Microsoft Power BI Quick Start Guide: The ultimate beginner's guide to data modeling, visualization, digital storytelling, and more

Not a simplified version for none technical people. Not an over complicated master class in Power BI. It's Useful for beginners and intermediate. Pretty straightforward.

I wish I had this book when I first started. Tech books generally fall into 2 category types (broadly): reference books and training books. This one falls in the latter category and is great for a person that is new to Power BI and has the time to learn things properly step-by-step. True to its name: Microsoft Power BI Quick Start Guide: The ultimate beginner's guide to data modeling, visualization, digital storytelling, and more - this book is very much for the beginner. You won't get deep knowledge or troubleshooting techniques (there are other great books for that), but it covers enough advance topics lightly that the reader will know where to go next depending on their situation. Even lightly touches on R and AI to give the reader a taste of capabilities, which is impressive. What you will not get (nor does it promise) deep dives into topics or a lot of information on the admin side (though there is some!) But what you will get, is a pretty good foundation from beginning to end for aspiring PBI developers or self-service users. I would recommend using this book as a step by step guide to introduce you into all the different components. This book is great for beginners that may be a little unsure where to start, by both explaining different areas and giving step by step examples. One of my favorite aspects are the great screenshots that give a numbered breakdown in the text of each section. This is invaluable (though new users should be aware that sometimes things change with updates). My only pause, was the data sources chapter. I felt like the Import data source options were a little confusing the way it is laid out. At first it seems that only a couple of data sources are mentioned, but then you realize other ones are folded up under different headings such as SSAS under live connections. This might be fine for readers using the book from beginning to end (recommended), but many things may get lost for beginners jumping around looking for a specific scenario (which is what I was doing initially). I recommend this book If you are brand new to PBI and need to get up and running quickly - it will definitely help you get on your journey without overwhelming you too much.

As a mid level Power BI professional I would wholeheartedly recommend this book for someone starting out. It covers the basics of how to connect to various types of data sources, how to write DAX (Time Intelligence was a plus), how to use Power Query to transform data, and creating a report/dashboard. Shortcuts on using the "Ask a question about your data" is nice, PBI will create a viz for you. Adding Row Level Security is a desired skill. Having the ability to download files and follow along with the book is wonderful. You can get actual experience, not just read something. There are also advanced transformations discussed, using R and M language. This would be great for someone who wants to venture into Data Science analytics. I plan on using this book as a trusted resource if I need to research anything related to Power BI."

As a MicroStrategy Business Intelligence professional, I was quite excited to get my hands on this book. With the words "Quick Start" in the title, it sounded exactly like what I needed. So, did this book live up to its promise to be my “Quick Start” introduction to the world of Microsoft PowerBI? 100% Yes!! I highly recommend it for anyone new to PowerBI, and people transitioning over from other BI tools. For those of you interested in a few more details, here are a few quick thoughts on the main topics in this book. - The range of topics is perfect for a Beginners Quick Start title like this. - The book covers the basics on how to Connect to the most popular data sources. - Once connected, it walks you through how some very nice, and powerful Data Transformations capabilities using the Power Query editor. This step allows you to get your data "cleaned up" prior to moving to the next steps. - Next up, it walks you through the process of modeling your data with several fitting examples on best practices etc. I even learned a few new things in this chapter. - The fun part is next when the book walks you through the main PowerBI visualization interface. The authors do a wonderful job explaining everything important that you will see on the UI. - Once comfortable with the UI layout, building your Data Visualizations is next. Again, the authors take you through the most important visualizations that you need to know about and explain how to use each in detail. There is even a little section on Data Storytelling with PowerBI that I found quite interesting. - The final few chapters are for Enterprise Users where the book goes into a nice amount of detail on how all the server side of PowerBI works. If you're planning to use PowerBI at work, then these Enterprise chapters will be a great introduction for you. While the book doesn't go into deep technical detail, I found that the authors provided just enough to "give you a taste" of the whole other PowerBI world in a large enterprise.

This book is a great tool for both experienced and inexperienced Power BI users! It’s written in clear and simple language which makes it easily understandable for the beginner. The topics in the book are well-rounded, from the basics to the more advanced concepts. One great thing about this book is that it has links to helpful external resources as well as data samples so you can follow along with the step-by-step instructions for a more hands-on learning approach. It also contains great visuals with clear instructions which makes it easy to follow along with. The table of contents is organized into visualizations of data by type, so even if you don’t have time to read the full book, it can always be kept by your desk as a quick reference tool when building reports and dashboards. They really thought of everything with this book and I definitely recommend it for anyone starting out, or looking to deepen their understanding and improve their Power BI skills!

I got this book because I’m new to Power BI and it advertised itself right on the cover as being “the ultimate beginner’s guide”. I then open it to read in the preface that book is “for business intelligence professionals who have experience with traditional enterprise BI tools.” I found this to be very misleading as I am not a BI professional and don’t have the required prerequisite experience that was cited in the preface. I am true beginner trying to learn because I find myself suddenly using it at my job and needed true beginner type learning. When someone says it is the “ultimate beginner’s guide”, that is what I reasonably thought I was getting. I was wrong and will be returning. Very disappointed and extremely misleading!

This weekend I finished reading Microsoft Power BI Quick Start Guide 3rd Edition and I am really impressed with the quality of this book! Devin and team have done a marvelous job communicating and presenting this beginner's guide. All 10 chapters are well written and provide a thorough discussion of principles and concepts with great graphics and samples. In chapter 2, you'll start connecting to data and walk away with the skills to connect to your own data models. Next in chapter 3 through 6, you'll learn strategies, working with data models, leveraging DAX, and get a good overview of visualizing data. Chapter 7 is a great summary of storytelling with Power BI. Chapters 8-10 finish with Power BI service, dataflows, and on-prem report server. I've had the privilege to read more than 20 Power BI books and find this one at the top of my recommended books list for 2023. If you are looking for a great foundation in Power BI and more, I highly recommend this book!

“Microsoft Power BI Quick Start Guide — Third Edition” is a concise yet brief guide to data modeling, visualization, digital storytelling, and much more. It is ideal for all the Power BI Beginners attempting to figure it out. An absolute YAY! It is a must-have for all the Power BI newbies and here are a few reasons why: 1. Easy to read and understand language. 2. Not too much information. 3. Perfectly paced and organized. 4. Has colorful snapshots and screenshots. 5. The entire book has a flow. 6. Can be used as a reference for basic concepts.