Many of us have used or at the least heard of some version of Business Intelligence software. Its use and popularity has grown over time to where it is simply not seen as proper or professional to present any kind of data without it. Power BI is one of many business intelligence software's and utilizes interactive graphics and visuals to produce a visually appealing and informative display of relevant information that the user wishes to see. The most important information can now be easily shown without having to swim through thousands of records of Excel spreadsheets, along with any other relevant information that a thriving business would like to be able to see at a glance. Power BI can also be live should you desire it. Up to date data that constantly updates your visuals to give you immediate results on even the smallest of changes.

Power BI does however come with a slight learning curve, as I have discovered. Certain aspects of the software can easily be picked up and learnt at just a glance while the more intricate and in-depth details will take time to learn until even the most complicated of visuals are suddenly possible, as I also soon learnt. Power BI is dependent on the source of data you provide it. Excel spreadsheet, SQL Database etc. But more importantly, it is very dependent on the structure that data comes in. Learning to correctly structure your data and how it is laid out in the database could save you from a world of hair pulling and blankly staring at your screen in confusion. It is possible to do some structuring in Power BI but that wont solve all of your problems.

Power BI is an incredibly powerful and useful tool to have and admittedly it is also a lot of fun to learn and play around with, if you are willing to put in the time.