Live Q&A: Governance and Administration of the Power BI Service

During this interactive Q&A session you can ask all questions on administering and governing the Power BI Service. We will try to provide you with answers to all your questions, based on our experiences with our clients and the organizations we work for.

Over the last couple of years, we have learned that being a Power BI Service administrator is much more than just turning on or off the Power BI Admin settings (no matter how vital these settings are).

The focus of this Q&A is not only the Admin settings, as we Power BI admins are also impacting the data culture of an organization. We can discuss aspects of sharing data inside and across organizations. But we can also talk about what has to be done to meet the requirements of data governance and compliance rules requirements.

Direct Lake, Import, Direct Query – Mastering Semantic Model Storage Mode

In the world of semantic models, choosing the right storage mode is crucial. Whether you’re dealing with Direct Lake, Import, or Direct Query, each storage mode has distinct advantages and use cases.

We're diving into the different storage types that are available for your semantic models. Each of the Direct Lake, Import, and Direct Query modes has its own use case. When should you choose what? What should you consider when choosing a certain storage mode? Or even more exciting, a combination of storage modes?

We’ll delve into real-world scenarios where each storage mode shines. When should you opt for Direct Lake? How does Import mode excel in certain situations? And what about Direct Query? These questions we'll answer together.

Next to exploring the different storage modes we'll also dive into optimization strategies. Learn how to leverage aggregations effectively to boost the performance of your import models. Discover best practices for query folding in Direct Query mode. And unravel the mystery behind ‘framing’—a key concept for working in Direct Lake.

By the end of this session, you’ll be equipped with practical insights to confidently choose storage modes and optimize your semantic models.

Although anyone can benefit from this session, a basic understanding and some level of experience is assumed in the examples and demos. We won't be doing a 101 or introduction level things.

A Deep Dive Into The Power BI Direct Lake

The term storage mode in Power BI refers to how tables are stored and how queries will be sent to the data source. In Power BI desktop you can specify the storage mode on a per-table basis. It's important to understand how the different storage modes function and how they can be utilized to meet certain business requirements.

Power BI has had storage modes for quite some time, with Import being the best practice and default mode for the majority of projects.
With Microsoft Fabric, a new mode has been announced: Direct Lake mode.

How does that fit in? It's actually not really a storage mode (because it doesn’t store any data!), but more a connectivity mode.
What are the differences and similarities or the pros and cons to the old storage modes?
What Power BI or Fabric licenses do we need, to use Direct Lake mode?
What is Delta, Parquet and V-Ordering all about?

In this session we will deep dive into the Direct Lake mode and try to answer these questions.
This sessions is mainly aimed at Power BI developers, so anyone who works with Power BI Desktop, or people that want to get a better understanding of all the storage modes in Power BI. Some experience with Power BI (Desktop) is assumed, so that you have a basic understanding of how Power BI works.

So You Are The Fabric Admin... Now What?!

Do you know your way around Power BI Desktop, but don't know what happens beyond it, or what has to be managed in the Service?
Do you have the privilege, as an IT Admin or Global Administrator, to "also take care of Fabric"?
Did you just receive the responsibility for some, or even all, Fabric Administrator tasks? And what about all the (new) Fabric workloads, like Spark compute?
Do you also not know what the Power Platform (management) really is?

If you answer Yes to any of the questions above, this session is for you!
Managing a Fabric capacity is not easy and involves many decisions. Now that Copilot can be used in every capacity, you also need to manage the dedicated Fabric Copilot capacity. And do you want to use Autobilling for Spark?

In this session, we will take a look at tasks and components that can (or should!) be part of a Fabric Admin's daily routine.
- The changed role of the Fabric Admin
- Tenant settings
- Capacity and Admin Monitoring
- Power Platform Admin Center
- Fabric Unified Admin Monitoring (FUAM)

I will also show how you can extend the Admin Monitoring semantic model to get a grip on the usage of your Pro licenses.

When you start applying the tips and tricks of this session, you will get a grip on your Fabric tenant!

Making The Most Out of The Power Platform

Are you looking to empower your users with the ability to refresh the Power BI dataset directly from within a report? Do you need the capability to edit your data seamlessly in a Power BI report? Would you like to ensure that your Power BI dataset refreshes automatically as soon as the connected dataflow is updated?

Now you can achieve all this with the integration of Power BI, Power Apps, and Power Automate!

Join us in this live demo session, where we will explore how the Microsoft Power Platform products can work together to create dynamic, user-friendly, and interactive data solutions. I will demonstrate practical examples of how these tools can enhance your data management capabilities, streamline workflows, and provide a more responsive and interactive experience for your users.

Target audience:
Current users of Power BI who want to expand their capabilities by incorporating additional Microsoft Power Platform products.
Individuals who work with data analysis and business intelligence, looking for ways to optimize their reporting processes and enhance data interactivity.

Key Takeaways:
Integrated Data Solutions: Learn how Power BI, Power Apps, and Power Automate can be combined to create seamless and interactive data experiences.
Enhanced User Capabilities: Discover how to enable report users to refresh datasets and edit data directly within Power BI reports, providing greater control and flexibility.
Automated Workflows: Understand how to set up automated data refreshes that trigger as soon as connected dataflows are updated, ensuring your reports always display the most current data.
Practical Implementation: Gain insights into the practical steps and best practices for integrating these tools, demonstrated through live examples.

A Deep Dive Into The Power BI Direct Lake

Power BI has had storage modes for quite some time, with Import being the best practice and default mode for the majority of projects.
With Microsoft Fabric, a new mode has been announced: Direct Lake mode.

How does that fit in? It's actually not really a storage mode (because it doesn’t store any data!), but more a connectivity mode.
What are the differences and similarities or the pros and cons to the old storage modes?
What Power BI or Fabric licenses do we need, to use Direct Lake mode?
What is Delta, Parquet and V-Ordering all about? Fallback, Framing?

In this session we will deep dive into the Direct Lake mode and try to answer these questions.
This sessions is mainly aimed at Power BI developers, so anyone who works with Power BI Desktop, or people that want to get a better understanding of all the storage modes in Power BI. Some experience with Power BI (Desktop) is assumed, so that you have a basic understanding of how Power BI works.

What Is Microsoft Fabric and How Does It Benefit You as a Power BI Developer

In this session we will introduce you to the possibilities that Microsoft Fabric brings for Power BI developers. For a Power BI developer starting with Fabric, it is important to understand that Fabric enables all components to be developed and managed in the Power BI platform as native assets. This means that you can use Fabric to unify your data estates and unlock value with a data integration experience that combines the ease of use of Power Query with the scale and power of Data Factory.
After this session you will understand the different capabilities like Direct Lake, Git Integration, and Dataflows Gen2. We will bring you up to speed with all the new features in Fabric that you need to know as a Power BI developer, combined with real world demo's.

Level 200, no prerequisites.

What are Power BI External Tools and How Can I Use Them?

In this session we will show you what external tools are in Power BI. The rest of the session will be used to demonstrate a lot of tools that are already built by the amazing Power BI community and can provide enormous value. Some tools have similar use cases, some complement each other, most are free, but some (features) can be paid.
I do *not* own or affiliate with any of the tools. I *do* appreciate and work with them on a daily basis!

At the end of this session you will know how these external tools can help you in your day-to-day Power BI work.

We will take a look at a choice of the following tools:
- DAX Studio
- Bravo
- Tabular Editor
- ALM Toolkit
- Measure Killer
- PBI Explorer
- ...

Optimizing Your Power BI Workflow with Project Files, Source Control, and TMDL

You're part of an analytics team at a fast-growing tech company, relying on Power BI for key insights. But as your data and team grow, so do the challenges: messy files, unclear version history, and unwieldy data models.

Then inspiration strikes - another team solved similar issues by adopting a structured project setup, using source control, and managing models with TMDL. You follow their lead.

Months later, your workflow is streamlined, collaboration is smooth, and your reports are sharper than ever. This session shares the strategies that made that transformation possible - so you can apply them in your own Power BI projects.

In this session, we will guide you through these strategies, demonstrating how to replicate this success in your own Power BI projects.
By the end of this session, you will be equipped with practical knowledge and tools to optimize their Power BI workflows, ensuring their data analytics projects are well-organized, versioned, and scalable.
We will start with a regular PBIX-file and gradually transform it into an organized, versioned model. Using Visual Studio Code, we will set up source control in Azure DevOps with the PBIP-format, apply TMDL and eventually integrate Git into the workspace.
Note: This session assumes a basic understanding of Power BI. Fundamentals of source control and branching will not be covered.

Key Takeaways:
Structured Project Management: Learn how to keep your Power BI project files well-organized.
Source Control: Discover how to use source control in Azure DevOps to track changes meticulously.
Efficient Data Modeling: Leverage TMDL to manage complex data models effectively.
Enhanced Collaboration: Implement Git integration for smoother collaboration and improved productivity.
Practical Implementation: Walk through the practical steps to transform a PBIX file into a versioned, scalable model using Visual Studio Code.

Target audience:
BI Devs, Tech-savvy data analysts regularly working with Power BI and looking to improve their workflow efficiency, collaboration and complex model management.
Also, users who have a foundational understanding of Power BI and are interested in advanced techniques and tools to optimize their workflows.
Admins responsible for setting up and maintaining the technical infrastructure, including source control and versioning systems, in an enterprise environment.

Empowering Your Enterprise with Microsoft Fabric Monitoring Solutions

Maintaining the performance and reliability of enterprise applications is crucial. Microsoft Fabric Monitoring Hub provides a complete solution for monitoring, diagnosing, and optimizing your IT infrastructure. This presentation will cover the key features of Fabric Monitoring Hub, including real-time analytics, proactive alerts, and integration with Microsoft tools. Attendees will learn how to use these capabilities to improve system performance, reduce downtime, and support business success.

We will talk about the Monitoring hub, Admin Monitoring (workspace) and the Fabric Capacity Metrics App. We will also show a way to extend the Admin Monitoring semantic model to incorporate your own data and see what users use their Power BI Pro license.

We will introduce the Monitor Hub and demonstrate end-to-end scenarios to help you learn how to monitor jobs, such as data pipelines, on Fabric. Monitoring will be a focus of the session, showing practical steps to set up monitoring environments, configure alerts, and interpret diagnostics for different workloads.
Next, we will highlight the Fabric Capacity Metrics App to monitor your capacity, and the Admin Monitoring workspace, showing how they provide insights into resource usage and administrative oversight.

Join us to explore practical use cases, best practices, and future trends in enterprise monitoring with Microsoft Fabric.

Insights into Power BI & Fabric Governance, Administration, and Capacity Monitoring

In this training day, we’ll dive into the essentials of effectively governing and managing Power BI/Fabric environments. You will gain insight into key administrative tasks, capacity management, and monitoring best practices to ensure optimal performance and resource utilization within their Fabric deployment.

By the end of this session, you will:
* Understand the role and responsibilities of a Fabric administrator
* Be equipped to manage and optimize Fabric capacities, including using the bursting and smoothing options
* Gain hands-on knowledge of tools such as the Fabric Capacity Metrics App and Admin Monitoring workspace to establish operational efficiency
* Learn about best practices for capacity planning, automation, and cost management in a Fabric deployment
* Walk away with troubleshooting techniques to maintain a high-performing Fabric environment

Topics covered during the day:
* The role of the Fabric Administrator: An overview of the permissions, responsibilities, and tools available to administrators within the Fabric environment
* Admin Monitoring Workspace: Explore the Admin Monitoring workspace to keep track of performance, potential issues, and system health
* Security and Compliance Monitoring: Ensuring compliance and security standards within Fabric, including audit logs
* Understanding Fabric Capacities: Dive into the mechanics of capacity units, resource allocation, and the different capacity management features such as bursting and smoothing
* Capacity Metrics App: Learn to leverage the Capacity Metrics App to gain insights into resource utilization, demand patterns, and allocation
* Capacity Planning and Optimization: Best practices for planning capacity needs and optimizing resources based on organizational demands
* Automation and Alerts: Implementing automated alerts, notifications, and actions based on capacity and usage thresholds
* Troubleshooting and Diagnostics: Identifying and addressing common issues within Fabric environments, focusing on proactive diagnostic tools

Key takeaways:
* Comprehensive understanding of Fabric governance and administration tasks
* Practical skills to manage and monitor performance in Fabric capacities
* Tools for proactive management and troubleshooting
* Strategies for ensuring compliance, security, and cost-efficiency

This session's target audience:
* Fabric Administrators and IT professionals responsible for managing Fabric environments
* IT Managers and leaders interested in governance and capacity planning
* System Analysts and Engineers who want to broaden their skillset and need insights into monitoring and optimization techniques
* Compliance Officers looking to understand Fabric’s audit and monitoring capabilities

This interactive session will provide valuable insights for both new and experienced professionals aiming to streamline governance and optimize the performance of their Fabric environments. There will also be plenty of time to bring your own problems to the table.

Tips & Tricks of a Large Scale Power BI (Premium) Implementation

Attendees will walk away with guidelines and practical tips from a real-world implementation of Power BI (Premium) with 750+ users.
Back to September 2016: Power BI is new, shiny and hot. It is the tool of the moment, so people cannot wait to get their hands on it.
Fast forward 6 months, there is more traction within the business, trainings are given and workshops are held. The adoption of Power BI is growing. Some departments already use Power BI very extensively and incorporate it in their day-to-day processes. Due to this quick success there is uncertainty regarding the right support team for incidents and problems.
Because an app workspace creates an Office 365 group with a lot of artifacts behind the scenes, the creation workflow is controlled by IT. Unfortunately this inhibits the end users.
We require more governance, not to further bother the users, but it is essential to stay in control. Responsibilities need to be better aligned between IT and the business. And what to do with Power BI Premium?
Throughout this session we take you along on our Power BI journey, with tips, tricks, do's and don'ts during the implementation of Power BI (Premium) at a financial institute in the Netherlands.
For this session a basic knowledge of Power BI is assumed, there is no deep technical knowledge necessary.

This is a 45 min - one hour session (beginner - intermediate) that can be co-presented with my colleague Jeroen Schalken.

Query Folding in Power BI

Are you working with Power Query, in Excel or Power BI? Have you ever experienced that the importing of data is slower than you expected? In most of those cases, query folding is probably not happening fully optimized.
Query folding is important because it offloads data transformations to the source, instead of performing them in Power Query.
Attend this session to learn how to ensure that you get all the performance improvements possible in your reports.
You will learn how to check if a query (really) folds, how to use the Query Diagnostics feature, and even how to make a Native SQL query fold!
You will also see how (not) folding can hurt performance.

This is an intermediate, one hour technical session. A basic understanding of Power BI Desktop is required because it goes under the cover into Power Query.

A Form, a Flow and a Power BI Streaming Dataset Walk Into a Bar

This is a live demo session that demonstrates the Microsoft Power Platform of products working together to create an interactive data application.

It's good to have some form of interactivity in your presentation. Whether it's by (live) polling your audience, telling a story, asking questions during your presentation or any other way to make your presentation more interactive, doesn't really matter.
The way I started doing this was by firing some questions at the audience after I introduced myself. Although that worked pretty well, I was asking closed questions with a show of hands. I did get a feel of the audience from my perspective so I know on what topics to focus on a little more in my presentation.

But as I work with the Power Platform suite of products I thought it was a good idea to use some of that Power! So in this session I will show you the following:
- Create a form with Microsoft Forms,
- Create a Power Automate flow to get the answers,
- Push them into a Power BI streaming dataset,
- And finally create a Power BI report and dashboard on that dataset to get a live view of the answers of the audience.

Power Platform Better Together: Create a Scoring App with a Live Dashboard

Often during a presentation or workshop, you want to have an interactive quiz.
Maybe you've used Kahoot or any of the other platforms out there, but they rarely integrate well with our other applications. Using the Power Platform, we'll create an interactive quiz that gives you the best of all worlds.

Our goal is to create an app where attendees will answer questions and be awarded points for (partially) correct answers.
We want to have an application where we can enter the name of an attendee and their score. Ideally, we'll be showing the results using that same application so there's no constant switching between the app and the results.
We're going to accomplish this by using 3 of the Power Platform products: Power Apps, Power Automate and Power BI.

Join this session to see how to build this solution from scratch!

From Report to Action: Write-back with Power BI

Power BI isn’t just for slicing and dicing anymore. With (new) integrations across Microsoft Fabric and Power Platform, you can now write data back, trigger custom logic with UDFs, and build real-time, translytical apps—without ever leaving the report.

In this session, I’ll show you how to go beyond passive dashboards by combining:
* A Power App inside Power BI to write back to your database,
* User Defined Functions (UDFs) in Fabric to run logic server-side, and
* The brand-new Power BI button action that triggers UDFs directly from your report.

We’ll build a simple end-to-end translytical solution: input, update, and recalculate - all from inside a Power BI report. Along the way, I’ll show real-world use cases where these features unlock new types of business apps.

This session is intermediate level: Power BI experience is expected. No prior experience with Power Apps or Fabric UDFs required, we’ll build that up step by step.