Power Pivot and Power BI: The Excel User's Guide to Dax, Power Query, Power Bi & Power Pivot in Excel 2010-2016 Paperback – 1 Jan. 2016

I bought this book looking for something that would explain the technicalities of taking data models (via Power Query) and publishing them in some format via Power BI. "Power BI" seemed to be in the biggest font on the front cover you see. I was hoping the book would solve the issues such as Power BI 365 model v manually loading data from a non-365 environment. I now know I have been approaching things in the wrong order!It does touch on these publishing issues, but the focus is really on Power Pivot and basic DAX formula knowledge. Putting things in the correct linear perspective, the subject matter is Power Query - Power Pivot - more Power Pivot - Power Bi.The book has taught me the valuable lesson that Power Pivot is the work horse that will do the cutting, slicing and summing. Power Query can feed it with well structured data tables, and this book has help greatly with organising that data; Power BI can present up almost anything in most required formats, as long as I have the Power Pivots in good starting order, and change can be managed easily thereafter.It has therefore given me a perspective of how these 1.Query -> 2.Pivot -> 3.BI can and should work together. So whilst I was looking for the answer to 3. this book has eloquently, amusingly and clearly, steered me back to 1. & 2.I will be using it with a real-life business over the next 4 months and may have to revisit this review to report on whether it has been a good working companion. It has certainly given me a clear steer on structure, "Do"s and "Don't"s.

I am guilty of complacency...as a user of Excel for 20+ years I thought that there was little more to learn. Using older versions in corporate environments was also a deterrent...no matter what bells and whistles were added I couldn’t use them at work.A recent change of jobs has prompted me to revisit this, and this book was the right catalyst. The opening chapters are pitched correctly to get users to focus on what they already know and use it as a stepping stone to acquiring new skills.The examples are progressive and are all independently usable... you don’t have to get very far in the book to acquire new and useful skills.Being able to pivot separate tables is a game changer and is well covered... the progression out to Power BI visualisation and Power Query is well handled but other books are required for deeper dives. The volume of data that can be handled in power pivot is awesome...and the book guides you to elegant and efficient functions and measures.The authors clearly have been in the trenches with practitioners for whom excel is the often the only hammer to hit a problem, regardless of its nail-like properties...and their insights are very valuable to avoid catching thumbs...well done.

I can never be bothered writing reviews, but on opening this book I realized I have to. The first thing you notice about the book is the physical page size, it is slightly bigger than A4. Next to hit you is the internal layout, shiny paper, large font, the use of colour in screenshots and text. It is so appealing and legible.Then you get to the content! It is like reading a "technical novel" if there is such a genre. Starting at the Foreward they lay out their distinctive writing style full of anecdotes and facts - I have met Steve Ballmer so know they are spot on with his character description.From the Introduction onwards it just flows in a brilliant description of the main and more obscure and complex features and functions of PowerPivot and PowerBI.To summarize, if you bought this book to learn more about the title subject you will love it. If you bought this book by mistake you will love it even more.

Rob and Avi - data wizards and absolute geniuses. This book reads like a good novel, makes you burst out laughing as often as it leaves your jaw on the floor with clever, simple and well explained Power Pivot and Power BI examples. This is a no#1 reference book to all Data Analysts, Data Scientists who understand that it all starts with Excel. That Excel is still (and probably will continue to be) responsible for 90% of analytic work done at companies, universities, hospitals, factories etc. But Excel is just the beginning, can be seen as a powerful gateway to the world of BI.Power Pivot lets you increase your Excel powers exponentially, and Rob and Avi's book is your map/holy Bible/one-stop-shop for becoming a Power Pivot guru. They give you enough tools to take it further from there. And if you later connect it to powers of Power Query, Power BI and beyond (Oliksense, Tableau and more), there will be no turning back to simple Excel. It's a journey not only worth taking, it a necessary and a very pleasant journey. Rob, Avi - hats off to your talents and to your eloquent, witty and brilliant writing style! Yours truly fascinated, Agata