The term Power BI refers to a collection of software tools including Power BI Dashboard and Report, which work together in turning unrelated data sources into visually attractive, easily understandable, interactive insights with coherence. The data sources can be Excel or collectively gathered data from on-premise or cloud-based data warehouses.
This business intelligence tool designed by Microsoft performs the function of a data collection system by keeping the acquired data at a specific location and then analyzes the data for insights.
These insights are then accumulated in several model formats to aid the decision-making process in a business. Thus, the Power BI also performs the task of a decision-supporting tool.
The whole process from acquiring data to deriving insights and facilitating decision making patterns, the tool performs the following stages of activities :-
- Gather Information
- Integrate the information according to relevance
- Designing reports and dashboards
- Schematizing the information for better understanding
The advantages of using Power BI services and applications are numerous. These include successful data management which helps derive actionable insights. All these stages come together to aid the decision-making process and the growth of the business.
What is Power BI Dashboard
The term Power BI Dashboard refers to a feature within the suite of Power BI applications designed by Microsoft. It is a feature created with a single page format and is often termed a Canvas. The tool is used to tell a story through an array of data visualizations.
As there exists a limit on the dashboard in terms of having only a single page, it is generally constituted of only the crucial information.
Another noteworthy fact regarding Dashboards is that it is a constituent feature of the Power BI service only and is unavailable in the Power BI Desktop. Although these cannot be created on mobile devices, they can be viewed and shared across mobile platforms.
The visualizations pinned within the dashboards are called tiles. These tiles are pinned directly from Power BI reports. This implies that the visualizations originate from reports and the reports are designed based on a specific dataset.
Thus, in simple words, dashboards can be considered as the gateway to the datasets and reports on which it is designed. So, when the users select a certain visualization, they are directed to the report as well as the dataset on which it was created.
Features of the Power BI Dashboards
Dashboards in Power BI can be described as a high-level view of the key performance indicators that influence the business of a specific company in the market.
It is a daily view of these important indicators and acts as a navigation point to the detailed reports created about them. The important features of the dashboards can be discussed in the following manner:-
- Automated refresh – Dashboards are designed in a way that enables them to automatically refresh the information from time to time. This implies that when a certain dashboard remains open for hours at a stretch, it tends to refresh itself according to the refresh in the data set.
- Sharing pattern – Dashboards, reports and data sets within Power BI can be shared through various methods. But the dashboards can be shared through a basic sharing method as well.
- Customization according to the user – The user can easily change the size of the tiles within the dashboard or change the order in which the tiles are placed. New tiles can also be added to the dashboard very easily. This implies that the customization pattern is easy and can be suited to the user’s needs.
- Featuring Dashboards – A specific dashboard can be set as the opening page by setting it as the featured dashboard. But there can be only one featured dashboard.
- Natural language Q&A – The Q&A box is available at the top of the dashboards which respond to the user’s questions in natural English.
- Real-time monitoring of data – This implies that the dashboards are capable of monitoring the new data which becomes available at the source.
- Alerts – Alerts can be set for each of the tiles within the dashboards.
- Related Insights feature – The dashboards can aid the user company to receive more advanced insights through the use of the related insights feature.
Advantages of Power BI Dashboard
Dashboards created within Power BI depict an easy to grasp, a visually attractive summary of the organizational data and its analysis which provides a comprehensive view of several aspects of the business.
Some of the advantages of designing dashboards include the following:-
- Dashboards provide enriched visibility of the business information which helps the business respond to the changing market trends.
- Dashboards save the time of the user which was previously wasted in gathering data from multiple sources and designing reports from them.
- The customer insights can be comprehensively forecasted through dashboards which helps the business to react better with the changing business environment.
- The user company can at a glance view the key performance indicators influencing the business through a visual representation on the dashboard.
- Ever-hanging customer trends can be evaluated and reflected on the Dashboards.
- Finally, all the other advantages of the Power BI Dashboards contribute towards enhancing the decision-making process implemented by the user company.
How to Create Power BI Dashboard
Dashboards in Power BI can be created by following the below mentioned stages: –
- Collecting the data – It is essential for the user company to first gain access to the data based on the Dashboard that is to be designed. After the data sets are imported into the workspace, multiple options become visible.
- Exploring the dashboard options – Microsoft Power BI consists of several visualizations that can be used to represent the data. Suitable visualizations have to be chosen.
- Selecting the suitable chart – While designing a dashboard, the user must select the necessary data that can be represented best with a particular type of chart. Subsequently, a suitable chart has to be chosen. Those 10 numbers can likely be analyzed in around 10 charts, and many of these numbers can and should be combined into one chart when the numbers are relatable or are on a similar scale.
- Saving and publishing the dashboard – Once the Dashboard is created and populated with visuals and insights, the Save button on the Toolbar is to be clicked which saves the Dashboard. Then this dashboard can be published, shared and viewed by employees within the same company.
What is a Power BI Report
A Report designed in Power BI refers to a multi-perspective view of the dataset which is represented through visuals. The findings and insights related to the datasets are also included in the reports. In general, the reports are provided with the capability of having a single page view or a multi-page view.
Features of Power BI Report
The Power BI Report is a collection of several visual elements on multiple pages that can be interconnected with one another. The data which is visually represented on reports can be sliced or diced with slicers. In addition to this report, Power BI is very interactive. The features can be illustrated in the following manner :
- Slicers – This is a tool used to slice or dice the data that is provided within the reports. This feature is unique to the Power BI Reports.
- Multiple pages format – The reports in Power BI are created in a multi-page format and the navigation between the pages is also an easy procedure.
- Interactive feature – Apart from the slicer element, the user company selects any other element which is then used to highlight the other elements of the report.
- Drilling down option – Within Power BI Report, the data can be arranged in hierarchies. The user can also drill up or down these hierarchies through the visualization elements.
- Publishing to the web – This is a special feature of the Reports in Power BI. Through this feature, the reports can be published on a web page or can be made publicly available.
- Exploring Data – The users can explore the data recorded within a specific visual element in the report through the Explore Data or See Records features.
Advantages of using Power BI Report
- The feature supports multiple pages in which visualizations can be pinned.
- The slicing feature in the Reports designed within Power BI makes it possible for the user to slice or filter the data stored with the report pages.
- The Power BI reports are considered to be highly interactive which aids in the process of analyzing the data by the user company.
- The feature is available not only in the Power BI service but is also a part of the Power BI Desktop. This means that Reports can also be designed in Power BI desktop.
- The Power BI Reports make it possible for the user to view and analyse the underlying tables and fields within the datasets.
- Visuals are not static and keep changing with the change in the underlying datasets.
Power BI Dashboard vs. Report
Often the terms Dashboard and Report seem like two sides of the same coin because these are both considered to be canvases that contain visualizations. But, in reality, both these features consist of an array of differences, which can be presented in the following tabular format:-
| Capabilities | Power BI Dashboard | Power BI reports |
|---|---|---|
| Filtering Data | Filtering Or slicing no permitted | Filters & Slicers available |
| Pages Permitted | Single Page Format | Multiple pages Format |
| Adding as Favorite available | Multiple dashboard can be set as favorite | Multiple reports can be set as favorite |
| Sources of Data | More than one report & dashboard allow | Only one dataset per report |
| Drill down feature available | Available only after pinning entire report | It is generally available |
| Available in Power BI Desktop | Not available | Not available |
| Natural Language Query | Available in Dashboard | Available with edit permission for report |
| Setting alerts | Available for Dashboard Tiles | Not available |
| Subscription | Permitted | Permitted |
| Viewing underlying dataset | Not available | Available |
Conclusion:
There are several notable differences between dashboards and reports in Power BI. But, in the fundamental sense of the terms, they are tools that help in representing data through a series of visuals. As both the features have their advantages and deficits, the user company has to make the ultimate choice of selecting between designing Dashboards or Reports in Power BI based on their organizational needs.
Ans – While the terms Power BI Dashboards and Power BI Reports seem synonymous with one another, there exist certain fundamental differences between the two. To begin with, the Power BI Dashboards are an integrated view of the everyday business KPIs in a single page format. These can be refreshed consistently and help the user to view the business events in real-time. Another additional feature of the Dashboard is that it can be used for navigating reports in Power BI. On the other hand, Power BI Reports represent the interactive format for data visualization that is utilized for highlighting and interacting with the data to derive deeper insights.
Ans – A Power BI Dashboard can be simply described as a single page digital canvas that is used to pin the important visuals that are received from the reports. On the other hand, a Power BI Report can be understood as a canvas consisting of multiple pages which can be filled with visualizations received from a single dataset. Although these two can be considered as visualizing features within Power BI, consisting of some distinct capabilities, there are certain spheres where the Dashboards are more beneficial than the Reports. These can be enumerated in the following manner :-
● Provides a glance at the KPIs that daily influence the business patterns. This is not possible through Reports.
● The Dashboards constitute a feature that enables the setting of alerts. Again, this alert feature does not exist in Power BI Reports.
● Dashboards can generate insights through the ‘Related Insights’ feature. But, reports need to be analyzed by the user itself to derive insights.
● There exist several customization options within Dashboards that are non-existent in Reports.
Ans – Within the purview of Power BI, dashboards are single page formats that are also termed as a canvas. This feature within Power BI uses various visualizations to depict a story. As a dashboard is limited to a single page, a well-created dashboard is likely to contain the essential elements of the story. The visualizations used within the dashboard are termed tiles.
These tiles are subsequently pinned on the dashboard by the designers of the report. Usually, when a tile is selected, the user is directed to the specific report page where the visualizations were created. This implies that the fact that the visualizations pinned on the Dashboard are taken from reports and each of the reports are based on distinct datasets.
Ans – In the context of analyzing organizational data, the importance of Dashboards cannot be undermined. The Dashboards provide companies with the opportunity to access crucial information like business metrics, sales figures and others in a comprehensive format. Along with this, dashboards are capable of acquiring information from various datasets and aggregate them on one canvas, depending on the needs of the user organization.
While the exact materials to be included within the Dashboard are to be decided by the user company, there are certain best practices related to designing a Dashboard.
These include the following: –
● Assessing the quality of the data.
● Including only automated data within the Dashboards.
● Adding enough data to depict a complete story.
● Including only the Data that is relevant to the business purpose of the Dashboard.
This implies the fact that only good quality, automated data that can create a comprehensive picture and that which is relevant to the specific purpose of Dashboard creation, should be included in it.
Ans – To understand when Dashboards and Reports are to be designed to suit the necessary business requirements at hand, the user needs to have a clear understanding of the various capabilities included within both features. To simply state, Dashboards are designed when the user needs to derive intelligent insights from a complex system, that are needed by a person in the Executive position of the company. As these people are responsible for making quick decisions, Dashboards help them to accelerate the process by giving them a view of the important insights. On the other hand, reports are used to publish larger volumes of data in a visually captivating way that enables the viewers to analyze the data more vividly and derive better insights.
