Preface

To succeed in today's fast-paced business world, organizations need Business Intelligence (BI) capabilities more than ever in order to make smarter decisions that allow those organizations to be more efficient, effective, and profitable. This book is an entry-level guide specifically designed to get you up and running quickly with Power BI, including data import and transformation, data modeling, visualization, and analytical techniques without any prior knowledge of BI or Power BI.

You will find this book useful if you want to become knowledgeable about the extensive Power BI ecosystem. You'll start by understanding basic BI concepts and how BI projects are conducted. In short order, you will have Power BI Desktop installed and understand its major components. As you progress, step-by-step instructions are provided for using Power Query Editor to ingest, cleanse, and transform your data, creating simple and complex DAX calculations and visualizing your data in ways that truly bring your data to life. Additionally, you'll gain hands-on experience in creating visually stunning reports that speak to business decision makers and understand how to share and collaborate with others. Finally, you will understand how Power BI is deployed, governed, and adopted within organizations, the job and career opportunities available to BI professionals, and how to continue your learning.

By the end of this book, you'll be ready to create effective reports and dashboards using the latest features of Power BI.