For our February meetup we're exciting to announce that we now have a double session.

First off Barry Smart will be presenting Microsoft Fabric & Your Data Strategy: A Decision Makers Guide

Barry has worked in the technology industry for almost 30 years. During the early stage of his career he worked in Australia for 3 years delivering a new system to automate Sydney's water treatment and distribution network. He then returned to Scotland where he spent his formative years as chief architect for ScottishPower's energy trading business. He then moved into a leadership role with Hymans Robertson, the UK's largest independent firm of consulting actuaries, where he spearheaded their adoption of cloud technology. In 2019 he took a career break to complete a Masters in Artificial Intelligence. He now works as Director for Data and AI at endjin, where he helps organisations around the world to deliver impact through data. He specialises in harnessing cloud technology and the latest developments in analytics, machine learning and AI. In his spare time, Barry enjoys mountain biking and playing the trombone in a big band.

Our 2nd session for the evening: Microsoft Power BI Usage Analysis: a practical approach to measuring and improving BI performance

Achieving success with Power BI within an organization goes beyond the initial implementation and maintenance. To unlock its full strategic potential, we must ensure it's not only properly implemented but also widely adopted and effectively used.

In thier presentation, Anna and Gennadii will discuss how Power BI usage data can be analysed to provide a solid ground for optimising the Power BI environment and facilitate a wide range of data and analytics initiatives.

They will share a few client stories, the fundamental questions that usage analysis should answer, the key metrics and KPIs that should be tracked, and actionable strategies to transform Power BI experience.

To demonstrate their approach, they will introduce Accton Auditor, a comprehensive BI usage analysis solution tightly integrated with Power BI.

OPEN DATA CHALLENGE: This is your opportunity to showcase your talent using Microsoft Fabric using Open Data. This month the theme for the challenge is Aviation data, rolling over from last month:

https://atmdata.github.io/sources/

You'll have the opportunity to present a short (max 5 minute) presentation to show road report and and other aspects of Microsoft Fabric used in creating your solution. Please bring a laptop to present, or contact us in advance.

AGENDA: 1830 - 18:45 : Introduction, networking, pizza & drinks 18:45 - 19:00 : Open Data Challenge 19:00 - 20:00 : Microsoft Fabric & Your Data Strategy: A Decision Makers Guide 20:00 - 20:45 : Microsoft Power BI Usage Analysis: a practical approach to measuring and improving BI performance

VENUE: We will meet at the Nigel Frank Offices at 60 Great Tower Street. If you've not been there before, it's just a little further up the street from Brewdog. Google Maps link to help you find the building: https://goo.gl/maps/GRZWr5LfScZhApu6A