Azure Data and Power BI News (March 2023)

March... What a month it was! Another super intensive time at work, but the most important place in the diary of the previous month is reserved for SQLBits 2023 (watch my memories from the event). Great event, lots of friends from the community met in person, endless discussions on technology and life, unforgettable parties. Now, sure this newsletter is about technology, but what would technology be without people who are passionate about it and put it to good use? That is why this introduction, 100% dedicated to the wonderful people I meet on my professional path. And now it's time for a pinch of technology (and people's contribution to it).

Azure Data

• As always, let me start with Azure Synapse Analytics. In the Azure Synapse Analytics February Update blog post you can read the latest feature announcements, including the hottest ones (in my opinion) - SQL Package support for Serverless SQL pools and general availability of Azure Synapse Runtime for Apache Spark 3.3. To find out more on these specific features read a blog post Deploying Synapse SQL Serverless objects across environments using SSDT by Rui Cunha (Microsoft) and release notes for Azure Synapse Runtime for Apache Spark 3.3.
• Regardless of the Azure Synapse monthly update, we have published information about the general availability of Multi-Column Distribution in dedicated SQL pools - read here: Multi-Column Distribution for Dedicated SQL pools is now GA.
• OK, OK, I know... Number one hot topic right now is ChatGPT. So, there you go! ChatGPT is now available in Azure OpenAI Service! Also, customers can apply for access to GPT-4. Read more on GPT-4 in Azure OpenAI service here - Introducing GPT-4 in Azure OpenAI Service.
• Data Sharing Lineage is now available in Microsoft Purview for Azure Data Lake Storage (ADLS) Gen2 and Azure Blob (Blob) Storage in public preview. Read more here: Public Preview: Data sharing lineage and search for Azure Storage in Microsoft Purview.
• An interesting update for Azure SQL Managed Instance users - Azure Private Link and private endpoints for Azure SQL Managed Instance. Private endpoints establish secure, isolated connectivity between a service and multiple virtual networks without exposing your service's entire network infrastructure.
• In March, I also read a lot of content from members of the Azure Data community: an article Cloud Data Warehouse Landing Zone Discussion by Paul Hernandez (Microsoft), a blog post One Way to Try Microsoft Purview (Data Governance) for Free – BUT… by Wolfgang Strasser (Microsoft MVP), a blog post Understanding ResultSet Caching in Dedicated SQL Pools with Power BI and a cool document Azure Synapse Serverless SQL Pools Cheat Sheet by Andy Cutler (Microsoft MVP), two blog posts - Deploy a dacpac to a serverless SQL pool using GitHub Actions and CI/CD for SQL Server 2022 using GitHub Actions by Kevin Chant (Microsoft MVP), two blog posts - Data Sharing in Microsoft Purview and Data Sharing Lineage in Microsoft Purview by Erwin de Kreuk ?? (Microsoft MVP).

Power BI

• March update for Power BI was full of nice new feature announcements, including On-object (the new way to build and format your visuals), storytelling with Power BI visuals in PowerPoint, pin workspaces (now you can keep your favorite workspaces pinned to top of the workspace list!), visual container improvements (subtitles, dividers, spacing and padding!), "Apply all slicers" and "Clear all slicers" buttons.
• Regardless of monthly update we got a significant query processing improvements in the Power BI engine around query parallelization in DirectQuery mode. Read more here: Query parallelization helps to boost Power BI dataset performance in DirectQuery mode.
• But that's not everything we got in March from the Power BI team! Great news for all Power BI admins - the Scanner API now includes even more metadata, such as scheduled refresh settings, RDL, RLS configuration, and more.
• As a kind of Power BI case study/presentation of capabilities you can watch the Gartner Analytics and BI Bake-off 2023: Analysis of Flooding and Flood Mitigation.
• As always, the Power BI community blew my mind out with the amount of content to consume. Here are some things I read and watched last month: a recording one of the hottest (if not the hottest!) Power BI sessions at SQLBits 2023 - The Future of Version Control for Tabular Models with Gabi Münster (Microsoft) and Mathias Thierbach (Microsoft MVP), a blog post DirectQuery parallelism in Power BI by Chris Webb (Microsoft), a blog post Translate your measures using Tabular Editor and GPT3 by David L. Bojsen , a blog post Refreshing a Power BI Dataset using Azure Data Factory by Adrian Chodkowski (Microsoft MVP), a blog post KPI trend indicators on Core Visuals by Kerry Kolosko (Microsoft MVP), a blog post + video on Optimizing fusion optimization for DAX measures by Marco Russo and Alberto Ferrari (both Microsoft MVPs), a blog post Dynamic filtering with Field parameters in Power BI! and a LinkedIn article Looking through the WINDOW – Calculating customer lifetime value with new DAX functions! by Nikola Ilic (Microsoft MVP).
• Last month my contribution to Azure Data and Power BI community was mostly related to speaking engagements at events: SQLBits 2023 and Power BI Summit. If by any chance you attended any of my sessions at these events, thank you for attending, asking great questions and sharing feedback about my presentations! ????

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.

That's all folks! I hope you enjoyed this issue of my newsletter. Thank you for reading and until the next one!