Data Modeling for Power BI Video Course

Data modeling is a required skill to get the most out of Power BI, Power Pivot for Excel, and Analysis Services. This video course is aimed at users of Power BI Desktop or Power Pivot for Excel, and at Analysis Services developers who want to learn how to build the optimal data model for their reporting needs.

The goal of the video course is to teach through examples of increasing complexity how to solve business scenarios by adapting the data model, so that the required DAX code becomes easier, faster and more robust. All the demos and the exercises are based on Power BI examples. However, the very same concepts can be applied to Power Pivot and Analysis Services Tabular.

The video course is made up of over 10 hours of lectures, plus another estimated 8 hours of individual exercises. You can watch the videos at any time and the system will keep track of your progress. Within the video course you can download the material for all the exercises.

Students have access to a private discussion area where they can interact with the instructors asking questions related to the lectures and the exercises.

Collapse allCurriculum

  • Presentation of Data Modeling for Power BI

    • Presentation of Data Modeling for Power BI
      FREE
  • Exercises, slides, and demos

    • How to download and complete exercises
      FREE
    • Exercises download
    • Demos download
    • Slides of the video course
    • SQL Server Contoso DW database
  • Introduction to data modeling

    • Introduction to data modeling
      FREE
    • Introduction
      FREE
    • Analytical limits
      FREE
    • Increasing the analytical power
      FREE
    • Introducing the data model
      FREE
    • Leveraging the data model
      FREE
    • Normalization and denormalization
    • Facts and dimensions
    • Introducing star schemas
    • If you don't have a star schema
    • Chains of relationships
    • How many dimensions?
    • Why data modeling is useful
    • LAB number 1
  • Header / detail tables

    • Header / detail tables
      FREE
    • Introducing header / detail schemas
    • Bidirectional filtering is not the way to go
    • Header / detail
    • Denormalizing the discount
    • Back to a star schema
    • LAB number 2
  • Multiple fact tables

    • Multiple fact tables
      FREE
    • Using multiple fact tables
    • Moving filters with DAX
    • Building a star schema
    • How to properly use multiple fact tables, if present
    • Trying bidirectional filtering
    • Model ambiguity
    • Solving ambiguity
    • LAB number 3
  • Working with date and time

    • Working with date and time
      FREE
    • Date attributes in the fact table
      FREE
    • Building a date dimension
    • CALENDARAUTO
    • The model with a date dimension
    • Automatic date grouping in Excel and Power BI
    • Automatic date grouping in Power BI
    • Quick calculations in Power BI Desktop
    • Disable automatic date columns
    • Handling multiple dates
      FREE
    • Multiple date tables
      FREE
    • Multiple date tables with multiple fact tables
      FREE
    • Multiple relationships with date
    • Handling date and time
    • Computing with working days
    • Create a holidays table (one country)
    • Create a holidays table (multiple countries)
    • Weekends are not always the same
    • Handling special periods of the year
    • Non-overlapping periods: the model
    • Non-overlapping special periods
    • Overlapping special periods
    • Overlapping period measure
    • LAB number 4
  • Tracking historical attributes

    • Tracking historical attributes
      FREE
    • Attributes change over time
    • Handling variations over time
    • Slowly changing attributes or dimensions?
    • Rapidly changing dimensions
    • Attributes in the fact table
  • Using snapshots

    • Using snapshots
      FREE
    • What is a snapshot?
    • Sales versus inventory in the same model
    • Non-additive measures
    • LASTDATE does not work here
    • Optimizing performance
    • Snapshots and granularity
    • Transition matrix
    • Parameter table
    • LAB number 5
  • Analyzing date and time intervals

    • Analyzing date and time intervals
      FREE
    • What are intervals?
    • Solving with DAX... too complex!
    • Changing granularity
    • Split hours AND amount!
    • Analyzing active events
    • Open orders: the starting model
    • Open orders with DAX
    • Changing the model
    • Open orders is a snapshot table
    • Events with different durations
    • Daily Salary (DAX)
    • Precompute the values
    • LAB number 6
  • Many-to-many relationships

    • Many-to-many relationships
      FREE
    • What are many-to-many relationships?
    • Possible solutions to the scenario
    • Bidirectional filtering
    • Using CROSSFILTER
    • Using expanded table filtering
    • CROSSFILTER versus expanded tables
    • Understanding non-additivity
    • Cascading many-to-many
    • Additional material
    • LAB number 7
  • Working with different granularities

    • Working with different granularities
      FREE
    • Dimensions define granularity
    • Analyzing budget data
    • Reduce granularity on all the tables
    • Using DAX to move the filters
    • Filtering through relationships
    • Use the correct column to slice
    • Leveraging relationships
    • Checking granularity in the report
    • Hiding or reallocating?
    • LAB number 8
  • Segmentation data models

    • Segmentation data models
      FREE
    • Segmentation models
      FREE
    • Static segmentation
      FREE
    • Static segmentation: the formula
      FREE
    • Dynamic segmentation
    • Dynamic segmentation: the formula
    • ABC and Pareto analysis
  • Working with multiple currencies

    • Working with multiple currencies
      FREE
    • Using multiple currencies
    • Beware of simple calculations
    • Multiple sources, one reporting currency
    • Conversion with a calculated column
    • Single source, multiple reporting currencies
    • What the formula should perform
    • Multiple sources, multiple reporting currencies
Student Rating
4.8
219 ratings
4-star Reviews (11 of 113)
  • Ananya Das (Oct 28, 2024)

    This is a really helpful course. Thank you!

  • Julia Mikołajska (Feb 23, 2024)

    A lot of knowledge, but it should be more emphasized that the course is created for advanced DAX users, not the ones who would like to start the journey with data modeling.

    • Hi Julia, Thank you for your feedback. We do offer the free video course, "Introduction to Data Modeling" which you may find helpful prior to learning the "Data Modeling for Power BI" video course. Claire
      Reply by Claire Costa (Feb 23, 2024)
  • Josiah Couchman (Nov 3, 2021)

    Great course. Lots of good information. Thanks guys

  • Erick Munoz (Jun 4, 2021)

    Hey guys, I like the course, but I feel letdown. I'm not exactly a newbie but there are a lot of technicalities I wish were explained at some point or at least referred. I get that this is not a DAX course (I have already bought other courses in order to grasp more) but things like filter context, ambiguity, Iterations, explanation of Calculate(values[]) and other hardcore combinations of dax are barely touched and regularly used. I have found some answers on your own Youtube account and that's seems to indicate that you are aware of this gap between what people like me (basic users) are trying to grasp. Basically I'm giving you the benefit-of-the-doubt rating that everything will come together with your other courses.

  • Andres Cuñarro (Jun 3, 2021)

    Great course! It's good to have this reference to come back while getting field experience.

  • Rich Brown (Dec 30, 2020)

    A little too advanced for me. I will need to review the introduction course, then go back through this one.

  • Vyacheslav Ilnytskyy (Aug 8, 2020)

    Great course. I really enjoyed it and found plenty of things to implement or change for my situations. But I think this course as well as book (it's great that you can do both book and course in parallel) are missing the particular solutions. Meaning, it would make much more sense to include the M reference the same way it is done for the DAX course and The Definitive Guide to DAX book. Because as it is said many times in the course "Here is a DAX code, but it's the worst option - better use M or source". But there is no M in this book... This is also the reason, why I've stopped doing labs after 5th task - I don't know functions. I can't solve Labs without copying result from the Solution. And it doesn't make any sense to do it that way. So, I decided to come back to them after DAX course. Anyway, I think the best would either to add M reference, or add separate M course. Otherwise, thank you for this wonderful course. It definitely worth its money.

    • You made very good points, thanks for the feedback. The goal of the Data Modeling class is to make people aware of the data modeling requirements. However, there are many ways to transform the data: - Using SQL - Using specific ETL software (SSIS, Azure Data Factory, Informatica, ...) - Using Power Query - Asking for specific datasets to the IT Many Power BI users fall in the last bucket: they can spend time learning and using Power Query (which required a completely separate course, which we do not have), but we also have seen that many users can simply forward the requirements to their IT once they understand what to ask. For this reason, we designed the training in order to provide the information required to understand what is the proper data model required to solve a business problem. This particular topic is not covered in training about specific tools to transform data, and it is the real goal of this course. We probably have to better clarify this goal in the course description to set the right expectations. Thanks again for your useful feedback!
      Reply by SQLBI (Aug 8, 2020)
  • Alessandra van de Nes (Aug 7, 2020)

    Very well done video course. I found it particularly useful in understanding the errors I can incur in when building my data model and how to structure it in a proper way. Some of the subtitles are wrong, maybe to be reviewed.

  • Robin Neven (Oct 25, 2019)

    Very good: clear explanations and examples, though harder than I had expected. But that's good because it means there was a lot to learn! Minor point of improvement: sometimes the assignments weren't totally clear to me. In those cases it started with a description, but never really asked a question/gave an assignment.

  • Bill Brown (Jul 27, 2018)

    Now have a much better understanding of data modeling.

  • Eduardo Rocha Clemente (Jun 24, 2018)

    The last Module that I really have done the exercises was the "Analyzing date and time intervals". I think that the previous course that you advised me to do "Introducing Dax", the free one, was not enough to understand the solution that was depeloped in DAX code. I intend to do the "Mastering Dax" course, and do all the exercises again in this course to a better understanding . I feel that a roadmap to master DAX is needed

    • Thanks for the feedback! Please, keep in mind that the goal of the Data Modeling for Power BI course is to teach how to set the goal in designing the data model, not in implementing the transformation. The way you have to consider the exercise is in practicing the definition of the data model. It would be better to use SQL or Power Query (M) to obtain such a result. For practical reasons, we used DAX to accelerate the creation of the required table, otherwise the course would have dedicated 70% of the time describing how to use SQL and/or Power Query, with a more complex setup for the exercises required.
      Reply by SQLBI (Jun 24, 2018)

Would you prefer a classroom course?

This video course is based on a classroom course we teach all around the world. If you prefer a classroom learning experience, take a look at the dates below for a list of our upcoming classroom courses!
2024
 Amsterdam, NL Dec 10-12, 2024
Amsterdam
2025
 Amsterdam, NL Apr 14-16, 2025
Amsterdam