Energy BI 101, Report Authoring Instruments

That is my final weblog put up in 2021. I want you all an exquisite break and a cheerful new yr.

Within the first put up of my Energy BI 101 sequence, we learnt that Energy BI is a knowledge platform containing varied instruments and providers. We additionally defined the at the moment accessible subscriptions inside the Energy BI platform. The main target of the second put up of this sequence is on what we must always study to attain our objectives extra effectively. On this put up, we give attention to the reporting instruments accessible to us in response to our subscription plan. From this put up onwards, we focus on extra particular elements of the Energy BI platform.

We learnt thus far that Energy BI is not only a reporting device to construct subtle reviews; it’s certainly a platform supplying a variety of options from knowledge preparation, knowledge modelling and knowledge visualization to contribute to an organisation’s knowledge evaluation journey in some ways reminiscent of sharing datasets, reviews, and dashboards. All of those are doable provided that we take the proper steps in constructing our Energy BI ecosystem. However, it is vitally true that Energy BI offers us the flexibleness to create professional-looking and crowd pleasing visualisations offering simple to grasp insights round a topic. Probably the most famend device inside Energy BI is Energy BI Desktop, however it isn’t the one device accessible to us to create reviews. In addition to, Energy BI Desktop reviews should not essentially one of the best reply to all enterprise necessities. In truth, the enterprise necessities outline the Energy BI structure that helps these necessities. Based mostly on the structure, organisations determine to amass a sure subscription plan, and based mostly on the subscription plan, we now have varied reporting instruments accessible to us. At this level, you would possibly ask, “effectively, what structure helps my organisation requires?”. Let’s reply that query in a future weblog put up.

For the aim of this weblog put up, it is sufficient to know what reporting instruments can be found below which subscription plans. Let’s get began.

Reporting instruments accessible in Energy BI

As talked about earlier, there are numerous reporting instruments accessible to us. Let’s first see what reporting instruments can be found to us whatever the subscription plans. Then we are going to take a look at the subscription plans supporting these instruments.

Energy BI Service

Energy BI Service is a SaaS (Software program as a Service) providing from Microsoft within the cloud. The customers inside an organisation, relying on their entry rights, could create reviews straight in Energy BI Service. The customers can even securely share and distribute these reviews. Whereas creating or enhancing reviews is feasible in Energy BI Service, it’s strongly beneficial to keep away from this methodology for a number of causes. The obvious one is that the modifications we make to a report could quickly get overwritten by another person that republishes the identical report from Energy BI Desktop. Test this weblog put up from SQLChick to see why you must keep away from creating or enhancing reviews straight from Energy BI Service. The reviews are downloadable in PBIX format. 

You possibly can entry Energy BI Service right here.

Energy BI Desktop

It’s a desktop utility constructed for knowledge preparation, knowledge modelling and knowledge visualisation. In the event you wish to find out about knowledge modelling with Energy BI, take a look at my guide right here. We will use Energy BI Desktop to hook up with greater than 250 totally different knowledge sources, making ready, remodeling and cleaning that knowledge and at lastly visualising the info. Energy BI Desktop is the predominant and most famous report authoring device accessible within the Energy BI platform. It has many extra functionalities and is extra versatile than Energy BI Service. For example, organising Role Level Security (RLS) will not be accessible in Energy BI Service. The file format of the reviews created in Energy BI Desktop is PBIX. 

Obtain Energy BI Desktop from right here.

Energy BI Report Builder (Paginated)

Paginated reviews aka pixel-perfect reviews are formatted in a strategy to match completely on a web page. That report web page would possibly later be printed. We now have actual management over web page formatting to show our knowledge in tables or charts. The reviews should not as interactive because the reviews created in Energy BI Desktop.

Paginated reviews are based mostly on RDL know-how which is normal report format in SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS). The device for growing a paginated report within the Energy BI ecosystem is Energy BI Report Builder. The reviews file sort is RDL. We will at the moment publish Paginated reviews solely to a Workspace that’s backed with both a Premium Per User (PPU) or a Premium Capability. 

Obtain Energy BI Report Builder from right here.

Energy BI Desktop Optimised for Report Server (RS)

Power BI Report Server (PBIRS) is an on-premises server able to rendering Energy BI report recordsdata (PBIX). If we now have a PBIRS up and operating inside our organisation and we require to publish Energy BI reviews to PBIRS, then we might want to create our reviews in a particular version of Energy BI Desktop which is optimised for PBIRS. This version is totally different from Energy BI Desktop, which we normally use to create and publish our reviews to Energy BI Service. For example, Energy BI Desktop RS doesn’t embody the preview options we used to see in Energy BI Desktop till these options are launched. Constructing reviews in Energy BI Desktop RS ensures that the reviews are absolutely purposeful after being deployed to our PBIRS. We will set up Energy BI Desktop and Energy BI Desktop RS side-by-side on the identical machine. 

Obtain Energy BI Desktop RS from right here.

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel is a tremendous spreadsheet software program with many analytical capabilities. Indubitably, Excel is one essentially the most broadly used software program each accountant has of their toolbox. It’s sturdy, versatile and really highly effective in knowledge visualisation and knowledge evaluation. With Microsoft Excel, we are able to hook up with many alternative knowledge sources (similar to Energy BI Desktop). We will use Energy Question for Excel to load knowledge into workbooks, remodel and mix that knowledge and cargo it into a knowledge mannequin accessible in Energy Pivot. We will additionally construct a knowledge mannequin in Energy Pivot. Microsoft Excel offers a sturdy reporting expertise. We will publish the Excel recordsdata to Energy BI Service in two methods:

• Publishing Excel as an Excel workbook
• Publishing Excel knowledge mannequin as a dataset

If we choose to publish the Excel reviews as a workbook, then we are going to get a full Excel expertise inside Energy BI Service simply line how the Excel On-line works. In distinction, if we publish the info mannequin from Excel as a dataset then the datasets created in Excel, similar to another datasets in Energy BI Service, can be found to authorised individuals.

The Excel datasets, like different revealed datasets in Energy BI Service, may also be used to create reviews in Energy BI Service or Energy BI Desktop. 

Attempt Excel totally free from right here.

Report Builder

Report Builder is often known as SQL Server Report Builder. It’s a stand-alone report authoring device put in on our PC. We will create paginated reviews within the Report Builder and deploy the reviews to a Energy BI Report Server occasion. Report Builder is similar to Energy BI Report Builder. The distinction between the 2 is that with Report Builder you may deploy the reviews to an on-premises Energy BI Report Server however with Energy BI Report Builder you may at the moment publish the reviews to a Premium Workspace in Energy BI Service.

Obtain Report Builder from right here.

Cell Report Writer (aka DataZen)

Microsoft SQL Server Cell Report Writer is a report authoring device for SQL Server 2016 Reporting Providers (SSRS) and above. Cell Report Writer’s unique title is DataZen which was initially launched in 2013 and purchased by Microsoft in 2014. Microsoft built-in DataZen into SQL Server Reporting Providers 2016. You could ask “how Cell Report Writer is expounded to Energy BI?“. The reply is that we are able to create Reporting Providers cell reviews utilizing the Cell Report Writer and deploy these reviews right into a Energy BI Report Server. The reviews constructed with Cell Report Writer are optimized for consumption in cell gadgets.

Obtain Cell Report Writer from right here.

Now that we all know all our reporting choices within the Energy BI ecosystem, let’s learn the way these reporting instruments are supported on totally different subscription plans.

Energy BI Subscriptions and their Supported Reporting Instruments

One of the crucial vital choices each organisation ought to make is to provide you with an structure that helps the organisation’s analytical necessities. Relying on the structure, it’s possible you’ll require one of many following subscription plans or a mixture of them.

Here’s a very transient rationalization of at the moment accessible subscriptions and their accessible reporting instruments.

Energy BI Free

Because the title resembles, that is the free providing from Microsoft. We don’t require to subscribe or pay something to create our reviews in Energy BI Desktop and publish them to the Energy BI Service.

Obtainable reporting instruments:

• Energy BI Desktop
• Energy BI Service (creating report functionality)

Energy BI Professional

Energy BI Professional is the primary subscription tier providing from Microsoft. The next reporting instruments can be found below the Energy BI Professional:

• Energy BI Desktop
• Energy BI Service (creating report functionality)
• Microsoft Excel
  • Analyse in Excel
  • Connecting to Energy BI Datasets and creating reviews in Excel

You could surprise how the Analyse in Excel and Connecting to Energy BI Datasets are totally different. Right here is the reply, relying on our permissions, we now have the previous two choices to hook up with and create reviews in Excel on prime of current Energy BI reviews and datasets on the Energy BI Service.

Analyse in Excel

This feature is accessible from the Energy BI Service on prime of the present reviews or datasets on the Energy BI Service itself. After we login to the service, if we now have permission, we are able to…

1. Click on on the Extra Choices button on a report or a dataset
2. Click on Analyse in Excel

3. If you have already got the most recent model of Excel libraries put in in your machine then click on Obtain in any other case click on the I’ve already put in these updates hyperlink. A I’ve the Excel libraries put in on my machine, I click on the hyperlink

The above course of downloads an Excel file linked to the underlying dataset. You possibly can open the Excel file and begin creating your reviews.

Connecting to Energy BI Datasets and creating reviews in Excel

On this situation, we join from Excel to the datasets accessible to us on the Energy BI Service. The next steps clarify how to take action:

1. Open Excel and login to your M365 account

2. Click on the Information tab
3. Click on the Get Information button
4. Click on From Energy BI Dataset
5. You require to move your Energy BI credentials, then you may choose the specified dataset to hook up with

Word

We require to M365 account to have the ability to use hook up with a Energy BI dataset.

Energy BI Premium Per Consumer (PPU)

The PPU subscription permits organisations to get the premium options by subscribing to a PPU for every person. Learn extra about PPU and its options right here. The next reporting instruments can be found to us when we now have a PPU subscription:

• Energy BI Desktop
• Energy BI Service (creating reviews functionality)
• Microsoft Excel
  • Analyse in Excel
  • Connecting to Energy BI datasets and reviews from Excel
• Energy BI Report Builder (Paginated reviews)
• Thirdpatry reporting instruments reminiscent of Tableau by way of XMLA endpoints

Energy BI Premium Capability

Energy BI Premium is an enterprise-grade BI providing within the Energy BI ecosystem. This can be a capacity-based subscription which means we get devoted sources and gives better scale and efficiency for Energy BI. The Energy BI Premium capability permits extra customers throughout the organisation to get essentially the most out of all accessible Energy BI contents with higher efficiency. Learn extra about Energy BI Premium capability right here. The next reporting instruments can be found to us when we now have a Premium capability:

• Energy BI Desktop
• Energy BI Service (creating reviews functionality)
• Microsoft Excel
  • Analyse in Excel
  • Connecting to Energy BI datasets and reviews from Excel
• Energy BI Report Builder (Paginated reviews)
• Thirdpatry reporting instruments reminiscent of Tableau by way of XMLA endpoints
• Energy BI Desktop Optimised for Report Server (RS)
• Report Builder
• Cell Report Writer (aka DataZen)

Energy BI Embedded

Energy BI Embedded is one other service providing from Microsoft primarily for software program improvement corporations who need to embed Energy BI reporting performance into their purposes. You could use Energy BI Embedded in your organisation both you’re a software program vendor (ISV) otherwise you’re constructing in home purposes that embody Energy BI reporting performance otherwise you’d like to check some Energy BI Premium Capability functionalities. Sure! That’s proper. Energy BI Embedded capability works similar to Energy BI Premium capability and lots of Premium functionalities can be found in Embedded capability as effectively like the flexibility to make use of XMLA endpoints over each Embedded and Premium capacities. You possibly can check an Embedded capability totally free. Learn this put up to learn the way. Study extra about Energy BI Embedded right here. The next reporting instruments can be found to us when we now have an Embedded capability:

• Energy BI Desktop
• Energy BI Service (creating reviews functionality)
• Microsoft Excel
  • Analyse in Excel
  • Connecting to Energy BI datasets and reviews from Excel
• Energy BI Report Builder (Paginated reviews)
• Thirdpatry reporting instruments reminiscent of Tableau by way of XMLA endpoints
• Energy BI Desktop Optimised for Report Server (RS) (Solely accessible in A4 SKU and above)

Right here you go. Now you’ve a greater understanding of the reporting instruments accessible on the Energy BI ecosystem and when you should use them. In case you have any feedback, please share it with us within the feedback part beneath.