How to combine data from a Power BI dataset with other sources in a PBI data model

[clarelgibson]

Summary

If you want to build a data model in Power BI (PBI) that uses another PBI dataset as a source and combines that with other sources, you need to use the Analysis Services connector in PBI. This article will show you how to do this.

In this article

• The problem

The problem

At work, I'm trying to build a Power BI report that will monitor our company pipeline for incoming projects and mark them as completed when all required data entry is complete.

The pipeline data comes from a Power BI dataset created by another department. I have been granted access to the dataset (but not to the workspace in which it resides - more on that later). The completion data comes from a proprietary tool which delivers data to a Sharepoint folder in an Excel document once a week.

My report compares project IDs in the pipeline to project IDs in the completion tool and tracks which projects have upcoming due dates and which have been completed.

Power BI includes functionality to import data from an existing Power BI dataset, however using the dedicated connector you cannot join that dataset to any other source data in your model.

By using the Analysis Services connector in Power BI, you can import an existing Power BI dataset and combine it with other sources to build a new data model. I discovered this method in an article from Radacad and my blog expands a little to show it in context.