Analyze company data quickly and easily using Microsoft’s powerful data tools. Learn to build scalable and robust data models, clean and combine different data sources effectively, and create compelling and professional visuals. Beginning Power BI is a hands-on, activity-based guide that takes you through the process of analyzing your data using the tools that that encompass the core of Microsoft’s self-service BI offering. Starting with Power Query, you will learn how to get data from a variety of sources, and see just how easy it is to clean and shape the data prior to importing it into a data model. Using Power BI tabular and the Data Analysis Expressions (DAX), you will learn to create robust scalable data models which will serve as the foundation of your data analysis. From there you will enter the world of compelling interactive visualizations to analyze and gain insight into your data. You will wrap up your Power BI journey by learning how to package and share your reports and dashboards with your colleagues. Author Dan Clark takes you through each topic using step-by-step activities and plenty of screen shots to help familiarize you with the tools. This third edition covers the new and evolving features in the Power BI platform and new chapters on data flows and composite models. This book is your hands-on guide to quick, reliable, and valuable data insight. What You Will Learn Simplify data discovery, association, and cleansing Build solid analytical data models Create robust interactive data presentations Combine analytical and geographic data in map-based visualizations Publish and share dashboards and reports Who This Book Is For Business analysts, database administrators, developers, and other professionals looking to better understand and communicate with data

I still can't believe what transpired at the recent BI Data Storytelling (BIDS) Accelerator Workshop—simply because we made the exception of letting in a VIP after enrollment had closed. Why? The VIP desperately expressed his need to learn and implement our BI methodology/framework. He was determined to get it done, and the results he shares are amazing.

Today's guest is Ankush D'Souza, Director of BI at Estée Lauder Companies who is going to show you how to deliver your BI Strategy 'Gorilla' style. Ankush describes the four pillars he uses to create a successful BI Strategy, why not having a budget can be a benefit and tactics and tools to focus on. In this episode, you'll learn: [08:56] New Decade, New Year: Time to think about fiscal end-of-year budgets and your BI Strategy. [25:37] Clarification: Mico and Ankush describe differences between BIDF and BIDS. [28:25] Gorilla-style BI Strategy: Ankush is a big believer in sharing knowledge. For full show notes, and the links mentioned visit: bibrainz.com/podcast/43 Sponsor The next BI Data Storytelling Mastery Accelerator 3-Day Live workshop will be held soon. Many BI teams are still struggling to deliver consistent, high-engaging analytics their users love. At the end of three days, you'll leave with a clear BI delivery action plan. Register today!   Enjoyed the Show?  Please leave us a review on iTunes.

Hands-On Business Intelligence with DAX is your comprehensive guide to mastering DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) within the context of Power BI, Excel Power Pivot, and more. You will learn how to craft powerful DAX queries, build efficient data models, and gain actionable insights from your data. What this Book will help me do Gain a comprehensive understanding of DAX query language and its applications. Learn the skills to create and optimize data models using real-world examples. Master the techniques needed to write advanced DAX expressions with confidence. Understand key DAX functions for complex data aggregation and calculations. Develop expertise in using DAX to derive deeper insights from diverse datasets. Author(s) None Horne is an experienced data professional passionate about teaching DAX and data modeling concepts in easy and approachable ways. With years of experience in business intelligence and a knack for breaking down complex topics, None Horne equips you with knowledge you can apply immediately. Who is it for? This book is ideal for business intelligence analysts, data professionals, and Power BI users who wish to enhance their DAX expertise. It is well-suited for readers with a basic understanding of BI concepts looking to expand their skills. Pragmatic learners looking to apply DAX to solve data problems will find this book highly practical. If you are keen to develop more efficient workflows and deeper data insights, this book fits your needs.

Practice, practice, practice! Storytelling takes practice, especially Storytelling With Data (SWD). What are the fundamental principles for communicating effectively with data and using storytelling concepts to communicate that data?

Today's guest is Cole Knaflic, author of Storytelling With Data and Storytelling With Data: Let's Practice. She is super practical and realistic when teaching people who are struggling to tell stories. Are you ready to join Cole's SWD community? In this episode, you'll learn: [09:30] Storytelling With Data and Let's Practice: Read Cole's books, then do the work. [09:58] Why write the second book? Provide small and simple ways to practice and integrate SWD (Storytelling with Data) to make big changes and major impact over time. [11:35] Key Quote: Having kids and a growing business simultaneously, it's been hard, but it's actually been fantastic. - Cole Knaflic For full show notes, and the links mentioned visit: https://bibrainz.com/podcast/42 Sponsor This exciting season of AOF is sponsored by our BI Data Storytelling Mastery Accelerator 3-Day Live workshop. Our second one is coming up on Jan 28-30 and registration is open! Join us and consider upgrading to be a VIP (we have tons of bonuses planned). Many BI teams are still struggling to deliver consistent, high-engaging analytics their users love. At the end of three days, you'll leave with the tools, techniques, and resources you need to engage your users. Register today!   Enjoyed the Show?  Please leave us a review on iTunes.

Welcome to 2020! It's time to kick the new year and new decade off by recapping awesome things that happened in 2019 for Analytics on Fire (AoF). Plus, what 10 things can amazing AoF listeners expect and look forward to in 2020? Let's begin the countdown.

In this episode, you'll learn: [03:52] 10 things to expect from AoF in 2020 [06:02] #3: More solo teaching episodes from yours truly [07:34] #4: Introducing the #askmico hashtag [08:23] #5: Introducing a new co-host For full show notes, his book give away, and the links mentioned visit: https://bibrainz.com/podcast/41 Sponsor This exciting season of AoF is sponsored by our BI Data Storytelling Mastery Accelerator 3-Day Live workshop, on January 28-30, 2020 in Atlanta, GA. Join us for your chance to be in the hot-seat and get your use-case critiqued live. At the end of three days, you'll leave with a clear BI delivery action plan. Register today!

Publisher's Note: Products purchased from Third Party sellers are not guaranteed by the publisher for quality, authenticity, or access to any online entitlements included with the product. Explore, create, and manage highly interactive data visualizations using Microsoft Power BI Extract meaningful business insights from your disparate enterprise data using the detailed information contained in this practical guide. Written by a recognized BI expert and bestselling author, Data Analysis with Microsoft Power BI teaches you the skills you need to interact with, author, and maintain robust visualizations and custom data models. Hands-on exercises based on real-life business scenarios clearly demonstrate each technique. Publishing your results to the Power BI Service (PowerBI.com) and Power BI Report Server are also fully covered. Inside, you will discover how to: •Understand Business Intelligence and self-service analytics •Explore the tools and features of Microsoft Power BI •Create and format effective data visualizations •Incorporate advanced interactivity and custom graphics •Build and populate accurate data models •Transform data using the Power BI Query Editor •Work with measures, calculated columns, and tabular models •Write powerful DAX language scripts •Share content on the PowerBI Service (PowerBI.com) •Store your visualizations on the Power BI Report Server

Publisher's Note: Products purchased from Third Party sellers are not guaranteed by the publisher for quality, authenticity, or access to any online entitlements included with the product. Get Up to Speed on Microsoft® SQL Server® 2019 Quickly and Easily Start working with Microsoft SQL Server 2019 in no time with help from this thoroughly revised, practical resource. Filled with real-world examples and hands-on exercises, Microsoft SQL Server 2019: A Beginner’s Guide, Seventh Edition starts by explaining fundamental relational database system concepts. From there, you’ll learn how to write Transact-SQL statements, execute simple and complex database queries, handle system administration and security, and use powerful analysis and reporting tools. New topics such as SQL and JSON support, graph databases, and support for machine learning with R and Python are also covered in this step-by-step tutorial. • Install, configure, and customize Microsoft SQL Server 2019 • Create and modify database objects with Transact-SQL statements • Write stored procedures and user-defined functions • Handle backup and recovery, and automate administrative tasks • Tune your database system for optimal availability and reliability • Secure your system using authentication, encryption, and authorization • Work with SQL Server Analysis Services, Reporting Services, and other BI tools • Gain knowledge of relational storage, presentation, and retrieval of data stored in the JSON format • Manage graphs using SQL Server Graph Databases • Learn about machine learning support for R and Python

Tableau Desktop Certified Associate: Exam Guide is your companion for mastering Tableau and preparing for the certification exam with confidence. Through this book, you will gain a comprehensive understanding of Tableau Desktop's features and learn to implement them in practical scenarios to solve analytics challenges. What this Book will help me do Understand and apply Tableau best practices for analyzing and visualizing data effectively. Visualize geographic data using vector maps and gain insights into spatial distributions. Leverage advanced analytics techniques such as forecasting to predict key metrics. Build effective dashboards that convey information clearly and efficiently. Gain confidence in tackling Tableau Desktop Certified Associate exam questions with expert tips and mock exams. Author(s) The authors, Dmitry Anoshin, JC Gillet, Peri Biyani, and others, are experienced professionals in data analytics and business intelligence. With significant expertise in teaching and applying Tableau, they bring a wealth of knowledge to this guide, offering clear instructions and practical insights. Their dedication to empowering learners fosters a supportive and assured journey through this book. Who is it for? This book is ideal for business analysts, BI professionals, and data analysts aiming to become certified Tableau Desktop Associates. If you have a foundational understanding of Tableau Desktop and are looking to deepen your expertise while preparing for certification, this book is tailored to help you achieve that goal.

Practical Data Science with R, Second Edition takes a practice-oriented approach to explaining basic principles in the ever expanding field of data science. You’ll jump right to real-world use cases as you apply the R programming language and statistical analysis techniques to carefully explained examples based in marketing, business intelligence, and decision support. About the Technology Evidence-based decisions are crucial to success. Applying the right data analysis techniques to your carefully curated business data helps you make accurate predictions, identify trends, and spot trouble in advance. The R data analysis platform provides the tools you need to tackle day-to-day data analysis and machine learning tasks efficiently and effectively. About the Book Practical Data Science with R, Second Edition is a task-based tutorial that leads readers through dozens of useful, data analysis practices using the R language. By concentrating on the most important tasks you’ll face on the job, this friendly guide is comfortable both for business analysts and data scientists. Because data is only useful if it can be understood, you’ll also find fantastic tips for organizing and presenting data in tables, as well as snappy visualizations. What's Inside Statistical analysis for business pros Effective data presentation The most useful R tools Interpreting complicated predictive models About the Reader You’ll need to be comfortable with basic statistics and have an introductory knowledge of R or another high-level programming language. About the Authors Nina Zumel and John Mount founded a San Francisco–based data science consulting firm. Both hold PhDs from Carnegie Mellon University and blog on statistics, probability, and computer science. Quotes Full of useful shared experience and practical advice. Highly recommended. - From the Foreword by Jeremy Howard and Rachel Thomas Great examples and an informative walk-through of the data science process. - David Meza, NASA Offers interesting perspectives that cover many aspects of practical data science; a good reference. - Pascal Barbedor, BL SET R you ready to get data science done the right way? - Taylor Dolezal, Disney Studios

Explore the modern market of data analytics platforms and the benefits of using Snowflake computing, the data warehouse built for the cloud. With the rise of cloud technologies, organizations prefer to deploy their analytics using cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform. Cloud vendors are offering modern data platforms for building cloud analytics solutions to collect data and consolidate into single storage solutions that provide insights for business users. The core of any analytics framework is the data warehouse, and previously customers did not have many choices of platform to use. Snowflake was built specifically for the cloud and it is a true game changer for the analytics market. This book will help onboard you to Snowflake, present best practices to deploy, and use the Snowflake data warehouse. In addition, it covers modern analytics architecture and use cases. It provides use cases of integration with leading analytics software such as Matillion ETL, Tableau, and Databricks. Finally, it covers migration scenarios for on-premise legacy data warehouses. What You Will Learn Know the key functionalities of Snowflake Set up security and access with cluster Bulk load data into Snowflake using the COPY command Migrate from a legacy data warehouse to Snowflake integrate the Snowflake data platform with modern business intelligence (BI) and data integration tools Who This Book Is For Those working with data warehouse and business intelligence (BI) technologies, and existing and potential Snowflake users

Big Data Analytics Methods unveils secrets to advanced analytics techniques ranging from machine learning, random forest classifiers, predictive modeling, cluster analysis, natural language processing (NLP), Kalman filtering and ensembles of models for optimal accuracy of analysis and prediction. More than 100 analytics techniques and methods provide big data professionals, business intelligence professionals and citizen data scientists insight on how to overcome challenges and avoid common pitfalls and traps in data analytics. The book offers solutions and tips on handling missing data, noisy and dirty data, error reduction and boosting signal to reduce noise. It discusses data visualization, prediction, optimization, artificial intelligence, regression analysis, the Cox hazard model and many analytics using case examples with applications in the healthcare, transportation, retail, telecommunication, consulting, manufacturing, energy and financial services industries. This book's state of the art treatment of advanced data analytics methods and important best practices will help readers succeed in data analytics.

BI tools change by the minute, so have you ever considered outsourcing your data visualization needs in the future? Maybe you should, especially if you don't have proper in-house skill sets. Don't risk your reputation because users can't unsee a bad data visualization.

Today's guest is long-term BI Brainz customer Mustafa Mustafa, senior director of IT at Ferrara Candy Company. Mustafa transformed Ferrara Candy into a forward-thinking and innovative company. He discusses the pros and cons of outsourcing data visualization by choosing the right partners. In this episode, you'll learn: [04:13] Key Quote: Users cannot unsee a bad data visualization. - Mico Yuk [11:20] Mustafa's background in learning Mico's BI Framework and dashboard strategies. [20:45] Should data visualization be outsourced? Consider customer cases and challenges, such as communication, common sense, and strategy to share information. For full show notes, and the links mentioned visit: https://bibrainz.com/podcast/40 Sponsor This exciting season of AOF is sponsored by our BI Data Storytelling Mastery Accelerator 3-Day Live workshop. Our second one is coming up on Jan 28-30 and registration is open! Join us and consider upgrading to be a VIP (we have tons of bonuses planned). Many BI teams are still struggling to deliver consistent, high-engaging analytics their users love. At the end of three days, you'll leave with the tools, techniques, and resources you need to engage your users. Register today!   Enjoyed the Show?  Please leave us a review on iTunes.

Learn the intricate workings of DAX and the mechanics that are necessary to solve advanced Power BI challenges. This book is all about DAX (Data Analysis Expressions), the formula language used in Power BI—Microsoft’s leading self-service business intelligence application—and covers other products such as PowerPivot and SQL Server Analysis Services Tabular. You will learn how to leverage the advanced applications of DAX to solve complex tasks. Often a task seems complex due to a lack of understanding, or a misunderstanding of core principles, and how certain components interact with each other. The authors of this book use solutions and examples to teach you how to solve complex problems. They explain the intricate workings of important concepts such as Filter Context and Context Transition. You will learn how Power BI, through combining DAX building blocks (such as measures, table filtering, and data lineage), can yield extraordinary analytical power. Throughout Pro Dax with Power BI these building blocks are used to create and compose solutions for advanced DAX problems, so you can independently build solutions to your own complex problems, and gain valuable insight from your data. What You Will Learn Understand the intricate workings of DAX to solve advanced problems Deconstruct problems into manageable parts in order to create your own recipes Apply predefined solutions for addressing problems, and link back step-by-step to the mechanics of DAX, to know the foundation of this powerful query language Get fully on board with DAX, a new and evolving language, by learning best practices Who This Book Is For Anyone who wants to use Power BI to build advanced and complex models. Some experience writing DAX is helpful, but not essential if you have experience with other data query languages such as MDX or SQL.

The rise of machine learning has placed a premium on finding new sources of data to fuel predictive models. But acquiring external data is often expensive and many data sets are rife with errors and difficult to combine with internal data. But that’s going to change in 2020.

To help us understand the scale, scope, and dimensions of emerging data marketplaces is Justin Langseth, one of the visionaries in our space. Justin is a VP at Snowflake responsible for the Snowflake Data Exchange.  Prior to Snowflake, Justin was the technical founder and CEO/CTO of 5 data technology startups: Claraview (sold to Teradata), Zoomdata (sold to Logi Analytics), Clarabridge, Strategy.com, and Augaroo. He has 25 years of experience in business intelligence, natural language processing, big data, and AI.

When it comes to effective presentations and engaging an audience, what questions should you ask to tell your story about data? It's time to take action and learn!

Nancy Duarte joins me as today's guest to discuss her new book, DataStory: Explain Data and Inspire Action Through Story. Some of you may already know Nancy from her 2012 TED Talk titled, The Secret Structure of Great Talks.

In this episode, you'll learn: [08:10] Inspiration behind DataStory: Normal people need help with data, too. [09:10] Key Quote: Data had been slowing us down, instead of speeding us up. We didn't have a mechanism to communicate data - Nancy Duarte [09:27] Key Quote: Data is becoming a very common communication language that didn't have a real clear wrapper around it about how to frame it.- Nancy Duarte For full show notes, his book give away, and the links mentioned visit: https://bibrainz.com/podcast/39 Sponsor The next BI Data Storytelling Mastery Accelerator 3-Day Live workshop will be held in January 2020. Many BI teams are still struggling to deliver consistent, high-engaging analytics their users love. At the end of three days, you'll leave with a clear BI delivery action plan. Register today!

Get a head-start on learning one of SQL Server 2019’s latest and most impactful features—Big Data Clusters—that combines large volumes of non-relational data for analysis along with data stored relationally inside a SQL Server database. This book provides a first look at Big Data Clusters based upon SQL Server 2019 Release Candidate 1. Start now and get a jump on your competition in learning this important new feature. Big Data Clusters is a feature set covering data virtualization, distributed computing, and relational databases and provides a complete AI platform across the entire cluster environment. This book shows you how to deploy, manage, and use Big Data Clusters. For example, you will learn how to combine data stored on the HDFS file system together with data stored inside the SQL Server instances that make up the Big Data Cluster. Filled with clear examples and use cases, this book provides everything necessary to get started working with Big Data Clusters in SQL Server 2019 using Release Candidate 1. You will learn about the architectural foundations that are made up from Kubernetes, Spark, HDFS, and SQL Server on Linux. You then are shown how to configure and deploy Big Data Clusters in on-premises environments or in the cloud. Next, you are taught about querying. You will learn to write queries in Transact-SQL—taking advantage of skills you have honed for years—and with those queries you will be able to examine and analyze data from a wide variety of sources such as Apache Spark. Through the theoretical foundation provided in this book and easy-to-follow example scripts and notebooks, you will be ready to use and unveil the full potential of SQL Server 2019: combining different types of data spread across widely disparate sources into a single view that is useful for business intelligence and machine learning analysis. What You Will Learn Install, manage, and troubleshoot Big Data Clusters in cloud or on-premise environments Analyze large volumes of data directly from SQL Server and/or Apache Spark Manage data stored in HDFS from SQL Server as if it were relational data Implement advanced analytics solutions through machine learning and AI Expose different data sources as a single logical source using data virtualization Who This Book Is For For data engineers, data scientists, data architects, and database administrators who want to employ data virtualization and big data analytics in their environment

Business decisions today are tactical and strategic at the same time. How do you respond to a competitor’s price change? Or to specific technology changes? What new products, markets, or businesses should you pursue? Decisions like these are based on information from only one source: data. With this practical report, technical and non-technical leaders alike will explore the fundamental elements necessary to embark on a data analytics initiative. Is your company planning or contemplating a data analytics initiative? Authors Brett Stupakevich, David Sweenor, and Shane Swiderek from TIBCO guide you through several analytics options. IT leaders, product developers, analytics leaders, data analysts, data scientists, and business professionals will learn how to deploy analytic components in streaming and embedded systems using one of five platforms. You’ll examine: Analytics platforms including embedded BI, reporting, data exploration & discovery, streaming BI, and data science & machine learning The business problems each option solves and the capabilities and requirements of each How to identify the right analytics type for your particular use case Key considerations and the level of investment for each analytics platform

Do you know what skill sets you're going to need in the next three years to stay relevant in the BI (business intelligence) industry? Don't wait for the BI bubble to pop! When I met Jen Underwood, she was one of Microsoft's first Power BI product managers and an undeniable voice of reason in the BI industry through her blogs and other insightful posts online. I always admired her technical aptitude and was not surprised that she went on to work at cool startups like DataRobot and now Aible. In this exciting episode, Jen breaks down what you need to know and do to be viable and relevant in the BI market in 2020 and beyond! Let's just say, it's definitely not what you're doing today. Tune in, and level up!

In this episode, you'll learn: [02:58] Jen's CV: Marketing degree and love for data leads to 20+ years in BI industry. [05:17] Key Quote: I knew that I fell in love with programming and all that. But I didn't have the patience to extend my college years. - Jen Underwood [06:41] Fear of Failure: Jen's only option was to succeed during her homeless period. For full show notes, his book give away, and the links mentioned visit: https://bibrainz.com/podcast/38 Sponsor This exciting season of AOF is sponsored by our BI Data Storytelling Mastery Accelerator 3-Day Live workshop. Our second one is coming up on Jan 28-30 and registration is open! Join us and consider upgrading to be a VIP (we have tons of bonuses planned). Many BI teams are still struggling to deliver consistent, high-engaging analytics their users love. At the end of three days, you'll leave with the tools, techniques, and resources you need to engage your users. Register today!   Enjoyed the Show?  Please leave us a review on iTunes.

Use window functions to write simpler, better, more efficient T-SQL queries Most T-SQL developers recognize the value of window functions for data analysis calculations. But they can do far more, and recent optimizations make them even more powerful. In T-SQL Window Functions, renowned T-SQL expert Itzik Ben-Gan introduces breakthrough techniques for using them to handle many common T-SQL querying tasks with unprecedented elegance and power. Using extensive code examples, he guides you through window aggregate, ranking, distribution, offset, and ordered set functions. You'll find a detailed section on optimization, plus an extensive collection of business solutions — including novel techniques available in no other book. Microsoft MVP Itzik Ben-Gan shows how to: • Use window functions to improve queries you previously built with predicates • Master essential SQL windowing concepts, and efficiently design window functions • Effectively utilize partitioning, ordering, and framing • Gain practical in-depth insight into window aggregate, ranking, offset, and statistical functions • Understand how the SQL standard supports ordered set functions, and find working solutions for functions not yet available in the language • Preview advanced Row Pattern Recognition (RPR) data analysis techniques • Optimize window functions in SQL Server and Azure SQL Database, making the most of indexing, parallelism, and more • Discover a full library of window function solutions for common business problems About This Book • For developers, DBAs, data analysts, data scientists, BI professionals, and power users familiar with T-SQL queries • Addresses any edition of the SQL Server 2019 database engine or later, as well as Azure SQL Database Get all code samples at: MicrosoftPressStore.com/TSQLWindowFunctions/downloads

This business analytics (BA) text discusses the models based on fact-based data to measure past business performance to guide an organization in visualizing and predicting future business performance and outcomes. It provides a comprehensive overview of analytics in general with an emphasis on predictive analytics. Given the booming interest in analytics and data science, this book is timely and informative. It brings many terms, tools, and methods of analytics together. The first three chapters provide an introduction to BA, importance of analytics, types of BA-descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive-along with the tools and models. Business intelligence (BI) and a case on descriptive analytics are discussed. Additionally, the book discusses on the most widely used predictive models, including regression analysis, forecasting, data mining, and an introduction to recent applications of predictive analytics-machine learning, neural networks, and artificial intelligence. The concluding chapter discusses on the current state, job outlook, and certifications in analytics.