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What is the best way to leverage the use of Power BI in D365 FO nowadays ?

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Posted on by 508
Hi all,
 
This is an open question as of what is the best way of use or leverage Power BI to support D365 FO activity ? Since the technology is growing and change quite fast with stuff like Data Lake, Synapse Link and last is Fabric, but in reality I found most of companies still baffled of how to use it. And there are a lot of company/implementer use OData but then Microsoft it self do not recommend the use OData for analytics, in that case can I say Power BI is not best to use OData for its datasource ?
 
Also about the report it self, I 'm wondering any company/customer ever use those charts like diagrams, pie, and so on which now quite many with their own features ? because in the end they want to see it in /plain-old/ tabular format, and more dramatically they want to export it into excel which obviously more like in tabular format.
 
Thanks,
 
  • Ken Manhattan Profile Picture
    Ken Manhattan 508 on at
    What is the best way to leverage the use of Power BI in D365 FO nowadays ?
    Hi Kevin,
     
    Many thanks for your explanation. Now may I ask, if I want to make use of Microsoft Fabric, with data source from my D365 FO, how actually the flow ? mind to share the architecture and what component needed ?

    And speaking of D365FO as data source, what will be the object that we need to use ? the tables / views / entity or the entity store (aggregate measurement) as what currently D365 FO use as their Power BI data source.

    Thanks again.
  • Suggested answer
    Kevin Xia Profile Picture
    Kevin Xia Microsoft Employee on at
    What is the best way to leverage the use of Power BI in D365 FO nowadays ?
    Hi,
    Let's break down your questions:

    Direct Query vs. Import:

    • For Direct Query, you typically connect Power BI directly to the production server. This may not be suitable unless you embed the Power BI report in the F&O dashboard workspace or have a dedicated environment for direct queries.
    • For Import, you would typically create a Power BI report with the desired data, and this report is then imported into your F&O architecture. Importing the data means it's brought into the Power BI model and can be utilized without a direct connection to the data source.

    Datalake and Synapse Link:

    • Datalake and Synapse Link are indeed considered future-oriented technologies for data storage and analytics. Embedding reports in F&O from these sources might require connecting to PowerBI.com first and then attaching the report. Users viewing these reports would typically need a Power BI license.

    CDS (Common Data Service):

    • CDS and Synapse Link are related but not the same. CDS is a data storage service used by Power Platform applications. Synapse Link to Dataverse (CDS) refers to the ability to connect Synapse Analytics (formerly SQL Data Warehouse) directly to the Dataverse service for analytics.

    Fabric:

    • "Fabric" is a term that might refer to Azure Synapse Studio, a tool for developing and managing data workflows. Its integration with Power BI would involve using Synapse Studio to prepare and manage data, and then using Power BI to create reports.

    Licensing:

    • Users who need to view reports generally require a Power BI license.
    Best regards,
    Kevin
  • Ken Manhattan Profile Picture
    Ken Manhattan 508 on at
    What is the best way to leverage the use of Power BI in D365 FO nowadays ?
    Hi Kevin,
     
    For Direct query, am I right to say we need to connect to production server ? Means this will not applicable unless we embed PowerBI report in F&O dashboard workspace ? or again, we should use OData connection for its data source, while actually this is not recommended and is slow ? 
     
    For Import, may I know where to import in relate to the current F&O architecture? Is it by some particular PowerBI report that already we can access, then download that report, which I supposed it is already contain the data inside the file (if my understanding is correct by the meaning of Import). Then he/she just play around with that downloaded PowerBI report solely in their laptop. 
     
    Datalake and Synapse Link, I see this is the future, but means there is more resource and investment needed. and do we able to embed the report in F&O Dashboard since it will need to access Datalake, not like previously, connect to the same SQL server the AxDW, which contain entity store ? or need to embed by connect to PowerBI.com first then attach the report ? Does it mean users that need to view this report, need Power BI license ? (can they have free license only, just to get the report from PowerBI.com and attach it in their F&O workspace ?)
    But Synapse Link also a new think which I'm not sure it is stable already or not,
     
    CDS, am I right to say that CDS that you're referring to is same as Synapse Link since the full name is Synapse Link to Dataverse (CDS), Only whether we want to use data from inside Dataverse or from Data lake as its final destination (for the data)
     
    And what about that new "family" named Fabric ? where and how this can be utilize in relate to PowerBI report.
     
    I'm sorry if too much question, but my knowledge of this is very much in pieces, also since the growth and changes on this data integration and analytics which then later for the use of PowerBI, is quite vast.
     
    Hope I can get enlightenment from here.
     
  • Suggested answer
    Kevin Xia Profile Picture
    Kevin Xia Microsoft Employee on at
    What is the best way to leverage the use of Power BI in D365 FO nowadays ?
    Hi,
    Leveraging Power BI in F&O:
    DirectQuery or Import:
    You can connect Power BI to Dynamics 365 FO data using DirectQuery or import methods. DirectQuery allows real-time analysis, while import brings data into Power BI for faster performance but may not be real-time.
    Data Lake and Synapse Link:
    Leverage technologies like Data Lake and Synapse Link for enhanced data storage and analytics capabilities. These technologies allow you to store and analyze large volumes of data.
    Common Data Service (CDS):
    Consider using Common Data Service as an intermediary between Dynamics 365 FO and Power BI. CDS provides a unified and simplified data platform that Power BI can connect to.
    Power BI Dataflows:
    Utilize Power BI dataflows to transform and prepare data before creating reports. This can help in cleaning and shaping data for optimal reporting.
    Best regards,
    Kevin

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