Using Microsoft Power BI without Power BI Desktop

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The Microsoft Power BI service is a cloud-based business analytics service that provides interactive visualizations and business intelligence capabilities with an interface simple enough for end-users to create their own reports and dashboards. The Power BI service can be used independently without relying on Power BI Desktop for some activities. The two activities that can be performed entirely using the Power BI service without relying on Power BI Desktop are:

A. Report and Dashboard Creation: With the Power BI service, you can create a report from scratch, using built-in visuals or creating your visuals from data. You can also use existing reports and customize them to fit your business needs. The service also has a drag-and-drop interface, which means creating a dashboard or a report is as easy as dragging the visualizations onto the canvas and customizing them.

B. Report Sharing and Distribution: Once a report or a dashboard is created in Power BI, it can be shared and distributed with others. You can share the report with individuals or groups using their email addresses or share it with the public via a URL link. You can also embed the report or dashboard in your website or SharePoint portal. Additionally, the service allows you to control the level of access that users have to your report, such as view-only or editing rights.

The following activities cannot be performed entirely using the Power BI service without relying on Power BI Desktop:

C. Data Modeling: The Power BI service can connect to various data sources such as Excel, CSV, SQL Server, and more. However, for advanced data modeling tasks, such as creating relationships between tables or defining calculated columns or measures, you would need to use Power BI Desktop.

D. Data Acquisition and Preparation: To acquire and prepare data for analysis, you would need to use Power BI Desktop. With Power BI Desktop, you can access a wide range of data sources, including on-premises data sources, and perform complex data transformations, such as merging and appending data, cleaning data, and transforming data types. Once the data is transformed and cleaned, you can then load it into the Power BI service for further analysis.

In conclusion, the two activities that can be performed entirely using the Power BI service without relying on Power BI Desktop are report and dashboard creation and report sharing and distribution. However, for advanced data modeling tasks and data acquisition and preparation, Power BI Desktop is required.