- [Manu] Hello, and welcome to this video series
on the Power BI Adoption Framework,
which is about empowering every decision maker.
I'm Manu.
- [Paul] And I'm Paul.
- [Manu] And in this video,
we'll talk about the different support scenarios
and options for Power BI.
While developing a support strategy for the organization,
it's important to cover three different support scenarios.
This image shows a break-fix scenario
where the lady's car is broken
and she needs immediate assistance.
In an IT scenario,
when a user tries to access a report or a dashboard
and they either can't access it
or the application is broken,
they would typically call the support team
and expect a very quick response.
The second scenario is where the car is functional,
but the owner wants to make it look nicer
and wants to make a minor enhancement to the car.
In case of a BI solution,
this can be related to ever-evolving business requirements,
which require a change to the solution.
The third type of support that's really important
in a self-service scenario is real-time support.
This is similar to the real-time support
that sat navs provide these days.
They instantly reroute us if we take the wrong exit,
and show us the most optimal route based on where we are.
In a self-service BI scenario,
users need this kind of support
when they start developing solutions
and get stuck.
This enablement support will increase user's confidence
in their ability to develop solutions
because if they know
that someone will be available to help them
if they get stuck at any point,
then they will be willing to take risk
of trying something new.
This can also be the most difficult type of support
to provide
because it's difficult to plan.
Customers can possibly engage partners
to provide this type of service.
When it comes to break-fix support,
there are two elements to it:
it could be down to the infrastructure,
or it could be down to the project or solution.
Let's talk about the infrastructure aspect first.
Every organization looks at this
as a mandatory service,
so IT resources and budget are generally available for this.
From a Power BI perspective,
in order to support users,
the support teams need to have a good understanding
of how the Power BI service works,
which elements can be controlled by them,
and which elements require them to work
with Microsoft support.
It's needless to say
that a very quick turnaround is expected
in this scenario,
as the infrastructure may be underpinning
a lot of projects,
so the issues need to be fixed within specified SLAs.
In terms of project-specific break-fix support,
most organizations see this as a mandatory service as well,
and the business teams that use the project
typically absorb the support cost.
In order to rapidly fix issues in Power BI solutions,
project knowledge is quite important
because you wouldn't like someone to start
understanding the project architecture
when they're fixing an issue.
Similarly, you wouldn't expect the support team
to learn how to use Power BI Desktop
when users are unable to consume data,
and the issues need to be fixed within specified SLAs.
One of the best practices we've seen across customers
is that the support team gets a handover
from the project delivery team
at the end of the project
so that they have a good understanding of the project.
Most business teams like to evolve their BI solutions
as their business requirements evolve.
So minor enhancements to existing BI solutions
is generally perceived as an essential service,
and it's typically funded by project teams
or the support team.
The timescales in this case are a bit more relaxed,
so the support team can potentially do without
prior knowledge of the project,
as the timescales are agreed at the time of scoping.
Having said that,
the team can only be effective if they have a good knowledge
of Power BI Desktop and service.
When it comes to real-time enablement support,
this is normally perceived as an optional service.
But as we've mentioned before,
this can be the difference between people adopting the tool
or not.
Ideally, this kind of support should be funded
at an organizational level,
where a team of Power BI champions or a partner
is available to unblock people when they get stuck
while developing a solution.
Business teams can also fund this kind of support
by engaging with partners directly.
Whoever provides this support
should be very proficient at Power BI,
especially the DAX and M languages,
as users will typically approach this team
if they've exhausted other resources.
It's really important
for the support to be available in real time,
as waiting for weeks or months to make progress
on a BI solution
completely defeats the purpose of agile BI development.
Irrespective of whether or not it is possible
to have dedicated resources
to provide real-time support,
self-service enablement options
like how-to videos, FAQs,
links to training materials, communities, et cetera,
can go a long way,
as it's all about building a self-service BI muscle.
- [Paul] When thinking about break-fix
or minor enhancement support,
there are various options.
Depending on the organization's existing support structure,
this support can be provisioned in various ways.
The first thing to remember
is that Power BI is a software
as a service solution,
so any issues with the service
need to be redirected to Microsoft.
Microsoft has a support website
where any major disruptions to the service are listed
on the landing page.
If it's not a known issue,
then a support case should be raised with Microsoft.
All Power BI Pro users can raise a support case
with Microsoft,
although, the IT support team would ideally raise the case,
just to avoid duplication of effort.
If the organization has a Premier Support agreement,
then a Premier Support ticket can be raised,
as it may be governed by better SLAs.
If the issue is with the organization's infrastructure,
like gateways or back-end service,
then the internal infrastructure team
can provide this support.
And if the issue is specific to a project,
then the internal BI support team
or a support partner
can help resolve the issue.
You can have a dedicated Power BI enablement team
like we have at Microsoft.
They constantly collect content,
run lunch-and-learn sessions,
and manage internal websites
which have lots of useful videos and articles.
The team doesn't need to be large.
It's just about having someone to focus
on enabling people in the organization.
An internal website with training videos
and links to online resources
can help massively in enabling users
to support themselves.
In addition to that,
communities and online resources
should also be leveraged.
When it comes to real-time support,
you can also engage with Microsoft
or a Microsoft partner
to provide advisory services.
Power BI has a very vibrant community,
and the product engineering team
and the customer advisory team
are constantly generating a lot of content
to enable Power BI users.
The Power BI website has a lot of content,
including getting started videos, blogs,
a community website, and a guided learning path.
The likes of Power BI YouTube channel
has a number of videos and various conferences
so you can hear about new features and functionality.
We also have a YouTube channel called Guy in a Cube,
which is run by a couple of our colleagues.
They provide regular updates on Power BI
in terms of service updates, Desktop tool updates,
and industry and community updates as well.
Power BI is relatively new,
but Power Pivot, which is the data modeling engine
used in Power BI,
has been around since 2010,
so there are lots of community websites
that provide expert guidance
on developing Power BI solutions.
Some examples are DAX Patterns's website,
the Power Pivot Pro website,
and Chris Webb's BI Blog.
A catalog of these resources
can help new Power BI users find their way
when they get stuck.
When planning a rollout in creating a support team,
it is important to integrate any access requirements
into existing new starter or role-change processes.
This may be granting or removing access to a gateway
or its data sources,
assigning Pro licenses,
or granting access to Power BI Desktop to name a few.
We've highlighted some of the options
around providing support to your organization.
We strongly recommend
deciding the areas you're going to support
and to document them
so end-users clearly know where they can go
for further help.
As well as documenting the level of support,
you need to highlight who will provide
these various levels of support, as well.
Changing links in the Power BI service,
as highlighted in the Service Management video,
is one way.
But providing links
in rollout communications and newsletters
will make sure everyone knows
who can support them with the various aspects of Power BI.
You will find links to the slides used in this presentation
in the description below.
Thanks for listening,
and if you have any feedback or questions,
please leave a comment.
See you in the next one.