Integrating Power BI with Other Tools and Platforms - Textnotes

Integrating Power BI with Other Tools and Platforms

This module teaches learners how to extend Power BI beyond the Desktop and Service environment by integrating with other Microsoft tools and cloud platforms. Students will learn how to export reports, embed them in Teams and SharePoint, understand Power BI integration with Microsoft Fabric, and connect to Azure Synapse for advanced analytics. Hands-on exercises focus on exporting, embedding, and connecting Power BI to enterprise data sources.

1. Exporting Reports to PowerPoint and PDF

  1. Power BI allows users to export dashboards and reports to share offline or present to stakeholders.
  2. Example: Export a monthly sales dashboard to PDF for board meetings or to PowerPoint slides for presentations.

Steps:

  1. Open the report in Power BI Service.
  2. Click File → Export → PowerPoint/PDF.
  3. Select export options (all pages or selected pages).

2. Embedding Reports in Microsoft Teams and SharePoint

  1. Embed Power BI reports directly into Teams channels or SharePoint pages for collaboration.
  2. Example: Embed a live sales dashboard in a Teams channel for the sales team.

Steps:

  1. In Power BI Service, click File → Embed → SharePoint Online / Teams.
  2. Copy the embed link or use the Power BI web part in SharePoint.
  3. Users can interact with the report directly within Teams/SharePoint.

3. Power BI + Microsoft Fabric Integration

  1. Microsoft Fabric allows seamless integration of data and analytics across Microsoft cloud products.
  2. Power BI connects to Fabric to analyze and visualize data stored in the unified data lake.
  3. Example: Use Fabric to analyze enterprise-wide datasets and create real-time dashboards in Power BI.

4. Connectivity to Azure Synapse

  1. Power BI can connect to Azure Synapse for large-scale analytics and data warehousing.
  2. Enables querying large datasets efficiently and building live dashboards.

Example:

  1. Connect to an Azure Synapse SQL Pool and visualize enterprise sales data with live updates.

Steps:

  1. In Power BI Desktop, click Get Data → Azure → Azure Synapse Analytics.
  2. Enter server and database details.
  3. Choose Import or DirectQuery mode.
  4. Load data and create visuals.