Exploring the model pane in Power BI Desktop: A Hands-on guide

❕ Note – The new model explorer is currently in preview as part of Power BI Desktop October 2023 release. To enable the preview feature go to File -> Options and settings -> Options -> Preview features and enable “Model explorer and Calculation group authoring” The Model Pane feature is showcased here as part of … Read more

Mastering DirectQuery in Power BI: A Deep Dive into Performance Optimization – Part 1

Working with Power BI DirectQuery datasets, you might sometimes find that performance issues can feel inevitable. Especially with larger datasets where many moving parts can cause potential complications. In this series, I will guide you towards mastering DirectQuery in Power BI, starting with an overview to help you understand the aspects of DirectQuery performance and … Read more

Comparing Import vs DirectQuery Storage Modes in Power BI

When building semantic models in Power BI, you have different options on how to connect and store the data in your models. There are two main Power BI storage modes to choose from when querying data from your data source. These are import mode and DirectQuery mode. Import mode in Power BI allows you to … Read more

Dimensional modeling for Power BI: The purpose of data modeling

Wonder what the number one most important skill is when building Power BI semantic models? Or if Kimball data modeling is still relevant? Then you have come to the right place. Data modeling techniques and methodologies are a common discussion topic when working on BI or data warehouse projects. There are multiple practices of data … Read more

Power BI data types in relationships – Does it matter?

If you have a background in traditional database development you might have learned that using integer over e.g. string has a performance benefit in for example indexes and joins. You might have brought this knowledge with you into the world of Power BI or tabular development. Perhaps you are enforcing the use of integer columns … Read more

Level up your Power BI model using DAX Studio – Part 2

Welcome back to part two of how to level up your workflow and Power BI model using DAX Studio! I’m showing you my go to scenarios on when to use Power BI together with DAX Studio. In the first part of this post I started with an introduction to what DAX Studio is. I discussed … Read more

Level up your Power BI model using DAX Studio – Part 1

DAX Studio is a popular tool used by many Microsoft data professionals. It is commonly used as an advanced enterprise tool when working with tabular models. Are you new to DAX Studio or want to learn more about how to use it in combination with Power BI? Follow along while I show you my go … Read more

Inside Power BI – Compression and the power of Vertipaq

Vertipaq is the actual database engine used in Power BI. It is also the engine used in Analysis Services Tabular and Excel Power Pivot.One of the reasons behind Vertipaq’s great performance is due to the different compression and encoding techniques that it applies to the data. The overall purpose of the different compression techniques used … Read more

Conditional formatting a matrix with Calculation groups in Power BI

Time to read: 5 minutes Calculation groups is a powerful feature in Power BI. However, using them adds some complexity and brings some limitations to Power BI’s native functionality. Or should I say, changes them. One of these cases are related to the use of Conditional formatting using a calculation group as e.g. columns in … Read more