19 Power bi best practices

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In this Power BI Tutorial, we will discuss the top 19 Power bi best practices, especially we will focus on Power bi report best practices.

Power bi best practices

  • Microsoft Power BI Desktop is a free tool, that allowed us to create a no. of visuals and data models from data sets.
  • The data may be an Excel spreadsheet or a collection of cloud-based and on-premises hybrid data warehouses or even a SharePoint list.
  • Nowadays, Power BI is one of the best Business Intelligence and analytics solutions tools out there. For better performance of Power BI reports and Power Bi dashboards, it is very essential to know about the best practices.
  • To improve the performance of Power BI implementations, we discuss here best practices for Power BI designers and developers.
Power bi best practices
Power bi best practices

Here are the best practices of Power bi and mainly it is for Power BI reports.

1. Keep updating the Power BI Desktop regularly

Microsoft releases new features and improvements in the Power BI desktop each month. So, it is a best practice to keep the Power BI desktop updated.

If we don’t want to update manually then we can install the Power BI Desktop app in Windows 10, which will update itself automatically.

2. Limit number of visuals on dashboards and reports

According to Microsoft’s optimization guide for Power BI, placing many visuals in a single report slows the report’s performance. So we have to keep the limit tiles 10 per dashboard.

Also, the pages should b limited to no more than 30 points (cards:1, gauges: 2, charts: 3, maps: 3, grids: 3 )

3. To improve the Power BI report performance remove unnecessary interactions between visuals

By default, on Power BI all the visuals interact with each other. But we can minimize the interactivity to optimal the Power Bi report performance. So reduce the no. of queries fired at the background and disabling unnecessary interactivity to improving the report performance.

4. Use Date time stamp

It is used to show the end-user when the data was refreshed last.

5. Enable Row Level Security (RLS)

It restricts the user access to certain rows in a database depending on the roles of the user executing the query. But by enabling the RLS, Power BI only imports data, which is authorized by the user to view.

6. Use Microsoft AppSource certified custom visuals

Power BI certified the custom visuals, that are verified by Microsoft having robust and highly performing code. These certified custom visuals are the only custom visuals that can be viewed in Export to PowerPoint and Email subscription.

7. Use Enterprise or on-premises data gateway instead of Personal Gateway

Because personal gateway takes data and import it into Power BI but the Enterprise or on-premises data gateway imports nothing, which is more efficient to work with a large dataset.

8. Use different Power BI gateways for Live connection and scheduled data refresh

If we use the same gateway on both, then Live connection performance will get slow down when the Power BI scheduled refresh is active or vice-versa. To avoiding this issue, use separate data Gateways for Live connection and scheduled data refresh.

9. Categories the data for Power BI Reports in HBI, MBI, LBI

By using data classification you raise user awareness about the security level that is required to be used. The Power BI data categorization is listed as:

  • User requires High Business Impact to get an exaception on policy to share the data externally.
  • But in the case of LBI(Low Business Impact) and MBI(Medium Business Impact), the impact data do not require exception to share the data.

10. Use white or light background colors

For users distributing the printed report, white or light backgrounds are printer friendly as well as they create a neat and clear visual on reports.

11. Import only necessary fields and tables

Instead of using whole datasets, use only necessary fields and tables. It keeps the model narrow and lean.

12. Avoid using hierarchical filters

If you observe the poor performance on Power BI, do not use hierarchical filters. If you face high page load time when using hierarchical filters, then remove it and instead use multiple filters for the hierarchy.

13. Use Basic Filtering for report

Power BI provides the basic filters like the visual label, page level, report level filters. Use these filters wisely as per your requirements.

14. Limit complicated measures and aggregations in data models

To increase the performance of a Power BI report, push more calculated columns and measures to the source where possible. Create calculated measures instead of calculated columns in Power BI.

15. Test each custom visuals on a report

The Power BI does not thoroughly test the custom visuals as they are not certified. So while handling large or complex datasets, the custom visuals might perform poorly. So make sure fast report load time by testing each custom visual on report performance.

You can use an alternative visual if the chosen visual performs poorly.

16. Use slicer sparingly

Creating too many slicers negatively impacts the performance. Use filter pane and remove unnecessary slicers to evaluate which slicers are frequently used.

17. Ensure that the Power BI report and the data source are in the same region

With the Power BI report and data source in the same region, network latency is reduced. This results in faster data transfers and faster query execution.

18. Avoid scroll within the visual

Multiple scrolls on a single page lead to a negative impact on users while using the Power bi report. So keep limiting your page size to standard sizes as often as possible.

19. Use names that are meaningful to your business user

Power BI provides the ability to report objects by giving aliases. Also, Consider hiding unused or unnecessary columns in the data model.

Before planning any report development, we have to consider about below thing:

  • Give a proper title or header to your visual.
  • Use proper color scheme.
  • Do not complicated, make it simple and clear.
  • Use a proper chart, which represents the data in an effective manner.

You may like the following Power BI articles:

I hope you liked the Power bi best practices which covers the below points also.

  • Power bi report best practices
  • power bi security best practices
  • power bi modeling best practices
  • power bi optimization techniques
  • power bi deployment best practices
  • power bi workspace best practices
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