Module 8

Designing a Microsoft Excel-Based

Reporting Solution
Module Overview

• Using Excel for Data Analysis and Reporting

• PowerPivot for Excel
• Power View for Excel
Lesson 1: Using Excel for Data Analysis and
Reporting

• Microsoft Excel in a BI Project

• Data Sources for Excel
• Viewing Data in Excel
• Interactive Data Analysis in Excel
Microsoft Excel in a BI Project

Business Requirements

Technical
Data
Architecture Reporting and
Warehouse
and Analysis
and ETL
Infrastructure Design
Design
Design

Monitoring and Optimizing

Operations and Maintenance

 Data Sources for Excel

• Analysis Services data models

• SQL Server databases
• OLE DB and ODBC databases
• Microsoft Access databases
• Text files
• XML files
• Microsoft Azure SQL Database
• Microsoft Azure Marketplace
• OData Feeds
Viewing Data in Excel

• Sorting and filtering

• Calculated values
• Calculate column values based on data in other columns
• Calculate aggregate totals and subtotals
• Look up related data values
• Formatting
• Font formatting
• Number formatting
• Cell and border formatting
• Conditional formatting
• Charts and data visualizations:
• Bar charts
• Column charts
• Pie charts
• Scatter charts
• Sparklines
Interactive Data Analysis in Excel

• PivotTables
• PivotCharts
• Slicers
• Timelines
Lesson 2: PowerPivot for Excel

• Deploying PowerPivot for Excel

• PowerPivot Workbooks vs. Tabular Analysis
Services Databases
• Planning Considerations for PowerPivot
Deploying PowerPivot for Excel

• PowerPivot for Excel 2013

• Enable and disable by using the COM Add-Ins dialog
box
• PowerPivot for Excel 2010
• Download from the Microsoft Download Center

• Automatically upgrade data models created in

Excel 2010 to the Excel 2013 format
PowerPivot Workbooks vs. Tabular Analysis
Services Databases
Tabular data models in Excel
PowerPivot workbooks
Created in Excel
Generates implicit measures
Supports linked tables
In memory format only
Data model size limited only by
hardware in 64-bit version only
No support for partitions
Security is based on access to the
workbook
Published in SharePoint Server as
Excel Services workbooks
(can be linked via a BISM connection)
Tabular data models in Analysis
Services
Created in SQL Server Data Tools
(can be imported from PowerPivot)
All measures must be explicitly
created
No support for linked tables
Supports in-memory and DirectQuery
Data model size limited only by
hardware
Supports partitioned tables
Role-based security model
Published in SharePoint Server as
BISM connections
Planning Considerations for PowerPivot

• Data source access

• User training
• Sharing PowerPivot workbooks
Lesson 3: Power View for Excel

• Deploying Power View for Excel

• Using Power View in Excel
• Considerations for Power View in Excel
Deploying Power View for Excel

• Enable and disable

Power View by
using the COM
Add-Ins dialog box
• Excel 2013 and later
only
• Requires Silverlight
Using Power View in Excel

Data sources
• Range of cells in a worksheet
• PowerPivot tabular data model in the
workbook
Data Visualizations
• Bar charts
• Column charts
• Scatter charts
• Line charts
• Pie charts
• Maps
• Tiles
• Time-based play axis
Considerations for Power View in Excel

• Ensure that users have suitable training

• Share Power View reports by sharing the
workbook that contains them
Lab: Designing a Microsoft Excel-Based
Reporting Solution

• Exercise 1: Planning Excel Features

• Exercise 2: Analyzing a Cube with Excel
• Exercise 3: Creating a PowerPivot Workbook
• Exercise 4: Using Power View in Excel

Logon Information
Start 20467D-MIA-DC and 20467D-MIA-SQL, and
then log on to 20467D-MIA-SQL as
ADVENTUREWORKS\Student with the password
Pa$$w0rd.

Estimated Time: 90 Minutes

Lab Scenario

You have created a SQL Server data warehouse

and an Analysis Services data model for sales and
marketing analysts in Adventure Works Cycles to
use when analyzing sales results. Employees at
Adventure Works use Microsoft Excel 2013, and
you must now plan how they will use it to analyze
the sales data.
Lab Review

• How might you support the Sales VP’s

requirement to visually analyze the marketing data
models in Excel 2010?
Module Review and Takeaways

• Review Question(s)