Table of contents
1.
Introduction
2.
Power BI
3.
Power BI Service
3.1.
Get Data
3.2.
Delete data
4.
Frequently Asked Questions
4.1.
What is Power BI?
4.2.
What is Power BI Service?
4.3.
Is Power BI service free?
4.4.
What is the difference between Power BI Desktop and Power BI service?
4.5.
Is Power BI native to Azure?
5.
Conclusion
Last Updated: Mar 27, 2024

Getting started with Power BI Service

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Introduction

Azure, popularly known as Microsoft Azure, is a cloud-computing platform providing a broad range of cloud services which do various operations on data. Due to the flexibility of Azure, this proves to be a great backup tool for developers. Integration becomes easy to a large extent. Hosting and developing web and mobile apps becomes less brainstorming. Multifactor authentication helps in providing strong security and protects the software from cyber-related issues. Now, in this blog, we will start learning about Power BI service.

Power BI

Power BI is a collection of software services and applications that work together to turn your unrelated data into relevant and interactive insights. The data can be of any form like excel sheets, data in the cloud or data warehouses, etc. The Power BI service is a Saas(Software as a Service) provided by Power BI. The Power BI service's dashboards and reports help you organize relevant data. The main components of Power BI are the Windows desktop application Power BI Desktop and the Power BI mobile apps for operating systems like Windows, iOS, and Android devices.

To know more about Microsoft Power BI, you can refer to our blogs - Introduction to Microsoft Power BIGetting started with Power BI DesktopPower BI service features by license type, and Overview of Power BI Desktop.

Power BI Service

You can use Power BI to create content and handle your data. You need a Power BI account to handle your data. You can create either Power BI Pro or Premium Per User (PPU) license accounts if you don't have one. A beginner can use the Premium Per User (PPU) license for 60 days trial. Let’s learn how to use the Power BI service and handle your data.

Get Data

We can get the data saved on your Power BI Desktop by following the steps below. Let’s try to get data from a simple Microsoft Excel file to understand better.

1.Open the Power BI Service in your browser and log into your account. You can create a Power BI trial account if you don't have an account.

2.Select the My workspace in the navigation panel and click on New Upload a file. This will open the Get Data page.

Screenshot of Create new content > Files.

                                                                                           Credit: Microsoft

3. Click on files under the Create new content section. Now click on the Local file and select the file's location on your computer to open it.

4. Now, choose the Import or Upload options based on your requirements. The Import option will add the file as a dataset, whereas the Upload option will upload the entire Excel workbook to Power BI, which you can later edit in Excel online. In this article, we’ll use Import to make the process simple and easy to understand. 

Screenshot of local file

Credit: Microsoft

5. Select the three dots icon beside your dataset to open more options, and then click on Create report to open the report editor.

Screenshot of All content > Create report.

Credit: Microsoft

6. You can now create a report and modify it using the filters, visualizations, etc., in the editor.

visuals with power bi

Credit: Microsoft

Delete data

Once you’re done with your data and don’t need it anymore, you can delete the datasets and reports. Let’s learn how to delete them now.

  1. Click on the three dots icon beside your dataset to open more options, then click on delete. Then you’ll get a warning and a popup that asks if you’re sure. 
  2. After you confirm, select delete again. All the datasets and reports you have selected will be deleted now.
Screenshot of All content > Delete report.

Credit: Microsoft

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Power BI?

Power BI is a collection of software services and applications that work together to turn your unrelated data into relevant and interactive insights. The data can be of any form like excel sheets, data in the cloud or data warehouses, etc.

What is Power BI Service?

The Power BI service is a Saas(Software as a Service) provided by Power BI. It is a cloud-based online service for creating and modifying reports and collaboration for teams and corporations.

Is Power BI service free?

The Power BI service has both paid and free licenses. The licenses are Power BI Pro, Power BI Premium, and Power BI Premium Per User (PPU). These can be used for free with the 60 days free trial period.

What is the difference between Power BI Desktop and Power BI service?

The Power BI Desktop is a tool used to connect data, modify it and create reports on the data. Power BI Service is a service hosted online on Microsoft Azure for creating and modifying reports and collaboration for teams and corporations.

Is Power BI native to Azure?

Microsoft Azure is natively integrated with Power BI to help the user analyze the data and include the data in any part of the team of the organization.

Conclusion

We have discussed the concept of Power BI Service and Getting started with Power BI Service in this article. You can open a new Power BI Service account by logging into the portal and managing your content. 

To prepare for interviews, you can go through the Power BI Interview Questions(Basic)Power BI Interview Questions(Intermediate level), and Power BI Interview Questions(Advanced level).

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