Power BI training · curricula & formats
50 Power BI licenses rarely become 50 productive users. This page shows what a Power BI training really looks like — role-specific curricula, DAX depth, and adoption guidance, instead of a generic "Power BI basics course". With concrete formats, transparent prices, and trainers from current implementation practice.
Selection criteria
Six criteria by which any Power BI training offer must be measured. When comparing providers — ask exactly these points. Worded vendor-neutral so you can also classify the answers from competitors.
01 · Trainer practice
Training is only as good as the trainer's experience. Power BI instructors without their own implementation practice deliver textbook knowledge without realistic adoption insights. Look for trainers with current customer projects, not pure training profiles without an architecture background.
02 · Role differentiation
What a sales rep needs (open, filter, export reports) is not what an internal data analyst needs (data models, DAX, dashboard building). A generic course for all roles creates over- and under-challenge at the same time. Good training providers have separate curricula.
03 · DAX depth
DAX is where most Power BI training stalls. CALCULATE and simple aggregations are enough for basic reports, but not for time intelligence, row-level security, dynamic filters, or many-to-many resolution. A good DAX training covers these advanced patterns.
04 · Exercises on your own system
Training on a generic Microsoft demo tenant transfers little into practice. Training on a sandbox tenant with your data sources and your data models is dramatically more effective — because the learning curve is lower in the concrete context and participants are trained in a directly actionable way.
05 · Adoption guidance
Classic training without follow-up guidance typically has a half-life of 4–8 weeks. Adoption programs with weekly office hours, champions networks, and adoption dashboards lift sustainable usage to 80 %+. Ask whether there is follow-up.
06 · Pricing transparency
Are day rates, fixed-price packages, and travel costs openly communicated? Does the provider explain what an in-house day really costs — or do you get a flat-rate offer without breakdown? Good training providers lay out the math.
These six points are market standard for good training selection. In the next section we show where arades GmbH delivers reliably against each point.
arades as your Power BI training partner
arades GmbH has been training Power BI for over ten years — since the early days of the "Excel Power Pivot" world. This history makes the difference: we know which concepts were already sustainable then and which modern Power BI features can safely be ignored.
Our Power BI trainers are not pure instructors — they lead customer projects in parallel and know the typical adoption hurdles, performance problems, and governance questions firsthand. Training content comes from real project situations, not from Microsoft demos.
Four defined curricula: end users (use, filter, export reports, self-service extension), data analyst (data models, DAX, dashboard building), pro developer (embedded integration, REST APIs, custom visuals, premium features), and Power BI admin (tenant settings, capacity management, RLS, governance). Each role has its own syllabus.
DAX workshops over three days: Day 1 basics (CALCULATE, FILTER, RELATED), Day 2 time intelligence (DATESYTD, SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR, PARALLELPERIOD, own calendar tables), Day 3 advanced patterns (many-to-many resolution with bridge tables, dynamic RLS with USERPRINCIPALNAME, VAR optimization). Optional Day 4 with DAX performance tuning on Tabular Editor and DAX Studio.
For in-house training, we set up a sandbox tenant with your data models and sample records before the training date. Exercises take place in the concrete context — not on a Microsoft demo system. This dramatically raises the transfer into practice.
Optional to the training: 3-month adoption program with weekly office hours, internal champions network, adoption dashboards (based on Power BI activity logs), and targeted follow-up training for users who don't become active. Transition into Application Care for ongoing operation possible.
Public online dates: per participant (from €1,200 net/person for 1–3 days). In-house training from 8 participants: fixed price per training day from €2,800 net, on-site plus transparently calculated travel costs. On-demand videos in subscription model. DAX coaching as an individual or small-group format at a day rate.
Role curricula
A defined syllabus per role with clear depth. Modules can be combined as building blocks — a tailored in-house training can, e.g., include only the end-user part and a DAX excerpt from the analyst curriculum.
Curriculum 1 · End user
Open, navigate, filter reports, use drillthrough. Bookmarks and personal views. Export to Excel and PDF. Subscriptions and alerts. Mobile app usage. Self-service extension: simple dashboard customization in the Power BI Service. Target audience: sales, service, finance staff without IT background.
Curriculum 2 · Data analyst
Power Query (data preparation, joins, pivot/unpivot), data modeling (star schema, relationships, granularity), DAX basics (CALCULATE, FILTER, time intelligence), dashboard design (visuals, slicers, bookmarks, performance tips). Optional days 4–5: advanced DAX patterns.
Curriculum 3 · Pro developer
Embedded integration in your own apps, Power BI REST APIs, custom visuals with TypeScript, calculation groups, translations, Tabular Editor and DAX Studio, deployment pipelines, premium features, XMLA endpoint usage, external tools.
Curriculum 4 · Power BI admin
Tenant settings, workspace architecture, capacity management (Pro/Premium per User/Premium Capacity/Fabric), row-level security (static and dynamic), sensitivity labels and Microsoft Purview integration, monitoring and activity logs, backup strategies and disaster recovery, audit and compliance topics.
Formats
Online-live, on-site, or on-demand — depending on team, geography, and timeframe. All formats can be combined with adoption guidance.
Format 1 · Online-live
Live training via Microsoft Teams with the trainer's screen sharing and parallel hands-on for participants on their own tenants. 2–4 hours per session, multiple sessions spread over several weeks — protects daily business and deepens through pauses between sessions.
Format 2 · On-site
In-house training at your location — typically 1–3 contiguous training days. Particularly effective for intensive topics with whiteboard discussions and group work. Economical from 8 participants. Travel costs transparently calculated.
Format 3 · On-demand + coaching
Structured video library in subscription model, supplemented by weekly live office hours with the trainer. Suitable for distributed teams, individual pace, and onboarding of new staff. No time pressure.
Frequently asked questions
Public online-live training per participant (1–3 days, from about €1,200 net per person). In-house training from 8 participants as a fixed price per day (from about €2,800 net/day, on-site plus travel costs). On-demand videos in subscription model. DAX coaching as an individual or small-group format at a day rate.
End users (read reports, filter, export), data analysts (build data models, write DAX, design dashboards), pro developers (embedded integration, REST APIs, custom visuals, premium features), and Power BI admins (tenant settings, capacity management, governance, RLS). One curriculum per role.
Microsoft Learn is an excellent free source for self-learners. Our training adds three things: exercises on your concrete tenant with your data sources, real-time Q&A, and a trainer with adoption experience in mid-market organizations. For motivated self-learners, Microsoft Learn is enough — for a rollout to a sales or finance team with different IT affinities, it isn't.
Yes. DAX training is a stand-alone focus — from DAX basics (CALCULATE, FILTER, RELATED) through time intelligence to advanced patterns (many-to-many resolution with bridge tables, dynamic RLS with USERPRINCIPALNAME, VAR optimization). Three-day intensive workshop or individual coaching.
Training alone isn't enough. A typical adoption program adds a 3-month accompanying format to the training: weekly office hours for questions, an internal champions network, adoption dashboards (measured via Power BI's own activity logs), and targeted follow-up training for users who aren't active. Realistic goal: 80 % of all licensed users open a report at least weekly.
Yes. German and English sessions are standard. French, Spanish, or Italian on request via partners from our network.
Both. Public online dates for common topics (Power BI for end users, DAX basics, data modeling basics) — useful for individuals and small groups. In-house training for mid-market rollouts from 8 participants, with exercises and data models tailored to the customer's system.
Further reading
Six follow-up topics that typically become relevant after the Power BI training selection.
Strategy workshop, architecture review, DAX coaching, embedded advisory — four advisory formats for Power BI undertakings of different depths.
Engineering overview of our Power BI service spectrum — data modeling, dashboard building, embedded integration, governance.
Pro, Premium per User, Premium Capacity, Fabric — five license models, transparent math, NCE and triennial mechanics.
Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI, Power Pages — the Power Platform overview. When Power BI is only one building block.
Response in under 4 hours, established Microsoft escalation path. Pay-per-hour, Application Care, or Strategic Care for Power BI landscapes.
Calculate yourself what your Power BI licenses would cost with the right mix of Pro, Premium per User, and Capacity.
30 min · free · no obligation
Tell us about your team structure and your Power BI status. We listen, classify, and propose a suitable curriculum — format, duration, adoption guidance. If a different training path fits better, we say so.
