Report Designer BI example and connection information

Connect to Report Designer BI 

Report Designer BI is built on Microsoft Azure Analysis Services. Data is available by way of XML for Analysis (XMLA) and SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) standards-based formats. The published data model includes over 30 data tables and relationships. Data is refreshed daily.

Any BI tools and services that support Microsoft Analysis Services should be able to connect to Report Designer BI and access your UtilityManagement data. This includes popular BI toolsets such as Tableau, IBM Cognos Analytics, Microsoft Power BI, and Microsoft Excel. Your data is provided in a well-documented and easy-to-understand data model that easily integrates with your existing business intelligence (BI) tools and workflow.

Each organization has specific connection and login information. After you subscribe to Report Designer BI, contact EnergyCAP’s Technical Support Team to receive your organization’s connection information.

Within your BI tools, look for options like “Microsoft Analysis Services” (look for additional resources online for connecting to Microsoft Azure Analysis Services with your specific BI toolset). Use the provided connection and login information. Configuration instructions are included here.

Report Designer BI hosted data model

The Report Designer BI service includes hosting of your data model. Your data is refreshed daily. You can connect your BI tools and access the data without needing to download data locally. Microsoft Analysis Services serves your data to your BI platform and process queries and requests online.

Report Designer BI example

UtilityManagement provides a sample file to demonstrate the value of the Report Designer BI service and data model. The following file is a working example created using the Report Designer BI service. It is built with native Microsoft Power BI functionality.

Example: 

Microsoft Power BI Desktop example – Contains a variety of visualizations to demonstrate the flexibility of the Report Designer BI data model and the available BI tools. Includes an example of combining UtilityManagement data and customer-provided data for integrated analysis.

Available BI tools

Microsoft Power BI Desktop is a free Windows application used to build visualizations and analyze data. If you’re just getting started with BI, we recommend looking into the capabilities of Power BI.

Configure your Power BI connection

  1. Select Get Data from the ribbon.

     
  2. Select SQL Server Analysis Services database and then Connect.

     
  3. In the SQL Server Analysis Services database, enter the Server (connection string) provided by EnergyCAP support. Leave Database blank. To establish a live connection, select Connect Live, click OK. 
  4. Select Microsoft account, click Sign in.
  5. Enter your credentials provided by EnergyCAP. Remember to click Use another account.
  6. Sign into your account with your username and temporary password.

     
  7. After you sign in, select EnergyCAP ReportDesignerBI_DataModel and Model and click OK.

     
  8. The data model should load and you can begin working.

 

Configure your Tableau connection

  1. Select More from the Connect pane.
  2. Select Microsoft Analysis Services.
  3. Select the Server radio button and enter the Server (connection string) provided by EnergyCAP support.
  4. Select the Use specific username and password radio button and enter a single space bar keystroke for both the Username and Password. Select Sign in.

     
  5. Sign in to your account with the provided username and temporary password.

     
  6. After you sign in, select a Database and select EnergyCAP_ReportDesignerBI_DataModel and wait a few seconds for the cube to load.

     
  7. Select a Cube and then Model.

     
  8. The data model is now loaded and you can select Go to Worksheet to begin creating dashboards.

Configure your Excel connection

  1. On the Data tab in Excel, click Get Data.
  2. Select From Database.
  3. Select From Analysis Services.

     
  4. In the Data Connection Wizard enter the Server Name (connection string) provided by EnergyCAP support.
    IMPORTANT! Enter your UtilityManagement reports email address for the User Name.
  5. Click Next.
  6. Sign into your account with username and temporary password.

     
  7. After you sign in, click Next on the Data Connection Wizard.

     
  8. Click Finish for the Select Database Table form. This page shows optional steps to rename the file and change the location.

     
  9. The final step is to Import Data. For connection testing purposes select PivotTable. This should let you to create a PivotTable using the UtilityManagement data model.