Explicit Measures Podcast

So - slightly HUGE announcements by the Microsoft team around Power BI, Microsoft Fabric, and generally what we do on a daily basis. Mike, Seth, & Tommy react to the major features you do not want to miss. https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/empower-power-bi-users-with-microsoft-fabric-and-copilot/ https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/power-bi-november-2023-feature-summary/ https://bl...

Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive into System Oversight in the Adoption Roadmap. What it means, how much enablement, and how much protection in your tenant. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/guidance/powerbi-adoption-roadmap-business-alignment 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....

Managed Self Service in Power BI in Enterprise - Mike, Seth, & Tommy tackle the pressing questions around the balance of control and agility in BI, the real-world implications of dataset certification, and the strategies for fostering a robust data culture. Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit o...

We had a ton of mailbags we needed to get off our chests! Quick Shots on the following: Can Data Warehouses and Reports Only Pull New Data Instead of Full Refreshes? Thanks for your show. I have been enjoying it for a few months now. I'd like to say I'm new to Data work, but I have been working as an analyst for a few years now. I have observed that my data warehouse goes out and grabs a m...

Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive into a post by Brent Dykes (Author of Effective Data Storytelling) focused on why BI works on the "set-and-forget" method and how this can be a terrible workflow for data culture. How do we move from moving on to the next project and focusing on user enablement? Link to Post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/brentdykes_analytics-businessintelligence-data-activi...

Yes, we know that not everyone can do everything in Fabric (yet). But one thing we do know: There are over 20 tools in Fabric, and its hard to get on top of 1) the rapid updates and 2) if you can do it! Mike, Seth & Tommy review the most glaring that people need to know about: Mentions: OneLake File Explorer Data Wrangler Shortcuts Honorable Mentions: VS Code Integration with Fabric Data Scien...

Mike, Seth, & Tommy run through the major updates to Git, the Power BI Project type format, and everything in between. Have you utilized Git workspaces yet? Or introduced Power BI Git Projects to your workflow? https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/developer/projects/projects-build-pipelines? WT.mc_id=DP-MVP-5002621

Mike, Seth, & Tommy are diving into a 2 part series based on incredibly funny video by Mike Ebbers (Video link below). The background: Mike Ebbers delivers a spoof on ordering food the way businesses ask for data things. The Themes: I need the best quality, in the least amount of time, with the lowest budget, and its not on on time. Today we are looking at the Business Intelligence point of vi...

Microsoft Fabric and Workspaces. Mike, Seth, & Tommy have dived into this quite a bit already. However, what about the role based permissions in workspaces, in relation Fabric Artifacts? Link to Resources: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/get-started/roles-workspaces Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empM...

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 @PowerBIT...

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...

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 t...

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 Pa...

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....

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...

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 i...

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...

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 a...

Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive into an incredible article on the threshold of data and AI. How does governance, insights, and the demand for Data when it comes insights. Article here: https://hex.tech/blog/jevons-paradox-demand-for-insight/ 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 Podc...

What has become a harsh truth is we need to reevaluate how we design and consider what a Workspace is when we are dealing with more than just datasets and reports. We have the data engineer, the data scientist, and more that confuses the amount of items and who is working in a workspace. From organization to security, what is best practice? Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want u...

Let's face it. What we do is not easy. But that is less to do with the technical aspect but more with how the data impacts communication. MIke, Seth, & Tommy discuss this post and how stakeholders, the business, and data have a hard time getting along. 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...

Mike, Seth, & Tommy discuss a more "squishy" topic focused on the BI's Pro ability to have empathy, the importance of and difference between knowledge and wisdom.

Mike, Seth, & Tommy go through a mailbag on today's episode: Thank you for providing so much helpful Power BI information. My question - - how can I migrate my Power BI setup from a standalone laptop to a cloud server? This means the reports, pbix files, usdr security and most importantly the data connections. I understand the pbix files can be copied to the new server and opened but how d...

Mike, Seth, & Tommy delve into the alarming findings of NewVantage Partners' 2019 Big Data and AI Executive Survey, which revealed that companies are failing in their efforts to become data-driven despite investing heavily in big data and analytics. They discuss the main obstacles faced by firms, such as a lack of data culture and treating data as a business asset, and why people and proce...