What is Microsoft Power BI?

Power BI is a business intelligence solution from Microsoft that allows users to create dynamic reports and dashboards with little effort. It helps teams uncover actionable insights hidden in any data source.

If you’re new to Power BI, check out our guide on Getting started with Power BI for a foundational overview.

Getting Started with Power BI Reports

This article covers how to build reports, import data, and build dashboards in Power BI service, a cloud-based solution. Although Power BI is designed for users rather than report designers, it’s a valuable tool for project reporting.

We’ll also briefly look at Power BI Desktop, the primary authoring tool for Power BI reports. A full exploration of Power BI Desktop isn’t covered here, but you’ll find additional training resources and videos listed at the end of the article if you want to explore further.

The examples in this article are based on Microsoft samples and project reports in the BrightWork Power BI Pack.

Key Features of Power BI Reporting

Microsoft Power BI is a collection of software services, apps, and connectors that help turn raw data into clear, interactive insights.

Before creating your first Power BI report, it’s important to know which services handle import, transformation, and visualizations. Some features are available only on desktop applications, which is something to keep in mind as you get started.

Power BI Visualizations

Power BI brings data to life with dynamic, easy-to-understand visuals. These clear visuals help turn data into stories that support better business decisions. Built-in chart options include area charts, bar charts, column charts, and cards.

For even more options, visit Microsoft AppSource. Some recently added visualizations include:

• Valq Plan – A no-code solution for building complex business plans, scenarios, and simulations.
• Date Picker by Powerviz – A modern, interactive calendar view.
• Drill Down Network PRO – Helps visualize categorical data and automatically detect relationships based on category structure.
• TMap 2.1 – Allows you to drill down into chart maps by georegion names.

TMap 2.1 Donut Chart Symbol Map

Power Query – Desktop

Power Query is the engine for importing and transforming (cleaning) data before loading it into your report. The Power Query editor provides an interface for applying transformations.

Options include:

• Add or remove rows and columns
• Separate rows or columns
• Remove null values
• Remove rows with blank values.

Data Sources and Connectors

Changes applied in the Power Query editor do not impact the original dataset. Power Query uses connectors as data sources. Some recently updated connectors include:

• Snowflake
• Planview OKR
• BitSight Security Ratings
• Starburst Enterprise
• And others

You can view the full list of all connectors and data sources, including SQL databases (such as Azure SQL, MySQL, etc.), Excel spreadsheets, and cloud services.

Power Pivot – Desktop

Power Pivot builds data models, defines relationships between tables, and performs calculations. It uses Data Analysis Expressions (DAX) to analyze data, similar to Excel functions.

Power BI includes over 600 DAX functions, including SUM, AVERAGE, MAX, and COUNT. Users can also create custom functions.

OneDrive and SharePoint Integration – Desktop

Viewing Power BI files directly within OneDrive for Business and SharePoint allows users to streamline collaboration.

A Power BI report on SharePoint is easy to share and manage within teams. The public view is enabled by default but can be disabled by Power BI admins.

Once you’ve clicked on the Power BI file, it opens immediately in your browser without any need to download it.

Power BI Reports – Desktop and Service

A Power BI report consists of multiple visuals and can span multiple pages. Reports connect to a single dataset or data model only, but Power BI can pull information from multiple data sources into one report.

Unlike an Excel spreadsheet, Power BI reports are interactive. You can filter, slice, and drill down into data.

Automatic refresh updates all visuals in a report at set intervals, such as every hour or when data changes.

Power BI Dashboards – Service

A Power BI dashboard is a one-page summary made up of visual tiles. Each tile links to a report, allowing quick access to more details as needed.

A dashboard can contain links to multiple reports, giving you a full overview in one place. This feature is only available in the Power BI Service.

Data Model Editing – Service

Since August 2023, Power BI Service has allowed direct data model modifications.

There’s no need to switch to Power BI Desktop to make changes and republish. It also allows project teams to collaborate on the same data model simultaneously.

Model Explorer makes it easy to view and navigate all semantic objects within a dataset.

Differences Between Power BI Desktop and Power BI Service

At this point, you may be wondering if you should create and edit reports in the Power BI Desktop version or Power BI Service.

Why Use Power BI Desktop?

Power BI Desktop is the best choice when you need to create project reports from scratch. Using this application is best for:

• Building project reports with data import, transformation, and modeling.
• On-page interaction for direct visual formatting.
• Tracking all activities in one place.

Working with Power BI Desktop takes some practice. A good understanding of the Query Editor and Model tools is important before creating any visualizations.

If you are using a clean dataset and need to create reports and dashboards to share with your team, Power BI Service is the right tool.

Here’s a quick comparison of the Power BI Desktop application and Power BI Service to help you decide.

Power BI Reports – Desktop vs. Service

How to Create a Report in Power BI Service

This section explains how to create a Power BI report and a dashboard in Power BI Service using Microsoft’s free Supplier Quality Analysis sample.

1. Import Data

Start by getting your data into Power BI. You can import data from within your organization, such as file directories and databases.

You can also copy and paste data from an existing dataset. Go to the Samples section and choose a pre-configured dataset. The data is imported as-is with no editing options.

2. Access Your Workspace

The dataset will appear in your workspace in Power BI Service. Click ‘Get Quick Insights’ from the menu to generate a dashboard while you work on the data.

In the workspace, you can also assign roles and permissions, such as Viewer, Contributor, Member, and Admin.

3. Open the Report Builder

Next, select ‘Create Report’ to open the report builder. There are three elements in this area:

• Canvas – This area is blank until visuals are added
• Visualizations Pane – Use to add and edit charts.
• Fields Pane – A list of the fields in your dataset based on the columns in your dataset.

4. Add Data and Visualizations

Start building your report by selecting the relevant fields from your dataset or choosing a visualization. The selected chart will appear on the blank canvas.

5. Add a Field

Click a field to add it to the report. Power BI will automatically add the field to the right area in your chart. You can also drag and drop fields into the axis, legend, and values area.

6. Change the Chart if Needed

Switch to a different visualization at any time using the Visualizations pane. Your data will adjust automatically to fit the new chart type.

7. Format Your Report

Once you are happy with the data visualization, it’s time to format the chart. Click the ‘format’ icon to adjust the size, colors, borders, and tooltips of your chart.

If you’d like to add a title or details to the report, click the ‘Text box’ option in the top menu.

8. Preview the Report

Use the ‘Reading View’ to check how the report will appear to others.

9. Final Touches and Saving

Add more visualizations as needed, and remember to save your work. Use the ‘View’ menu to adjust the layout and colors for improved readability.

10. Create a Dashboard

Next, create a dashboard by selecting ‘Pin to a live page.’ You can add the report to an existing one or build a new dashboard. Add tiles and other content to customize it.

11. Export and Share

When you’ve finished your work, use the ‘File’ menu to:

• Export reports to PowerPoint or as a PDF
• Embed reports in a SharePoint site.

12. Share Your Report

To share your report, click ‘Share,’ complete the form, and share it with your team. Power BI reports and dashboards may be shared with internal and external users.

That’s it – you’ve taken your first step in creating reports in Power BI Services.

Considerations for Report Sharing

There are a few things to note about report sharing:

• Recipients can view and interact with the report or dashboard but can’t edit it.
• Depending on permissions, recipients can share the reports with others.
• You will need a Power BI Pro license to publish reports. Recipients will also need a license to view the content.

For more details on sharing, visit this Microsoft article.

BrightWork 365 and Power BI

BrightWork 365 is built on Power Platform and uses Power BI and Power Automate as follows:

• Microsoft Dataverse serves as the data platform and supports business process management, such as stage-gate project lifecycles.
• Power BI gives senior executives and PMO leads visibility into portfolios, programs, and projects.
• Using connectors and content packs, data can be pulled from hundreds of on-premises and cloud sources into a single reporting engine.

Workflow Automation with Power Automate

Power Automate drives workflows and automation. Project teams have vast amounts of data. Power BI dashboards allow senior executives to access, analyze, and act on this data.

See How BrightWork 365 Enhances Power BI Reporting

Power BI Service is an easy and effective way to create interactive reports and dashboards. You can import Excel files, connect to cloud data, and customize visuals to analyze and share insights with your team quickly.

To build your skills and stay current, explore the learning resources on Microsoft Learn and connect with others in the Microsoft Fabric Community.

BrightWork 365 combines Microsoft 365 tools with proven project and portfolio management practices. It helps teams plan, track, and deliver work more efficiently.

See it in action and discover how it can support your organization. Watch the BrightWork 365 Video Tour.

Resources and Videos

• Desktop to Dashboard in 60 Minutes (Avi Singh, Microsoft MVP)
• Microsoft Power BI Samples
• Power BI Documentation
• Clean, transform, and load data in Power BI (Free Microsoft Training Module)

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in September 2020 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.

Image credit 

What is Business Intelligence (BI)?

Business intelligence refers to “a set of technological processes for collecting, managing, and analyzing organizational data to yield insights that inform business strategies and operations.”

How BI Supports Organizations

BI helps organizations consolidate data from internal and external sources, clean and analyze that data, and generate actionable insights to drive change.

Research on BI and analytics adoption shows its importance for business executives and key stakeholders.

These processes enable organizations to comprehend their business strategy better, increase the quality of managerial decisions, and consequently improve their performance.

The Three Areas of BI

BI is divided into three areas, each offering increasingly sophisticated analysis and insights.

1. Descriptive analytics – It tells users what has happened and what is happening now. Examples include inventory tracking and annual benchmarking. Typically, this form is aimed at non-technical users and relies on visualizations.
2. Predictive analytics – Uses various techniques like data mining and statistics to predict what could happen.
3. Prescriptive analytics – Utilizes AI and machine learning to help users select the best course of action from a set of choices.

BI Processes and Goals

Business intelligence encompasses several processes depending on goals and objectives. These include:

• Data mining – Used to find trends and usable data in large datasets.
• Data preparation – Compiling data from internal and external sources for analysis.
• Data cleaning – Fixing incorrect, corrupted, duplicate, incomplete, or incorrectly formatted data within a dataset. This step ensures that data is high-quality and reliable.
• Data visualization – Transforming data into easy-to-consume charts, graphs, and dashboards.
• Reporting – Sharing data analysis with stakeholders to review. Unlike traditional reports, BI software generates rich, interactive reports based on more data sources and context.

The Evolution of BI Tools

The field of business intelligence has undergone a significant transformation with the advent of self-service BI platforms. Tools like Microsoft Power BI democratize data analysis, breaking down the barriers that once restricted BI to IT departments and data specialists.

Research on the impact of BI tools in the educational sector underscores these tools’ transformative impact on various organizations, empowering a broader range of professionals to engage with BI technology.

The intuitive interfaces of modern business intelligence tools allow for complex data manipulation without extensive technical knowledge, making advanced analytics accessible to all.

Importance of Business Analysts

Despite the increased accessibility of BI tools, business analysts remain essential. They possess a deep understanding of the business domain and the technical capabilities of BI systems.

Business analysts configure and manage BI platforms, ensuring they are tailored to the organization’s needs. They also tackle complex data challenges, translating patterns into strategic insights.

Their expertise in aligning business requirements with data analysis is invaluable for maximizing the potential of BI.

Benefits of Business Intelligence

BI enables organizations to put their data to good use. It enables data-driven decisions and improvements in various areas:

• Make better decisions based on past and current data.
• Increase revenue with a better understanding of risks and opportunities, customer behavior, and competitors.
• Improve strategic project plan.
• Understand the context of KPIs and results.
• Standardize data management and analysis throughout the organization.
• Drive change and improve business
• Find and reduce inefficiencies.
• Improve communication with stakeholders and teams.

How to Apply BI to Project Portfolio Management?

Projects and portfolios generate vast amounts of data, from task duration and costs to customer feedback and risks. To effectively manage these aspects, it’s essential to understand which project management requirements are critical for success, as they can be complex and highly variable.

As a project or portfolio manager, you’re likely familiar with the effort involved in collating and analyzing project data from different sources. This is a vital part of the project management tasks.

Often, these reports are static – if a stakeholder has further questions, you’ll need to spend more time tracking down the answer.

Enhancing Visibility with BI

Business intelligence helps project and portfolio managers get visibility into the project with a clear picture of the current status and how the project is trending overall.

Drill-down dashboards allow stakeholders to dive deeper into individual projects, eliminating follow-up reports and emails.

An example of a roll-up dashboard in Microsoft Power BI. As data is automatically loaded into your software and cleansed before reaching end-users, reports are more accurate and up-to-date than spreadsheets or presentation decks.

Standardization and Cross-Functional Projects

Integrating business intelligence into project portfolio management not only streamlines workflows but also brings a new level of standardization to reporting across diverse projects.

This standardization is vital for cross-functional project teams, where consistency in data reporting ensures that all stakeholders, regardless of their departmental focus, are on the same page.

BI tools allow project managers to customize dashboards to monitor various key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics that tie project outcomes with strategic business objectives. These metrics can include:

• Resource allocation and availability – Track the distribution and utilization of resources across projects to optimize workload and prevent burnout.
• Milestones – Monitor the percentage of milestones missed or delivered on time, providing insight into project pacing and team efficiency.
• Planned vs. actual task duration – Compare projected timelines against actual progress to identify areas where efficiency can be improved.
• Stakeholder satisfaction – Gauge the contentment of stakeholders with project outcomes, which can serve as a leading indicator of project success.
• Percentage of overdue tasks – Keep an eye on tasks past their due date, which can signal potential bottlenecks or resource issues.
• Risks – Assess and manage potential risks proactively, ensuring that contingency plans are in place and minimize risk exposure.
• Budgets – Monitor project budgets in real-time, allowing immediate adjustments to meet financial objectives.

Managing Projects with BI Insights

BI Insights transforms project management by optimizing resource distribution and enhancing value delivery. It enables a strategic overview of the project pipeline, facilitating informed decision-making that aligns with business objectives.

BI-driven efficiencies in project delivery extend to refining project management processes. It ensures that projects are completed within scope and streamlines business operations. This promotes a culture of continuous improvement and strategic excellence.

Identifying the project management success factors that can leverage these BI-driven efficiencies is critical.

Streamlining Business Processes

A business process is a set of steps performed by an individual or a group of individuals to achieve a goal.

Business processes, such as project requests and risk management, create the environment for project delivery.

Efficient processes lead to faster project approval and support project execution, for example, with quicker responses to vacation requests and procurement.

What is Power BI?

Microsoft Power BI is a suite of software services, apps, and connectors that transform unrelated data sources into cohesive, visually engaging, and interactive insights.

Power BI helps organizations collect, analyze, and use data from multiple sources in one tool, such as SharePoint, Excel, and non-Microsoft systems.

Capabilities include data visualizations, AI-powered Q+A, reports, dashboards, DAX statements, maps, and more.

Who Can Use Power BI?

Power BI is simple and accessible, allowing end-users to work with multiple datasets – no coding or statistical experience is needed.

The platform is available in three formats:

• Power BI Desktop – Used to create and share reports.
• Power BI Service – Used to view reports and create dashboards online.
• Power BI Mobile Apps – Access reports and dashboards on Windows, iOS, and Android.

End-User Roles in Power BI

There are two prominent end-user roles for Power BI:

• Consumer or user – Anyone who uses Power BI Service in a browser to view reports, create dashboards, and complete light editing on datasets.
• Designer – An individual, often a business analyst, who creates and shares reports using Power BI Desktop.

For those seeking advanced Microsoft project management software, BrightWork offers comprehensive solutions tailored for Microsoft 365.

Power BI and Project Management

Power BI revolutionizes project reporting with intuitive dashboards and performance metrics essential for business users, including project managers and business owners.

This platform eliminates searches through various sites, emails, and spreadsheets, replacing them with dynamic, real-time dashboards for better visibility and decision-making.

Essential Project Insights for Management

Power BI dashboards give senior managers and PMO leads visibility into:

• Overview of current projects – Get a comprehensive view of all ongoing projects within the organization.
• Detailed portfolio timeline – Analyze the timeline segmented by year, quarter, month, week, and day for precise planning and tracking.
• Resource allocation insights – Understand the allocation and utilization of resources, including project managers, across various projects.
• Key project metrics – Access critical PMO metrics influencing project success and strategic decision-making.
• Tracking of overdue projects – Identify projects lagging behind schedule for timely intervention.
• Risks and issues monitoring – Stay informed about potential threats and current project progress issues.

In this short video, you’ll see how you can use Power BI dashboards for portfolio and project status reporting in BrightWork 365.

Benefits for Project Managers and Teams

Using Power BI for project management empowers project managers and teams with a clear view of project timelines, active tasks, and potential risks, ensuring teams stay on track and address challenges proactively.

• Project Timeline Visualization: Keep track of the entire project timeline for effective management.
• Active Items and Tasks Monitoring: Stay updated on all functional items and tasks within the project.
• Comprehensive Project Status Reports: Generate detailed reports on the project’s current status.
• Issues and Risks Tracking: Identify and manage potential risks and problems in real time.

BrightWork 365 Power BI Dashboards

Using Power BI dashboards and reports, BrightWork 365 helps senior executives and PMO leads easily access, analyze, and action this data. The Power BI pack, designed for senior executives and project managers, includes:

1. Portfolio Dashboards

It provides a roll-up summary of all project sites. The dashboard offers five filtering options:

• Project Status
• By Project Manager
• By Project type
• By Department
• By Priority

2. Portfolio Timeline

The Portfolio Timeline displays a Gantt view of all project sites. Drill down by year, quarter, month, week, and day.

3. Project and Task Timeline

The Project and Task Timeline shows a Gantt view of projects and tasks. Filter by project name, type, manager, and task owner.

4. Work Reports

It allows project managers to check the status of tasks, risks, issues, and goals.

5. Status Report Dashboard

The Status Report Dashboard features RAG indicators, weekly updates, highlights, lowlights, and next steps.

6. Issue Report

The Issue Report helps project managers get further information on issues, including the task-owner.

Achieve Project Excellence with BrightWork 365

Incorporating Business Intelligence into your project management strategy drives efficiency, fosters data-driven decisions, and ensures your projects stay aligned with strategic goals.

BrightWork 365 helps project managers and executives gain valuable insights, streamline reporting, and optimize project outcomes. Get in touch to see how we can support your business’s growth and drive project success.

This post was originally published in December 2020 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.

Research shows that 55% of project managers simultaneously handle two to five projects, while 11% handle up to ten. When working with a diverse set of teams and projects, ensuring quality and project tracking becomes difficult.

For this reason, it is essential to choose an effective project management tool that ensures that all activities stay on track.

This article explores how using Power BI for project management can help you make more timely and efficient business decisions.

What is Power BI?

Microsoft Power BI is a cloud-based tool designed to centralize and make data interactive in real-time.

It allows organizations to consolidate information, analyze project performance, and create dashboards and reports that highlight key metrics across multiple projects.

Secure and Accessible Data Management

The tool includes built-in artificial intelligence (AI) features for advanced data analytics and actionable insights. Its security measures, such as end-to-end encryption, real-time access monitoring, and sensitivity labeling, ensure data remains protected.

Power BI is an excellent option for organizations that want to use a visual tool to monitor and manage project portfolios.

Its cloud-based design frees organizations of the hassle of infrastructure support and capital expenditure. Therefore, it is a cost-effective solution for business intelligence.

How to Use Power BI for Project Management

Power BI has a host of features that make project management efficient, especially for multiple projects going on at the same time.

1. Create Personalized Dashboards

A Power BI dashboard, also called a canvas, is a graphical representation of your data. It allows you to interact with reports and gain valuable insights into the performance of your projects.

With Power BI, you can create multiple project management dashboards tailored to different users, such as project managers, executives, and stakeholders.

These dashboards have one-page data visualization and are accessible on any device with a Power BI account, making it easy for users to stay informed. Here are some benefits of creating project management Power BI dashboards:

Improve Collaboration Flow

Project stakeholders can monitor project updates and contribute more effectively to outcomes by staying informed on project progress.

Increase Team Engagement

Dashboards inform your team members about what is expected from them by displaying key metrics for their projects. This helps achieve better engagement across teams, leading to project success.

Align Priorities

Dashboards highlight team contributions to organizational goals, illustrating how delays impact deadlines, costs, or revenue. This visibility supports better resource allocation and prioritization.

Microsoft Power BI template allows seamless data import from Project for the Web and Project Online. Various templates cater to different project needs, ensuring flexibility and customization options.

2. Enrich Data Through Custom Visualizations

Power BI’s custom visuals editor allows users to create tailored visuals for deeper insights into project data. Users can also import visuals from the Gallery or enrich their data using Microsoft Excel.

Some out-of-the-box visuals that come with Power BI are waterfall, histogram, line-of-business (LOB) apps, maps, scatterplots, sunburst charts, and treemaps. These help project managers visualize and understand project metrics easily.

Visualizing Correlations

For example, a scatter plot can highlight correlations between variables in an XY-coordinate system.

Project managers can use it to compare the relationship between two variables to understand which one impacts the other.

Moreover, you can add filters and legends in your custom visuals by using any dataset in your report. These tools simplify the process of reviewing multiple projects and assessing performance.

3. Create Insightful Reports

One of the major benefits of Power BI is the creation of reports for significant insights. Its built-in report builder makes it easy to create interactive dashboards tailored to the needs of project managers and teams.

According to Advisicon, “Combining project data with Power BI gives you the ability to tell a story to both management and teams alike.”

Some of the available report types in Power BI are column, matrix, and table.

Column Chart

It is ideal for displaying data in columns with different measures for data analysis. For example, it can show total project costs against completion time on two different axes.

The x-axis can show different projects, while the y-axis shows the total costs and days taken for a particular project.

Table Report

It allows you to display certain fields in a grid with their corresponding measures. Depending on your data, you can choose between various table styles, such as star and clustered tables.

Matrix

It is similar to table reports, but it shows multiple measures within the same grid. For example, it can compare project cost and duration on different axes.

• A: It shows that the report has four pages. Currently, it’s on the Sentiment page.
• B: On this page, you can see a page title (Sentiment Analysis) and five visuals, including line graphs and column graphs.
• C: In the Filters pane, you can see the filter that has been applied to the pages of this report. You can also collapse this pane.
• D: On the banner, Power BI shows the report’s name. It also shows when the report was last updated. If you click the arrow pointing down, it will show you who owns the report.
• E: The action bar has a number of actions that you can do in this report. For instance, you can export the report’s data or add a comment to it.

BrightWork 365 integrates with Microsoft Power BI to offer a comprehensive project management solution. This platform offers a collaborative hub for project teams to plan, manage, and report on projects, allowing them to perform their duties seamlessly.

4. Use Industry-Leading Artificial Intelligence (AI)

According to this study, the main role of artificial intelligence (AI) is to provide assistance and advice, improve decision-making, and improve performance and reporting.

Power BI’s industry-leading artificial intelligence (AI) features allow project managers to extract insights from reports, streamlining processes and automating tasks.

AI Features for Project Insights

For example, Key Phrase Extraction is a prominent Power BI feature. It evaluates the unstructured text and gives you a list of key phrases. Meanwhile, Sentiment Analysis shows whether a text is positive, negative, or neutral.

Let’s say you manage a team developing an AI-powered chatbot. You can use Power BI’s Sentiment Score to assess customer feedback. A score of 0 indicates a negative response, while 1 indicates a positive one.

Using this information, organizations can determine if they need to tweak things in the project.

5. Turn Insights Into Action

Power BI’s project management template and dashboards help project managers convert insights into action. For instance, identifying customers who experience glitches in their chatbots can be overwhelming to determine manually.

Power BI simplifies this by showing you exactly what people are saying, allowing you to take appropriate action.

The Power Query makes it easy for organizations to import datasets from various sources. It also allows users to transform raw data from campaigns or reports into actionable business insights.

Maximizing Project Management with Power BI and BrightWork 365

To sum up, Microsoft Power BI supports project management with pre-built templates, interactive visuals, and industry-leading artificial intelligence (AI) features. It empowers managers to take immediate action, boosting organizational performance and increasing productivity.

Project managers can find Microsoft’s templates or create custom Power BI dashboards for each task. For those seeking an easier solution, BrightWork 365 is the ideal project management solution, delivering data-driven insights and easy collaboration.

Using Microsoft Power BI and BrightWork 365, anyone in your organization can connect to a data source and build reports – no coding or statistical skills are required. This integration simplifies project reporting and enhances the capabilities of managers, teams, and senior executives.

Here’s a quick read on how to use Brightwork 365 to get maximum benefit from Power BI to manage your projects and portfolios.

Learn How Power Apps Dashboards Improves Project Reporting

What are Microsoft Power Apps?

Microsoft Power Apps is a low-code platform that allows users to create customized business applications without writing code. It is part of the Microsoft Power Platform, including Power BI and Power Automate.

With Microsoft Power Apps, you can create custom apps for various purposes, including project management, inventory tracking, and customer relationship management (CRM).

What is BrightWork 365?

BrightWork 365 is a project and portfolio management solution for Microsoft 365 and the Microsoft Power Platform.

It provides project management templates, dashboards and reports, as well as collaborative features to enable project teams to increase their project success rates.

BrightWork 365 is deployed in your Microsoft 365 cloud environment to centralize project processes and information in one hub. It integrates seamlessly across the following:

• Microsoft Teams
• Microsoft Apps (Word, Excel, and OneNote)
• Power Apps
• Power BI
• Power Automate
• SharePoint Online

5 Power Apps Dashboards for Project Reporting

Here are five ways you can use Power Apps dashboards to streamline reporting project management automation, including:

1. Project requests app dashboard
2. Projects app dashboard
3. Issues app dashboard
4. Risks app dashboard
5. Costs and Budgets app dashboard

Each dashboard offers unique benefits, as you’ll discover throughout this article and in the video above.

1. Project Request App Dashboards

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1. Home
2. Requests
3. Projects
4. Portfolios

Click on Dashboards in the Home section to access the default Power Apps dashboards.

You can see here that the Requests Dashboard appears by default.

There are six dashboards on this page, and they are initially set to the “All Requests” view

If you select any of those drop-down menus, there are several other views available, including Open requests, Approved requests, etc.

In the Requests menu, click on Open Requests to view all current open requests logged in the system.

And if you click on the drop-down menu, you’ll see that all of those views are also available in the Requests area.

The charts visible in this view are the same ones featured in the Power Apps dashboard, allowing for seamless navigation between both.

For example, the Requests by Request Status data visualization is available in the dashboard.

You can expand this chart by clicking the pop-out icon in the right-hand corner to expand the chart into a lightbox view.

If you need more details, click the Project Created bar to see which project sponsors are linked to these requests.

You can see now that Jonathan, Anne, Christine, and Alan all have some projects created from requests.

These are the project sponsors supporting some of these requests, which have been developed into projects.

2. Project App Dashboards

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For example, let’s focus on Projects by Health. You’ll notice four projects are marked as “Red.”

You may want to find out who the project managers are for these at-risk projects.

Now, you can identify that Eamonn, Anne, Alex, and Christine each have projects in a critical state.

The next logical step is to understand which projects are in the red.

To see more details, click on the list icon in the top-right corner. This will filter the view to display only the four projects in danger.

We’re in the All Projects view, but it has been filtered to just those four projects in danger.

If you’d like to dive deeper, click on any of these projects to view specific details in the BrightWork 365 app.

3. Issues Dashboard

Now we’ll take a look at the Issues app dashboard.

In this example, we’ll focus on the “By Assigned To” chart. It shows a project with an unassigned issue.

In this case, it looks like we have seven. To identify which projects have unassigned issues and which they belong to, drill down on the project name.

The chart reveals six projects with unassigned issues.

Click the “View Records” icon to access the project list in BrightWork 365. From there, you can navigate to the project app and make the appropriate edits to assign that issue if needed.

4. Risk App Dashboards

The Risks app dashboard works similarly to the Issues dashboard, with charts used to drill into data and extract details.

We’ll focus on two key charts: Risks by Escalation and Risks by Exposure.

Risks by Escalation

This chart shows the level within the project hierarchy that a risk affects. For example, if a specialty contractor struggles to hire an electrician, the risk is at the project level.

Now, if you have multiple construction projects in a program or a portfolio and the electrician’s union threatens to go on strike and impact multiple projects, the risk moves to the program or portfolio level.

In our demo, 16 risks are escalated to the project level, and one is at the portfolio level. No program-level risks are present, but this could be relevant for a PMO.

Risks by Exposure

Risk by Exposure is something most project managers are fairly familiar with.

This chart calculates risk exposure by multiplying risk probability by risk impact.

If each item is ranked on a High/Medium/Low scale, there will be a three-value scale for a total of nine.

The result is ranked from 2 (lowest risk exposure) to 9 (highest risk exposure). In our demo, we have a few low risks and some in the middle exposure range.

5. Costs and Budgets App Dashboard

All project stakeholders recognize the importance of project budgets, so we have also included dashboards to help ensure projects stay within budget.

You can track project costs and even do some cost forecasting.

There are three sets of interactive dashboards: one for the project level, one for the program level, and one for the portfolio level.

Let’s start with the Project-level dashboards, which feature six visualizations.​

The top three views focus on the approved budget, and the bottom three are cost forecast views.

These charts allow you to expand and drill down for more details.

For example, you can view how a project manager’s budget is allocated. Expanding the “Approved Budget by Project Manager” chart lets you focus on specific managers.

Let’s take a look at Alex’s projects.

This will pull up the chart showing where the budget is allocated across Alex’s projects.

The program and portfolio dashboards are very similar. All we’re doing is rolling these up to the program or portfolio level.

Transform Your Project Dashboards with Power Apps

What is Microsoft Power BI?

Microsoft Power BI is a business analytics service that provides interactive dashboards and reports, making it easier for organizations to analyze and understand their data.

Key Features of Microsoft Power BI

It connects to various data sources, such as Excel spreadsheets, cloud-based and on-premise sources, and other various databases. It also offers a range of tools for data preparation, transformation, and modeling.

The platform is popular for its user-friendly interface and powerful visualization capabilities, enabling users to create compelling and informative reports.

Power BI is widely used for business intelligence and data analysis and helps you make data-driven decisions across various industries. It can be especially useful in reporting across portfolios of projects.

4 Power BI Project Management Dashboards

These project management dashboards give senior executives and PMO leaders complete and real-time visibility across the project portfolio, including:

1. My Work Dashboard
2. Portfolio and Project Dashboard
3. Project Documents Dashboard
4. Resource Utilization Dashboard

Each dashboard is packed with valuable information and offers easy filtering. Project Managers, PMOs, and senior executives will find them highly useful for managing projects.

​1. My Work

The My Work dashboard in Power BI displays a list of action items assigned to the logged-in user.

It shows Actions, Tasks, Risks, and Issues across all projects you’re working on. When you click on an item, like “Storage space,” it opens in a new tab.

You can then view task details and make updates, such as adjusting the percent complete or adding an approver.

Note that the dashboard doesn’t update automatically. Data refreshes occur when Power BI pulls a large portion of your Dataverse. This refresh can be scheduled to occur up to eight times a day.

​2. Portfolio and Projects

Project managers will spend a lot of time here, as it provides a comprehensive view of the entire project portfolio.

The Portfolio and Projects report includes six built-in reports:

Portfolio Dashboard

The Portfolio tab provides a top-down view of all projects across all portfolios.

You can filter the projects using any of these eight slicers up across the top.

For example, selecting the Marketing program from the dropdown will display only those projects.

All of these visualizations are interactive as well. For example, clicking on a Project Manager’s name in the chart will show all projects assigned to them.

Clicking it again restores the full dashboard view.

Project Status Dashboard

The Power BI Project Status Dashboard displays a single project in a great amount of detail. It shows the first project in the list by default, but you can select any project to view.

For example, we’ll open the “Widget Blue (New Product Introduction)” project.

This dashboard offers a comprehensive overview of the Social Media Campaign project and the project’s progress. It includes the following information:

• Project timeline information
• Percentage complete
• Key performance indicators
• Task statuses
• Task metrics
• Assignees
• Task types

You can interact with the visualizations to filter and focus on specific details relevant to your needs.

Projects Timeline

Now, let’s jump to the third tab – Projects Timeline. It provides a simplified Gantt chart view of your projects.

By default, it displays all projects across portfolios. Again, we have the usual slicers up top. There are five familiar slicers: Portfolio, Program, Project, Project Manager, and Project Status.

Additionally, a Start Date slicer lets you view projects that started after a specific date, such as January 1, 2025.

When hovering over the handy little CSS, you’ll see additional details, including the Start Date, End Date, and Percentage Complete.

Projects and Tasks Timeline

The Projects and Tasks Timeline is similar to the previous tab but focuses on a simplified Gantt chart of project tasks.

So you can see that each project here is expanded, but there is an option to expand and compress all of them.

The familiar slicers and the current start date slider are available, along with task details visible on hover.

Work

The Work tab shows all assignments across projects.

Again, it features familiar slicers on the right-hand side. Using the interactive chart, you can look at issues assigned to Alex, for example.

Click on any Issue to view the details and access the work item in BrightWork 365.

Costs and Budgets

The final tab in the Portfolio and Projects dashboard is Costs and Budgets. Again, there is a pretty familiar interface within Power BI with slicers and clickable view filters.

In this example, we’re working in Euros, but this report can be adjusted to display your regional currency, like the US dollar, Japanese yen, etc.

This report allows you to drill into each project and see the specific cost items, including forecasts and assigned budgets.

3. Project Documents Dashboard

​The Project Documents dashboard in BrightWork 365 consolidates all project documents in one place, making it easier for project stakeholders to access them.

In the Documents tab of the Jon Example project app, you can view documents attached to the project.

Without this dashboard, a project manager or PMO lead would need to navigate through each project individually, which can be time-consuming.

The dashboard aggregates all documents across projects. You can expand the project row to see the saved documents for each project.

You can see the same business document and demo Excel file that we saw in the project app itself.

And then, of course, we can see additional details, such as

• the parent project,
• the document type,
• and a link that will act as a download link.

Instead of opening the document in Excel or Work Online, it will automatically download. Alternatively, you can click the project link to open the document online.

4. Resource Utilization Dashboard

Last but not least, we have the Resource Utilization dashboard. It provides detailed, actionable insights into personnel availability across project portfolios.

Senior executives and PMO leaders can quickly assess resource allocation and identify areas requiring adjustments.

Resources are categorized by available hours and hours allocated to tasks. For example, to focus on the next four weeks, you can enter “4” in the date range field at the top right and press enter. The dashboard will then display data for that specific time frame.

For each period, you can see the following:

• The hours allocated
• The hours available in that week
• An indicator as to whether a resource is under or over-allocated.

Green represents ideal allocation, with team members operating at 100%. So, we know that everybody has the required amount of work to accomplish the PMO goals. Red means the resource is over-allocated, and gray indicates under-utilization.

If a team member, such as Christine, is allocated at 140%, this signals an excessive workload. For instance, Christine’s total hours (16, 16, and 12) exceed her 32-hour capacity by 12.8 hours.

To resolve this, redistribute her workload by reducing allocation on specific projects or assigning excess hours to other team members.

Configure Power BI Dashboards for Your Needs

You can, of course, have us build custom dashboards to meet your specific reporting needs. If you have a Power BI expert on your team, you can design tailored dashboards internally.

We also offer the option to customize dashboards for unique project management needs or to include specific KPIs not covered in our standard options. These enhancements can help you achieve greater project success.

Increased data and a rapidly changing global economy mean businesses have to act quickly to meet customer expectations.

The need to innovate is often reined by budgets and IT resources. Sometimes, there just isn’t enough capacity for a new project or idea.

That’s where the Microsoft Power Platform comes in. A no-code/low-code solution, the Power Platform allows organizations to build cost-effective, data-driven solutions quickly.

In this article, we’ll review the components of the Power Platform: Power BI, Power Automate, and Power Apps.

What is the Microsoft Power Platform?

Built on Azure, the Microsoft Power Platform is a collection of applications that allows organizations to build end-to-end business solutions.

Microsoft Power Platform Components

Power Platform comprises of:

• Power BI, a set of tools for data analysis and visualization.

• Power Automate, a template-based application for building workflows and automating key tasks.

• Power Apps, a no-code/low-code way to build apps.

• Power Virtual Agents, a solution for creating AI-powered chatbots to help your employees and customers.

Together, these solutions allow users to leverage data to analyze, act, and automate business processes.

No-Code and Low-Code Solutions for Citizen Developers

The Power Platform is a layer on top of various data sources, which allows anyone of any technical ability to work that data.

The no-code/low-code approach gives non-developers (citizen developers) the tools to build custom apps, create workflows, or leverage AI to solve problems and business needs.

Teams no longer have to wait for IT to tackle a new project such as digitizing paper-based processes.

They can build an app to replace old systems, create a Power BI dashboard, or automate project tasks within hours using the MS Power Platform tools.

This allows businesses to try new ideas and iterate quickly whilst also getting more from their data.

Connecting Data Sources with the Microsoft Dataverse

Microsoft’s Power Platform connects to several data sources, including Azure, Dynamics 365, and the Dataverse.

The CDS, a unified data scheme that allows applications and services to interact, is key to the Power Platform.

The CDS allows organizations to work with any type of data from Microsoft and non-Microsoft sources in a secure, scalable way without the need for complex coding.

For more details on the Power Platform, including use cases and business value, check out this video session from Microsoft Ignite 2020.

In the next sections, we’ll take a closer look at the elements of the Power Platform, starting with Power BI.

Analyze with Power BI

Whilst organizations are generating more data than ever, the skills and technology to leverage that data is often missing.

Power BI helps organizations collect, analyze, and use data from multiple sources such as SharePoint, Excel, and non-Microsoft systems, in one tool.

With no coding or statistical expertise required, end-users can work with a data source, and build and share engaging reports with their team.

The goal is to find, surface, and act on business insights.

Power BI Formats

The platform is available in three formats:

• Power BI Desktop: Used to create and share reports.
• Power BI Service: Used to view reports online.
• Power BI Mobile Apps: Used to access reports and dashboards on Windows, iOS, and Android.

Consumer vs. Designer Roles

There are two main end-user roles for Power BI:

• Consumer or user: An individual who uses Power BI Service in a browser to view reports and complete light editing on datasets.
• Designer: An individual, often a business analyst, who creates and shares reports using Power BI Desktop.

Automate Workflows with Power Automate

Every day, we waste time on repetitive tasks or re-doing work due to an error.

Automation, the use of technology to complete processes with little or human input, helps us to reclaim this time.

Automating important yet repetitive tasks reduces mistakes and delivers a consistent result every time.

Previously, users needed to work with complex tools like SharePoint Designer to create workflows – or ask IT for help.

Power Automate, a no-code solution, has changed that.

No-Code Workflow Automation

With out-of-the-box templates, end-users can quickly automate tasks and create workflows for key business processes.

Power Automate includes over 300 connectors, which allow users to access and use data across Microsoft and non-Microsoft apps, such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Twitter, and more.

The platform facilitates automation on a large scale within an organization without reliance on limited IT resources.

Types of Power Automate Flows

There are five main types of Power Automate flows:

• Automated, a flow triggered by an event, for example, send an email if an item in a SharePoint list is changed.
• Instant flows allow users to manually trigger a flow from the mobile or desktop app with the click of a button. As an example, easily send a reminder email to your team before a meeting.
• Scheduled, which runs at certain times.
• Business Process flows are based on a defined set of actions.
• UI flows, used to record clicks and keystrokes and automate the execution of tasks.

Microsoft Power Platform Use Cases

Uses for Power Automate include:

• Managing approvals, tasks, and documents during a project.
• Streamlining onboarding for new employees.
• Saving time with daily reminders about upcoming tasks and meetings.
• Creating and sharing reports from Power BI.
• Sharing files between SharePoint, OneDrive, and other sources such as Dropbox.
• Tracking changes in a SharePoint site.
• Running a help-desk ticketing system.
• Collecting customer feedback.

Create Custom Applications with Microsoft Power Apps

Power Apps helps users to build low-code web and mobile applications based on their data sources, including the CDS, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and SharePoint.

The primary benefit of Power Apps is a faster response to business requirements and opportunities. If a team has an idea or wants to improve a process, they can quickly build an application or create a Microsoft project site for streamlined collaboration.

Power Apps for Cost-Efficient Accelerated Business Solutions

A recent Forrester study found that Power Apps:

• Reduces the cost of developing and maintaining an application by 74%.
• Adds value to other Microsoft 365 products such as Teams and Dynamics 365.
• Frees up valuable IT resources.
• Accelerates time-to-market, increasing revenue and customer satisfaction.
• Helps employees to make decisions faster with easier access to information and processes.

Applications developed via Power Apps are also more secure as they leverage the CDS and Azure Active Directory, and are GDPR compliant.

Types of Power Platform Applications

There are three types of applications within Power Apps.

1. Canvas Apps

A Canvas App is built from scratch using a drag-and-drop interface.

Start with a sample app, a template, or connect to a data source such as the CDS, SharePoint, or Excel.

This approach ensures your application meets your requirements, is suited to your data sources, and delivers an experience suited to your organization.

These project management power apps can be embedded in a SharePoint site, Teams, or Power BI for enhanced usability.

2. Model-Driven Apps

In a Model-Driven App, the layout is determined by the elements you add to the app. There are fewer customization options than a Canvas App.

Model-driven design allows users to select and use data and to define and enforce business processes.

3. Portals

Power Apps users can create portals ( websites) for internal and external uses, for example, a secure means for clients and vendors to interact with your company.

For more details, check out this in-depth video on building intelligent and scalable solutions with Power Apps and Power Platform from Microsoft.

Project and Portfolio Management on the Power Platform with BrightWork 365

BrightWork 365 is a project and portfolio management app built on Microsoft 365 and the Microsoft Power Platform. 

BrightWork 365 combines the best elements of Microsoft 365, such as Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Power BI, and Microsoft Power Automate, with our proven project management processes.   

BrightWork 365 helps teams to balance a flexible, collaborative approach to projects with the visibility and processes required by senior executives.

For further details, please contact our team.