The other day a secondary family member said “we’re still on Microsoft 2010”. Another said “My friend is using Windows 2003 and can’t open a document I sent”. They were apparently talking about versions of Office products.
I get so deeply engrained in the Microsoft Business Intelligence community culture that I have to remind myself that most people don’t spend all their time keeping up with these products that are constantly in motion. And these are just Office users! When I work with BI consulting clients and business folks in the industry, it’s apparent that most people really don’t understand where these products and services begin and end.
Mark Tabladillo has done the world a service by laying out exactly what Power BI is, the products that it includes, and how to license it and get started. This is a great resource on the Microsoft MVP Program Blog that breaks it all down and helps it all make sense. Thank you, Mark!
Here’s a sample:
Primer on Power BI (Business Intelligence)
Power BI is new and emerging self-service business intelligence and business analytics framework brings together and enhances key Microsoft technologies:
- Office
- SQL Server
- Azure
- SharePoint
Fundamentally, Power BI is considered a premium Office option, because Microsoft licenses it that way. Yet, the technology details also comprise new collaboration technologies for SQL Server, Azure and SharePoint. A successful technology collaboration will have boundaries which could arguably belong to one or more of the contributing technology groups.
This document provides links and introductory information to Power BI. My analysis is more useful for the enterprise planner (CIO, CTO, Information Technology Architect), but also is useful for individual consumers. Power BI is a technology which extends from individual use on any device (laptop, tablet or smartphone) and all the way up to high-scale cloud or hybrid (cloud plus on premise) production architecture…
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