“Designing performant Power BI solutions is about much more than just delivering responsive data exploration experiences. Decisions on infrastructure such as Fabric capacity and data gateways, as well as development techniques applied across artifacts such as semantic models and reports including relationships, row-level security (RLS), and DAX measures all have significant implications for scalability, resource usage and cost, and the level of maintenance required. Microsoft Power BI Performance Best Practices provides a robust and updated collection of actionable recommendations to more efficiently utilize Power BI within a broader ecosystem of supporting data products.”

Brett Powell, Microsoft BI Consultant and Author, Owner of Frontline Analytics LLC

“The focus of this book is on performance. I was pleased to see the authors start by defining what we mean by ‘good performance’ then heading to a good discussion on the different storage modes for models that Power BI reports on, including the often-overlooked Live Connection.

I liked seeing the coverage of Azure Analysis Services (AAS) configuration. There is a solid discussion on query folding and on incremental loading, and toward the end of the book, optimization of report design is covered well, along with content on basic dimensional modeling. Overall, I love this book —there’s a wide range of topics, all covered well.”

Dr. Greg Low, Founder and Principal Mentor at SQL Down Under, Long-term Microsoft MVP, and Member of the Regional Director Program

“[…] I recommend a number of tips to my students and colleagues on how to optimize Power BI performance, but the comprehensive and detailed overview of techniques and practices in this book is pure gold for any data professional who has to manage a large number of reports and ensure their optimization and performance! Huge thanks to the author for this work! We need more such detailed books.”

Alex Kolokolov, Founder of Data2Speak, Dataviz, and Author

“This is one of the few books focusing specifically on Power BI performance tuning. This is somehow strange, considering that there’s a huge difference between the Power BI report that JUST works and the Power BI report that works EFFICIENTLY.

As someone who thoroughly enjoyed reading the 1st edition of the same book, I was eagerly awaiting the latest version. And, I’ll immediately tell you – this book doesn’t disappoint at all! I love the flow introduced in the book, starting with setting the right expectations and what it means to achieve a “good performance” and then dissecting various areas where performance can be improved, such as choosing the optimal storage mode, understanding tools of trade for measuring performance, all the way to explaining how some development decisions might affect your Power BI solution performance. I liked the discussion on dimensional modeling and Row-level security, as well as examining capacity optimization in enterprise environments.

All in all, this book ticks all the boxes when it comes to understanding and implementing performance tuning in Power BI and tabular models. And, it will definitely help you to build EFFICIENT Power BI solutions.”

Nikola Ilic, Founder at DataMozart, Pluralsight Author, MVP Data Platform

“As the only book dedicated solely to Power BI performance, Microsoft Power BI Performance Best Practices is an essential resource for anyone striving to create efficient and responsive Power BI solutions. Leblanc and Merchant deliver clear, practical guidance, covering a wide spectrum of optimization techniques for every stage of development.

I particularly appreciate the book’s framework for proactively addressing performance issues. By emphasizing the customer’s perspective, the authors help you identify and prioritize areas for improvement. Each chapter provides in-depth explanations and ample screenshots, guiding you through targeted solutions with well-defined processes. This layered approach, combined with a focus on proactive performance management, makes this book a valuable asset for both novice and experienced Power BI developers.”

Kenneth Neal, President, Baton Rouge User Groups

Thomas LeBlanc is a seasoned Business Intelligence Architect at Data on the Geaux, where he applies his extensive skillset in dimensional modeling, data visualization, and analytical modeling to deliver robust solutions. With a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from Louisiana State University, Thomas has amassed over 30 years of experience in Information Technology, transitioning from roles as a software developer and database administrator to his current expertise in business intelligence and data warehouse architecture and management. Throughout his career, Thomas has spearheaded numerous impactful projects, including consulting for various companies on Power BI implementation, serving as lead database administrator for a major home health care company, and overseeing the implementation of Power BI and Analysis Service for a large bank. He has also contributed his insights as an author to the Power BI MVP book. Thomas is recognized as a Microsoft Data Platform MVP and is actively engaged in the tech community through his social media presence, notably as TheSmilinDBA on Twitter and ThePowerBIDude on Bluesky and Mastodon. With a passion for solving real-world business challenges with technology, Thomas continues to drive innovation in the field of business intelligence.

Bhavik Merchant has nearly 18 years of deep experience in Business Intelligence. He is currently the Director of Product Analytics at Salesforce. Prior to that, he was at Microsoft, first as a Cloud Solution Architect and then as a Product Manager in the Power BI Engineering team. At Power BI, he led the customer-facing insights program, being responsible for the strategy and technical framework to deliver system-wide usage and performance insights to customers. Before Microsoft, Bhavik spent years managing high-caliber consulting teams delivering enterprise-scale BI projects. He has provided extensive technical and theoretical BI training over the years, including expert Power BI performance training he developed for top Microsoft Partners globally.