Throughout 2019, we kept you up to date with the most significant monthly Power BI changes, exploring each update in greater detail and analysing the impact they’d have on the wider userbase.
This month, we’re bringing you something a little different, as we take a closer look at the biggest quarterly updates for the Power BI report server.
It’s been well-documented that the vast majority of Power BI’s updates are in direct response to customer feedback, meaning each change has its own purpose and will enhance the user experience for our clients.
These updates have been no different, with some significant changes to reporting and analytics, including the ability to export data from a visual, which was described as a ‘major ask from the community’ in Microsoft’s official blog.
Read more for an in-depth analysis of January’s biggest Power BI Report Server improvements:
KPI visual formatting settings
While the KPI visual has been around for some time, over the months it hasn’t received quite the same attention as some of the other popular visuals on the programme.
With the formatting options very limited, Microsoft has added new functionality to the KPI visual this month, giving users greater creative freedom when compiling their reports.
The new KPI formatting options include, indicator text formatting, trend axis transparency, goal and distance text formatting, distance text formatting and adding a date label with formatting.
Some of the new options can also be conditionally formatted, meaning users now have more choice when it comes to displaying their data and can make important information stand out with different font colours and styles.
Exporting data from a visual
As mentioned in the introduction, this update was highly requested from the community, as users want the ability to export their data for use elsewhere.
This functionality is already available in the main Power BI service, but with this update users can now export data from their visuals too.
To export data, users must select ‘more options’ from the upper right corner of the visualisation and then click ‘export data’, which will then present a dialogue box with different exporting options, including which data you want to export.
Once this has been completed, users can choose which file format they want their data in, before a prompt to save the file or link is displayed, depending on which browser is being used.
This update will give users greater control over their data, as they can now take valuable insights from their visuals and use them for other purposes if needed.
Load more for Analyse insights
When it comes to uncovering insights, Power BI prides itself on allowing users to harness their data and spot important trends without unnecessary delays.
When running the Analyse feature to find insights, such as ‘explain the increase’, models would only run for a select period in order to show results quickly.
However, if there’s a lot of data to analyse then it may be necessary to extend the analysis and continue running it after the initial timeout.
With this update, users can click the play button in the top right of the flyout to continue running the analysis, which will then display the top ten most relevant insights after each continuation.
Again, this change will give users more control over their data, allowing them to dig deeper into their information to find more business-enhancing trends and insights.
Start as you mean to go on...
With a full year ahead, it’s important that businesses review their existing technology and systems and implement changes that will make a difference to their overall performance.
While data collection is an important first step, it’s crucial that you have the tools needed to analyse the information and uncover insights that will help take your business in the right direction.
One of the biggest benefits of a programme like Power BI is that customer feedback is addressed regularly, so any ideas raised by the community will be taken on board and implemented if appropriate.
If you’d like to introduce Power BI to your business, then contact our team and find a solution that works for you.