Explicit Measures Podcast

Since Analytical Models the star-schema design has been the cornerstone of reporting solutions, which was just enhanced and even more in Power BI.

However, with Direct Lake, Lakehouses, and Data Science in Fabric, do star-schemas still have the same impact?

Mike, Seth, & Tommy discuss this in detail.

Get in touch:

Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.

Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/

Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips

Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv

Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎

Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips

Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/

Follow Seth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-bauer/

Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Mike, Seth, & Tommy delve into the intricate world of data visualization, inspired by the thought-provoking article "Showing the Insights vs. Showing Off". As Power BI and Business Intelligence tools evolve, how do we strike the right balance between creating visually appealing visuals and ensuring clarity of insights? The trio discusses the allure of complex visuals, the importance of audience-centric visualization, and the challenges in data culture and governance. Tune in to explore the fine line between showcasing technical prowess and delivering clear, impactful messages through data visualization. Can we truly make our visuals both captivating and comprehensible in the realm of Power BI? Let's find out!

Get in touch:

Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.

Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/

Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips

Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv

Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎

Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips

Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/

Follow Seth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-bauer/

Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

We have a great mailbag today! Mike, Seth, & Tommy discuss the following question:

I'm the chief cook and bottle washer in IT for Power BI in my subsidiary of my org. I've shown some business users how to integrate live Power BI pages into ppt and it's really sparked a lot of interest. And I think this could be a really fruitful topic for you three to discuss.

My angle is this. I think the corporation that I work for is probably pretty typical in that PowerPoint is THE format for all visual communication at a director-level and above. PBI's role in this up til now has been either screen shots into ppt or data dumps that individuals use to create their own visuals in Excel and then paste into ppt. And no one has wanted to give direct access to PBI apps to VPs, let alone our group president because it's "too hard. They just want it laid right out for them".

I think a big part of this is really that directors want to be between the data and the execs, so that they can interpret it for them. And maybe add some business logic that they're holding a little too close to the vest into the presentation. Kind of the intersection between data culture and tribal knowledge. (Some departments are worse about this than others.)

I think the live PBI integration into ppt can help break this down a little. First, it means that all the business logic needs to be directly in PBI, but at the same time, it allows commentary to be inserted in the usual ppt way of bullet points. To that end, I've created some custom reports on existing datasets that are stripped down (no header, no company logo as those are in the corporate ppt template) and have custom dimensions to fit the space in ppt better. I have them sized so that they take up about 2/3 of the slide with 1/3 on the right left for bullet points.

Also, since the embedded PBI pages are still interactive, I'm trying to sneakily introduce PBI functionality to the execs that see them and maybe they'll ask for access to the original reports/apps themselves.

I could go on, but what do you guys think? Do you like this approach? Do you have any other ideas?

Get in touch:

Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.

Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/

Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips

Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv

Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎

Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips

Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/

Follow Seth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-bauer/

Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Mike, Seth, & Tommy talk about the major updates to Q&A tooling in Power BI (September update) and how close we are to the ability to organizations to latch on to integrating into their workflow. Where are we still far away?

Get in touch:

Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.

Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/

Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips

Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv

Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎

Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips

Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/

Follow Seth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-bauer/

Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Mike, Seth, & Tommy ask if we can create a measurement system around BI skills? Can we actually scale and measure up the quality of our work, both from technical skills to soft skills? Great discussion around qualifying the Power BI Champions.

Get in touch:

Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.

Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/

Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips

Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv

Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎

Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips

Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/

Follow Seth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-bauer/

Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Mike, Seth, & Tommy contemplate where does SQL databases & SQL Server fit in this new age of Microsoft Fabric. Thanks to Sam Debruyn for a great article to discuss:

Article: https://debruyn.dev/2023/welcome-to-the-3rd-generation-sql-in-microsoft-fabric/

Sam Debruyn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samueldebruyn/

Get in touch:

Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.

Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/

Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips

Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv

Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎

Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips

Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/

Follow Seth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-bauer/

Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive into an awesome mailbag question:

When Microsoft added PBI desktop to O365 (Dynamic 365? Something 365) it was seen as something that will really increase adoption as more business analysts are exposed to it. But I wonder if Fabric (which as an IT professional, I'm really excited about) will have the opposite effect. Will business analysts and leaders find it too intimidating once they start to hear about data engineering, data science, pipelines, Datalakes, etc? And will IT departments pull back on it out of fear that these new tools will be used inappropriately? You've talked about it from the IT department side some, but I'm really curious what you think about overwhelming the business side. I can see a lot of "No thanks, I'll stick to Excel" thinking for those newly introduced to PBI/Fabric. Legacy business users, maybe not so much?

Get in touch:

Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.

Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/

Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips

Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv

Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎

Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips

Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/

Follow Seth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-bauer/

Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Mike, Seth, & Tommy share their experiences and thoughts around the new concept of the "data strategist" role and the importance either at an organizational level or as a "pseudo" role.

Get in touch:

Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.

Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/

Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips

Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv

Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎

Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips

Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/

Follow Seth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-bauer/

Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive into how AI has changed their workflows in both from a personal and professional level - From BI discovery and meeting notes for better reporting, to coding and development and where AI aligns with the Business Intelligence space.

Now that we are all familiar with a Fabric Lakehouse.... How much data should be integrated into it? Enough for 1 Power BI Dataset? Enough for 20?

Get in touch:

Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page.

Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/

Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips

Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv

Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎

Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips

Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/

Follow Seth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-bauer/

Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/