Microsoft Power BI is a powerful business intelligence tool that is capable of accumulating, analyzing and visualizing and sharing data for business persons. The Power BI platform is highly useful for people accustomed to using other Microsoft products like excel. The Power BI UI is very intuitive and can be operated without training.
Since Power BI is a Microsoft product, it receives regular updates from the tech giant. In this post, we will discuss the latest and important February updates that are added to the data visualization platform to enhance its capabilities.
Let's get started.
Many new features have been added in reporting, visualizations, analytics, data connectivity, services, developers, template apps, mobile and others.
For a complete list of Power BI February, updates visit here.
REPORTING
DirectQuery for PBI datasets and Azure Analysis Services
With the new updates, users will be able to delete the DirectQuery connections in Power BI and azure analysis services.
This is helpful not just for the integration of data in a single location but also for deleting the old data sources and adding new ones.
- Search Bar
Like other Microsoft 365 tools, Power BI also has a search bar where any function, commands or files can be easily searched for.
The search bar feature is backed by AI. Based on the current state of the report a user is creating it suggests some actions too.
- Color Picker
To pick more precise colors, the color boxes are more separated and new colors are added as well. In the more colors section, users can now search for a color by entering an RGB value or a HEX value. This is helpful to find the exact color users need for branding and design purposes.
- New Filter Options
Two new filter options: “is empty” and “is not empty” has been added for text data types. These options can be found in the advanced filter settings.
Creating highly detailed reports takes long even with such advanced visualization tools. This new advanced filter option makes it easy to sort the null values and numeric digits. Thus reducing the time to make beautiful and elaborated reports.
ANALYTICS
- Anomaly Detection In Ribbon
The anomaly feature was introduced in November 2020 to identify anomalies in the time series data and enhance line charts automatically. It also provides explanations of anomalies to help with root cause analysis.
In the February edition, a new entry point has been added for the anomaly feature in the AI section. And the minimum number of data points for the analysis has been brought down to 4.
With anomaly and line charts it is easy to understand data and get insights in a look without tearing deep into the data.
DATA CONNECTIVITY
- Parquet Files Connection in Power BI desktop
With the new updates, parquet files connector will be available in the get data experiences of Power BI which were only available in dataflows.
Parquet files format provides much faster performance than other CSVs and nested schemas.
- Salesforce API Update
Microsoft Power BI will now have compatibility with the most up to date Salesforce API – V48. Salesforce APIs often deprecate after 3 years resulting in removed objects and properties causing trouble. But with the new update Salesforce connector is by default set to use V48 API.
SERVICE
- Email Subscription Attachment
Like an email subscription, multiple users can create a subscription for themselves and others in the premium upgraded workspace and get a copy of the reports. The attachments can be generated in PDF or PPT format.
With an email subscription, it is easy to extract reports and share them with the entire team. For enterprises and large teams, this adds another layer of convenience as it reduces the effort of sharing and collaborating on the same report.
MOBILE
- The Power BI Visualization Tool Mobile App
New features added in February 2022 includes endorsed content and navigation to workspaces in the free version.
Now it is easy to find certified content on Power BI apps with tags and badges. Report creators can now promote or certify content to show the ones which are approved by the organization.
This way businesses don't need to worry about what data to show their employees.
Also, the new mobile app capability lets free license users access and view workspaces where they are added as viewers directly from the workspace list.
VISUALIZATIONS
- Shielded HTML Viewer
The addition of HTML formatted content in reports and dashboards set the right context for data visualization. This is the reason why Power BI developers love bi visuals that allow adding such HTML themed content because it adds such great value to reports.
But integrating HTML formatted content can also be a potential security breach.
In the February updates, this has been taken care of. The first Microsoft certified HTML viewer in Power BI.
- Zebra BI Tables
The new 4.5 version of zebra tables in Power BI has some progressive features in the bag.
l – Formula editor
Without complex data set changes, users can add completely new elements even if it's not in the data sets to the Zebra BI table, custom calculates a formula directly in the visual and format the row accordingly.
ll – Dynamic commentary
There is no need to mention the crucial importance of commentary in Power BI reports to convey the key business messages in a clear and detailed manner.
Now team members working together, managers and executives can add dynamic comments in Power BI reports and dashboards.
Zebra 4.5 updates also bring comment markers, Comment tooltips and linked comments to execute a wider range of dynamic commentary solutions.
- Zebra BI Charts
The new 4.5 version of Zebra BI charts brings impressive design additions and dynamic comments too.
The new chevron arrows can be used to display variances by pointing in different directions. This feature is a major help for people with color blindness because variances are not just differentiated by color but also by shape.
Dynamic commenting is also added for Zebra BI charts for improved communication.
Along with these latest features, Microsoft Power BI is loaded with much other business intelligence and data visualization capabilities to help businesses get the best insights and solutions out of their data.
If you are looking for a data analysis or data visualization platform to collect, analyze and present data, consider Microsoft Power BI consulting services to grow and expand your business.
