Jeancarlo Duran Maica – Project Control Academy-Power BI Visual Data Analytics for Project Controls

Automate Your Project Controls Reporting & Create Real-Time Dashboards at the Click of a Button with Power BI

STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD & MAKE THE LEAP TO THE NEXT LEVEL OF SEAMLESS AUTOMATION IN PROJECT CONTROLS
( Without the raging overwhelm, programming skills, and costly software)

Have you ever been tasked with creating a weekly or monthly project status report?

Ever felt overwhelmed spending countless hours consolidating data from various sources for every project status report, starting from scratch each time?

As a project/ program manager, project controls professional, project planner/ scheduler, cost estimator, cost controller, or project analyst, you want to reduce the amount of time in consolidating data and producing project status reports. This way, you can spend more time in analysis and improving the project performance, right?!

But you probably know that majority of project reports take days, if not weeks, from the time you gather and consolidate data to when you generate reports, because ….

• Updated project data needs to be pulled from various sources
• With tons of emails flying around with the latest changes to the data files, tracking and incorporating changes is a challenge
• Separate spreadsheets and reports are created to track the cost and schedule status and performance of each individual project.  It is hard to track changes;
• incorrect formulas can go unnoticed in the maze of spreadsheets.
• Manual data crunching to generate reports is painful and very time-consuming. It leaves little time to perform analysis and improve performance.

But could we do things faster and smarter in terms of data wrangling and reporting?
What if we could have a “One-Click Reporting Tool” for Project Controls?
Sounds impossible?!!
Well, Power BI has made the next level of automation for Project Controls reporting possible!
The use of Power BI can transform your project reporting, visualization, and analysis and save you a ton of time in regenerating the reports.

Did You Know…

Did you know that with the use of Power BI, a readily available technology by Microsoft, you could…

✅  Produce high-impact dashboards at the click of a button?
✅  Stop relying on spreadsheets and automate the entire reporting cycle by connecting your report directly to the data source (budget, schedule, etc.)?
✅  Automate your workflow and data shaping steps so you can schedule your dashboard refresh and let Power BI run them automatically for you and generate reports in just seconds?
✅  Interrogate your data to the limits by producing web-based interactive reports that allow you to drill down your visuals and dive into the next level of data granularity?
✅  Forget about interim spreadsheets or the “middleman” passing on the information. Use Power BI to define a real-time reporting architecture that provides a single source of truth by integrating different data sources?
That’s why business intelligence tools such as Power BI have become a major player.
Power BI, an open-source software technology, is disrupting the status quo in the project management world by offering simple, straightforward alternatives for digesting large volumes of data in the most complex projects and, best of all, it’s FREE to use (with some feature limitations that would require very little investment).
So, isn’t it time to start adopting Power BI in your projects and automate your reporting processes?

Here’s What You Might NOT Know…
Despite the huge benefits that every project will gain by utilizing Power BI, there is only a small group of project professionals who have leveraged Power BI in their project reporting and analysis?
Why?
Because many might think Power BI is…
❌ Too complicated, which needs programming skills and/or SQL query language knowledge
❌ Expensive, not affordable for small/medium companies
❌ Replacing existing project control software
❌ Cannot be integrated with internal or external systems

Here is probably what you might not know about the Power BI:

1. POWER BI is a NEW Technology!
Power BI is a robust cloud-based Business Intelligence (BI) service by Microsoft, which was first released to the general public on July 24, 2015. So, it’s fairly new. That’s why many may have not yet been exposed to its power.
You can get ahead of the curve if you learn how to leverage Power BI in your project reports and data analytics.
2. POWER BI does NOT need Programing Language Knowledge!
With little or NO experience in software development, you can build insightful dashboards, automate your project controls reporting process, and get the most out of your enterprise data.
The issue is that not everyone knows how to tap into Power BI and getting started.
3. POWER BI is FREE!
Power BI is an open-source business intelligence service by Microsoft that offers a free version of the platform with a 1 GB data capacity limit.
There are some paid PRO user features (with a very little investment) but it is most likely you won’t need them until you are well advanced with the platform.
So, there is literally NO COST to install Power BI and reap its rewards in expediting and enhancing your project reports.
4. POWER BI Complements existing Project Controls Software
Power BI is not going to replace project controls software. On the contrary, Power BI, fueled by project control tools and/or databases, will automate the reporting cycle and act as an integrator of all sources of information with consumer-tailored reports.
Use the power of BI technology to focus on forward-looking activities to improve project predictability, leverage multiple methods of capturing data, and bridge the gap between schedule and cost information by using your own dataset’s structure (in the way you collect them for your organization rather than reorganizing them to fit a rigid “integrated” project control tool).

Every project can and will benefit from Power BI.
And YOU can be the ONE who transforms your projects reporting process and provide real-time visibility into your projects’ status & performance!

What If You Could….

✅  Automate your entire reporting cycle and tremendously reduce the amount of time in consolidating data and producing reports
✅  Prevent errors associated with manual data entry and consolidation
✅  Provide real-time visibility into your projects’ status
✅  Quickly identify project performance problems at the desired granularity level
✅  Spend more time in data analysis and flagging project issues
What if you could have a “One-Click Reporting Tool” for Project Controls?
Sounds impossible?!!

Power BI has made the next level of automation for Project Controls reporting possible!
However, not everyone knows how to tap into Power BI and getting started.
That’s why we have developed the most practical and step-by-step training program in Power BI as it applies to Project Controls.

Introducing

A hands-on online training workshop on the Power BI application in Project Controls
Power BI Visual Data Analytics for Project Controls

Learn How to Automate Your Project Controls Reporting & Create Real-Time Dashboards at the Click of a Button with Power BI

The good news is that we have developed the most practical and comprehensive online training on the application of Power BI in Project Controls.
In simple words, this training will take you from A to Z in utilizing Power BI to crack on any data source or any project control tool in the market.
The principles shared in this training will allow any project professional, with little or no experience in software development, build insightful dashboards and get the most out of their project portfolio data.
This course will highly benefit all project controls professionals who are keen on making the leap to the next level of seamless automation in Project Controls.
The series of the modules in this comprehensive applied course is designed to provide you accelerated learning in every facet of project controls reporting, from connecting your cost estimate to Power BI to connecting your P6 schedule to Power BI, so you can create real-time dashboards for all sorts of project controls reports.
Rather than getting overwhelmed with theory and abstract ideas, you’ll get engaged in detailed case studies that mimic real-life projects and help you navigate through various ways you can connect your project cost and schedule data to Power BI.
The combination of real-life examples and practical case studies throughout the course allows you to gain hands-on experience in the design and construction of Project Controls dashboards in Power BI.
PowerPoint slides together with Cost Estimate, Primavera P6, and Power BI modeling outcomes will be provided as a bonus for your future reference.
At every stage, the course instructor will be available to answer your questions and suggest solutions to problems.
This applied course provides you with tools and techniques to streamline your project reporting process and create interactive, immersive dashboards and visual reports!

Sanne Zwetsloot
BI Consultant, Australia
Thank you so much for this incredible course. Even as an experienced BI user, I’ve learned tons of new things. Cannot thank you enough. The P6 plug & play dashboard is out of this world!!! Thank you so much for sharing all your hard work with us. I can only imagine how much work you must have put into creating these dashboards. It’s incredible! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Course Outline & Agenda
The Power BI Visual Data Analytics for Project Controls online training course is delivered in 10 sessions over the course of 8 weeks.
Each session will introduce you to the essential skills and knowledge of Power BI and Data Analytics within the context of an applied project controls use case: prepare, model, visualize, and analyze the data and deploy and maintain deliverables.
In addition, each session comes with hands-on, real-life workshops that help you fully grasp the content covered in each session and build visual dashboards in each session of the course.
The sessions are delivered online via our private and secure learning management system (LMS). Each session takes about 4 hours, making the course complete within 8 weeks.
You can start the course right away as soon as you enroll. If you cannot complete the course within 8 weeks, that’s totally fine. You have access to the entire course material and instructor support for one year and can take the course at your pace.
Here is the course agenda and what is covered in each week of the program:

WEEK 1
Session 1- Power BI Reporting Architecture
Learn how to properly administer the Power BI interface and its reporting architecture and build your first project progress report
✅ Learn how to publish your reports on Power BI Cloud: Datasets, Workbooks, Reports and Dashboards
✅ Learn how to build your data models in Power BI Desktop: Reports, Data, and Model
✅ Identify the different connectivity levels in Power BI: On-Premises, Cloud and SQL database
✅ Explore the Power BI Reporting Architecture: Develop the first project progress report
📊 Workshop # 1: Drilling & Grouting Project

WEEK 2
Session 2 – Using the Cost Estimate in Power BI
Learn how to prepare the cost estimate data using Power Query and apply effective coding strategies within Power BI to strengthen the control accounts tracking and communication
✅ Perform the sequential ETL steps (Extract / Transform / Load)
✅ Learn how to prepare the cost estimate data using Power Query
✅ Apply effective coding strategies within Power BI to strengthen the control accounts tracking and communication
✅ Identify and deploy Budget analysis and KPIs (Pareto, Histograms, S-Curves)
📊 Workshop #2: Cost Estimate Preparation & Visualization for the Water Line Piping Project
🧩 Case Study #1: Developing the Man-hours S-Curve for the Water Supply Line Project

WEEK 3
Session 3 – Tracking the Cost Estimate in Power BI using DAX
Gain a deep understanding of Power BI DAX Formulas and how you can track your Cost Estimate in Power BI
✅ Learn how to prepare the project actual data using Power Query
✅ Apply coding strategy to track Actual Progress by control account
✅ Assign the actual costs and actual man-hours in the data model
✅ Add new columns and measures in the data model using DAX Formulas (for next session KPIs)
📊 Workshop # 2: Preparing the Cost Estimate for a 63-km Water Line Piping project

WEEK 4
Session 4 – Earned Value Analysis (EVA) Report in Power BI
Create a dashboard for your Earned Value Analysis and unlock specific project controls visuals to enhance team performance, productivity, and communication
✅ Identify key custom visuals for project controls in Power BI
✅ Explore some most common DAX formulas applicable to Project Controls
✅ Learn how to prepare your Earned Value Analysis Report in Power BI
✅ Identify and deploy KPIs, Cards, Timeline, S-Curves (BAC, PV, EV, AC)
📊 Workshop # 3: Earned Value Analysis Visual Dashboard
🧩 Case Study #2: Prepare a fully automated EVM Man-Hour Dashboard for the Water Supply Line Project

WEEK 5
Session 5 – Connecting the P6 files to Power BI
Learn different methods to connect Primavera P6 to Power BI
✅ Learn how to how to draw a Planned Value curve in Power BI
✅ Explore how to troubleshoot your Power Query Update
✅ Learn how to finalize & publish a report in Power BI
✅ Discover different methods to connect Primavera P6 to Power BI to extract schedule KPI and visual schedule dashboards
📊 Workshop # 4:  Boreholes Schedule Integrity Dashboard

WEEK 5
Session 6 – Connecting the Primavera a P6 XML files to Power BI
Link a Cost-loaded Schedule from Primavera P6 to Power BI
✅ Learn how to get data from P6 to Power BI using XML files
✅ Understand and expand P6 XML Tables using Notepad++ and Power BI
✅ Learn how to build time-phased budgets in Power BI
📊 Workshop # 5: Pipeline Project
🧩 Case Study #3: Water Supply Line Project-Get deeper insights from your data

WEEK 6
Session 7 – Capturing the Schedule Update from P6 XML to Power BI
Learn how you can actualize the Schedule Dashboard using Primavera P6 updates
✅  Prepare the Schedule visual reports in Power BI (Baseline)
✅ Create a Gantt Chart in Power BI
✅  Model the actuals from P6 in Power BI
✅  Actualize your schedule dashboard with new schedule updates from P6
📊 Workshop # 5: Pipeline Project

WEEK 7
Session 8 – “Plug & Play Dashboard” Connecting the P6 XER File to Power BI
Develop a “Plug and Play” solution for reporting by mining your Primavera P6 XER files data in Power BI
✅ Learn how to get data from P6 to Power BI using XER files
✅ Identify key Power Query transformations for shaping the data
✅ Use DAX formulas and Measures to translate P6 database into P6 user interface equivalent
📊 Workshop # 6: Schedule Update Analysis

WEEK 8
Session 9 – “Plug & Play Dashboard” Deep dive into your P6 Data using XER files
Learn how you can deploy an automated Schedule Dashboard, assessing trends in your Primavera P6 data without the need for spreadsheets.
✅  Prepare the Schedule report in Power BI (time-related visuals)
✅  Model the Baseline and the Schedule Updates from P6 in Power BI
✅ Learn some advanced DAX measures & calculated fields in P6
✅  Get automatic schedule updates in Power BI
📊 Workshop # 7: XER Schedule Quality Analysis

WEEK 8
Session 10 – Connecting the P6 SQL Database to Power BI
Connect the P6 SQL database to Power BI and explore the pro & cons of database connection
✅ Learn and identify key tables within the P6 database schema
✅ Quick introduction to SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) and SQL Queries
✅ Establish P6 SQL database connection to Power BI
✅ Understand pros and cons of using P6 database connection
📊 Workshop # 8: P6 Project Portfolio
🧩 Case Study #4- Residential Development Project Dashboard

Juan Carlos De La Cruz Hair
Senior Project Controls Professional
After more than 20 years linked in the world of construction in project control, I find this fabulous Power BI training on data analysis and business intelligence, where you can obtain interactive visualizations and integration with Microsoft office 365 and Primavera P6, from a database in Excel, visual graphics are made with cross filters, as well as by exporting Spring P6 (Excel, XML, Xer), interactive dashboards are generated for decision-making.

What You’ll Gain Upon the Completion of the Training

Power BI is becoming one of the most used tools on the market for all industries.
The “problem” is that it is too hard to find qualified professionals with a background in data analytics and project controls, so this is the BEST TIME to learn Power BI, grow professionally and be able to choose where to work.
Upon completion of the course, you will successfully master advanced project controls analytics using Power BI and will be able to implement this knowledge immediately in your day-to-day work.
To be more specific, below are some of the expected learning outcomes that you’ll gain upon the completion of this course:
📈 LEARN how to build your data models in Power BI Desktop, so you can automate your data workflows (data wrangling) and gain deeper insights into your project performance instantly.
📈 LEARN how to publish your reports on Power BI Service (Datasets, Reports , and Dashboards), so you can share and communicate project performance with the project team using cloud-based interactive reports at the click of a button.
📈 SET UP your reporting architecture for Project Controls using Power BI to get better, faster, and deeper project analytics saving at least 50% of the time compared to the traditional way.
📈 AUTOMATE your reporting workflows using Power Query for automatic data transformation and the Power BI service for recurring and automatic data sources update, adding more visibility to project reports in a timely manner.
📈 LEARN advanced project controls design principles to produce high-impact visualizations and dashboards to address specific project needs that are sometimes impossible in MS Excel or simply too time-consuming to prepare. (Specific visualizations include: cost estimate Pareto and gap analysis, milestone trend analysis, float erosion, schedule integrity and quality, critical and near critical path assessment, S-curves, etc.)
📈 APPRECIATE various methods of obtaining P6 data in Power BI (Excel, XML, XER, SQL), so that you can formulate your own schedule KPIs.
📈 UNDERSTAND the steps to establish a direct connection from the P6 SQL database to Power BI, so that you can set up real-time dashboards to make better-informed business decisions.

What Is UNIQUE About This Training?

Here are several key unique points about this training that you wouldn’t find in other similar training courses in the market:

➡️ The most comprehensive applied Power BI online course you will ever find in project controls, covering all facets of Project Controls reporting from cost to schedule and types of connection to data sources (XML, XER, SQL). It is dedicated to ANY project controls professional who is keen on creating real-time reports and perform data analysis efficiently.
➡️ The most hands-on training on Power BI as it’s applied to Project Controls! You will learn Power BI by solving real Project Controls problems through different case studies and acting as a BI Consultant. The course allows you to tackle the most challenging project controls reporting issues in half the time and with a high-impact solution that will mesmerize your colleagues.
➡️ Step-by-step implementation and guidance, which enable you to apply your learning in a project environment immediately and achieve a significantly more robust result.
➡️ Presented by a Microsoft Certified Data Analyst, a subject matter expert on Power BI and Primavera P6, and Project Controls practitioner, Jeancarlo Duran Maica, MBA, CCP™, PMP®, EVP™, Microsoft MCP©, who has extensive knowledge and experience in setting-up data, building interactive dashboards and running up-to-the-minute analytics using Power BI on a wide range of multimillion-pound projects.
➡️ Based on the training that the instructor has given to hundreds of project professionals, with little to no previous experience in Power BI. Upon the course completion, they all could build interactive real-time dashboards and automate their project reporting process. You should expect to obtain similar results.

Who Is This Training For?

This training is for you if…
✔ You are a Project Controls professional who is interested in automating, accelerating, and enhancing your Project Controls reporting process, developing real-time dashboards and visual reports, and spending more time in data analytics.
✔ You are a project Planner/Scheduler who is keen on getting the most out of your scheduling software like Primavera P6 to communicate key insights to team members without the need of using PDF or MS Excel.
✔ You are a Cost Controller, who wants to save time in generating cost reports, provide meaningful insights on your project cost data and present them via powerful interactive visual reports and dashboards that allow the project team to drill down and interrogate the data further.
✔ You are a Cost Estimator who wants to break down and present your cost estimate in a well-organized and impactful manner by providing automatic updates as the estimate evolves.
✔ You are a Project/ Program Manager who wants a real-time reporting solution that allows quick identification of project performance problems at the desired granularity.
✔ You are a project leader who is interested in acquiring updated and practical knowledge in quantitative risk management to make informed decisions and guide the project in the right direction.
✔ You are a newbie in Project Controls and have little or no experience in Power BI & data analytics, and keen on getting up to speed with new technologies in visual data analytics and stand out from the rest of your colleagues.
✔ You have some experience with Power BI via trial and error, but you’d like to get formal training to brush up your knowledge or get practical guidance in the report design principles and building powerful interactive visual dashboards and STREAMLINE your project controls reporting process.

Is This Training For Me if ….

➡️ I have “No Experience” with Power BI or programing language  
No problem at all – The principles shared in this training will allow any project professional, with little or no experience in Power BI or software development, build insightful dashboards and get the most out of their project portfolio data.
➡️ I don’t have the Power BI software 
No worries. You can download the latest version of the Power BI software for free
➡️ I use an in-house Project Controls Software for reporting   
Absolutely! Power BI is not here to replace the project control software you are currently using. On the contrary, Power BI, fueled by project control tools and/or databases, will allow you to automate your reporting cycle and integrate all sources of information with consumer-tailored reports.
As you know, aligning data between multiple source systems can become a real nightmare. Most of the project controls tools we use work independently in silos or do not share information across the systems.
Along with this lack of information communication, these systems are usually very rigid to manage to give that the only feasible solution is to manually extract data from them and compile the necessary information in Excel.
Use the power of BI technology allows you to leverage multiple methods of capturing data and bridge the gap between schedule and cost information by using your own dataset’s structure (in the way you collect them for your organization rather than reorganizing them to fit a rigid “integrated” project control tool).

Who Is This Course NOT For?
This training is NOT for those who….
❌ Don’t have a Project Controls/ Project Management background.
❌ Enjoy spending long hours sorting out MS Excel formulas and errors and developing reports out of Excel.
❌ Are happy with their existing systems, project reporting structure, and reporting production time.

Are There Any Pre-Requisites to This Course?
This course is intended for advanced project controls dashboarding and visual reporting with Power BI. However, there is no need to have previous Power BI experience (this course will take you from A to Z).
Having a project controls background is a plus, but not mandatory. This training course will take you step-by-step through different project controls case studies, allowing you to easily understand the requirements of each scenario.
In this context, this training will provide extraordinary benefits for both Junior and seasoned Project Controls Professionals involved in a different array of disciplines such as estimating, planning & scheduling, cost control, and project management.
It is important to note that the course will include case studies using the Primavera P6 software. It is preferable that you are familiar with Primavera P6 software, so you can connect the schedule files (XER) to Power BI and create schedule dashboards and graphical reports.

Is Any Software Required for The Course Case Study?
To be able to get the most out of this training, it’s recommended that you install the following software, so you can follow along with the instructor and go through the course case studies:

• The latest version of Power BI software, which can be downloaded for free at powerbi.com
• Microsoft Excel standalone or as part of the Microsoft Office 365 suite.
• Primavera P6, preferably release R15 onwards [ you can download a 30-day trial Primavera P6]
• Notepad++ (free software)

Instructor’s Journey in Mastering Power BI in Project Controls
Jeancarlo Duran Maica
MBA, CCP™, PMP®, EVP™, Microsoft MCP©
I used to spend long hours sitting behind my desk crunching the numbers for my projects with the help of pivot tables and macros everywhere in my “smart” spreadsheets. Obviously, I had to start over every time I received new information from my project team. My journey with Power BI started with the belief that we, as project controls professionals, could do things faster and smarter in terms of data wrangling and reporting.
With limited available resources for project controls, I had to start by going through Power BI beginner tutorial guides and resources. I was blown away from the very beginning. Power BI facilitates intelligent decision-making by reducing the likelihood of errors in data manipulation and automating the process. On top of that, the data processed by BI is available for viewing and interaction 24 hours a day.
I began to apply the principles I learned to my project reporting needs.  After lots of trial and error and fiddling with different project controls software databases, I came up with my most effective method for producing high-impact project control dashboards.
Thanks to Power BI, I got promoted in my company to a new role as “Digital Planning & Reporting Manager”. I have been in the spotlight as a BI expert in my company, which has led me to deliver in-house training throughout the UK.
As a tangible result, the project team has reduced the duration of report production from two weeks to two days.
Our reporting architecture is now embedded in our intranet page using real-time Power BI reporting. This has led to greater engagement from the different team participants, enhancing team collaboration and communication (reducing e-mails by at least 20%).
Maintaining a single source of truth using Power BI for reporting has led project teams to make better-informed decisions and shorten the duration of project review meetings by a third (from 3 hours to 1 hour).
The lessons I learned using Power BI enabled me to get certified by Microsoft as a Data Analyst boosting my career beyond what I have achieved with any other tool.
I will be sharing the same lessons in this training with you, so you can successfully master advanced project control analytics using Power BI and implement this knowledge immediately in your day-to-day work.

Shohreh Ghorbani
Founder & Technical Director, Project Control Academy
There is a high demand for project professionals with a background in data analytics and project controls, and yet finding qualified candidates is a challenge.
It’s the BEST TIME to learn business intelligence tools such as Power BI. You can stand out from the crowd simply by creating interactive dashboards that provide real-time insights into your projects’ performance at the click of a button- something that your colleagues have not seen or thought possible.
And we are here to support you in getting there!