Business Intelligence with Power BI & Tableau

Understanding the Power BI ecosystem and its components.

• What is Business Intelligence?
• Power BI components (Desktop, Service, Mobile).
• The Power BI workflow: Get Data, Transform, Model, Visualize, Publish.
• Exploring the Power BI Desktop interface.

Cleaning and shaping data for analysis.

• Connecting to various data sources (Excel, CSV, SQL).
• The Power Query Editor interface.
• Common transformations: Filtering, splitting, merging, appending queries.
• Pivoting, Unpivoting, and grouping data.

Building a robust data model for analysis.

• Facts vs. Dimensions and Star Schema.
• Creating relationships between tables.
• Understanding cardinality and cross-filter direction.
• Creating date tables.

Writing formulas to create new insights.

• Calculated Columns vs. Measures.
• Common DAX functions (SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, DISTINCTCOUNT).
• Implicit vs. Explicit measures.
• Introduction to the CALCULATE function.

Mastering filter context and time intelligence.

• Understanding Filter Context vs. Row Context.
• Using CALCULATE with complex filters.
• Time Intelligence functions (TOTALYTD, SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR).
• Working with iterator functions (SUMX, AVERAGEX).

Creating effective reports and dashboards.

• Using standard visuals (bar, line, pie, tree maps).
• Formatting visuals and reports for impact.
• Custom visuals from the marketplace.
• Implementing bookmarks and tooltips for interactivity.

Sharing and collaborating on your reports.

• Publishing reports from Desktop to Service.
• Creating and sharing dashboards.
• Workspaces, Apps, and sharing methods.
• Setting up data gateways for scheduled refresh.

Getting started with the Tableau interface and philosophy.

• Tableau product suite (Desktop, Server, Prep).
• The Tableau interface (Data pane, shelves, marks card).
• Dimensions vs. Measures.
• Discrete vs. Continuous fields.

Joining, blending, and preparing data for visualization.

• Connecting to files (Excel, CSV) and servers (SQL).
• Data interpreter and data preparation.
• Joins (Inner, Left, Right, Full).
• Data Blending and Unions.

Using the "Show Me" panel and manual chart building.

• Creating bar charts, line charts, and scatter plots.
• Building maps (symbol and filled maps).
• Using hierarchies and drilling down.
• Sorting, filtering, and grouping data.

Creating new data fields from your existing data.

• Basic calculated fields (row-level, aggregate).
• Logical functions (IF/THEN, CASE).
• Level of Detail (LOD) expressions (FIXED, INCLUDE, EXCLUDE).
• Table calculations (Running Total, Percent of Total).

Adding interactivity and complex charts.

• Creating sets and using them in visuals.
• Using parameters for "what-if" analysis.
• Building dual-axis charts.
• Heat maps and treemaps.

Combining worksheets into interactive reports and narratives.

• Building a dashboard (tiled vs. floating).
• Adding interactivity (filters, highlighting, actions).
• Dashboard design best practices.
• Creating a data-driven story with Story Points.

Sharing your insights with your organization.

• Publishing workbooks to Tableau Server/Online.
• Managing permissions and users.
• Data extracts vs. live connections.
• Scheduling data refreshes.

Building an end-to-end BI solution.

• Choose a dataset and a tool (Power BI or Tableau).
• Clean and model the data.
• Build an interactive, multi-page dashboard.
• Present findings and insights from the data.