A self-serve Power BI dashboard that retired manual SQL reporting
How Prakash Software Solutions turned a query-driven resource management system into a live, drill-down dashboard business users could read on any device.
Client
US-based services organization
Domain
Resource & workforce management
Services
BI dashboard design & development
Platform
Microsoft Power BI & SQL Server
The Challenge
Reporting that depended on handwritten SQL
- The existing approach worked, but it didn't scale as a way to run a business. Reading a data point meant writing or maintaining a query for it, and the team was accumulating a growing library of stored procedures, queries and views just to keep basic business tracking alive.
- Business users wanted advanced filtering and sorting on the same data, on demand without waiting on a developer and without learning SQL. What they needed was a decision-making surface, not a query console.
- Every question the business asked turned into a database task. The goal was to let business users answer their own questions, from one screen, in real time.
Technical Objectives
What the solution had to do
Decision-ready dashboard
Design and build a dashboard so business users can view any data point and act on it, without technical help.
Dynamic drill-down
Manage the dashboard dynamically and let users drill down to the exact data point behind any figure.
Built on Power BI
Deliver it with the Office 365 / Microsoft 365 Power BI toolset the client already owned.
Real-time-aligned UX
Keep the experience closely aligned with an up-to-date, continuously refreshed view of the process data.
What PSSPL Built
One dashboard,
every business view
PSSPL designed a Power BI solution that brings the whole picture onto a single, interactive canvas. Each metric is its own widget, and the widgets cross-filter each other, so a business user can slice the data by clicking rather than querying.
The dashboard surfaces billable versus unbillable resources by project and by employee, the distribution of work across departments, active client and active employee counts, and a live map of where the workforce actually sits all filterable by a year-to-day time drill.
How We Built It
A clean Microsoft data path, end to end
Rather than replace the client’s system, we connected to it. The resource management data stayed in Microsoft SQL Server; PSSPL modeled it in Power BI Desktop, published to the Power BI service, and used an on-premises Power BI Gateway with scheduled refresh so the published dashboard keeps pace with the source data. The result lives inside the client’s existing Microsoft environment, so it fit their security and licensing from day one.
Power BI Desktop
Data modeling and report authoring
Power BI Gateway
Secure connectivity + scheduled
Microsoft 365 / Office 365
The client’s existing tenant
Power BI service (web)
Publishing, hosting and access
Microsoft SQL Server
The resource management data source
Microsoft .NET
The underlying resource management system
Access & Sharing
Any time, any location,
any device
Because the dashboard is published to the Power BI service, authorized users reach it securely over the internet in the browser or on mobile without a database connection or a VPN into the reporting backend. Views can be shared with the right people in a few clicks, with access governed by the client’s own security model.
The Outcome
From query console to self-serve insight
The business now reads its own numbers. Instead of commissioning a SQL query for every question, users open one dashboard, filter and drill to the exact data point, and make the call while IT is freed from maintaining a sprawl of stored procedures and views just to keep reporting alive
Self-serve visibility
Current tasks, clients and resource/project progress are readable at a glance no SQL required.
Anywhere access
Any time, any location, any device access to the same live dashboard.
Secure sharing
Views can be shared with the right people, governed by the client’s security model.
Less manual effort
Greater visibility for business planning, without the hand-built query and view maintenance.
Products & Technologies
Power BI Power BI Desktop Power BI Service Power BI Gateway Microsoft SQL Server Microsoft .NET Microsoft 365 Business Intelligence Dashboard
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