UK Power BI Summit 2017: What’s next for Power BI?

During the keynote at the UK Power BI Summit, Microsoft announced some new features coming into Power BI. Chris Webb also provided a session on Azure Analysis Services, hinting at what may be next and more importantly, how they may impact Power BI. 

Without further ado, I will dive straight in.

Power BI Visuals

Some exciting visuals were demoed by Will Thompson (Program Manager for Power BI). They were shown in an exclusive preview of Power BI, not available to the general public:

–          Themes

o   Finally! Companies can now easily ‘skin’ a suite of reports to use standardised logos, fonts, etc. 

o   The themes will be driven by JSON file.

o   All themes can be uploaded into PowerBI.com, using the ‘Themes Gallery’.

–          Slicer Improvements

o   A numeric, sliding scale slicer will be available as a new configuration option.

o   Currently only designed for attributes. 

o   Measure slicers are not  an immediate focus, but Microsoft are giving it thought.

–          Matrix/Table Visuals

o   Whilst they currently exist, a new visual will be added. This includes:

§  Drill down capabilities.

§  Include/Exclude – like what you see in charts currently.

§  Ability to highlight rows and columns, which also cross filters and highlights the selections on accompanying charts.

Analysis Services

All of the features discussed are for Azure Analysis Services, but I am sure they will also be made available on-prem soon after GA release:

–          Live Connect to Analysis Services

o   Add ad hoc measures within the Power BI Model.

o   It does not update your actual Analysis Services model, therefore, adding measures in Power BI need to be done so with caution.

o   Currently Tabular only, but should eventually come into Multidimensional too.

o   Available in both Azure (cloud) and on-prem.

–          Power Query/M Integration

o   This is the missing jigsaw to the Power BI/Analysis Services puzzle.

–          Table Level Security

o   Ability to implement this and row-level security together.

–          Migrating existing Power BI Models

o   This will be awesome! Imagine being able to move your complex Power BI model (which is now performing badly) into an Azure Analysis Services model?

o   At the moment, you have to create the tabular model again.

Conclusion

Whilst no official dates have been given, I hope that March’s release will include the visual features, such as themes. The ones specific to Azure Analysis Services are ideas that have come from many blogs (professional experts) and the Microsoft roadmap. 

If there is a feature that your customer needs or just something you believe should be in Power BI, the Ideas forum is a great place to submit your suggestion.

Further Reading

For up to date Microsoft announcements, I would definitely advise following the below blogs and twitter users:

–          Blogs

o   Power BI Ideas – https://ideas.powerbi.com/forums/265200-power-bi-ideas

o   Power BI Blog – https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/

o   Power BI Blog Announcements –  http://bit.ly/2kAv4Id

o   Chris Webb’s blog – https://blog.crossjoin.co.uk/

–          Twitter

o   Will Thompson (Power BI Program Manager) – @Will_MI77

o   Riccardo Muti (SSRS Program Manager) @RiccardoMuti

Contact Me

If you have any questions, please comment below or contact me directly on Twitter (@DataVizWhizz ) .