Day 01 Part 1 — Power BI Basics: Agenda¶
Power BI is the most widely deployed business intelligence tool in the enterprise world. This session takes you from zero to your first interactive report — covering the interface, connecting data, building a data model, and writing your first DAX measures.
Session Overview¶
Duration: 3 hours Prerequisite: Week 01 — Excel, SQL basics, understanding of tabular data Tool: Power BI Desktop (free download — see link below)
Download Power BI Desktop
Free download: https://powerbi.microsoft.com/desktop No account required for Desktop. A Microsoft 365 / Power BI Pro account is needed for publishing and sharing (covered in Part 2).
Learning Objectives¶
By the end of this session you will be able to:
- Navigate the four Power BI views: Report, Data, Model, DAX Query
- Connect to Excel, CSV, and SQL data sources
- Use Power Query Editor to clean and transform data before it reaches the model
- Build a basic star schema with relationships between tables
- Write essential DAX measures: SUM, COUNT, CALCULATE, time intelligence
Session Flow¶
| Time | Topic | File |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00 – 0:30 | Interface orientation — four views, panes, canvas | 01-power-bi-interface |
| 0:30 – 1:15 | Connecting data and Power Query Editor | 02-connecting-data |
| 1:15 – 2:00 | Data model basics — star schema, relationships | 03-data-model-basics |
| 2:00 – 2:45 | Basic DAX — measures vs calculated columns, key functions | [[04-basic-dax]] |
| 2:45 – 3:00 | Practice exercises briefing | [[05-practice-exercises]] |
Power BI Product Lineup¶
Understanding which product you are using matters — the features and licensing differ significantly.
| Product | Cost | Where it runs | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power BI Desktop | Free | Your machine (Windows only) | Building reports |
| Power BI Service | Pro: ~$10/user/mo | Browser (powerbi.com) | Publishing, sharing, scheduling refresh |
| Power BI Mobile | Free | iOS / Android | Consuming reports on the go |
| Power BI Premium | ~$20/user/mo or per-capacity | Cloud | Large-scale deployment, paginated reports, AI features |
| Power BI Embedded | Pay per usage | Your app | Embedding reports in custom web apps |
For this course
Power BI Desktop is sufficient for all exercises. You only need a Pro license when you publish and share reports with colleagues — covered in Day 01 Part 2.
Key Terms for This Session¶
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Report | A collection of visuals on one or more pages, built in Desktop or Service |
| Dashboard | A single-page canvas of pinned visuals in the Power BI Service |
| Data model | The set of tables and relationships that power your report |
| Power Query | The ETL layer — transforms your raw data before it enters the model |
| DAX | Data Analysis Expressions — the formula language for measures and calculated columns |
| Measure | A DAX formula evaluated dynamically in the current filter context |
| Calculated column | A DAX formula evaluated row-by-row when data is loaded |
| Star schema | A central fact table connected to dimension tables — the gold standard for Power BI models |
Next: 01-power-bi-interface