

Explicit Measures Podcast
PowerBI.Tips
Hosted by Mike Carlo, and Tommy Puglia, the Explicit Measures Podcast is a Power BI focused show that is like being around a Power BI Pro’s Water Cooler. With so many available resources in the community that focuses on the “how” in Power BI (how to do Drill Through, how to use DAX, etc.,), the Explicit Measures Podcast is all around the WHY. Why use a particular feature, does it make sense for my users?
Build the toolset, learn the how, and then come to the Podcast to the listen to the why in situations we all experience as Power BI Pros.
Build the toolset, learn the how, and then come to the Podcast to the listen to the why in situations we all experience as Power BI Pros.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jan 17, 2023 • 60min
180: Power BI Champions Deep Dive
The guys have extensively covered the Power BI Adoption roadmap and strategies, but one missing piece not truly reviewed is the importance of what are considered "Power BI Champions" within the org.
As per the documentation, there are Community of Practice Champions who is a content creator in a business unit and the go-to Power BI expert. (see link below). But what about Champions who do not develop reports but are your cheerleaders and voice for the rest of the departments? They are essential to the overall adoption.
The guys review the differences and what it takes to establish a champions culture.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/guidance/powerbi-adoption-roadmap-community-of-practice
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/

Jan 12, 2023 • 1h 4min
179: Searching In Power BI Desktop - A Must-Use Feature?
Coming off the winds of an earlier episode, just how important is it for any report author to not just get familiar with searching in Power BI Desktop, but integrating it within their normal development workflow?
There is both searching the formatting pane, and for objects in the model. Is searching always worth it, or should we figure out where the heck the objects are in the first place?
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/

Jan 10, 2023 • 1h 3min
178: Why Power BI Is So Difficult
Discussion on the challenges and complexities of starting with Power BI, including assumed knowledge and data modeling. Comparison between Power BI and Tableau, highlighting potential drawbacks. Challenges faced by Power BI developers in terms of data visualization and technical challenges. Understanding the intricacies and value of Power BI, including its integration into Microsoft Office and accessibility to college students.

Jan 5, 2023 • 44min
177: Where do the DAX Window Functions Fit Into Our Existing Processes?
If you missed the December 2022 Power BI update, you missed a potentially altering way we think about DAX measures!
Three new functions were released that focus solely on the window, not the model (called Window functions), such as comparing the data next to the currently evaluated item in the visual, not from a evaluation context.
Regardless, should we start becoming experts in Window functions and update all our existing reports? How important are they, and how much should you focus on them now and in the future?
https://pbidax.wordpress.com/2022/12/15/introducing-dax-window-functions-part-1/
https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/power-bi-december-2022-feature-summary/#post-21693-_Toc121395731
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/

Jan 3, 2023 • 57min
176: Should We Be Utilizing Report Subscriptions More?
You have seen Microsoft update the subscription feature recently, and the guys review this potentially underutilized feature and how could it be brought to the forefront for solutions for users.
Inspiration also comes from Dan English, who created a solution to use Power Automate to deliver subscriptions close to what Paginated Reports used to do.
https://denglishbi.wordpress.com/2022/08/22/power-bi-data-driven-subscriptions-with-power-automate-report-bursting/
https://denglishbi.wordpress.com/2022/08/30/power-bi-data-driven-subscriptions-with-power-automate-follow-up-using-dataset/
New Scanner API v2!
https://github.com/pugliathomas/powerbiscannermetadata
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/

Dec 29, 2022 • 1h 6min
175: How Do you QA Power BI Assets?
Mike, Seth, & Tommy discuss a question asked on Twitter revolving on ensuring the highest quality of reports, content, and data from a team of developers. Outside of just Data Quality, what checks, processes, and reviews should be part of reports and features?
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/

Dec 27, 2022 • 1h 7min
174: Push Sources to Power BI or MDM?
We got a mailbag! Here is the question:
How strict should one be to always push new data sources through our framework before we build tabular models. When and where to draw the line of when it's ok to connect Power BI directly to a source system (or a replica of the same), to speed up deliveries undermining the long term support by not using our BI framework (bronze, silver and gold layers in synapse)
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/

Dec 22, 2022 • 1h 1min
173: Dear Satya
Mike, Seth, & Tommy write letters to Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft on their wishes for Power BI, and where the biggest needs are.
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/

Dec 20, 2022 • 59min
172: Display Folders or Measure Tables in Power BI?
Mike, Seth, & Tommy dive into a common but hard-to-find feature in Power BI - Display Folders or Measure Tables for our DAX Measures? What is the cost and benefit for each, and should we adhere to one or the other?
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/

Dec 15, 2022 • 48min
171: Does Power BI Need a Figma Design System?
The discussion pivots around whether Business Intelligence truly needs a Figma design system. Insights into Microsoft's confusing unified core model shed light on backend vs. frontend complexities. The speakers argue for better design practices in Power BI, emphasizing collaboration between designers and developers. They explore how tools like Figma can enhance report quality and user interface design, while also addressing the balance between aesthetics and functionality. Prototyping emerges as crucial for creating user-friendly BI experiences.