Power BI Developer: Career Scope, Salary, and Tips

We live in a data-driven world. According to research, between the dawn of time and 2003, five exabytes of data were created at Google. By 2010, this amount of data was being created every two days, and by 2021, it was created every 40 minutes. There are approximately 400,000 bytes of data for every grain of sand on Earth.

The amount of data in the world is growing each second. This has given rise to tools and technologies that can help organizations, businesses, and individuals to sort this vast amount of data. Analytics is concerned with the discovery, interpretation, and processing of data. Data and business analysts have many tools to pick from, and determining which is the best match for a particular project can be difficult. In this blog, we’ll help you make that decision by delving deep into Power BI, a Microsoft analytics product, and will teach you how to become a Power BI Developer. So, let’s begin.

What is Business Intelligence?

Business intelligence (BI) is the act of gathering, examining, and turning data into information that may help organizations make wise decisions. Businesses can use data from a variety of sources with the help of BI to comprehend patterns, spot opportunities, and boost performance. 

BI gives firms a competitive edge by delivering actionable insights into consumer behavior, market trends, and operational efficiency by merging data from many sources and utilizing advanced analytics. With BI tools like power bi and Tableau, businesses can base their strategic decisions on current data, enhancing profitability and business results. 

What is Power BI?

Power BI is a business analytics solution from Microsoft that allows users to display and analyze data. It can connect to a variety of data sources, including Excel spreadsheets, cloud-based and on-premises data sources, and provides interactive dashboards, power bi reports, and self-service analytics.

Here are some of the important features of Power BI:

1. Power BI allows users to show data in a variety of forms, including charts, graphs, and maps, enabling easier data interpretation.
2. Power BI has a natural language query interface that makes it simple to explore data and ask questions, even if you are new to data analysis.
3. With Power BI, users can develop data models that can be used to analyze and manipulate data from many sources, such as Excel spreadsheets and cloud-based & on-premises data sources.
4. Power BI allows users to share their reports and dashboards with people within and outside of their business, making it simple to work with team members.
5. Power BI interacts with several third-party apps and services, including Microsoft Office 365, Azure, and Dynamics 365.
6. Power BI has comprehensive security measures to secure data and maintain regulatory compliance.

How to Become a Power BI Developer?

To pursue a career in Power BI, you need to be thorough with technical knowledge. The following will help you with taking that first step in this career. You can start by taking a Power BI course to understand the basics of the software. Given below are some of the steps to become a successful Power BI developer.

• Gain Knowledge of Data Analytics: An understanding of different concepts of data analytics concepts is necessary as built-in visualizations of Power BI can be used to explore data.
• Be Well-Versed With Technical Aspects: Prior knowledge of data analysis, business intelligence, web development concepts, and programming is helpful when it comes to using Power BI. Hence, you should be well-versed in these technical aspects. 
• Study Data Analysis and Modeling Language (DAX): An essential part of learning Power BI is DAX. It is a query language used to build data models and transform data. 
• Learn Integration of Data and Other Sources: An important aspect of BI or business intelligence is the ability to connect to other sources of data. You should know how to integrate data from different sources to be a successful BI developer. 
• Study Power BI Architecture and Components: Knowing Power BI architecture and its components will ease your process of understanding the working of reports in BI. An added advantage is that you can choose the right skills required for each component once you are well-versed in all of them. 
• Improve Your Data Presentation Skills: Above everything, you must be able to handle data visualization tools in Power BI as data presentation is an essential quality of a BI developer. 

Once you have worked on the skills mentioned above, start building a portfolio and apply for junior BI developer positions or other related entry-level job opportunities. One can also start working on relevant projects and network with industry mentors and peers to gain professional experience and guidance.

Power BI Developer Skills

Following are some of the necessary skills you must have if you want to be a Power BI Developer:

1. Data Modeling: Power BI developers should grasp data modeling fundamentals, such as how to construct links between tables, conduct complicated computations, and create data hierarchies.

2. SQL: A good knowledge of SQL is crucial for Power BI developers as they need to construct queries that can extract, process, and load data from diverse sources.

3. DAX: Data Analysis Expressions (DAX) is a mathematical language used in Power BI. Developers should be familiar with DAX functions and the creation of calculated columns and measures.

4. Data Visualization: Power BI developers must have an eye for data visualization and should be able to design engaging representations and effectively convey insights.

5. Power Query: Power query is a data transformation and purification tool in Power BI. Developers should be able to utilize it to change data from various sources into an analysis-ready state.

Power BI Developer Roles and Responsibilities

The following are some of the most crucial roles and responsibilities of a Power BI Developer:

1. Designing, developing, and implementing business intelligence solutions.
2. Creating data models and building reports and dashboards.
3. Keeping the data updated and accurate.
4. Troubleshooting and resolving any issues in the Power BI platform.
5. Collaborating with other teams to identify data sources and requirements.
6. Providing technical support and training to users.
7. Providing insights and actionable intelligence to business users.
8. Helping businesses make informed decisions.
9. Communicating effectively with stakeholders, including end-users, business analysts, and IT teams to ensure that Power BI solutions meet business needs and expectations.
10. Developing data models, writing DAX formulas, creating visuals, and ensuring data accuracy.

Power BI Careers

There are various Power BI developer jobs in the market as it is a growing field. But, first let’s start with the information that every job seeker is interested to know – the salary for various Power BI Developer job titles, such as Power BI Software Engineer, Analyst, etc. 

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Power BI Developer Salary

These Power BI Developer salaries were obtained from Glassdoor and AmbitionBox. The following are the approximate yearly earnings of several Power BI profile holders in India and the United States:

India (Annual Salary on Average):

• Power BI Data Analyst:  ₹4 lakhs – ₹10 lakhs
• Power BI Developer: ₹4 lakhs – ₹12 lakhs
• Power BI Software Engineer: ₹5 lakhs – ₹12 lakhs
• Senior Business Intelligence Analyst: ₹8 lakhs – ₹20 lakhs
• Senior Software Engineer: ₹10 lakhs: ₹20 lakhs

The United States (Annual Salary on Average):

• Power BI Data Analyst:  $60,000 to $100,000
• Power BI Developer: $70,000 to $130,000
• Power BI Software Engineer: $80,000 to $140,000
• Senior Business Intelligence Analyst: $90,000 to $140,000
• Senior Software Engineer: $100,000 to $160,000

Companies Using Power BI

Power BI has been widely utilized by numerous corporations and organizations all around the world since its beginning. If you are rightly skilled, you can land Power BI Developer jobs easily. This business intelligence tool is used by the following companies:

1. Microsoft
2. Infosys
3. HCL
4. Deloitte
5. Accenture
6. Apollo
7. Adobe
8. Silicus
9. Softweb Solutions
10. Exelon

Conclusion

Power BI is user-friendly and accessible, making it an ideal tool for professionals in various industries to use and implement. Learning Power BI can be highly beneficial for individuals looking to advance their careers in the data analytics and business intelligence field. Power BI is a widely used tool for visualizing and analyzing data, enabling users to extract valuable insights from data sources and allowing businesses to make data-driven decisions.