Microsoft Power BI is the most popular business intelligence tool. Its efficient way to handle complex data makes it the most widely used. Power BI allows an organization to easily access data from multiple sources and create interactive dashboards or visualizations. You must connect to the data source before Power BI can process any data. The data source you are trying connect to will determine the method.
Connecting PowerBI with different data sources
Three of the most popular data sources in Power BI are:
SQL servers
Excel sheets
Data entered directly into PowerBI
The source of the data will determine how the data is connected. This is a step-by-step guide on how to connect the data for the three sources mentioned above.
1. Connecting to SQL Server data
It is simple to connect Power BI with an SQL server. Follow these steps to connect Power BI to an SQL server:
Open the Home menu using the Ribbon tool.
Click on the Get Data Option to choose SQL Server.
Enter the Server name and Database name and click OK.
A window would display all databases under the selected server.
Select the correct database, then select the table that contains the data you require.
Now the data will start loading into Power BI. You can now choose the relevant headers from Fields, select Visualize and customize your report.
2. Connecting to Excel data
If the data source is an Excel spreadsheet file, the following steps will help you connect it to PowerBI:
As in the case of connecting with an SQL server, you can start by opening the home menu and going to the ribbon tool.
To open the Get Data Window, click on the Get Data option.
Click on the File option. This is where you will find a different approach to connecting to an SQL server.
Choose Excel from the list and click on Connect.
Now you can browse the Excel file and then upload it.
Power BI would now initiate this connection process.
You have only connected the data source. It has not been loaded into Power BI yet. The process would fail if you moved the file from its source.
Select the worksheet where you want to load the data. A preview of the sheet will also be displayed in the window.
You can either click on Load to load the data as it is or click Transform to modify it.
The loaded workbook will now be displayed under Fields. You can view all data by expanding the sheet.
The report is ready once you have selected the data from the tile. You can change the report’s format using the Visualization options.
3. Power BI allows you to load data directly into Power BI
This is the simplest way to load data into PowerBI. Here’s how it works:
Open the Home menu by going to the Ribbon tool.
Click on Enter Data.
Select the Create Table option.
To create a sheet similar in style to Excel Worksheets, follow the instructions in the pop-up window.
Start creating columns and then enter the data.
Now you can prepare the report by selecting Headers from the Fields option.
These data sources were the easiest to connect to Power BI. There are many other data sources available, including cloud infrastructure platforms such as Azure. The process may be more complicated for these data sources.
How can you become proficient at using Power BI data?
If your job involves working with Power BI data, you will want to improve your skills in connecting to data sources. Other Power BI skills are also in high demand, such as the creation of customized visualizations or the analysis of reports. Employers are searching for Power BI data analysts, especially with the increasing use of BI tools.
The PL-300T00: Power BI data analyst course will help you to improve your Power BI skills. This course requires you to pass the DP-900: Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals exam before you can enroll.
What is the PL-300T00 course about?
This course covers a range of topics that deal with Power BI data. Here are some topics that the course outline covers:
Get started with Microsoft Data Analytics
Preparing data in Power BI
Power BI Data Model Design
Power BI optimizes the performance of data models
Power BI allows you to clean, transform, and load data
Power BI: DAX to create modern calculations
Power BI: Managing and creating workspaces
Managing Power BI data
Advanced analytics in PowerBI
Creating Power BI dashboards
Creating Power BI reports
Enhancing Power BI reports to improve storytelling and usability
How to use Power BI maps
How to use ch
How easy is it to connect to different data sources in Power BI?
