Azure Data and Power BI News (January 2023)

January 2023 has just come to an end! Time flies so quickly... I've just realized it's been exactly 2 years since I re-joined Microsoft! ??

But enough about me, this newsletter is on Azure Data and Power BI news and updates, so let's start without further delay.

Azure Data

• As always, let me start with what's new in Azure Synapse Analytics. The monthly update for January will show up in a couple of days, but it does not mean I have nothing to share :-) Let me start with the YouTube channel - here we had: a new episode of the Learn Synapse series - Exploratory Analytics 101 with Apache Spark for Synapse and Notebooks, four (!!!) new episodes of the Synapse Espresso series (my favorites were Querying without access to storage and Optimize Delta Table performance with Optimize & ZOrder Indexing), a new episode of the MVP Video Series on CI/CD for dedicated SQL pools with Kevin Chant (Microsoft MVP) and three episodes of brand-new Azure Synapse Link and Dataverse - Better Together series with Scott Sewell (learn Synapse Link for Dataverse from zero to hero with Scott!). On the Azure Synapse blog, in January my favorites posts was Monitoring Synapse serverless SQL pool query history, but do not miss my post Azure Synapse MVP Corner - December 2022 containing a bunch of links to valuable content shared by Microsoft MVPs!
• OpenAI has recently been on the agenda of people discussing technology. All thanks to ChatGPT, of course. It's great to see Microsoft investing in OpenAI and bringing great new capabilities to Azure. Read more in two major announcements: General availability of Azure OpenAI Service expands access to large, advanced AI models with added enterprise benefits and Microsoft and OpenAI extend partnership. "So when will we have OpenAI in Azure Synapse?" - you may ask. The answer is: here and now! See some guide on how to use Azure OpenAI service with Synapse thanks to SynapseML library.
• In January we got two nice updates to Microsoft Purview. Check out the new approval workflow for data asset curation in Public Preview and connect to and manage Azure Databricks in Public Preview (full scan and lineage supported right now).
• Attention, Azure SQL Database fans! You might find this page useful: What's new? - Azure SQL Database (just recently updated list of Azure SQL DB features in preview and GA).
• As always, the Azure Data community keeps up the pace. Some great community content I spotted last month: a video series Synapse Link for Dataverse by Andy Cutler (Microsoft MVP), an article Medallion architecture: best practices for managing Bronze, Silver and Gold by Piethein Strengholt (Microsoft), two blog posts - Load Synapse Analytics SQL Pool with Azure Databricks and Lakehouse – What is it, and why is it so popular? by Adrian Chodkowski (Microsoft MVP), a blog post Recommended Azure Synapse Analytics certifications by Kevin Chant (Microsoft MVP), two articles - Dedicated vs Serverless SQL in Azure Synapse – Which should I use?! and Synapse Analytics Dedicated SQL Pools – Everything you need to know! by Nikola Ilic (Microsoft MVP), and - last but not least - a brand-new newsletter Tales from the (Data) Crypt by Bartlomiej Graczyk (Microsoft) with some scary real-life customer stories ;-)
• My two cents this month: a recording of my session Modern Data Warehouse Using Azure Synapse Analytics at the DBA Fundamentals Group meeting and a slide deck for my session What's New and Cool in Azure Synapse Analytics I presented at Data Toboggan Winter Edition 2023 event last Saturday (great event - thanks, Data Toboggan crew for having me!).

Power BI

• We didn't get monthly update for Power BI. However, we got something bigger - the Microsoft Power Platform 2023 release wave 1 plan with lots of upcoming Power BI features. My favorites: query scale-out (great feature that can make datasets scalable for more users), calculation group authoring in Power BI Desktop (right now we have to use Tabular Editor), improved capabilities for visual formatting (whatever this means - there is space for improvement in this area in Power BI!), view files from Power BI service within Power BI Desktop.
• But that's not all - check out the support for Native Queries in the Azure Databricks connector (you can specify your SQL queries now when using Azure Databricks as a data source) and the updates to Power BI Datamart (take ownership, updates to editor, connect to any SQL client).
• Also, I encourage you to read a short, but very useful article on the Power BI blog: Building Multi-language Reports for Power BI in 2023. It contains nice tips on how to localize your reports and make them supporting secondary languages.
• Do not miss an awesome stuff shared by the Power BI community last month. My January readings: two blog posts Extracting Power BI tenant metadata with Synapse Analytics and Query Power BI tenant metadata with Synapse Serverless SQL Pool by Just Blindb?k (Microsoft MVP) - also check out Just's Power BI Monitor repo, a blog post Why DAX window functions are important for performance in Power BI DirectQuery mode by Chris Webb (Microsoft), an article Power BI Dataflows -Everything you need to know! by Nikola Ilic (Microsoft MVP), a blog post (+video) Power BI Licensing Ultimate Guide by Reza Rad (Microsoft MVP), and a super useful article (+video) Debugging DAX measures in Power BI by Marco Russo and Alberto Ferrari (Microsoft MVPs).

Traditionally, you can find all the official January announcements for Azure and Power BI on the?Azure Updates website?and the?Power BI blog. Also, you can be up to date with Azure Synapse by tracking?monthly update blog?and with Power BI thanks to the?Power BI Release Plan?report.

I'm speaking!

Before I move to the final paragraphs, let me refer to the cover image for today's article - there are a lot of speaking engagements on the way for me! Let me share some of my plans with you:

• March 6-10th, online - Power BI Summit - I'll have a session "Power BI + Azure Synapse Analytics. All you need to start creating a unified analytics solution". Check the full agenda for this event - lots of awesome Power BI presentations there!
• March 14-18th, Newport, Wales - SQLBits 2023 - I'll have 4 (!!!) sessions: Synapse Q&A with PG, Power BI + Azure Synapse Analytics. All you need to start creating a unified analytics solution, What's New and Cool in Azure Synapse Analytics and Azure Data Explorer - a Torch in the Dungeon of Observational Analytics. See the full agenda of this event for tons of great sessions on Microsoft Intelligent Data Platform stuff.
• April 12th, online - Database Professionals Virtual Meetup Group (Boston, MA) - I'll have a session Azure Synapse Analytics and Power BI Datamarts – Better Together.
• May 8-10th, Wroclaw, Poland - SQLDay 2023 - the final agenda is not there yet, but just letting you know that together with Bartlomiej Graczyk we'll be there with one workshop and one session ;-)

So, who am I meeting (hopefully) in person at SQLBits and SQLDay? :-)

That's all folks! I hope you found some of the news (and my speaking calendar) useful for you. Thanks for reading. Do not hesitate to share your findings and thoughts in the comments!