Author: Belinda Allen

Belinda Allen (Microsoft MVP) is both a Microsoft Certified Professional for Dynamics GP (MCP) and a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT). She is also the co-founder of Smith & Allen Consulting, Inc. (www.saci.com), a business management software consulting firm for over 24 years. Belinda began implementing ERP systems so long ago that Windows was not an operating system, but an application. Larger businesses used old Main Frames with monitors that were Green and Black and smaller business did accounting by hand. Having seen the evolution that has taken place over the years from pieces of paper to analytics, Belinda still gets excited every time she helps a business improve. Belinda is also well known for her Blog www.BelindaTheGPcsi.com. Her blog is about sharing really useful information about the product quickly and succinctly. She has earned the nickname GP CSI because she excels at reviewing GP problems and figuring what went wrong and why. With followers all over the Globe she is able to share knowledge and achieve her mission: “To Improve the Lives and Business Success of my Followers.” In her time off, Belinda enjoys sailing, woodturning, crochet/knitting, sewing/quilting, reading and playing the ukulele (Belinda often participates in Ukulele Jams in NYC.)

Microsoft Excel new Rich Data Types (with Video)

Microsoft Excel Developers have done it again.  They created an amazing new feature called Rich Data Types.  Excel has always been able to recognize Text, Numbers, Errors, etc.  But now?  Now it can recognize Stocks and Geography.  Watch this video to see this cool new feature.

Continue reading Microsoft Excel new Rich Data Types (with Video)

Using Relative Date Filtering in Microsoft Power BI

In this video, I demonstrate using Relative Date Filtering in Microsoft Power BI.  My dataset contains unpaid Accounts Payable invoices and their due dates.  I use the Filter options to restrict the visual to display only invoices that are in the next 275 weeks.  My sample data is way out in the future, realistically, you would want to see what’s due this week, month, etc.

MBS Podcast: Presenting Convergence… Yeah, you’ll understand after you listen. Podcast 2

Today we’ll be talking about the new Microsoft Business Summit, and whether it really is the return of Convergence.  You’ll also get to listen in on our sharing how we prepare and come up with topics on which to present.

This podcast was recorded on 4/13/2018.

Listen Here!

Our Sponsor today is PowerGP Online.  Visit their site at PowerGPonline.com

This podcast is the opinions and ideas of three Microsoft MVP’s, who are wrong a lot.

Power BI on-Premises Production Targeted for Mid 2017 — Paul Turley’s SQL Server BI Blog

NEWS FLASH: Power BI reports can be deployed to SQL Server Reporting Services web portal. The production-ready release is targeted for mid 2017. This is much sooner than most folks in the community were anticipating. An installable technical preview is targeted for January of 2017. This announcement was just made on the SQL Server Reporting […]

via Power BI on-Premises Production Targeted for Mid 2017 — Paul Turley’s SQL Server BI Blog

Amazon AWS Getting Serious about Analytics — Business Intelligence & Advanced Analytics

Last week over 24,000 attendees gathered at Amazon Web Services (AWS) annual re:Invent conference. The event has significantly grown over 84% since 2014 when there was 13,000 participants. If you are still questioning the … Read More The post Amazon AWS Getting Serious about Analytics appeared first on Business Intelligence & Advanced Analytics.

via Amazon AWS Getting Serious about Analytics — Business Intelligence & Advanced Analytics

Can you auto-refresh data in Microsoft Power BI using Microsoft OneDrive? (With Video)

This is one of those weird answers of “Yes, but No” or “Yes, sort of” or “No, but Yes.”

So none of the answers above really answer the question. No one can answer it, it’s a trick question (those of you who love the movie “My Cousin Vinny” will be laughing now. Let’s see why it is a trick question.

Belinda Allen, Microsoft Dynamics GP MVP shares tips and information on Microsoft Power BI.
My Cousin Vinny (1992)

We’ll start with OneDrive for Business. Since OneDrive for Business AND Power BI are both cloud applications and they would use the same login information, Microsoft Power BI will automatically refresh data created in the Service (Microsoft Power BI Web Application) automatically. So if you:

  1. Log into your Microsoft Power BI Service (www.PowerBI.com)
  2. Add a Dataset using “Import or Connect to Data | Files”
    1. Get
    2. OneDrive – Business
    3. Select File and Connect
    4. Import (Connecting brings in the whole Excel Workbook, usually you just want the data so you can create visualizations.)
  3. Create your visualizations using “My Workspace”
  4. Pin new Visualizations to your dashboard.
  5. Refreshing will automatically occur every hour.

That was the Yes part. The no part? Someone has to refresh the file on OneDrive for Business. This is a great way to share data with many people in your company. Only one person has to refresh the file (of course that folder needs to be shared with the other Power BI users as well, in OneDrive for Business.

 So I admit the answer is probably really only no, it doesn’t auto-refresh but come on. One person keeps that file current and everyone who accesses it has up to date data without having to click refresh? That’s pretty cool. This is a super, low budget method or sharing data and using Power BI efficiently.

For OneDrive for Personal? The same pretty much applies EXCEPT your login information is not likely to be the same as your OneDrive for Business. This means when you log in to your OneDrive for Personal, you need to make sure you mark the option to stay signed in.

I like this approach. For most ERP users, a data refresh of weekly is sufficient. Using this easy to setup methodology, you can control data being released as well.

Happy Dashboarding!