Microsoft Power BI: Data Analysis Practitioner

As technology progresses and becomes more interwoven with our businesses and lives, more data is collected about business and personal activities. This era of “big data” is a direct result of the popularity and growth of cloud computing, which provides an abundance of computational power and storage, allowing organizations of all sorts to capture and store data. Leveraging that data effectively can provide timely insights and competitive advantages.

Creating data-backed visualizations is key for data scientists, or any professional, to explore, analyze, and report insights and trends from data. Microsoft®’s Power BI® software is designed for this purpose. Power BI was built to connect to a wide range of data sources, and it enables users to quickly create visualizations of connected data to gain insights, show trends, and create reports. Power BI’s data connection capabilities and visualization features go far beyond those that can be found in spreadsheets, enabling users to create compelling and interactive worksheets, dashboards, and stories that bring data to life and turn data into thoughtful action.

2 days

This course is designed for professionals in a variety of job roles who are currently using desktop or web-based data management tools such as Microsoft Excel® or SQL Server® reporting services to perform numerical or general data analysis. They are responsible for connecting to cloud-based data sources, as well as shaping and combining data for the purpose of analysis. They are also looking for alternative ways to analyze business data, visualize insights, and share those insights with peers across the enterprise. This includes capturing and reporting on data to peers, executives, and clients.

To ensure your success in this course you should have experience managing data with a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft® Excel®

Optionally, having experience with other data analytics tools, such as Google Analytics™ or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems such as Salesforce®, as well as an understanding of database design concepts and basic programming constructs such as looping and branching, will help you get even more out of this course. The following courses are helpful but not required:

• Google Analytics™: Foundation (Second Edition)
• Database Design: A Modern Approach
• Microsoft® Excel for Office 365™: Data Analysis with Power Pivot or Microsoft® Office Excel® 2019: Data Analysis with Power Pivot
• Data Analysis and Visualization with Microsoft® Excel®

Hardware:

For this course, you will need one computer for each student and one for the instructor. Each computer will need the following minimum hardware configurations:

• 1 gigahertz (GHz) 64-bit (x64) processor.If you will be using virtual machines, it is recommended that you assign two virtual processors to each VM.
• 8 gigabytes (GB) of 64-bit Random Access Memory (RAM).
• 32 GB available storage space.
• Monitor capable of a screen resolution of at least 1,440 × 900 pixels, at least a 256-color display, and a video adapter with at least 4 MB of memory. 1,440 × 900 or 1,600 × 900 (16:9) are recommended because some controls (such as closing the startup screen) display beyond lower resolutions such as 1,024 × 768 or 1,280 × 800.
• Bootable DVD-ROM or USB drive.
• Keyboard and mouse or a compatible pointing device.
• Fast Ethernet (100 Mb/s) adapter or faster and cabling to connect to the classroom network.
• IP addresses that do not conflict with other portions of your network.
• Internet access (contact your local network administrator).
• (Instructor computer only) A display system to project the instructor’s computer screen.
• Printer (optional), or an installed printer driver.
• Mobile device to run the Power BI mobile app (optional).

Software:

Each computer will need to have the following software installed. Unless otherwise specified, the software should be full licensed versions.

• Microsoft® Windows® 10
• Microsoft .NET version 4.5
• Microsoft® 365 Business Premium (Trial) NOTE: Students will need to be provided with a Microsoft 365 Business Premium trial email address that they can access during the course.
• Adobe® Acrobat® Reader
• Power BI ® Desktop
• Any web browser

In this course, you will analyze data with Microsoft Power BI. You will:

• Analyze data with self-service BI.
• Connect to data sources.
• Perform data cleaning, profiling, and shaping.
• Visualize data with Power BI.
• Enhance data analysis by adding and customizing visual elements.
• Model data with calculations.
• Create interactive visualizations.

Lesson 1: Analyzing Data with Self-Service BI

Topic A: Data Analysis and Visualization for Business Intelligence

Topic B: Self-Service BI with Microsoft Power BI

Lesson 2: Connecting to Data Sources

Topic A: Create Data Connections

Topic B: Configure and Manage Data Relationships

Topic C: Save Files in Power BI

Lesson 3: Performing Data Cleaning, Profiling, and Shaping

Topic A: Clean, Transform, and Load Data with the Query Editor

Topic B: Profile Data with the Query Editor

Topic C: Shape Data with the Query Editor

Topic D: Combine and Manage Data Rows

Lesson 4: Visualizing Data with Power BI

Topic A: Create Visualizations in Power BI

Topic B: Chart Data in Power BI

Lesson 5: Enhancing Data Analysis

Topic A: Customize Visuals and Pages

Topic B: Incorporate Tooltips

Lesson 6: Modeling Data with Calculations

Topic A: Create Calculations with Data Analysis Expressions (DAX)

Topic B: Create Calculated Measures and Conditional Columns

Lesson 7: Creating Interactive Visualizations

Topic A: Create and Manage Data Hierarchies

Topic B: Filter and Slice Reports

Topic C: Create Dashboards