“With the Q&A feature in Power BI for Office 365, users don’t have to understand any querying languages. They just ask a normal question using simple words, and data visualizations start to appear almost immediately as they type. It’s such a powerful tool.”

Ranjit Nair, Developer, Microsoft IT

To improve data analysis, Microsoft IT and the Microsoft Finance BI team conducted a proof of concept exploring the features of the Microsoft Power BI for Office 365 Q&A tool. The solution gives business users a simple tool, based on familiar technologies, that answers data queries and empowers those users to build their own analytical reports using graphical information.

Business NeedsThe Microsoft Finance BI Team, an internal Microsoft financial team responsible for analyzing business data, needed new business intelligence (BI) tools to help analyze query statistics collected from eight different reporting services. The team wanted the ability to identify performance bottlenecks, active users, active domains, and other information. In addition, the Finance BI team needed to analyze Microsoft sales revenue data against forecast and budget data. “Most of the business users were looking to identify how the actuals compared with budget

and forecast figures, and what trends were driving those amounts over time,” says Ranjit Nair, Developer, Microsoft IT. The team also wanted employees to be able to create their own analytical reports, without intervention from IT. The Finance BI team began its search for a new BI solution in early 2013.

SolutionAs the team began evaluating BI technologies, it partnered with Microsoft IT developers, who knew they wanted to take advantage of Microsoft tools. “We always

Customer: Microsoft Finance BIWebsite: www.microsoft.comCustomer Size: 25 employeesCountry or Region: United StatesIndustry: Professional services—IT services

Customer ProfileThe Microsoft Finance BI team is responsible for managing data analysis technologies for various Microsoft teams.

Software and Services Microsoft Office− Microsoft Office Excel 2013− Microsoft Power BI for Office 365

Technologies− Power Pivot in Excel 2013

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Microsoft Uses Latest BI Tools to Help Turn Questions into Powerful Insights

try to use the latest Microsoft technologies when creating new custom products and solutions,” says Nair. The developers and business power users learned about Microsoft Power BI for Office 365, which gives users the ability to create, analyze, and share data in an easier way. The solution is designed to help users conduct self-service BI and get analytical results faster. The Microsoft developers were primarily interested in the new Power BI Q&A tool, which gives employees the ability to perform their queries with simple words, with results displayed in a graphical format as questions are typed. Using Power BI Q&A, employees can choose different formats including charts, graphs, maps, and other visuals. Based on the query, the tool will explore the right data model and display data results to users in the best format. Using the Q&A tool, the team conducted a proof of concept consisting of two data models. The team first created a data model containing MSRA query statistics and then a second model based on the last two years Microsoft sales data. All of the data modeling was done in Power Pivot in Excel 2013.  Because synonyms play an important role in the Q&A tool, all synonyms were defined in a Power Pivot model by the Business & Engineering team. The synonyms represented the team’s key business terminology, so the Q&A tool can deliver better results against those key words when queried.  The proof of concept was conducted with a small group of internal business users, with the idea that developers could take initial feedback and improve the Q&A tool by making it easier to use.

BenefitsBecause the Finance BI team tested the Q&A tool early on in the development process, the team was able to provide valuable feedback on performance. The tool turns questions into analytical insights and empowers users to build their own reports. 

Provides Early Adoption and Feedback on the Q&A Tool Because the Finance BI team was able to test the Q&A tool very early on in the development process, the developers were able to take user feedback, identify gaps, and improve the product.  During testing, the user group gained solid insights into the data based on the way questions were asked. In addition, users were able to rely on the familiar Power Pivot tool for data modeling, so no other technologies were required.  Turns Analytical Questions into Powerful InsightsThe Q&A tool in Power BI for Office 365 transforms questions about data into insightful, powerful results. Once it is rolled out internally, the feature will help users more easily analyze data and choose the results in the format of their choice, such as bar graphs or pie charts. “With the Q&A feature in Power BI for Office 365, users don’t have to understand any querying languages,” says Nair. “They just ask a normal question using simple words, and data visualizations start to appear almost immediately as they type. It’s such a powerful tool.”  Because of the way the Q&A tool comprehends questions and searches the right data models, the Finance BI team or data analysts can build the relevant data model and give users the ability to do their own analysis on that data using the Q&A tool.

Empowers Users to Create Their Own ReportsBecause the Power BI Q&A tool takes advantage of familiar technologies, there is a very small learning curve for new users. As a result, they can create their own report using graphical information, analyzing data in an easily consumable format.  With these capabilities at their fingertips, employees no longer need to rely on IT for assistance in visualizing and analyzing critical business data.

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Document published April 2014