Business Intelligence Platform

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Important

This content is archived and is not being updated. For the latest documentation, see Microsoft Dynamics 365 product documentation. For the latest release plans, see Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform release plans.

Organizations can use Power BI to translate a wealth of data into actionable insights. The Spring '18 release includes a number of new Power BI capabilities. (These release notes describe functionality that may not have been released yet. Delivery timelines and projected functionality may change or may not ship (see Microsoft policy.)

New Power BI capabilities in this release include:

  • Analytics and exploration experiences. Features include an improved SAP HANA connector that treats SAP HANA as a multi-dimensional source, and capabilities for analysts to improve productivity with unique ways to visualize data. For example, users can use canvas tooltips to express more detail in context. Excel users who use the matrix visual receive measure-driven conditional formatting, and the ability to expand or collapse sections of the visual.

  • Natural language analytics for everyone. Authors can use some of the improvements to Q&A natural language experiences to add domain-specific language and phrasing tailored for their domain. Users can ask questions in the context of their workflow, which includes Cortana and reports in Dynamics 365. Users can identify trends or changes in their data using Smart alerts and enhanced Quick Insights.

  • Enterprise-grade trusted platform. Governance improvements include additional administrative controls, access to user content, and reporting. With Power BI Premium, you get improved scalability support with larger node sizes, incremental refresh for faster data loads, and deployments that span multiple geographic regions worldwide.