In our previous post we looked at the built-in reporting options available in Dynamics. These are a great starting point, but you may find that you need more sophisticated reporting. This is where Power BI comes in.
What is Power BI?
PowerBI is a reporting tool which is part of Microsoft’s Power Platform. People use PowerBI to create data visualisations, reports and interactive dashboards combining data from many sources.
Power BI is separated in to 2 versions:
PowerBI Desktop is the main report building app. This is where you choose and combine data sources, then create reports based on the data. Once the report is built, you publish to the cloud.
PowerBI Online this online app is designed for sharing and collaborating and basic report editing. You’d use this app to share reports and dashboards with colleagues and Dynamics 365.
How do I get PowerBI?
The details are on Microsoft’s PowerBi pricing page
You can download the desktop version for free using your work email address. You can access the online version for free also. There are some limitations with the free version, but you can
- connect to data sources
- create reports and
- share reports
This will give you enough functionality to decide whether PowerBI works for you.
You get a PowerBI pro licence included with some Microsoft enterprise licences.
Enable PowerBI reporting in Dynamics 365
- You’ll need administration privileges to do this
- Click the cog icon
- From the settings menu choose Administration then System Settings
- From the System settings pop up, choose the Reporting tab
- Select Yes in the Allow Power BI visualization embedding setting.
Connect PowerBI to Dynamics 365
- Open PowerBI desktop
- Choose Get Data
- From the Power Platform menu choose Dataverse
- You may need to enter your username and password
- From the Navigator window, choose the Dynamics environment you’d like to use, then chose one or more entities (tables) which you’d like to report on
Make a simple report in PowerBI
There are many more PowerBI report building guides available on the web, so we won’t cover it in detail here.
To simplify, this step is to create charts and visualisations using the data sources you chose earlier.
Publish to PowerBI online
- Once you’re happy with your report, save it, then choose Publish to PowerBI from the file > Publish menu
- Choose a workspace to publish to
Prepare your PowerBI Dashboard for Dynamics
- In PowerBI online look for your newly created report in the workspace you chose earlier
- Open the report
- Select Pin to a dashboard
- Choose an existing dashboard or create a new one, then click Pin live
Embed your PowerBI dashboard in Dynamics 365
- In Dynamics 365, click the entity (table) you’d like the dashboard to appear on
- From the New menu select PowerBI Dashboard
- Choose your dashboard and save
- Your dashboard will appear in Dynamics
Use Cases for PowerBI reporting in Dynamics
Sales Performance Analysis
A company with a large sales team wants to track and analyse the performance of individual salespeople, territories, and products.
Solution: Using Dynamics 365 to capture sales data and Power BI to visualize the information, they can create dashboards that quickly show top-performing salespeople, regions with the highest sales, and the most popular products.
Customer Support Insights
A tech company wants to monitor and reduce the time it takes to resolve customer support tickets.
Solution: By integrating Power BI into Dynamics 365, they can visualize ticket data, average resolution times, and identify bottlenecks or common issues requiring more extensive training.
Inventory Management:
A retail business wants to optimize its inventory levels across multiple store locations.
Solution: Integrating Dynamics 365 data on stock levels with Power BI, they can predict which items are likely to run out and which are overstocked, allowing for better inventory management and reduced holding costs.
Marketing Campaign Analysis:
A marketing agency wants to evaluate the effectiveness of different marketing campaigns for their clients.
Solution: By pulling campaign data from Dynamics 365 into Power BI, the agency can visualize metrics like engagement, conversion rates, and ROI for each campaign, aiding in refining strategies.
Supplier Performance Monitoring:
A manufacturing company wants to track the performance of its suppliers, including delivery times, quality metrics, and costs.
Solution: Data stored in Dynamics 365 regarding suppliers can be visualized in Power BI, allowing the company to quickly spot any suppliers who are not meeting standards and negotiate terms or seek alternatives.
Financial Forecasting:
A finance director wants a clear picture of the company’s financial health and projections for the next quarter.
Solution: Integrating financial data from Dynamics 365 with Power BI, they can create detailed financial dashboards. These dashboards can showcase current financial status, trends, and predictions, helping in strategic decision-making.
