New Article: 5 Ways to Get More Value from Your Microsoft Project Desktop Data
Featured Article: Unleashing the Power of Reporting in Planner Premium with Dataverse and Power BI
Tutorial Video: Power BI for Beginners - Build a Report for Free with Power BI Desktop
Live Event (5/6): Connecting Microsoft Project Desktop to Dataverse: A Practical Approach to Data, Risk, and Continuity
PM Best Practice: Define your reporting questions before you build the dashboard
Tuesday Brief: Microsoft Project Desktop is great at building schedules, but most organizations struggle to get that data working anywhere else. This week we're focused on what happens after the schedule is built: how project data can power reporting, automation, and decisions across the business without disrupting how PMs work today. Wednesday's live session goes deep on connecting Project Desktop to Dataverse, and the rest of the issue gives you the context and tools to follow along.
New Article:5 Ways to Get More Value from Your Microsoft Project Desktop Data
Isidro Ávila lays out five ideas for extending your Project Desktop data into reporting, automation, and the Power Platform without forcing project managers to change how they work. The throughline: your existing schedules are already the foundation. You don't need a rip-and-replace migration to start unlocking real organizational value from them.
This piece is the setup for Wednesday's live session, where Isidro goes deeper on the practical mechanics. Read it first to walk in with context.
Featured Article: Unleashing the Power of Reporting in Planner Premium with Dataverse and Power BI
Erik van Hurck breaks down how Planner Premium, Dataverse, and Power BI fit together to produce enterprise-grade reporting on your scheduling data. It's a useful companion read this week because it covers the same three-tool stack from the Planner Premium side of the Microsoft ecosystem, which complements the Project Desktop angle Isidro is bringing on Wednesday.
Video Tutorial: Power BI for Beginners - Build a Report for Free with Power BI Desktop
If Power BI is on your radar but you've never actually built a report in it, this short tutorial from Excel and Power BI MVP Mike Thomas is a great place to start. Mike walks through downloading Power BI Desktop for free, importing data, building relationships between tables, and creating a simple interactive dashboard. About 13 minutes, freely available on YouTube.
Live Event (5/6): Connecting Microsoft Project Desktop to Dataverse: A Practical Approach to Data, Risk, and Continuity
Microsoft Project Desktop is still the system of record for many organizations managing complex schedules, but extending that data beyond the desktop has always been a challenge. Join Isidro Ávila for a practical session focused specifically on how Project Desktop data can be synced to Dataverse to enable reporting, automation, and broader Power Platform capabilities, all while keeping your PMs working in the tool they already know.
What You'll Learn:
How Microsoft Project Desktop data can be integrated with Dataverse
How sync-based approaches such as Sync to Dataverse enable data continuity
How integrated schedule data supports Power BI, Power Apps, and AI capabilities
How to manage risk, change, and time constraints when extending Project Desktop environments
📅 Wednesday, May 5, 2026 🕛 12:00 – 1:00 PM ET 📍 Live on Zoom 🏅 1 PDU (Business Acumen)
MPUG hosts live events with leading experts on Wednesdays from 12:00pm - 1:00pm ET! MPUG members get access to live events where you get direct access to industry leaders, actionable insights, hands-on training, and opportunities to earn PDUs.
5/6/2026: Connecting Microsoft Project Desktop to Dataverse: A Practical Approach to Data, Risk, and Continuity | Learn More + Register Here
PM Best Practice: Define your reporting questions before you build the dashboard
The most common reporting failure isn't technical, it's scoping. Before you connect any data source or build any visual, write down the three to five specific questions stakeholders need answered. Every chart, table, or metric on your dashboard should map to one of those questions. If it doesn't, cut it. Reports that try to show everything end up answering nothing.
