David Dye

 Introduction  Introduction to PowerPivot  Working With PowerPivot

 David Dye  

 Free add in for Excel  Extends Excel capabilities  Allows business analysts to create self-service analytics solutions  UtilizesVertiPaq technology ◦ PowerPivot 2010 uses VertiPaq ◦ PowerPivot 2013 uses xVelocity  Next generation of the VertiPaq engineVertiPaq ◦ VERY fast as it is in-memory technology  If you don’t have enough memory for the project it won’t open  Consider 64Bit ◦ Provides native compression  Embedded Analysis database

 PowerPivot is client side technology ◦ Requires users to have sufficient horsepower and resources on their laptop  REMEMBER PowerPivot is in memory  SSAS – SQL Server Analysis Services is server side technology ◦ More resources are generally available at the server  Multidimensional mode ◦ Have been available since SSAS was first introduced  More complex to create support  Tabular mode ◦ PowerPivot at the server ◦ Projects can be created in Excel or SSDT and deployed to an instance of SSAS in tabular data mode

 PowerPivot ◦ In-memory MUCH faster ◦ 10x-15x data compression ◦ Multidimensional ◦ Supports  KPI’s  Hierarchies ◦ DAX  Data analysis expression language  Similar, but more powerful, than the Excel expressions ◦ Integrate multiple sources  Excel  SQL  OData  Multidimensional  Excel ◦ Organize multiple sources in a relational way

 Once installed the PowerPivot menu is available  Unless created in PowerPivot it is nothing more than a spreadsheet ◦ KEEP IN MIND PowerPivot is ALL in memory  64bit is preferred.  If there is not enough memory the PowerPivot project  Cannot be opened  Cannot be saved

 PowerPivot can utilize different data source: ◦ SQL Server ◦ SSAS multidimensional data models ◦ Excel ◦ Clipboard ◦ PowerPivot ◦ OData ◦ SharePoint lists ◦ Access ◦ Windows Azure marketplace ◦ Text ◦ OLEDB ◦ ODBC ◦ ANYTHING you can connect to!!

 Based on data connection  Supports ◦ Filtering ◦ Friendly Name ◦ Defining columns to import  ONLY TAKE WHAT YOU NEED!  In memory can quickly fill up with unused data  Once finished the data will be loaded in memory

 Unique data source that imports data from the clipboard ◦ Not recommended ◦ The data exists ONLY in the PowerPivot sheet ◦ Cannot be refreshed ◦ Best practice to use persistent data sources  SQL  Excel  SSAS  Etc.

 Once imported Data View is the default view  Almost identical to Excel Pivot Table  Data is in memory

 Allows you to ◦ Create relationships ◦ Create hierarchies  Work with the layout visually

 Allows you to ◦ View the data in a spreadsheet type layout  Add calculated column  DAX measures

 Provide an easy means for users to navigate  Can consist of multiple columns ◦ Examples Year>Month>Day ◦ Fiscal Year>Fiscal Quarter>Fiscal Month ◦ State>City>Zip code

 Provides a focused subset of the Power Pivot project  Allows a means to focus attention on specific areas of a project  IS NOT a means of security  Similar to a view in SQL Server without the security boundary

 Once created the project can be navigated using a pivot table  Provides all of the features and functionality of any PivotTable ◦ Add Excel formulas

 Can be created from within Power Pivot or Excel

 Introduced in Excel 2010  Provides the ability to filter data with the click of a button  Easily configurable  Available for ◦ Pivot tables ◦ Pivot charts ◦ When connecting to SSAS  Both tabular data model multidimensional cubes

 DAX – Data Analysis Expressions  The expression language used by Power Pivot  Similar to Excel expressions, but more powerful  Used to ◦ Create measures ◦ Calculated columns ◦ Query Power Pivot  PowerPivot DAX Survival Guide PowerPivot DAX Survival Guide

 A numeric calculation used in data analysis  Created using DAX in the Data View window  Measures are used to create KPI’s  Different from Calculated columns ◦ Measures are typically used in the Values area of a PivotTable or PivotChart ◦ Calculated columns are used when you want to place calculated results in a different area of a PivotTable

 KPI – Key Performance Indicator  Based on a specific calculated measures  Provides a graphical representation of measures of performance

 Follow along ◦ us/library/gg aspx