Power BI is a comprehensive business analysis BI) software from Microsoft that combines several software products with a common technological and visual design, connectors (gateways), and web services. Power BI belongs to the class of self-service BI, and BI with resident computing (in-memory computing). It is part of the unified Microsoft Power Platform. The latest version - 2.124.581.0 (December 2023).[1]
The key and very first product of the line — Power BI Desktop consists of three integrated components, each with its own interface:
- Power Query (query editor) - performs loading and clearing of data (ETL);
- Pivot (data sets and models) - an interface for working with tabular data in RAM where data queries, aggregation, calculations, and so on are performed.;
- Power View - a subsystem for visualizing and building reports (Reporting).
Main products[]
- Power BI Desktop is a local single-user version, a key product of the line for the Windows platform. The term "Power BI" often means Desktop;
- Power BI Services-SaaS application, available only via the web;
- Power BI Embedded is a special edition of Power BI services in Azure (PaaS), aimed at software developers who want to use BI in their own software products;
- Power BI Mobile — mobile versions of the app released for various platforms (Android, iOS) (web/on-premise);
- Power BI Report Server — a local (on-premise) report server integrated with the web portal;
- PBI gateways - provide access for web applications, such as Power BI Services, to local data without the need for manual updates.[2]
Technological features[]
The technological basis of Power BI is the xVelocity engine (formerly Vertipaq) developed for Microsoft SQL Server in 2010, which provides generational data compression and in-memory calculations. This approach provides improved performance with aggregate functions compared to OLTP systems, which is the most essential part of BI systems ' functionality. In fact, this is implemented by embedding a standalone component of Microsoft Analysis Services, which uses the same engine[3].
Another feature of Power BI is an open interface for connecting various visualizations. In other words, in addition to the standard set of out-of-the-box business graphics, you can either connect your own visualizations or those developed by third-party developers. A library of a significant number of free visualizations that extend the standard Power BI information display capabilities is available on the Microsoft Application.
Localization[]
The Power BI interface is localized for several languages. The functions of the built-in query languages in the development environment-DAX and Power Query-are not localized and are always written in English, but they have localized contextual help. Localized versions of Power BI Desktop and Power BI Services have the ability to switch the interface language from localization to English and back[4].
Licensing process[]
Several types of licensing are available for Power BI, but to use even the free versions, it is advisable to have a corporate account with Microsoft. In other words, you can't use an account that uses a mail address on a free mail service (such as @gmail.com, @mail.ru, @yandex.ru, and so on).
| Product | Licenses | Type and type of license |
|---|---|---|
| Power BI Desktop | free | - |
| Power BI Services | Free /Paid (Pro, Premium) | per user / data plan |
| Power BI Embedded | for a fee | tariff plan |
| Power BI Mobile | free | - |
| Power BI Report Server | for a fee | data plan / subscription |
| Power BI Gateway | under the main product license | - |
History[]
At the beginning of 2015, the first product of the Power BI line was released — Power BI Designer, which integrated all the "Power" components that were included in the form of add-ons or otherwise integrated with Excel-Productivity, Power Query Power Viewer and Power Maps data sources using Power Query, create a consistent data model using PowerPoint, and graphically visualize data using the library of visualizations that were available in Power View (histograms, pie charts, dots, cascading charts, etc.) and Power Maps (geographical maps). Moreover, Power BI tabular views have some differences from the usual Excel pivot tables. At the end of 2015, this integrated product changed its name to Power BI Desktop, by which it is currently known.
Initially, Power BI was positioned as a web-based product, which should be based on Power BI Services, included in the Microsoft Azure ecosystem. That is, first of all, it was focused either on individual data analysts working only in Power BI Desktop or on small and medium-sized enterprises that do not have their own developed IT infrastructure and use Power BI Services[5]. However, later, in the first half of 2017, a separate edition of Power BI Report Server and a specialized version of Power BI Desktop RS were released, which allowed creating and publishing developed BI reports inside the company's local security perimeter (on-premise). At the same time, some of the functionality of the original product was lost (for example, the short analytics function, access to Cortana, access to online maps, etc.)[6] .
References[]
- ↑ What's new in Power BI? — Microsoft, 2023.
- ↑ (neopr.). Accessed: October 11, 2018. Archived from on October 11, 2018.
- ↑ Accessed: November 3, 2015. Archived from the archive on August 20, 2016.
- ↑ (neopr.). Accessed: April 13, 2018. Archived from <url> on October 12, 2018.
- ↑ Power BI Services. Power BI Services. Accessed: July 3, 2024.
- ↑ (neopr.). Microsoft.com. Microsoft. Accessed: May 7, 2018. Archived from <url> on October 11, 2018.