Which tool should you use to import data from multiple data sources and create a report Power BI desktop Power BI phone app Azure data Factory?

Are you an avid Azure user? Do you want to connect Azure to Power BI and visualize your Azure data? If yes, then you have landed at the right place. Power BI is one of the most popular BI tools in the market. Power BI is a Microsft product, so it offers a direct connector for Azure. When you combine Azure services with Power BI, then you can turn your processing data into reports and dashboards. It provides you with real-time insights into your business. This blog will take you through the steps to connect Azure to Power BI in detail.  

Let’s see how this blog is structured for you:

Table of Contents

What is Microsoft Azure?

Microsoft Azure is a cloud-based service that helps your organization to overcome business challenges. You can build, manage, and deploy your applications on the Azure platform. It is a solution that includes IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS, which can be used for various services such as virtual computing, databases, etc. It is updated continuously by Microsoft so that it can support all your deployments even in the future. It supports all languages and all frameworks. It makes sure your data is backed up and secure. 

What is Power BI?

Microsoft Power BI is a business analytics service. It provides business intelligence capabilities and interactive visualizations for your data. It helps you create reports and dashboards to get better insights into your data. Power BI also supports custom visualization using custom SDK. Power BI is available as Power BI Service, Power BI Desktop, and Power BI Mobile. Power BI Desktop is a free offering, which includes custom visualization, publication, and transformation of your data. Power BI Pro costs $9.99 per user per month, whereas Power BI Premium costs $4995 per month on a dedicated cloud.  

Hevo Data is a No-Code Data Pipeline. It supports pre-built data integrations from 100+ data sources at a reasonable price. Hevo automates your data flow without writing any code. Hevo provides a reliable, convenient, and secure solution to manage your data in real-time.

Let’s discuss some unbeatable features of Hevo:

1. Simple: Hevo can be set up in minutes and requires zero maintenance. Hevo offers a minimal learning curve.
2. Schema Management: Hevo can automatically handle all types of future schema changes in your incoming data.
3. Secure: Hevo makes sure that your data is safe by providing two-factor authentication and end-to-end encryption.
4. Fault-Tolerant: Hevo can automatically detect anomalies from the incoming data and informs you immediately. All affected rows are kept aside for correction.
5. Scalability: Hevo is built to handle millions of records per minute without any latency.
6. Live Support: With 24/7 support, Hevo provides customer-centric solutions to the business use case.

Prerequisites

Let’s discuss the steps to connect Azure to Power BI in detail.

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Why Connect Azure to PowerBI?

You can turn your data processing efforts into analytics and reports that deliver real-time insights into your organization using Azure services and Power BI. Azure and Power BI provide the built-in connectivity and integration to bring your business intelligence initiatives to life, whether your data processing is Cloud-based or On-premises, simple or complicated, single-sourced or massively scaled, warehoused or real-time.

Power BI supports a wide range of Azure Connections, and the Business Intelligence Solutions you may build with them are as unique as your company. You can connect as little as one or as many as a dozen Azure data sources, then shape and refine your data to create bespoke reports.

What Can you do With Azure and Power BI?

Azure and Power BI may be used in a variety of scenarios; the possibilities and opportunities are as diverse as your company. Check out this overview page for more information about Azure services, which describes Data Analytics Scenarios utilizing Azure, and learn how to turn your data sources into intelligence that propels your business forward.

Transform, Shape, and Merge your Cloud Data

Connections are as simple as a tap on the Get Data dialogue in Power BI Desktop and Azure services. You may connect to your Azure SQL Database, Azure HDInsight data source, and Azure Blob Storage (or Azure Table Storage) all from the same Query, then choose only the subsets you need from each and refine it from there.

You may also use the same data connections and even the same Query to build multiple reports for different audiences. Simply create a new report page, fine-tune your visualizations for each audience, and watch the business stay informed.

Steps to Connect Azure to Power BI 

You can connect Power BI to Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Data Warehouse, Azure Analysis Service Database, Azure HDInsights, etc. Let’s discuss some of these in detail:

• Azure SQL Database: It is a scalable, reliable, and secure relational database built on the cloud. It offers AI features on a fully automated platform. 
• Azure SQL Data Warehouse: It’s a petabyte-scale MPP warehouse built on SQL Server and runs on the Azure cloud computing platform.
• Azure HDInsights: It is an easy, flexible, cost-effective, and enterprise-grade service for open source analysis.
• Azure Analysis Service Database: It is a fully automated PaaS that provides an enterprise-grade model on the cloud. 

In this module, you will connect Power BI to Azure Analysis Service Database and Azure SQL database in detail. Let’s discuss how you will connect these platforms:

Steps to Connect Azure Analytics Service Database to Power BI

 Follow these steps to achieve Azure to Power BI integration:

1. Go to your Azure portal, go to “Server”, select “Overview” from the left side panel, and then copy your server name.

1. Go to Power BI Desktop, select “Get Data” from the home ribbon. Select “Azure” from the left side and then click the “Azure Analysis Services Database”. Click “Connect”. 

1. In the Server panel, write your server name and database name. Click on “Connect Live” and click “OK”.

1. When prompted, provide your credentials and click “Connect”. If everything is correct, then your data will be loaded successfully in Power BI for visualization. 

Now you can use your desired elements for visualization. 

Steps to Connect Azure SQL Database to Power BI

Follow these steps to achieve Azure SQL Database and Power BI integration:

1. Go to Power BI Desktop, select “Get Data” from the home ribbon. Select “Azure” from the left side, and then click the “Azure SQL Database”. Click on “Connect”. 

1. In the Server panel, write your server name and database name. Click on “DirectImport” and click “OK”.

1. When prompted, provide your credentials and click “Connect”. If everything is correct, then your data will be loaded successfully in Power BI for visualization. 

Now you can use your desired elements for visualization. 

Get complex (and ahead) using Azure Services and Power BI

With Azure and Power BI, you can scale up as much as you want. Utilize multi-source data processing, huge real-time systems, Stream Analytics, and Event Hubs, and combine your various SaaS services into business intelligence reports that provide your company a competitive advantage.

Context insights with Power BI Embedded Analytics

To take advantage of your corporate data, embed attractive, interactive data visualizations in applications, websites, portals, and more. You can easily embed interactive reports and dashboards with Power BI Embedded as a resource on Azure, so your users can have consistent, high-fidelity experiences across devices.

The goal of using Power BI with Embedded Analytics is to assist you on your journey from Data to Knowledge to Insights to Actions. You can further extend the value of Power BI and Azure by incorporating analytics into your company’s Internal Applications and Portals.

Conclusion

In this blog, you have learned about Microsoft Azure, Microsft Power BI, and the steps to connect Azure to Power BI in detail. Power BI offers in-built connectors for your Azure data. But, if you want to integrate data from multiple sources before analysis, you can use Hevo Data.

Hevo is a No-Code Data Pipeline. It provides pre-built integrations from 100+ data sources at a reasonable price. You can integrate your data from Azure using Hevo and then visualize it in Power BI easily.

Sign Up for a 14-day free trial and see the difference!

Share your experience of connecting Azure to Power BI in the comment section below.