Microsoft Power BI Certification: Step by Step Guide

Power BI (Business Intelligence) is an analytics tool developed by Microsoft. As the usage of BI gains momentum in the corporate world, more professionals want to enhance their skill set and add BI certification to their resumes. This blog can help get you started with your Microsoft Power BI Certification.

We all are living in a data-oriented world. Whether small or well-established, all companies are advancing toward analytics. As a result, data has emerged as the ultimate way to business growth and long-term customer relationships.

Data in itself is not sufficient to be used for analysis. It depends on multiple tools and services, and such a tool is Microsoft Power BI.

What is Power BI? - An Introduction

Microsoft offers Power BI, a cloud-based business information and analysis service. It is a set of data connections, apps, and software services for business intelligence and data visualization.

Professionals can observe and use datasets that Power BI imports for data visualization and analysis. As a result, they can quickly create sharable reports, apps, and dashboards.

Power BI tool has a user-centric design. It offers convenient drag-and-drop features and characteristics that allow users to self-learn.

Different types of Power BI platform elements offered by Microsoft are -

• Power BI Desktop - A desktop application
• Power BI Service - SaaS (Software as a Service)
• Power BI Mobile - Platform for iOS and Android devices
• Power BI Report Server - After making Power BI reports through Desktop, users can produce them to an on-premises report server.

The good part is you can install power BI on both on-cloud and on-premises platforms.

Using Power BI Desktop, users may access the required data sources and create reports. Then, users can send the finished report to the Power BI Service so that end users may see and engage with the data.

If you are not ready to share the data with anyone beyond your organization's network, you can choose to work with the Power BI Report Server.

Even those who don't consider themselves highly tech-savvy can use Power BI swiftly. You can use Power BI to process the data, produce the required reports, and distribute them to the appropriate teams or individuals as long as you have access to the dashboard, the data sources, and a functioning network connection.

After mastering Power BI, it is critical to research the numerous employment options available to qualified workers.

Why is Power BI important?

• Let's talk about a few reasons why Power BI is a necessary tool and why we need it.
• Direct connections to the sources of data can be made in Power BI to perform real-time analysis. Additionally, it provides the latest data through refreshing data.
• A customizable visuals gallery contains personal visualizations that you can use. Custom visuals can be made in a wide variety of ways and categories.
• Using the Quick Insights tool, users can fast search for significant insights and datasets inside your data.
• Use a secure route to access data through data gateways and create an active or inactive connection to on-premises data sources like SQL Server. Due to the safe data transfer provided by on-premises connectivity, as well as the technology's scalability and dependability, Power BI is now enterprise-ready.
• Using Power BI, you can link to other services like Microsoft Excel, SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS), and more.
• A new-age piece of software, Power BI makes use of cutting-edge technology like HTML 5.0, cloud computing, column store databases, mobile apps, and more. As a result of frequent feature updates, this keeps Power BI at the top of the heap and popular.

Why should I Get A Power-BI certification?

Every aspiring IT professional asks this question. Here are some reasons to get a Microsoft Power BI certification.

• Gain Deeper Knowledge: For starters, Power BI certification can open multiple opportunities for you to understand Power BI deeply. In-depth study and analysis compel you to know the details of Power BI, so you can execute your job effectively.
• Get Noticed By Employers: Next reason is a Power BI certification can push your resume to the top. Employers look forward to having professionals with such powerful skills. A certificate can verify that you have the skills their company expects. It shows that you are dedicated to advancing your career. The future is unknown, so even if you are not actively looking for work right now, you might want to in the future.
• Earn Higher Salary: Finally, getting certified can increase your pay. Certified Power BI experts typically earn more than their uncertified competitors. According to Glassdoor, a Power BI developer takes home an average annual salary of $81,514 in the United States.

Features of Power BI

While preparing and seeking training for the Power BI exam, you should know about some intriguing features of Power BI.

• Datasets
• Interesting Visualizations/ personalized visualizations
• Dashboards
• GetData (Data sources)/data connections
• Natural language Q & A box
• Datasets
• Filters
• Trend identifiers
• Temporary analysis
• Reports/ Temporary reporting
• Online Analytical Processing (OLAP)
• Content packs
• Navigation pane
• DAX functions and formula
• Office 365 app launcher
• Authoring interactive reports

Companies that use Power BI

There are various industries that use Power BI. The list includes IT, insurance, healthcare, HR & recruiting, financial services, and computer software. Here are some names.

• Adobe - USA
• Nestle - China
• Hospital Montfort - Canada
• Dell - USA
• Conde Nast - USA
• Kraft Heinz Co - USA
• Meijer - USA
• Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC – UK

Who are the Users of Power BI?

Based on their reason for using Power BI, there are four categories into which you can divide Power BI users.

1. Analysts

Analysts utilize Power BI to make reports, dashboards, and data models. Power BI analysts also examine these reports to find important data insights. Using Power BI, an analyst may gather information from several sources, create a shared dataset, and then clean up and prepare the data in reports and analyses.

2. Business Users

The typical users who analyze the reports and dashboards shared with them through the Power BI website or mobile app are known as business users. Business users stay informed with information so that they can make critical decisions quickly. They can also configure alert notifications for any data change or anomaly (if that happens).

3. IT Professionals

The scalability, accessibility, and protection of data are the major concerns of IT professionals. They also control the administration of all Power BI users and services.

4. Developers

The entire technological work is the responsibility of the developers. Their primary responsibilities include developing reports, incorporating Power BI into other apps, and developing bespoke visualizations for use in Power BI.

What career options are available to Power BI certified professionals?

Power BI is an all-pervasive and versatile tool. You can have an idea of it after knowing the positions open for certified professionals.

• Power BI Developer
• Power BI Analyst
• Power BI Data Analyst
• Power BI Business Analyst
• Power BI Software Engineer
• Senior Software Engineer
• Senior Business Intelligence Analyst

How To Get the Power BI training?

Step 1: Try to know the interface.

Installing Power BI and being comfortable with its user interface is the first step in learning it.

Fortunately, Microsoft offers Power BI as a free download. You must run Power BI on a virtual machine if you don't use Windows because it can only run on that operating system.

After installing Power BI, you should become comfortable with the interface's key components.

Step 2: Create a few graphics

The development of Report View visualizations or graphics using fresh data sets should be your next step. You want data sets where modelling and data cleaning are not necessary.

This will help you gain expertise in importing data and producing reports.

Step 3: Data Modeling and cleaning

You may use Power BI to perform more intricate analysis if you have a handle on creating visualizations. Building data models, using DAX to compute numbers, and using the Power Query Editor to clean up data are all required.

These elements will initially appear to be complicated, but you can learn them one at a time by working on projects.

Step 4: Publishing the reports

You need to be able to share your analysis with your team while using Power BI at work. This is accomplished using the Power BI service.

You may publish reports you have created on the Power BI desktop to the Power BI service and share them with others.

Step 5: Grow your project portfolio

You must be able to combine all of your knowledge into a final workflow once you have a firm grasp of Power BI's key capabilities. This process includes:

• Locating and adding a dataset to Power BI
• Using the Power Query Editor to clean up the data
• modeling the data and establishing connections
• utilizing DAX to calculate any necessary columns
• making reports and visuals
• Putting those reports online

You need to find this final process with various datasets to ensure that you completely understand the usage of Power BI and its aspects.

You can use the work done for other projects to develop a portfolio. A portfolio constitutes a collection of your completed work that you can display for employers on the Github profile, your CV, or your own website.

Get Your Power BI Certificate

You will be prepared for the PL-300 certification test if you have mastered all of the essential Power BI features and finished a number of end-to-end projects. You will need these key abilities to pass the exam:

• Getting the data ready (import, clean, change data)
• Using data modelling (creating a data model with DAX, optimizing performance)
• Data visualization and analysis (making & improving reports and identifying trends)
• Utilizing resources (Controlling files and workspaces)

Here are some specifics on the abilities the test will measure.

Build Your Career with Power BI certifications

Self-learning is a great option for getting your Power BI certification. However, the complex concepts may make it a long journey for you to clear the examination. Therefore, looking for training options is always a good idea. Microtek learning's Power BI training courses can assist you, whether you have just begun your Power BI journey or at a higher level. They have various courses available such as Power BI data analyst and Power BI app maker. You can check the Power BI certifications training modules by Microtek Learning.