Episode 170
| May 15, 2019
| 25 minutes
Devops with Power BI
Two years ago blogger Jay Killeen observed, “And with modern languages and modern applications such as PowerBI and Power Query you should be safe to assume there would be modern tooling. You would be wrong.” In this episode, Eugene and I explore the challenges with Devops in Power BI and some ways we and others have implemented to help us deal with versions and team development of reports. Compañeros, you can also win a SQL Data Partners T-shirt if you post on social media using the hashtag #sqltrail.
Jay Killeen: Managing Queries in Power BI & Power Query using Git
Eugene Meidinger: Why the Raspberry Pi 2 is my main computer
Reza Rad: Power BI Helper
Tony McGovern: Power Query Version Control
Power BI Sentinel
The DataOps Manifesto
Episode Quotes
“When we think about devops, we think about trying to share code or merge. Power BI leaves us a little bit wanting, at the moment.”
“I’d say the situation’s a lot worse than it is with SSIS, because with the work that I’ve done with SSIS, you can put those xml files into source control.”
“We’re out in the Wild West, we’re figuring it out because Microsoft’s left us with like a rubber band and toothpick out in the desert and we’re trying to do devops.”
Listen to Learn
00:38 Intro to the topic
01:32 Compañero Shout-outs
03:46 How to win a SQL Data Partners Podcast t-shirt
05:32 SQL Trail announcements and request for opinions
07:10 Power BI leaves us wanting when it comes to devops
09:04 Publishing changes in pbix can be a lot harder than xml in SSIS
12:10 OneDrive is still the recommended source control for Power BI
13:21 There are people trying to fix this problem
15:32 And now there’s Power BI Sentinel from Purple Frog Systems
18:48 There’s no good way to collaborate with pbix files
21:25 Power BI Sentinel is a monthly charge and seems reasonable for what it can do
22:57 Closing Thoughts
Meet the Hosts
Carlos Chacon
With more than 10 years of working with SQL Server, Carlos helps businesses ensure their SQL Server environments meet their users’ expectations. He can provide insights on performance, migrations, and disaster recovery. He is also active in the SQL Server community and regularly speaks at user group meetings and conferences. He helps support the free database monitoring tool found at databasehealth.com and provides training through SQL Trail events.
Eugene Meidinger
Eugene works as an independent BI consultant and Pluralsight author, specializing in Power BI and the Azure Data Platform. He has been working with data for over 8 years and speaks regularly at user groups and conferences. He also helps run the GroupBy online conference.
Kevin Feasel
Kevin is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP and proprietor of Catallaxy Services, LLC, where he specializes in T-SQL development, machine learning, and pulling rabbits out of hats on demand. He is the lead contributor to Curated SQL, president of the Triangle Area SQL Server Users Group, and author of the books PolyBase Revealed (Apress, 2020) and Finding Ghosts in Your Data: Anomaly Detection Techniques with Examples in Python (Apress, 2022). A resident of Durham, North Carolina, he can be found cycling the trails along the triangle whenever the weather's nice enough.
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