What is the line between a professional and well-designed report and a beautiful report? Do our Power BI Reports need to be designed to perfection, ready to be printed out, or is does that take away from the intention and story of the report? Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page. Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/ Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎ Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/ Follow Seth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-bauer/ Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Mike, Seth, & Tommy discuss managing unstructured data in Power BI, including Excel files, exported data, self-service measures, and write-back. They explore challenges in dealing with data from different systems, and the importance of automation and tools like Power BI. They also discuss accountability in data management and the role of executive sponsors.

We have another mailbag! The guys discuss the following: Is there a time when I should use Excel over Power BI? The situation I am thinking about is when I need to input different values to analyze various scenarios. One limitation I see with power BI is I cannot create a calculated table that is updated with a slicer.  To me, I cannot do a discounted cash flow without this option.. Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page. Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/ Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎ Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/ Follow Seth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-bauer/ Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Watch this video first! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYYkRaU0xh8 How does the 21 mind traps video relate to us in the Power BI world? Mike, Seth, & Tommy discuss. Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page. Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/ Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎ Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/ Follow Seth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-bauer/ Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Mike, Seth, and Tommy dive into DataOps processes and methods and how much they should be integrated with Power BI developers. Links: https://www.kerski.tech/bringing-dataops-to-power-bi/ https://dkproduction.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/DK_dataops_book_2nd_edition.pdf https://f.hubspotusercontent10.net/hubfs/2866765/Recipes%20for%20DataOps%20Success/DK_Recipes%20for%20DataOps%20Success_LR.pdf Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page. Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/ Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎ Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/ Follow Seth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-bauer/ Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive back into the Mythical Man-Month series and tackle the idea of the Second System Effect and how it relates to Power BI development. The Second System Effect is the tendency for a developer to "err on the side of over embellishment when planning their second project". This usually occurs when small, elegant, and successful systems can become over-developed and bloated due to inflated expectations and overconfidence.  How does this relate to our development and report lifecycle? Links: https://cszy.medium.com/the-second-system-problem-and-a-practical-solution-c2514d67a7d6 https://robertgreiner.com/the-second-system-effect/ https://medium.com/holes/second-system-effect-1a4a1cf76836 Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page. Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/ Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎ Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/ Follow Seth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-bauer/ Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Based on this tweet: Andy Cutler on Twitter: "Is an Analytics Engineer a BI Developer? All the skills I’m seeing align with that." / Twitter What is an Analytics Engineer, and how does it differ from the normal BI Developer? What about a BI Engineer, or even a BI Architect? The guys dive into different roles and try to define them. Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page. Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/ Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎ Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/ Follow Seth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-bauer/ Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Mike, Seth, & Tommy look at their practices to see if there is a larger need in our reports for more user interaction on the canvas itself.  We struggle with finding space for visuals, text, and data. Buttons can get in the way, and we usually hide them in the top corners.  However, from adoption and an easier experience for users, should interactive objects take more precedent in our layouts? What is sacrificed (how significant) and what could this lead us to building differently? Look at the following on the Gallery of an example: https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Data-Stories-Gallery/Accessible-Data-Storytelling-World-Bank-Heath-and-Wealth-Report/td-p/2927555 Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page. Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/ Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎ Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/ Follow Seth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-bauer/ Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Inspired by Kurt Buhler (DataGoblins), Mike, Seth, & Tommy review how essential sample data, dummy reports, and messing around with non-business forward scenarios is essential to picking up new skills and growing the ones you have.  Is this essential to becoming an expert?  https://data-goblins.com/power-bi/sql-dataset https://data-goblins.com/power-bi/personal-data Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page. Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/ Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎ Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/ Follow Seth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-bauer/ Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/

Mike, Seth, & Tommy pick up a potentially contentious topic... Should ALL Power BI models have certain objects hidden from the report view? While there are more than one benefit to this, this always hides that object from any other view (live connection, Excel, etc).  Is this a basic practice, and if so what components would be part of this checklist?  Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page. Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/ Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/powerbitips Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/230fp78XmHHRXTiYICRLVv Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/explicit-measures-podcast/id1568944083‎ Check Out Community Jam: https://jam.powerbi.tips Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcarlo/ Follow Seth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-bauer/ Follow Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommypuglia/