In the same way that data analytics and transformation have altered the way we perceive and measure success and growth, Microsoft Power BI has ultimately changed the way we do business. It goes without saying that the amount of data being generated worldwide has exploded in recent years. With so much data now in the hands of large and small businesses alike, it really does beg the question: how can we analyse and successfully leverage that information? The answer lies in Microsoft Power BI and creating a data-driven environment within your organisation that unlocks the power of insight.
So what is Microsoft Power BI? And how can it be used to empower your employees?
Table of Contents
What is Microsoft Power BI?
Microsoft Power BI is a dynamic data visualisation and analytics platform. The platform is essentially a digital toolkit combining a collection of apps and software services that work together to transform seemingly unrelated sources of data and information into visually immersive and coherent insights. This data can come from a variety of sources, including Excel spreadsheets and on-premises locations such as data warehouses. Either way, Microsoft Power BI allows large and small businesses alike to visualise their collected data and discover important insights. This allows businesses to make informed, data-driven decisions that can be used to create actionable business strategies.
In order to get your own team up to speed, your business may want to turn to Power BI Training before implementing the platform in your day-to-day operations. Following the proper training, you and your employees will be able to use Microsoft Power BI to:
- Present and analyse interactive, coherent and immersive visualisations of your data
- Create memorable, bespoke reports personalised to your business, brand and KPIs
- Receive AI-powered answers to crucial business questions
- Efficiently connect data sources for the purpose of analysing, sharing and promoting powerful insights across your organisation while still maintaining accuracy, consistency and security
- Collaborate on important reports and share insights across multiple Microsoft Office applications including Excel and Teams
- Empower staff to make forward-thinking, data-driven decisions that drive strategic, successful action
Why is Microsoft Power BI important?
Are your employees on track to meet their targets? If your business is international, which region does your marketing budget yield the best return? The more data, the better your business will be able to address these kinds of questions and face any challenges head-on. However, with the huge amounts of data being generated and retained, you may be asking yourself how your business is supposed to find the answer to these questions when it’s awash with so much information.
For any business working with numbers, Microsoft Excel seems the obvious solution. However, as useful as Excel is, the application is fundamentally unsuitable when it comes to utilising multiple data sources. It also doesn’t prioritise collaboration. These days, you need an innovative Business Intelligence tool to analyse large swathes of data. Also known in sort form as BI, Business Intelligence software easily combines multiple data sources to provide organisations with a unified overview of their data. Until just a few years ago, this kind of platform wasn’t accessible to everyone. Microsoft Power BI has changed that.
How can Microsoft Power BI empower your staff?
In a nutshell, Microsoft Power BI can empower your employees by allowing them to take control of their business data and information. The platform gives your staff access to the information they need to make informed, data-driven decisions and create actionable strategies based on deeper insights.
Microsoft Power BI also prioritises collaboration, meaning users can share reports across an organisation, communicate with one another and respond to feedback without the hassle of multiple team meetings and emails. This collaborative element is one of the biggest and most significant differences between Microsoft Power BI and other analytical platforms. Once a report has been published to a workspace, anyone in that workspace will have the power to view, modify and transform it. Other employees will also be able to build their own reports based on the data presented.
Essentially, Microsoft Power BI empowers employees by allowing individuals to be more agile and collaborative in their decision-making. Some useful features include:
- Self-Service Analytics – Power BI desktop’s intuitive user interface allows all of your employees, even those with very little analytical experience, to build their own dashboards and add the missing pieces they need to maximise efficiency and productivity.
- Data Flows – Although Data Flows is a relatively new feature, it is still especially useful. The app allows users to combine multiple data sets for the purpose of comparing and contrasting information before developing integrated reports.
- Question & Answer – Using Microsoft’s innovative cognitive services, Question & Answer has the power to build a specific element or asset into a report. All your employee needs to do is ask a question, the answer to which will be automatically included in their report.
Final thoughts
So what is Microsoft Power BI? And how can it be used to empower your employees?
Evidently, Microsoft Power BI has impacted the way we do business, in the same way data analytics and transformation have altered how we view and measure business growth.
This comes as little surprise when we consider the sheer volume of data produced globally in recent years. With the amount of data being generated and retained worldwide skyrocketing to unforeseeable heights, how do businesses analyse and effectively use that information? The answer lies in innovative apps and platforms such as Microsoft Power BI, as well as the creation of data-driven environments within the business world.
In the past, Business Intelligence tools weren’t readily available or accessible. This was a direct of the costs involved as well as the need for professional IT support technicians to configure, maintain and manage the necessary infrastructure. However, with Microsoft Power BI, the entire data estate can be managed in the cloud. This essentially translates to widespread accessibility as well as an end to costly infrastructure and upkeep.
Using Microsoft Power BI, businesses now have the tool they need to empower their employees as well as make the informed, data-driven decisions that are set to shape our world in unimaginable ways.
