Benefits of Hiring a Power BI Consultant

The most popular business intelligence and data visualization tool of today is Power BI. Companies of all sizes use it to connect to data sources, model data, create visually compelling reports and dashboards, and derive actionable insights. 

However, getting the most out of Power BI requires specific expertise. That’s why more and more organizations are choosing to hire Power BI consultants to accelerate their analytics initiatives.

Introduction to Power BI

For those unfamiliar with it, Power BI is a collection of software services, apps, and connectors that allow users to pull data from multiple sources, transform and model it to meet their needs, and create rich interactive reports and dashboards based on that data.

Some of the key capabilities and benefits of Power BI include:

1.     Connecting to hundreds of data sources, both on-premises and in the cloud.
2.     Data transformation and modeling using Power Query M language.
3.     Creation of stunning nations of visual and interactive reports.
4.     Dashboards that provide a single pane of glass into data.
5.     Natural language query using plain English.
6.     Sharing and collaborating on analytics content.
7.     Availability on all devices – desktop, mobile, and tablets.
8.     Embedding analytics directly into applications.
9.     Row-level security and dynamic access control.

With the correct knowledge, Power BI can reveal powerful data-driven insights, and practically any company issue can be analyzed.

When to Hire a Power BI Consultant

Here are some common situations when it makes sense to hire an external Power BI consultant:

Lack of Internal Capabilities

Not all organizations have the depth and breadth of analytical talent needed to execute Power BI projects, especially more advanced implementations. Power BI Consulting can fill this gap by providing specialized skills.

Starting a Power BI Practice

An experienced consultant can help companies that are just getting started with Power BI and want to build internal capabilities over time by setting up governance, building initial content, and training internal staff.

Modernizing Legacy Reports

Transitioning old static reports, grids, and dashboards into more visually compelling and interactive Power BI content can be a major undertaking. A consultant can lead this modernization initiative.

Complex Data Modeling

If projects require complex data transformations, data modeling across multiple data sources, or advanced DAX calculations, it is prudent to hire a Power BI consultant experienced in these areas.

Lack of Bandwidth

Some internal BI teams are overloaded trying to keep the lights on for existing projecting. Bringing on a consultant allows the team to take on more work without adding a permanent headcount.

Independent Expertise

Power BI consultants offer an outside perspective untethered to internal politics and fiefdoms. They provide unbiased expertise based purely on business needs.

Benefits of Hiring a Power BI Consultant

Hiring an external Power BI consulting firm or independent consultant offers many benefits over trying to rely on internal resources purely:

Faster Time-to-Value. A Power BI consultant can use tried and proven approaches, best practices, and reusable code to deliver solutions that allow you to deliver your analytics rapidly.

Subject-Matter Expertise. Consultants focus exclusively on business intelligence and bring deep expertise in Power BI in areas such as advanced data modeling, DAX calculations, report design, and dashboarding.

Improved Quality. Given their specialized expertise, consultants can develop higher-quality solutions that perform well and are easier to manage and enhance over time.

Risk Mitigation. Working on multiple projects successfully, consultants will avoid common pitfalls and cost overruns that your team might experience through trial and error.

Mentoring of Internal Team. Consultants can also coach and improve the skills of your internal IT staff on Power BI best practices to take up the slack and elevate their capabilities.

Flexibility. Consultants give you added bench strength and flexibility. You can scale them up for larger projects or backfill for employees who are out.

Economies of Scale. The cumulative experience consultants gain allows them to develop reusable frameworks, templates, models, and code that can be age-levered across projects.

Business Focus. Consultants have seen multiple clients across various industries and know how to have business-focused conversations centered around key insights and data-driven decision-making.

How to Select a Power BI Consultant

With the huge demand for Power BI expertise, many consultants and firms are offering Power BI services. Here are important criteria to consider when selecting a consultant:

Proven Track Record. Proven experience delivering successful Power BI projects, with client references that can back up claims of expertise. Preference for consultants who have worked in your industry.

Technical Chops. A strong mix of IT and analytical skills, including data modeling, DAX calculations, visualization design, performance optimization, and Power BI administration.

Solution Focus. Ability to demonstrate competitive technicality, solve complex business problems, and deliver tangible business value.

Communication Skills. Power BI is useless unless insights can be clearly communicated to decision-makers. Seek consultants who can explain technical concepts clearly to business users.

Methodical Approach. Rather than an ad hoc approach, define and follow a structured methodology. The methodology should cover gathering business requirements, design, development, testing, training, and support.

Project Management Skills. Ability to estimate level of effort accurately, manage a timeline, set milestones, communicate progress proactively, and manage risks and issues.

Cultural Fit. To make the engagement successful, you want to choose a consultant with whom your organizational culture and way of working will resonate.

Power BI Consultant Responsibilities

The exact scope of work for a Power BI consultant depends on the specifics of your project and the internal team’s capabilities. But some typical responsibilities include:

Requirements Gathering:

1.     Interview business users to understand reporting and analytics needs.
2.     Document business requirements, KPIs, metrics, dimensions, and data sources required.
3.     Gather sample reports, existing BI content, and data sources to understand the baseline.

Data Acquisition:

1.     To acquire data, identify and connect to transactional systems, databases, files, and cloud apps.
2.     Write queries to reshape and cleanse source data prior to modeling.

Data Modeling:

1.     Using Power BI best practices, a semantic data model based on the business requirements is designed.
2.     Implement relationships, hierarchies, calculated columns, measures, and other modeling constructs.

Report and Dashboard Development:

1.     Create visually rich, interactive reports that surf key insights.
2.     Design visually compelling dashboards tailored to business users.
3.     Ensure fast performance even with large data volumes.

Documentation:

1.     Document data sources, data models, measures, and other metadata.
2.     Create technical specification documents for handoff to support teams.

Knowledge Transfer:

1.     Conduct technical and end-user training on new BI solutions.
2.     Transfer product ownership to admin teams for ongoing support.

Length of Engagement

Power BI consulting engagements can range from short-term tactical projects to multi-year strategic partnerships:

Short-term Projects. Many clients tactically leverage consultants to build a specific report or dashboard that can be handed off after completion. These short-term engagements may last 4-6 weeks. 

Ongoing Advisory. Open an open-ended relationship with an expert advisor who can give you ongoing governance best practices and technology advice.

Staff Augmentation Placements. Hire a consultant to embed with your team for 3-6 months to take on specialized assignments as an extended team member before transitioning work to internal staff.

Multi-phase Initiatives. For more extensive business intelligence programs that require both upfront design and long-term enhancement and support, multi-year engagements spanning 50-200 weeks are common.

Conclusion

Power BI has quickly become one of the most valuable skills for driving business intelligence and data analytics initiatives. However, keeping this in-house skill is an uphill battle, given how quickly the tool evolves. A hybrid staffing model that blends internal teams with specialist external consultants helps strike the right balance.

Some of the reasons so many companies seek outside assistance in establishing or growing their Power BI capabilities are the advantages of hiring a Power BI expert, as described above. Working with an expert consultant gives you the ROI and acceleration needed to stretch your finances further and gradually build certain internal capabilities.