this session Mary will show how she has used Tabular Editor in the real-world.

You’ll learn how you can easily:
Create measures at warp speed Enhance your data model
Plus, how to create a calculation group
All this, once you are familiar with Tabular Editor.

Biography
Mary has been a massive fan of Power BI from its infancy to now. It’s used every day in her company Broadtree Solutions, who develop Power BI models for a wide range of customers. Mary also provides training on both Power BI & Excel 365. Based in Belfast, covering the UK & Ireland.

Social Media / Website Links
Broadtree Solutions: https://www.broadtreesolutions.com/
Twitter: @Br0adtree
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/maryfealty