Getting to Know Business Intelligence With Microsoft Power BI

Getting to Know Business Intelligence With Microsoft Power BI

Microsoft Power BI has been an excellent tool for business intelligence (BI) over the past few years. Released in October 2010, its mission is to offer a better data management platform. BDI provides the following capabilities: analytics, advanced data mining, discovery, integrated data integration, and rich query analytics. In addition, the latest release, Windows 10, offers the ability to run Power BI in the background so one can use it while working. This new functionality helps you become more productive and reduces time spent on data mining and other tasks. 

Business intelligence or Big Data is becoming more critical in every organization as data sets continue to grow. Business Intelligence covers various topics, including market intelligence, consumer behavior analytics, enterprise intelligence, geographic intelligence, health and wellness, knowledge management, supply chain management, and technology. Data mining is one of the most powerful ways to extract valuable information from large unstructured data sets. The system gathers data into meaningful models that provide insights that are difficult to obtain using traditional methods.  

Power BI’s business intelligence apps make it easy to uncover the insight needed to solve problems. Power BI apps created explicitly for business intelligence give the user the ability to extract insights from large amounts of unstructured data faster and easier. You no longer need to spend weeks or months waiting for a significant amount of information to be processed; you can get immediate answers by using one of the many apps designed for speed and accuracy.  

Business intelligence apps based on Power BI can provide rich visualizations and unsupervised algorithms that can make your life easier. You no longer need to wait weeks or months to get meaningful insights. Now you can take any amount of information and turn it into a data model with visuals in just a few moments. It’s as fast as pulling out a pen and paper. As a business owner, you no longer have to spend weeks figuring out what’s going on within your company. With dashboards like Power BI Pro, you can easily visualize data models and discover insights that greatly impact your business.  

There is no other tool more powerful and effective in transforming data than dashboards and apps designed for business intelligence. The right tool can give you insights into the micro-actions that keep your customers coming back. In addition to providing insights into how customers react, these tools can also provide insights into how people within your organization feel. This feature can allow you to make quick decisions about solutions, new projects, product development, hiring, and training. Microsoft has the technology to empower your business. 

No matter what your organization looks like or how complicated it may be, there are always opportunities to simplify things and bring them in line with one another. Using dashboards and apps made specifically for business intelligence gives you the power to see the big picture – in real-time – in ways that weren’t possible before. With Microsoft Power BI, the future looks bright for your organization. So, if you haven’t yet had a chance to check it out, give it a try! 

Deploy Windows SSUs and LCUs together with one cumulative update

Deploy Windows SSUs and LCUs together with one cumulative update

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

You can now deploy the December 2020 latest cumulative update (LCU) and servicing stack update (SSU) together via our new one cumulative update package, or separately.

On September 9th, 2020, I announced the work in progress to simplify on premises deployments of servicing stack updates. Today, I am excited to announce that you can take advantage of this new capability using Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) and the Windows Insider Program for Business.

We have released the December 2020 LCU and the December 2020 SSU to WSUS in two ways for devices running Windows 10, version 2004 and later: to the typical Security Updates category and to the Windows Insider Pre-Release category.

To deploy the cumulative update and servicing stack update separately, no special action is needed. Just ensure, as always, that you deploy the SSU prior to deploying the LCU so that both updates install successfully on the device.

To deploy the LCU and SSU together using the new one cumulative update package, simply follow three easy steps.

Step 1: Sync the Windows Insider Pre-release category

  • In the WSUS console, from Products and Classifications, select Windows Insider Pre-Release Product and Upgrades. Sync WSUS.
  • In Microsoft Endpoint Manager Configuration Manager, navigate to the Products tab of
    Software Update Point Component Properties and select Windows Insider Pre-Release. Select OK to confirm this selection.

windows-insider-pre-release.gif

Step 2: Select the OS version

From the list of All Updates, select the cumulative update for the version of Windows 10 running on the device(s) that will receive the update. Currently, this would be either of the following:

  • 2020-12 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 2004
  • 2020-12 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 20H2

cumulative-update.png

Step 3: Deploy the update

Deploy the update to the desired devices in your organization the same way you would deploy any other monthly cumulative update.

Check your preferred method of reporting and note that your devices are now running the December LCU (KB4592438) and SSU (KB4593175).

That’s it! It’s that simple.

The best part? Like all preview builds published to commercial devices in the Release Preview Channel and to the WSUS Windows Insider Pre-Release category, testing out this new deployment technology for LCUs and SSUs from WSUS is fully supported.

If you run into an issue that prevents you or other users in your organization from deploying or updating using this new one cumulative package, use this online form to request assistance directly from Microsoft Support at no cost to you. Or contact customer support through your typical channel.

Try out this new way of deploying LCUs and SSUs and let us know what you think by commenting below or reaching out to me directly on Twitter @ariaupdated.

Windows 10 accessibility features empower everyone

Windows 10 accessibility features empower everyone

Microsoft puts people first by offering a wide range of Windows 10 accessibility features for users of many different abilities. Known internally as the Windows Accessibility team, the Input for Everyone team draws back a curtain for you to peek behind the scenes. Learn how Windows engineers are building accessibility features for all of us. This is the first article in a series focusing on accessibility and assistive technologies built into Windows 10. Our next installment will be a deep dive into the topic of Vision related features.