MS Build 2018 – Day 1 Announcements

Yesterday was BUILD 2018 Day 1. Fully-packed keynotes with many demos and alike announcements. In this post I would like to summarize some of them (the more data platform related ones):

Data is and will be one of the main pillars of computing in the future. I think this tweet by @Microsoft gives you some ideas how the amounts of data will increase in the next 2!! years.

Power BI & Excel

For me as a Power BI fan this announcement is my personal favorite – Power BI custom visuals will find their way into EXCEL! yes – your read it right… Excel gets Power BI custom visuals. As of today only announced but according to the blog posts soon available in the Developer previews of Office 365.

• Power BI blog
• Excel / Office blog

The Azure Mobile App is now GA

A very handy way to control your Azure resources on your smart phone is the Azure Mobile App. During Build the app got its GA status.

• Azure blog

AI – Artificial Intelligence

One of the main trends in the data platform field and in many organizations – bring AI into your business and processes!

Joseph Sirosh shares the vision and announcements about the Azure AI Platform – New innovations for developers. The Azure AI Platform consists of three main pillars – AI Services, AI Tools & Frameworks and AI Infrastructure.

Source: Azure blog (b)

New services and enhancements were announced – please read the blog post for details:

• Josef Sirosh – Azure Blog

Frank Shaw summarizes the Future of society with AI and the intelligent cloud

• Microsoft Blog

By the way – If you want to learn more about AI in the Microsoft universe – two good starting points were mentioned in Josephs blog:

• azure.com/ai
• aischool.microsoft.com

Cognitive Services

Although a part of the Azure AI services, I would like to dedicate a chapter here to Cognitive Services. New services were announced and existing services got updates..

• Azure blog

In addition: If you want to test some future, early versions of new Cognitive services – the Cognitive Services Labs is your starting point!

Microsoft Data Platform

Rohan Kumar summarizes the current state and announcements about the Microsoft Data Platform

• Azure blog – The Microsoft data platform continues momentum for cloud-scale innovation and migration

 

• Cosmos DB announcements
  • Azure Blog
• Azure SQL Data Warehouse
  • Azure blog some days earlier than build, but very interesting
• Azure Data Bricks
  • Azure blog (announcement in March)
• The Azure Database Migration Service got GA status
  • Azure blog
• Azure database services for MySQL and PostgreSQL – GA
  • Azure blog (announced in March)

 

If you have time today, Day 2 keynotes plus some session content will be live-streamed! -> https://aka.ms/WatchBuildLive2018

Have fun reading through all the announcement post! Great Data Days ahead…

Wolfgang

 

 

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How to activate your Power BI Pro (MSDN benefit)

o you have an MSDN subscription? Do you know that there are several benefits included in those subscriptions like one Power BI Pro license? And the best is – it’s for free (at least for some of the subscription levels)! For an overview about which benefits are included please visit: https://www.visualstudio.com/vs/pricing/

Where do you find your additional benefits?

• Your starting point to all your MSDN subscription benefits is https://my.visualstudio.com
• Please log in with your work or personal account (I assume you already activated your MSDN subscription beforehand)

The welcome screen should look similar like the following screenshot. There are some point I would like to highlight:

1. If your account is bound to multiple MSDN subscriptions please check this part of the screen (and the drop down box) to select the right subscription.
2. The list of available benefits for your subscription are available after selecting the Benefits menu item
3. The direct way to the Download section
4. If you need a list of already requested and/or available Product Keys, this menu item is the right one!
5. The list of assigned MSDN subscriptions is available behind this menu item. In my case, I’ve got two different MSDN subscription levels assigned to my user.

   

6. The “missing” Power BI benefit is available in the Tools section. Just use the greater-than link to scroll to the rest of the benefits – et voila – Power BI Pro is here.

To request your Power BI Pro license you’ll need to start the process by clicking on the Activate. The following wizard guides you through the Power BI signup process!

Have fun and enjoy your Power BI Pro experience,

Wolfgang

Show Dataset Parameter Values in Power BI Reports

Dataset Parameters are a way to bring some sort of dynamic into your Power Query datamodelling in Power BI. For my blog post about  Modifying Parameter values in powerbi.com  I was looking for a way to display the value of a parameter inside a Power BI report.

In this blog post I would like to show you the steps that are required to bring your parameters to your field list  – and as a consequence – into your Power BI report.

Within Power BI Desktop, open the Power Query Editor and add a new parameter to your data model.

     

In my demo, I add a new parameter called paramStartDate.

The data model contains one data table (Sales) plus the parameter. Close the Power Query Editor.

The field list only contains the data table but no parameter!

Open the Power Query Editor again and right-click on the parameter. If you activate the option Enable load for the parameter and hit Close&Apply the parameter magically appears in your field list.

The field list contains a table named paramStartDate with one column (also named paramStartDate).

You can now use this column in your report to represent the current value of your parameter!

Modify Parameters for Datasets published to powerbi.com

Parameters are a very nice example of getting more dynamic into your Power Query for building your Power BI datasets. Until recently, the configuration of parameters published to powerbi.com was a “little” bit annoying. To change a parameter value, you had to change the value in Power BI Desktop and re-publish the dataset. And again – the Power BI team released a small but great feature to simplify this process.

Let’s introduce: Manage your dataset parameter values directly in powerbi.com

In the following example I would like to guide you through a small sample exemplifying this new feature. I start with my data table – sales information that happened in December 2017 and January 2018. The data is stored in an Azure SQL Database.

The data modeling steps are very simple. Connect to the Azure SQL Database and select the source table.

Edit your data preparation steps by selecting “Edit” to open the Power Query Editor (by the way – this name was changed in a recent Power BI Desktop Update.. 😊)

In the next step, a parameter named paramStartDate is created and used in a subsequent step to filter the entries.

The filtering step is added by using a Date Filter on the SalesDate column and choosing the After.. option.

Define the filter options as shown in the following screenshot.

That’s it for data preparation. Please close the Power Query editor and start building a sample report.

Sample report (paramStartDate set to 1.1.2017)

Let’s change the parameter value (Edit Query – Edit Parameters) and hit “Apply changes” (plus Refresh in the report pane). Et voila – only sales info in 2018 is shown.

Publish the data set to powerbi.com and test the parameter configuration

As a next step, the created dataset (plus sample report page) is published to a powerbi.com workspace. The report contains the filtered data as shown above. In order to change the parameter value in powerbi.com you’ll have to open the dataset settings. There are two ways to open these – either by getting there through the settings option in the main menu or by using the “Schedule refresh” option.

Enter the new value for the parameter and hit apply. What you need to do next is to refresh your dataset (i.e. the parameter filtering is applied in this step).

In the case that your report was already open before you started the refresh, you’ll need to manually hit refresh in your report to display the new data.

Happy parametrization,

Wolfgang

 

 

 

Power BI Report Server March 2018 is available

Waking up and getting the info that there is a new version of Power BI Report Server available.. I like those days.. 🙂

The announcement post lists the improvements that are added to this new version:

Some of my highlights I was really waiting to get them into the on-premises PBIRS:

• Bookmarks are now available!
• Sync slicers across multiple report pages
• Cross-Highlighting across multiple charts
• Quick measures
• Performance improvements (mainly when working with Direct Query sources)
• …

The list of features indicates that those features that got GA before the new PBIRS version is released made it to the March 2018 release.

Important note: Do not forget to download and install the according Power BI Desktop Version (Optimized for Report Server)! Only this version gives you access to the full set of new features!

Where do you get the new version from?

• Power BI Report Server info page
• Download page  (Report Server plus Power BI Desktop Optimized for Report Server)
• Support timeline page

Next on my list: upgrade my test server and afterwards – get the March 2018 release into production!

Happy reporting,

Wolfgang

 

Data News – 2018 / 09

I am in the middle of my jet-lag – It is #MVPSummit week .. Data News Selection will appear on this weekend!

Conferences

• In April, Dublin will be the center of Power BI 🙂 The Data & BI Summit is coming to Dublin. There will be a Microsoft Deep Drive Track – See the details here (https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/charles_sterling/2018/01/12/microsoft-deep-drive-track-at-the-bi-summit/)
  • Sessions for Data & BI Summit now available –> https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/sessions-for-data-bi-summit-now-available/
• Latest news: The dates for Build 2018 are announced -> May 7th-9th 2018 in Seattle, WA -> https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/build plus: registration is live!

Data News – 2018 / 08

Sorry – for the delay! Too much preparation work for the upcoming two weeks of #SQLKonferenz and #MVPSummit!

Welcome to edition 8 of my Data Platform News SELECTION. I’ve again collected a list of (at least for me) interesting links out of the internet dealing with data and/or Microsoft data platform. Enjoy the reading…

Azure

• The Developer’s Guide to Microsoft Azure (2nd edition) -> Free Guide Download -> https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/campaigns/developer-guide/
• Azure Roadmap – Select the product and get the most current roadmap information -> https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/roadmap/
• Azure – Training – Hands-On-Labs – https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/training/hands-on-labs/

Business Intelligence

• SQL Server Reporting Services vs Power BI Report Server – What’s the Difference? https://whitepages.unlimitedviz.com/2017/09/sql-server-reporting-services-vs-power-bi-report-server-whats-the-difference/

SQL Server / Azure SQL Database / SQL DW

• Azure SQL Database
  • Protecting highly confidential sales with Azure SQL Database – (Technical Whitepaper Download) – https://www.microsoft.com/itshowcase/Article/Content/1006/Protecting-highly-confidential-sales-data-with-Azure-SQL-Database
  • VNet Service Endpoints for Azure SQL Database generally available – https://azure.microsoft.com/de-de/blog/vnet-service-endpoints-for-azure-sql-database-now-generally-available/
  • Migration SQL Server databases from AWS EC2 to Azure SQL Database using the Azure Database Migration Service – https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/datamigration/2018/02/21/migrating-sql-server-databases-from-aws-ec2-to-azure-sql-database-using-the-azure-database-migration-service/
  • Sync SQL data in large scale using Azure SQL Data Sync – https://azure.microsoft.com/de-de/blog/sync-sql-data-in-large-scale-using-azure-sql-data-sync/
  • Introducing SQL Information Protection for Azure SQL Database and on-premises SQL server! https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/sqlsecurity/2018/02/20/introducing-sql-information-protection-for-azure-sql-database-and-on-premises-sql-server/
• Azure SQL DW
  • Unlock Query Performance with SQL Data Warehouse using Graphical Execution Plans (SSMS 17.5) – https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/unlock-query-performance-with-sql-data-warehouse-using-graphical-execution-plans
  • Is Azure SQL Data Warehouse a good fit? https://www.blue-granite.com/blog/is-azure-sql-data-warehouse-a-good-fit
• SQL Server
  • Cumulative Update #4 for SQL Server 2017 RTM – https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/sqlreleaseservices/cumulative-update-4-for-sql-server-2017-rtm/

Power BI

• Power BI Usage Metrics Solution Template – https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/announcing-the-power-bi-usage-metrics-solution-template/
• Power BI – Dynamic Row Level Security is easy with Active Directory Security Groups – https://www.fourmoo.com/2018/02/20/dynamic-row-level-security-is-easy-with-active-directory-security-groups/

Miscellaneous

• Announcing a new update for mssql-cli: Special Commands – https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/dataplatforminsider/2018/02/21/announcing-a-new-update-for-mssql-cli-special-commands/
• SSMS 17.5: Data Discovery and Classification – https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/dataplatforminsider/2018/02/20/whats-new-in-ssms-17-5-data-discovery-and-classification/
• AI: Natural and Artificial Intelligence – http://inverseprobability.com/2018/02/06/natural-and-artificial-intelligence
• Team Foundation Server (TFS) 18.1 RTM is available – https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/bharry/2018/02/20/tfs-2018-1-rtm-is-available/

Conferences

• February in Germany – #SQLKonferenz in Darmstadt. Reserve your spot for (almost) everything around Microsoft Data Platform!
  • The #sqlpass_de crew will take care of you! -> https://sqlkonferenz.de/agenda.aspx
• In April, Dublin will be the center of Power BI 🙂 The Data & BI Summit is coming to Dublin. There will be a Microsoft Deep Drive Track – See the details here (https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/charles_sterling/2018/01/12/microsoft-deep-drive-track-at-the-bi-summit/)
  • Sessions for Data & BI Summit now available –> https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/sessions-for-data-bi-summit-now-available/
• Latest news: The dates for Build 2018 are announced -> May 7th-9th 2018 in Seattle, WA -> https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/build plus: registration is live!