If you are working in an Asset Management environment, it's likely you are tasked with managing vasts amounts of data related to the assets you are responsible for. This data includes information on the location, condition, and maintenance requirements of assets, as well as the financial and operational data associated with those assets. However, despite the importance of this data, many organisations struggle with data-related challenges that hinder their ability to effectively manage their assets.
Welcome to the Iamdata Solutions Asset Management Newsletter - 1 June 2023
We face numerous data challenges, ranging from disparate data sources to missing, incorrect, and out-of-date information. To overcome these challenges, we can leverage the power of Power BI to help us.
Ensuring Data Quality and Consistency with Power BI!
One of the most powerful things I have found with Power BI is that by bringing the data together from the various disparate corporate systems into Power BI, we can effectively identify data issues.
Power BI enables collaboration across teams and departments. It is so easy to share Power BI reports with your colleagues and when we are all looking at the same visuals using the same data sources, it is easy to identify data issues, and easier to fix them up at source.
I can't stress enough how just this one thing has impacted and improved the quality of the data for my clients.
Manage Data Silos with Power BI
Many organisations big and small struggle with data silos. If you work in any organisation where you rely on data to help make your day to day decisions you have probably come up against this issue. Data silos occur when data is stored in disparate systems and this can result in a fragmented view of the data, making it challenging to make informed decisions.
As I have previously said, Power BI allows you to integrate data from multiple sources, and when we are all looking at the same visuals using the same data sources we are breaking down the data silos and opening up to provide a more holistic view of the data.
Power BI Data Profiling
You can use features like data profiling to identify data issues and create rules to clean and standardise data. Power BI also enables you to perform data transformation tasks such as merging data from different sources, applying data type conversions, and removing duplicates.
Setting up Power BI data validation rules to check for missing or invalid data and creating alerts or notifications for any issues.
We can use Power BI to help ensure the data is complete and accurate by setting up data validation rules. We can set up data quality rules to check for missing or invalid data and create alerts or notifications for any issues that arise.
Define Validation Rules
In Power BI Desktop, go to the 'Modeling' tab and select 'New Measure' from the ribbon. Create a measure that defines the validation rule based on your requirements. For example, if you want to check for missing data in a specific column, you can use the DAX formula COUNTBLANK() to count the number of blank values.
Power BI Centralised Data Repository
Power BI allows you to create a centralised data repository, where data can be governed and managed. We can use Power BI to set up data governance policies, define data ownership, create a data dictionary to ensure consistent use of terminology, and ensure data consistency, integrity, governance, collaboration, and scalability.
What do we mean by a Power BI centralised data repository? It is a centralised storage location where data is organised, managed, and made available for analysis and reporting using Power BI. It involves setting up a single source of truth for data used in Power BI reports and dashboards. By centralising the data, organisations can ensure data integrity, reduce duplication, and provide consistent and up-to-date information to users. This could be helpful when there are multiple data sources within an organisation, each with its own version of data, a centralised repository helps maintain consistency by providing a unified and standardised view of the data.
Lack of Real-Time Data?
In order to make informed decisions, Councils, and any other organisation that manages and maintains infrastructure assets need access to real-time data. However, many systems we are using do not provide real-time data, which makes it difficult for asset managers to respond to changing conditions in real-time.
In infrastructure asset management, lack of real-time data can be a significant challenge as it can lead to delays in decision-making, inefficient maintenance practices, and increased risk of equipment failure.
Here are some solutions to rectify lack of real-time data that are being implemented by Councils, Water Authorities, and other organisations responsible for various infrastructure assets:
IoT (Internet of Things) sensors on assets to gather real-time data on their performance, health, and usage. IoT sensors can collect data such as temperature, pressure, vibration, and usage patterns, which can be used to identify potential issues before they become major problems.
SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems can also be used to gather real-time data from assets. SCADA systems monitor and control industrial processes, and can be used to collect data on the performance of equipment and machinery. This data can be used to optimise maintenance schedules and identify issues before they become critical.
Another solution is to use remote monitoring systems to gather real-time data from assets located in remote or difficult-to-access locations. Remote monitoring systems can use satellite or cellular connectivity to transmit data to a centralised system for analysis.
Predictive analytics can be used to analyse real-time data and predict future performance or issues. Predictive analytics algorithms can identify patterns and anomalies in real-time data, which can be used to forecast maintenance needs and optimize maintenance schedules.
Cloud-based platforms can be used to gather, store, and analyse real-time data from assets. Cloud-based platforms can be accessed from anywhere, which makes it easier to share data and collaborate with stakeholders.
Serve Out Real-Time Data To The People In Your Organisation Who Needs It With Power BI
If you have real-time data but no way of serving it out to the people who need it, then Power BI can help here too. Power BI provides several features that can help Asset Managers overcome the lack of real-time data, including:
Power BI allows you to create a live connection to a data source, such as a database or web service. This means that the data is queried in real-time, and any changes made to the data are immediately reflected in the reports and dashboards. This allows Asset Managers to get up-to-date information on asset performance and respond quickly to any changes.
Power BI's DirectQuery feature allows you to connect to a data source and query it in real-time. This means that the data is not stored in a data model, but rather is queried directly from the source. This allows Asset Managers to access real-time data without the need to refresh a data model.
Power BI allows you to stream data from sources such as IoT devices and sensors. This means that data can be received in real-time and displayed in reports and dashboards. This allows Asset Managers to monitor asset performance in real-time and respond quickly to any changes.
Power BI provides the ability to set up alerts that can notify Asset Managers when specific conditions are met. For example, an alert could be set up to notify Asset Managers when asset performance falls below a certain threshold. This allows Asset Managers to respond quickly to issues as they arise.
Power BI provides mobile access to reports and dashboards, allowing Asset Managers to access real-time data on their mobile devices. This means that Asset Managers can monitor asset performance and respond to issues from anywhere, at any time.
Ensure data security and privacy with Power BI
With the increasing amount of sensitive data being collected and stored, ensuring data security and privacy is becoming a critical concern for all organisations. Power BI provides several features that can help organisations ensure data security and privacy. Here are some examples:
Role-Based Access Control
Power BI allows organisations to set up role-based access control (RBAC) to restrict access to data based on user roles and responsibilities. This ensures that only authorised personnel have access to sensitive data.
Data Encryption
Power BI allows you to encrypt data at rest and in transit, providing an additional layer of security to protect against unauthorised access. Encryption can be applied to the entire data pipeline, including data sources, data models, and reports.
Data Masking
Power BI provides data masking capabilities to protect sensitive data from unauthorised access. Data masking allows you to hide sensitive data in reports and dashboards, while still providing access to non-sensitive data.
Data Gateway
Power BI provides a data gateway that allows you to securely connect to on-premises data sources. The data gateway provides a secure connection between Power BI and the data source, ensuring that data is transmitted securely.
Compliance
Power BI is compliant with several industry standards and regulations, including GDPR, HIPAA, and ISO 27001. This ensures that data is handled in compliance with relevant laws and regulations, providing an additional layer of protection for data security and privacy.
Check out Guy in a Cube Video explaining Power BI data protection.
These data challenges can be difficult to address and can significantly impact the ability of Councils and other organisations to effectively manage their assets but, as we can see, there are many areas where Power BI can help overcome some of these issues.
What are your thoughts? Are you an Asset Manager at Council? I'd love to hear about your data challenges and how you are overcoming them.
I have worked on many different projects with my Local Government clients, from designing and developing Power BI Reports, to building SQL Server databases for spatial data, to managing and maintaining the GIS and the Asset Management systems. If you'd like to discuss how we might work together, then please email me at ➡️ jill.singleton@iamdata.solutions
If you would like to receive the latest Newsletter Blog straight to your inbox, please subscribe here: ➡️ https://www.iamdata.solutions/subscribe
You can read all our Newsletters and Blogs here:➡️ https://www.iamdata.solutions/blog
You may also be interested in our Projects Page:➡️ https://www.iamdata.solutions/past-projects
Check out what our clients say about us here:➡️ https://www.iamdata.solutions/reviews
If you would like to see a particular topic covered in these newsletters, then please let me know about it. The chances are other people will be interested and would like to hear about it too! Please email me at: ➡️ jill.singleton@iamdata.solutions with your suggestions.
Comments