I have been getting some questions about it recently so I decided to write a few lines in addition to what's now available on the Power BI site. Here is a list of some key points about the tool: No middle-ware components are necessary to provide the connectivity between Excel and the Business Objects server. … Continue reading What is the Microsoft Power BI connector for SAP?
Category: PowerPivot
Power BI Data Management Gateway and OData
I just got back from the SharePoint conference and wanted to write down a few points about the Power BI Data Management Gateway before I forgot. It appears that there may be a progression in how Power Query may get used by an organization. I cannot say I am 100% clear on all the scenarios … Continue reading Power BI Data Management Gateway and OData
What is Power BI Gateway?
After I wrote the step by step guide on integrating on premise data with Power BI models I realized that I actually dispensed some bad advice. The basic premise of the post was to demonstrate how one may use Power Query to source data into a Power Pivot model in a very elegant way (at … Continue reading What is Power BI Gateway?
How to configure on premise access in Power BI and use Power Query to load on premise data into Power Pivot
In this post I will walk you through all the steps necessary to expose your on premise enterprise data to your Power BI users of Power Query in Excel and also will demonstrate how to source that data into a Power Pivot workbook. I am not going to give you too much theory, rather, I … Continue reading How to configure on premise access in Power BI and use Power Query to load on premise data into Power Pivot
How to load Power Query directly into Power Pivot
I have to admit, I like Power Query more and more every day. Even though on one hand sometimes I feel that the tool will only appeal to a very specific type of power users, on the other hand, I can't help but feel that the tool is so good that I wonder if it … Continue reading How to load Power Query directly into Power Pivot
Getting back in the game…
I have not been posting much on the site in the last few months. This lack of activity was attributed to predominantly two things: A) My summer got really busy with my primary revenue generating activities and B) There was really not whole lot going on in the MS BI space that I felt I … Continue reading Getting back in the game…
A quick rant on Power BI, #confused….
There are now scores of blogs and web articles available that do a great job of introducing Power BI (a good example can be found here) so there is little value in re-hashing it in this post. I do, however, want to reflect and pontificate a bit on this announcement. The most important piece of … Continue reading A quick rant on Power BI, #confused….
Modeling financial scenarios tutorial available from Microsoft
Kasper de Jonge has recently posted a PowerPivot model, Access database with some financial data and a white paper that provides what I think is the absolutely best way to jump start a BI initiative focused on implementing financial metrics and KPIs. Please find the overview and the download link here. This is an absolute … Continue reading Modeling financial scenarios tutorial available from Microsoft
PowerPivot File Size Limit in Excel 2013
This is more of a note to self as I am constantly self-confusing myself with how much data can be loaded into a PowerPivot model. Basically, there are two things to consider, version of office one is running and whether a SharePoint deployment option is required. First, whether one is running a 32 or a 64 … Continue reading PowerPivot File Size Limit in Excel 2013
SAP vs. Microsoft, Information Assets vs. End User Experience positioning
If your company runs SAP, chances are the picture below represents your environment pretty well The black colors represent the existing investments/business processes and the size of the bubbles represents the effort/investment $$$. Your company has made a very large investment in the SAP back-end (ERP, BW, etc.) which is represented by a large black circle … Continue reading SAP vs. Microsoft, Information Assets vs. End User Experience positioning
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