Power BI App

One of the leading business intelligence tools that offers great data visualization and reporting capabilities is Microsoft Power BI. Of course, its most convenient feature is that one can access reports, dashboards, and insights on the move through its mobile and desktop applications. In this article you will learn how to download an application for Power BI; and the difference between Power BI applications and workspaces.

For Android and iOS

Power BI mobile application is downloadable for both Android and iOS. That is, through this application, one can access his or her data and report from anywhere. Download and setup are demonstrated below.

For iPhone or iPad:

• Launch the App Store on iPhone or iPad.
• Search for Power BI.
• Tap Get to get and install the application.
• You are all set up above, you can now install Power BI on your machine. You can then use your Microsoft Power BI account credentials to access your reports and dashboards.

For Android Users

• Locate the Google Play Store from your Android device.
• Utilizing the built-in search feature of Google Play Store to locate Power BI.
• Tap on the Install button to download the app.
• Use your Microsoft Power BI account credentials to sign in.

For Desktop Users

Power BI Desktop, as well as the web service, Power BI, has the ability for users to create and share reports, while the Power BI mobile app allows easy access to any reports created. Users who have desktops can access Power BI through a web browser.

• From your browser open the Power BI Web Portal.
• Enter your Microsoft account to log in.
• Have access to any web browser to manage workspaces, reports, and dashboards.

Power BI Apps vs. Workspace

Power BI Workspaces

Workspaces in Power BI are collaborative spaces where a report, dashboard, dataset, and dataflow are created and developed. A workspace is a team or departments in an organization to work on creating reports that will eventually be available to more people.

• Workspace use case: They act as a staging area where content is built and further refined. Several users can collaborate within the same workspace to co-author reports and dashboards.

Key Features:

• No Collaborative development of reports.
• Datasets, dataflows, and reports will be saved
• Several users can be assigned various permission levels for them to handle

Power BI Apps

Apps in Power BI are packaged, ready-to-go reports and dashboards prepared to be published to larger sets of users outside the development team. An app is a refined, deployable version of content from a workspace published and made available to users who need to consume the information.

• Applications: They serve as a distribution channel of content to a wider audience, usually business decision-makers or other stakeholders who require data insights but don’t have to be involved in the generation of reports.

Key Features:

• Applications are read-only to users who receive them.
• Clean and simple navigation.
• Can be updated by the people generating reports periodically without affecting the users who only view the published versions.

Comparison

• Workspace: A space for collaborative development.
• App: An end version of the content that only represents the read-only, well-crafted version of the content to be consumed by the end users.

Examples of Power BI Apps

The flexibility and robust capability easily lend it to various business applications. Some of the examples of how organizations use Power BI apps are given below:

• Sales Performance App: A sales team can create an app in Power BI that aggregates the data on sales performance from different regions. The app may have KPIs and may include dashboards for sales and trend analytics to enable the top management to monitor the real-time performance of the team.
• HR Analytics App: An organization’s HR department can develop a Power BI app that displays vital information such as employee retention, diversity metrics, performance evaluations, and trends in hiring. Managers can make decisions on staffing and human resources management based on the data through such an app.
• Finance App: Finance teams often use Power BI apps to make available financial dashboards, provide profit and loss statements, cash flow analyses, and track budgets. It makes informed decisions by financial decision-makers based on live views of financial metrics.
• In-app Customer Support: A Power BI app could be built by customer service teams to track their customer satisfaction metrics and possibly times to resolve tickets, besides metrics around the efficiency of the support agents. Managers can use the app to ensure that the support team is adhering to SLAs and maintaining very high customer satisfaction.

Conclusion

The Power BI app provides a productive way of accessing critical data insights on the go. Whether you’re downloading the app for mobile use, using Power BI apps, optimized to deliver streamlined content, or working in collaborative workspaces, the flexibility of Power BI will be sure to fulfill any business intelligence needs your organization may have. As you grasp key differences between apps and workspaces and explore many examples of what type of apps you might see deployed in the field, you’ll maximize the potential of Power BI in your organization.

Frequently Asked Questions