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cosmos's avatar
cosmos
Regular Visitor
10 years ago

Is PowerBI the tool for me?

A current recurring task we have is that we get nightly sales reports via FTP which are loaded in to SQLServer. This data is then manipulated through SQL views and exported into Excel where graphs, c...
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cosmos's avatar
cosmos
Regular Visitor
10 years ago

Thanks for all the replues, lots of really useful information there. Unfortunately, emailing copies of the report (as attachements for disconected viewing etc) is a non-negiotiable requirement. I was hoping to do that as a starter just to tick the box but then wow the recipients with the rich, interactive visualisations of the power bi reporting capabilities, but if that can't be achieved then unfortunately its a non starter :(

    • cosmos's avatar
      cosmos
      Regular Visitor
      10 years ago

      Thanks for the info. 4-6 week wait would be fine, but what functionality will that be? Will it be to export the Dashboard as an Excel file as we have some senior users who unequivocally will not accept anything other than the report attached and opening in excel (I know, I know!).

       

      not sure about Flow - as much as I like the idea, its just another piece of the puzzle that could go wrong (plus I searched for PowerBI on there and it came back with nothing!

      • Greg_Deckler's avatar
        Greg_Deckler
        Icon for Community Champion rankCommunity Champion
        10 years ago

        You might reach out to nickcald and see if you can get a more definitive answer on exactly what the functionality will be. Not sure if he will respond, but worth a shot.

  • a_mixed_life's avatar
    a_mixed_life
    Icon for Resolver I rankResolver I
    10 years ago

    I would ask them what their business case would be on why the reason for wanting it on Excel? To have the ability to manipulate data on excel?

     

    Also, if I could ask, what ERP are you running?

    • cosmos's avatar
      cosmos
      Regular Visitor
      10 years ago

      The business requirement is that we can't lose any existing functionality and thats how its currently delivered and the recipients actually really like that functionality. Regardless of whether it makes sense, its the way it is. :(

      • a_mixed_life's avatar
        a_mixed_life
        Icon for Resolver I rankResolver I
        10 years ago
        cosmos wrote:

        The business requirement is that we can't lose any existing functionality and thats how its currently delivered and the recipients actually really like that functionality. Regardless of whether it makes sense, its the way it is. :(

        Those are the phrase we hate the most whenever we go through Change Management or as a Project Manager and Director of IT, "That's how we've always done it".

         

        There were some who swears on Excel, in Dynamics, we use Jet Reports since it lives in Excel and have similar functionalities as PowerBI on their latest release. It does have the ability to connect to SQL even if you're not using Dynamics ERP.