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Bring your data to life with the ultimate beginner's guide to Power BI, now featuring Microsoft Fabric, Copilot, and full-color visuals to make learning data modeling, storytelling, and dashboards easier and faster than ever Key Features Build data literacy and gain confidence using Power BI through real-world, beginner-friendly examples Learn to shape, clean, and model data using Power BI Desktop and Power Query, with zero experience required Build vibrant, accurate reports and dashboards with real-world modeling examples Book Description Updated with the latest innovations in Power BI, including integration with Microsoft Fabric for seamless data unification and Copilot for AI-powered guidance. This comprehensive guide empowers you to build compelling reports and dashboards from the ground up. Whether you're new to Power BI or stepping into a data role, this book provides a friendly, approachable introduction to business intelligence and data storytelling You'll start with the Power BI Desktop interface and its core functionality, then move into shaping and cleaning your data using the Power Query Editor. From designing intuitive data models to writing your first DAX formulas, you’ll develop practical skills that apply directly to real-world scenarios. he book emphasizes how to use visualizations and narrative techniques to turn numbers into meaningful insights The chapters focus on hands-on, real-world examples—like analyzing sales trends, tracking KPIs, and cleaning messy data. You'll learn to build and refresh reports, scale your Power BI setup, and enhance your solutions using Microsoft Fabric and Copilot. Fabric unifies analytics across your organization, while Copilot speeds up your workflow with AI-driven insights and report suggestions By the end of the book, you’ll have the confidence and experience to turn raw data into insightful, impactful dashboards What you will learn Understand why data literacy matters in decision-making and careers Connect to data using import, DirectQuery, and live connection modes Clean and transform data using Power Query Editor and dataflows Design reports with visuals that support clear data storytelling Apply row-level security to enforce access and data protection Manage and monitor Power BI cloud for scalability and teamwork Use AI tools like Copilot to speed up prep and generate insights Learn Microsoft Fabric basics to enable unified data experiences Who this book is for This book is ideal for anyone looking to build a solid foundation in Power BI, regardless of prior experience. Whether you're just starting out or stepping into a new role that involves data, you'll find clear, approachable guidance throughout. The step-by-step tutorials and real-world examples make it easy to follow along—even if it’s your first time working with business intelligence tools

In today’s AI-driven economy, data isn’t just an asset, it’s your differentiator. Join us for major announcements across Microsoft Fabric, Power BI, Azure SQL, and Azure PostgreSQL, and see how these innovations come together to deliver a unified, intelligent data foundation for AI. Experience customer success stories, live demos, and an inside look at the roadmap shaping the future of analytics, transactional workloads, and real-time insights all in one integrated experience.

Description You might have heard the news: Building visuals and creating DAX measures in Power BI is easier when your data model is in shape.

You can consider a data model being in shape when it contains a date (or time) table and has all fact tables normalized and all dimension tables denormalized. You should also replace flags and indicators with meaningful texts, duplicate dimensions for role-playing purposes, create bin tables for range of values, etc. In this talk Markus will show you in live demos how you bring your data model into shape: trimming off the fat of your fact tables and adding muscles to your dimension tables with the help of Fabrics workloads. Follow Markus’ step-by-step guide to learn how you can make the life of Power BI report creators easy.

Speaker: Markus Ehrenmueller-Jensen | LinkedIn

Microsoft Data Platform Group Birmingham

Thursday 3rd April at 13:00 (GMT - UK Time)

Speaker: Markus Ehrenmueller-Jensen

Title: Data Shaping for Power BI in Fabric

Description: You might have heard the news: Building visuals and creating DAX measures in Power BI is easier when your data model is in shape.

You can consider a data model being in shape when it contains a date (or time) table and has all fact tables normalized and all dimension tables denormalized. You should also replace flags and indicators with meaningful texts, duplicate dimensions for role-playing purposes, create bin tables for a range of values, etc.

In this talk, Markus will show you in live demos how you bring your data model into shape: trimming off the fat of your fact tables and adding muscles to your dimension tables with the help of Fabric's workloads. Follow Markus’ step-by-step guide to learn how you can make the life of Power BI report creators easy.

Agenda:

12.45 - 13:00 : Setup and Join

13:00 - 13:05 : Open Lobby and Introductions

13:05 - 14:00 : Data Shaping for Power BI in Fabric

Venue: Wherever you have access to a computer or smart device! This session will be online only!

Other Details:

*** Please note registration on MeetUp is required to gain access to the Teams link!***

Please contact us on Twitter or via email if you are having any issues joining and we'll do everything we can to help.

Event Organiser Contact Details:

If you need any further details or have any requests for this or future Data Platform Group events, please get in touch.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @MSDataGroupBrum

Sponsors:

Purple Frog Systems

Power BI Sentinel

This October the Birmingham Microsoft Data Platform User Group is launching a FREE brand new in-person event!

Introducing, FabFest 2024!!🎉

It will take place at Millennium Point in Birmingham on October 3rd.

• 1 day
• 7+ sessions
• Non-stop learning

A full day’s learning and networking, and some free refreshment thrown in to boot.

Join us and delve into the world of Microsoft Fabric and AI, featuring seven dynamic sessions. Attendees will start with an introduction plus the latest news from Fabric and AI, then progress to more advanced, practical sessions designed to provide a comprehensive understanding and hands-on experience.

Agenda:

09:20 - Alex Whittles – CEO of Purple Frog Understanding Microsoft Fabric Get a deep dive into Microsoft Fabric and how it’s shaping the future of data platforms.

10:25 - Lewis Prince – AI Engineer at Purple Frog Systems Introduction to AI; What, Why and How? In this session Lewis will break down the stigmas on AI and talk about how AI solutions can help any business in any sector.

11:20 - Barney Lawrence – Specialist Microsoft Data Platform Analytics and Engineering Consultant. What's What and Who's Who? Cross System Record Linkage in Fabric Barney will cover the basics of what deterministic, fuzzy, and probabilistic matching are and then dive into creating and applying a model to example data and look at how to analyse the results.

12:40 - James Dales - CEO at Tekantis Realtime streaming data with Microsoft Fabric James will use the Real-Time Intelligence capabilities of Microsoft Fabric to ingest live aircraft flight data as they are flying right now!

13:35 - Joe Billingham – Senior Data Engineer at Purple Frog Systems Harnessing the Power of the DAX Engine: Storage vs Formula Joe will be breaking down the DAX engine, explaining the difference between the storage and formula engines and how understanding this can help optimisation.

14:40 - Abhinav Jayanty – Data Engineer at Quorum Moneyball: How Data has Revolutionised Analytics in Sports Dive into how data analytics has transformed the world of sports, enhancing strategies and driving performance.

15:35 - Paul Andrew – Co-Founder & CTO of Cloud Formations Administering Microsoft Fabric: Capacities, Workspaces, and Domains In this session, Paul will explore the administration of Microsoft Fabric, with a focus on the organisation and management of data storage/compute through the configuration of capacities, domains, data products, environments and workspaces.

For the full agenda and timing, please visit Agenda – FabFestConf

Please let us know if you have registered and can no longer attend as this frees up space for another attendee.

Sponsors: Purple Frog Systems Power BI Sentinel RP Analytics