Modern Data Analytics in Excel

Chapter 6. First Steps in Power Pivot

Part I of this book concentrated on using Power Query for extracting data from diverse sources and transforming the outcomes into actionable datasets. Power Query does not operate as a standalone data analysis tool; instead, it serves as an intermediary to refine the data prior to analysis.

To continue on the analytics journey, Part II will focus on Power Pivot, a tool designed specifically for data analysis. With Power Pivot, users can establish relationships between data sources and generate advanced measures, enabling streamlined data analysis and reporting.

What Is Power Pivot?

Power Pivot is a relational data modeling and analysis tool directly integrated into Excel. It enables you to establish relationships across multiple tables and construct dashboards and reports based on PivotTables from this data model. Power Pivot offers a wide array of tools for creating robust analyses, significantly enhancing Excel’s capabilities for business intelligence and reporting.

Why Power Pivot?

To understand the importance of Power Pivot in Excel data analysis, open ch_06.xlsx from the ch_06 folder in the book’s companion repository. Please note that this chapter does not include a solution file, as all steps are already completed for you.

In the sales worksheet, there are three tables that contain data related to sales, locations, and products. Suppose you wish to assign the correct product and branch names to each sales transaction for enhanced ...