Power BI Mobile Apps are an excellent choice for your business or management team if you need to view data on the go.
The data visualisations created and used in Power BI transform seemingly unrelated pieces of data into coherent, interactive and visually stimulating dashboards and reports. The data could be from an excel sheet, cloud technology or onsite data warehouses.
The purpose of Power BI Mobile Apps is to connect the user with their data sources, visualise the information and make the relevant decisions necessary to the future of the business. The resulting data presentation can then be shared with anyone and everyone the user wants.
What Are Power BI Mobile Apps?
Power BI mobile apps are software programmes that are designed to allow mobile users to access and interact with their business data. It combines both onsite and on cloud data to help the user view shared dashboards in Power BI and reports through the Power BI operating system.
The Power BI Report Server manages reports and key performing through a web portal. The portal allows users to create different types of reports, including mobile reports, paginated reports and KPI’s. Microsoft Intune, however, focuses on mobile applications with an emphasis on device management and data encryption.
Why Should I Use Power BI Apps?
Power BI Desktop provides an easy way to create and share interactive reports and dashboards. When bundled with Power BI Apps, it is easier to install the app on mobile devices and Power BI Service to access the visuals.
Here are three great reasons you should consider using Power BI for Business and Power BI Apps.
1) They allow users to accumulate the content in one place. This means that the user doesn’t have to remember all of the different names of the reports, and they are all easily accessed from browsers and mobile devices.
2) The author of the reports/dashboards can schedule how often they want the data to be refreshed. The users will get notifications when the author makes any changes.
3) Power BI’s allow the author to set their own restrictions and permissions for specific parts or even the whole report. This means that the users can then only access what the author wants them to see.
While the above three are perhaps the three most significant advantages to using Power BI Mobile Apps, they aren’t the only advantages. They are also great for deploying reports to larger audiences. In short, they make the sharing of data easier for businesses.
3 Microsoft Power BI Mobile App Examples
Microsoft Power BI apps have become increasingly common in business settings lately, and they have several uses. Most employees can use these apps, who can then access the information in their own way. This can help to improve employee collaboration and ultimately lead to increased productivity
An Employee Onboarding App
One of the most popular uses of Power BI Mobile Apps is creating an employee onboarding app. It seamlessly integrates data from many other Microsoft applications like outlook, tasks, and calendars. These features and more, including contacts, policies and forms, can all be combined to make it easier for staff. It also makes it easier for the HR team when onboarding new hires.
An Expense Approval App
Approving expenses is often a tedious role that entails a lot of submission and processing. However, an app can be developed using a Power BI that allows employees to submit expenses and proof online. A manager can then approve or reject this request at their leisure, all from their mobile device.
Staff Attendance Tracker
Managers can create an app that allows members of staff to log in and out. This data can then be used to track their attendance and identify any patterns in absence. This can be easily implemented across organisations with different levels of access set up to bar users from any information they aren’t authorised to see.
Power BI Mobile App FAQs
The Power BI service is a cloud-based analytics tool that enables users to visualise and analyse vast chunks of data more efficiently. However, this often leads to confusion and questions because the specifics are full of technical terms, which can be difficult for a layperson to understand.
Can Power BI Mobile Apps Be Used On iOS & Android?
In short, yes. The Power BI mobile app is available for iOS, Android, and Windows devices. In addition, the app itself is optimised for mobile view. So, depending on the device, you can use and view all of your reporting services and create data alerts.
How Secure Are Power BI Apps?
Depending on the needs of the business, the creator of the reports might want to limit access to said reports. For example, they might contain sensitive financial data which should only be seen by the finance team. Or it could be an HR report which includes a salary breakdown for all employees, which is for the eyes of the HR team only.
In these cases, it is essential that the data is secure. Power BI has a number of options when it comes to access, sharing and security. Firstly, the reports have to be shared with the right party, these people are granted access, and they can then see the report. In addition, the whole report, or parts of it, maybe secured by a pin or password.
What Are the Limitations of Power BI Mobile Apps?
Although there are a lot of benefits for both the users and the designers, as with anything, there are also some limitations to Power BI apps. There are a few areas where they lack efficiency.
One area is personalisation. Users can’t personalise or filter the reports shared with them on the apps, which can be a good thing but can be annoying for some users when they can’t get the information they need.
Next, if the report shared via the app needs to be connected with a different data set, it has to be excluded from the app, remade with the new data set before being re-uploaded and shared via the app again.
Finally, depending on the subscription, a non-premium user may not see the reports shared on the app.
It’s always worth comparing Power BI vs Excel to see if you can find a use for both pieces of software in your set-up. Often Excel is better at gathering and filtering data whereas Power BI is perfect for data visualisation.
What’s The Power BI Mobile App Licencing Structure?
The licencing structure of a Power BI can be broken down into three levels, pro, premium per user and premium per capacity. Here we’ll take a look at what each subscription level includes.
Firstly, there is Power BI Free which is designed for smaller groups of people. Users can see but not create reports and dashboards. It is a limited access option. It is also great for users getting started with Power BI’s and want to learn the basics. The person sharing will need a higher level of access than the person viewing.
Next, there is Power BI Pro. This is the primary licence option that most users within an organisation will use. It does cost money, although there are a few discounts for non-profits or educational businesses. The main limitation is that the output created using this licence can only be viewed and used by users who also share this licence.
Finally, there is Power BI Premium. This option is mainly for large businesses or mature data first organisations. This is the most expensive licencing option; however, it does have more features than the other options.
How Can I Start Using Power BI Mobile Apps in My Business?
Power BI Apps have several uses for businesses. They can be used in financial estimations to create forecasts or other advanced analytical algorithms. Users can create a what-if analysis using either qualitative or quantitative data.
Any data can be processed and presented to make it easier for the reader to understand. For example, sales data, customers analysis and staffing information can also be used to create them. In essence, almost any data set within a business can be transformed using a Power BI.
Conclusion: Power BI Mobile Apps Give You Insight In The Palm of Your Hands
Power BI has many different applications within a business setting. The apps have a lot of features to take advantage of that work alongside the Power BI workspaces. For example, they offer an easy way for designers to separate finished reports from the ones in progress. The only downside is that the apps don’t allow non-technical users to view or interact with any reports or dashboards shared by other users.
