BIFocal Podcast

Recorded on August 23rd, 2017

This is episode 12 recorded on August 23rd, 2017 where we talk about the new SharePoint Communication Sites, OneDrive’s new sharing functionality, when times are not times, and the difference between embedding reports & Power BI Embedded.

Show notes:

• SharePoint Communication Sites and Power BI – a security nightmare? Where to put the report…..
  • Comm sites do not tie to an Office 365 Group, therefore no Power BI Workspace to publish to
  • Rollout complete: https://twitter.com/SharePoint/status/897189016470118400
• OneDrive new sharing functionality
  • Sharing from Explorer
    • Current version: Build 17.3.6963.0807
  • Hans Brender – https://hansbrender.com/onedrive-for-business-engl/
• Time zone fun
  • Date/Time/TimeZone renders differently
  • https://whitepages.unlimitedviz.com/2017/08/power-bi-time-values-browser-desktop/
• When is embedded not embedded
  • https://whitepages.unlimitedviz.com/2017/08/power-bi-embedded-embedding-power-bi-reports/
• EM1 & EM2 SKU availability
  • Only available on a yearly basis now except for E3
• ISV Accelerator program
  • https://info.microsoft.com/power-bi-embedded-accelerator-offer-register.html

Recorded on August 18th, 2017

This is episode 11 recorded on August 18th, 2017 where John & Jason talk about the News in Power BI including Desktop update, a new version of the onPrem Data Gateway & the Power BI Research panel.

• Web.Page requests require a gateway – What Gives?
• August Desktop update – https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/power-bi-desktop-august-2017-feature-summary/
  • Values as row headers: https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/power-bi-desktop-august-2017-feature-summary/#valuesOnRows
  • PBI Source now GA: https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/power-bi-desktop-august-2017-feature-summary/#liveConnect
  • “What If” sliders: https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/power-bi-desktop-august-2017-feature-summary/#whatIf
• Corresponding Gateway as of today: https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/power-bi-on-premises-data-gateway-august-update/
• We know why the web part says preview
• Research Panel – Join today! – https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/join-the-power-bi-user-research-panel/
• Custom Connectors – Using https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Community-Blog/Power-BI-Custom-Connector-Youtube-Analytics/ba-p/211547

Recorded August 17th, 2017

This is episode 10 recorded on August 17th, 2017 where we talk about the new Power BI licensing model & Microsoft Ignite.

Show notes:

• The new licensing model & its implications
  • Old
    • Had different features & limitations (storage, refresh, sharing, and data access)
    • Free (but licensed)
      • Included sharing dashboard
        • Gave access to underlying Reports in read-only
    • Pro ($10 per user per month)

• New
  • Free (but licensed)
    • Author
  • Power BI Pro
    • Share & Collaborate
      • Build dashboards that deliver a 360-degree, real-time view of the business
      • Collaborate on share data

Audit and govern how data is accessed and used

• Package content and distribute to users with apps

• Power BI Premium
  • Scale large deployments
    • Distribute and embed content without purchasing per-user licenses
    • Publish reports on-premises with Power BI Report Server
    • Unlock more capacity and higher limits for your Pro users

• Power BI/Flow performance issues with the onPrem Data Gateway for TyGraph for Twitter’s Ignite tweets: http://bit.ly/Ignite17Tweets
• Session browser for Ignite: http://bit.ly/Ignite17Sessions

Recorded August 3rd, 2017

In this episode, John and Jason look talk about about SQL Server 2017 RC2, PowerApps, and updates to the Power BI service.

Show notes:

• SQL Server 2017 RC2 Now available – https://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver2017
  • Remember, Data Tools and SSRS are now separate downloads
  • In July SSRS released an RC – No RC2 of SSRS as of recording
  • Difference between SSRS and PBI Report Server
• Power BI Web part still says Preview
• Office theme to Power BI Theme conversion tool
  • https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Community-Blog/How-to-use-your-Office-Theme-as-Power-BI-Report-Theme/ba-p/210813
• Power BI turns 2 years old
• Power App/Power BI integration. App tiles in dashboards, and Dashboard tiles in apps
• Service Updates – https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/power-bi-service-and-mobile-july-feature-summary/
  • Dashboard performance inspector
  • Snowflake and SAP BusinessWarehouse now supported for On Prem DirectQuery
  • You can switch a dashboard to “phone view” and optimize for phones

• SP Fest appearance
• Ignite – Sept 26, 2:00 PM somewhere in the Orange County convention center

Recorded July 14, 2017

In this episode, John and Jason look specifically the July 2017 updates to Power BI in the Desktop, the service, and to the On-Premises Data Gateway. Additionally, we talk about the fact that in September, we’ll be recording in front of a live audience at the Microsoft Ignite conference in Orlando!

Topics include:

What’s in the new Power BI Desktop Client
– Table & matrix visual
– Custom visuals store

New On-Premises Data Gateway in July
– Keeps the mashup (Power Query) engine in sync with Desktop update

No changes to the new Premium licensing SKU yet for Power BI

Power BI Reporting Server licensing questions

Microsoft Workplace Analytics goes General Availability

Power BI web part is GA, but it still says”Preview” in the service. What’s up with that?

Recorded June 13, 2017

After a long hiatus, Jason and John are back with the podcast! The format has changed, and now it’s audio-only (for the moment at least) and we’re trying to keep it down to a consumable 30 minutes.

In this re-launching episode both Jason and John were in Johannesburg for the Share conference, and took the opportunity to discuss all of the important announcements coming out of the Microsoft Data Analytics summit, which was happening half a world away in Seattle.

Topics discussed include:

– Changes to the Power BI Free and Pro SKU
– Announcement of additional tiers of Premium Pricing for Power BI
– General Availability of the Power BI Web Part for SHarePoint Online
– Changes to the Power BI Embedded platform
– Power BI Reporting Server
– Power Apps and Flow integration with Power BI

Recorded August 11, 2016

Power BI has been getting a lot of attention recently, but it represents only the cloud platform of Microsoft’s BI strategy. As clearly announced last fall, the other main platform, deployed on premises, is SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS). The release of SQL Server 2016 represents a major leap forward for SSRS.

Join Jason and John as they welcome guest Riccardo Muti, from the SSRS team at Microsoft to discuss the past, present and future of this venerable BI tool.

News Items

New On Premises Data Gateway
Customizable dashboard for Power BI mobile
Data Driven alerts in the Power BI Service
Row Level Security now in the Desktop
Analyze in Excel now connects to on prem SSAS data
Power BI Dataset API improvements
PBI Embedded and Publish to web are now Generally Available
Announcing the release of the Azure Usage and Billing Portal

Tips

Use FieldValuesAsText when reporting on SharePoint data

Recorded May 19, 2016

In this episode, we were fortunate enough to have Kasper De Jonge as our guest. Kasper is Senior Program Manager on the Analysis Services team, and has been with the tabular data model since its inception.

We covered a fair bit of ground, including topics like:
– What’s the difference between classic cubes and the new tabular model
– Why is the tabular model “everywhere” these days?
– What do the new terms mean?
– How does SharePoint and PowerPivot for SharePoint fit into the new landscape?
– Where does claims authentication fit into the picture?
– When is it, or is it not appropriate to use Power Query

And several other topics.

We invite you to check out the recording of the show for the details.

News
SQL Server 2016 Launches on June 1
Standard Edition now supports Tabular models
Power BI Storage increases to 1 GB per model
Power BI Q&A works with Enterprise Gateway data sources (tabular model only)
Working with SharePoint Lists in Power BI and OData – Marc Anderson
PBI Gateways supports UPN mapping
Drilldown has moved to the explore menu in Power BI

Tips and Tricks

Username() function in DAX only works when RLS is configured
You can’t rename fields in PBI Visuals, but you can create calculated measures and columns

Recorded April 28, 2016

The excitement for Power BI continues to build. The driving force behind this is its ease of use, the from zero to insight speed. It’s easy to overlook the fact that Power BI also has a strong development story too. Join Jason and John as they welcome special guest Ted Pattison of Critical Path consulting to discuss the developer landscape in Power BI.

News
Analyze Power BI models in Excel now available

Row level security has arrived in Power BI

SQL Server 2016  RC3 is available

PBI Mobile App now supports SSRS Mobile reports

tyGraph is in the Power BI Desktop!!!!

Notes

Developer tools:
PBI Developers site

PBI Embedded

Tips and Tricks

Analyze in Excel – Watch out

Custom visuals gallery for Power BI