Interview with Dan Corley, Technical Editor
In anticipation of the upcoming release of our newest book, Data Analysis with Microsoft Power BI, written by our very own, Brian Larson, we reached out to the Technical Editor, Dan Corley. This interview will give you a little insight into what readers can expect to get out of the book, why McGraw-Hill chooses to work with Brian and the SCS team, and more!
Can you give us a high-level summary of Data Analysis with Microsoft Power BI?
Data Analysis with Microsoft Power BI takes you on a journey from basic understanding of Business Intelligence to then modeling, visualizing and sharing data through Power BI.
What, if anything, can you tell us about what readers can expect from this book?
Readers can expect to get an end-to-end understanding of Power BI from data sources and many visualizations. Brian does a nice job of not just explaining how something works, but also “the why” behind it.
Why did you choose to work with Brian and the SCS Team on this new book?
Brian has been a mentor to me for about 10 years. I have read all of his books in the past and was deeply honored when he asked me to be the technical editor of Data Analysis with Microsoft Power BI.
Brian is an industry leader in Microsoft technologies and has a unique communication style that reaches audiences at different technical skill levels. I knew that if I agreed to serve as the technical editor of Data Analysis with Microsoft Power BI that I would probably learn something new from Brian. More importantly, however, I would be helping Brian educate a group of technology experts in what I feel is the best data analysis tool on the market.
What role does the technical editor play?
My role as technical editor was to review the book chapter by chapter to ensure technical accuracy of Brian’s content.
What was the biggest challenge you faced?
Power BI is a rapidly changing technology. My biggest challenge was recognizing that, by the time Brian created his examples and walked the user through those examples step by step, there may be changes or additional features added. If there was, I would relay those back to Brian so he could make any necessary modifications.
What was your favorite chapter and why?
Chapter 9 was my favorite – Building Data Models. Organizing data in a meaningful way is crucial to telling the right story through any visualization tool, especially Power BI. Chapter 9 walks the user through obtaining, organizing, transforming and verifying the data in clear, step-by-step instructions.
What has been your favorite part of editing the book?
Power BI had such a quick adoption cycle in the marketplace that users were able to create visualizations without knowing all the features in Power BI, or even the reason why certain features behave the way they do. Brian starts at Step 1 to give users a foundational understanding of Data Analysis with Power BI. I really enjoyed starting at Step 1 with the readers and walking to the end solution with them through Brian’s eyes.
What do you think the readers will gain the most from the book?
I think users will come away with a foundational understanding of Data Analysis with Power BI that will enable them to serve as technical leaders within their organizations.
A big thank you to Dan for taking the time to talk about Data Analysis with Microsoft Power BI and working with Brian and the SCS team! For updates on this book release, be sure to join our newsletter list or follow us on Facebook!
