Power BI: 5 Unique Use Cases
Power BI is quickly becoming one of the most popular reporting platforms. Due in part to it being bundled with Office 365 and working seamlessly with all Microsoft data sources as well as about any other data source out there. Let’s take a look at some use cases and examples of what you could accomplish after obtaining Microsoft Power BI Training.
1. Consolidate Siloed Data
Organizations that have never had the benefit of an IT staff that can design and build data sources often have data stored in many different places and many different file formats. There might be a database here, a spreadsheet there, and a PDF still somewhere else. All these sources could contain pertinent data that can be linked together to provide a more organized view of an organization’s data.
2. Analyze Data Over Time
Power BI provides the ability to link different data sources and analyze their data over time. Analyzing data over time can identify trends and aid in making informed decisions based on future predictions. Supply and demand, social opinions, population density, ethnic distribution, and political trends can all be analyzed over time to provide a clear visualization of how groups of people think and behave.
3. Analyze Data by Region
Data can also be analyzed by region, over time, and from different data sources by utilizing the previous two use cases. Then the data can be summarized using unique visualizations such as Maps and Tree Maps. This scenario is advantageous when analyzing data to find trends that might occur in different areas over a specific time period. It is instrumental when determining opinions on issues or changing tastes or cultural shifts.
4. Leverage Social Media
Power BI can even analyze data from social media sources. Utilizing the combination of Microsoft Cloud, Office 365, and SQL Server Analysis Services, Power BI can link different pieces of user data to form a more rounded view of customer experiences and opinions. Analyzing data gathered from social media sources can uncover valuable information about the opinions and tendencies of customers. Companies can predict what products will appeal to specific groups of customers who have similar beliefs or political affiliations.
5. Gather and Analyze Location Data
Another use case would be to build a report from data gathered from multiple locations. For example, maybe a company has several different manufacturing facilities. Mostly, these facilities are the same and produce roughly the same products. However, by gathering, analyzing, and presenting data from across all the facilities, the parent company can identify areas that are performing efficiently and use the data to make decisions or improve the efficiency of areas in other facilities. It could also be used to analyze power consumption, equipment failures, space utilization, and employee characteristics across all the facilities. The sky is the limit if you can reliably collect the data.
The beauty of Power BI is its flexibility and simplicity. Its ability to pull from almost any data source available and the ability to generate reports without the help of IT staff make it one of the most attractive reporting platforms available today. Microsoft Power BI training can be an invaluable tool in your data analysis arsenal. Explore all the possibilities for yourself with this powerful too!
