Understanding Power BI Reports and Dashboards

Introduction

Power BI offers two primary components for visualizing and analyzing data: reports and dashboards. While these terms are often used interchangeably, they serve distinct purposes and have unique characteristics. In this article, we'll explore the key differences between Power BI reports and dashboards.

Power BI Reports

Power BI reports are comprehensive, data-centric documents that allow users to delve deep into their data. Here's what you need to know about Power BI reports:

• Data Exploration: Reports are designed for in-depth data exploration which consist of multiple pages or tabs, each containing one or more visuals, such as charts, tables, and graphs etc. Users can customize the visuals to display data in various formats depending on business requirement or learning purpose.

• Interactivity: Power  BI Reports undoubtedly offer rich interactivity because users, analysts, or developers can interact with the visuals by selecting data points, applying filters, and drilling down to more detailed information. This interactivity makes reports ideal for data analysts and professionals who need to perform detailed analyses.

• Data Modeling: Power BI reports often involve data modeling, where complex calculations and relationships between data tables can be defined, which allows for the creation of calculated columns, measures, and custom calculations, enhancing the depth of analysis.

• Sharing and Collaboration: Reports can be shared with others within or outside the organization, depending on settings. Collaborative features such as commenting, sharing links, and version control make it easy for teams to work together on data analysis projects.

• Scheduled Refresh: another pecualiar aspect of reports is that they can be configured to automatically update at specified intervals, ensuring that the data remains current

Power BI Dashboards

Power BI dashboards, on the other hand, serve a different purpose and are distinct in several ways:

• Data Overview: Dashboards provide a high-level, at-a-glance overview of key metrics and insights which can include tiles - an individual visuals or components that display data summaries. The tiles can include charts, numbers, maps, or even embedded web content.

• Real-Time Monitoring: Dashboards are ideal for real-time monitoring of critical business metrics because users, analysts, and developers can see the latest data without the need to drill down into details, and that makes dashboards valuable for executives and managers who require immediate insights.

• Limited Interactivity: Unlike reports, dashboards offer limited interactivity. While users can interact with some visuals, the primary purpose is to present summarized data rather than enabling deep analysis.

• Visual Composition: Creating a dashboard involves arranging and designing visuals in a visually appealing and meaningful way. Users can choose from various layout options to create an effective visual narrative.

• Personalization: Dashboards can be personalized by individual users, allowing them to arrange and resize tiles based on their preferences and priorities.

• Direct Links to Reports: Dashboards often include links to related reports, enabling users to seamlessly transition from a high-level view to a more detailed analysis when necessary.

Pin Report to Dashboard

Having understood the difference between Power BI Reports and Dashboards, the screenshot below shows a report created in the Power BI Desktop and published to the Power BI Service.

• To pin the entire report as a dashboard, in the Power BI service, located the horizontal ellipsis and select Pin Report to a Dashboard from the dropdown
  
• In the intermediate step, you will be required to select where you would like to pin the report. You can select Existing Dashboard (if you have any) or New Dashboard.
• Next, you will be required to provide the name for the Dashboard, as seen below.
  

Finally, click on Pin to live. The dashboard is created.