Mastering the BI Interview: Advanced Architectural Questions on Power BI, MSBI, Azure Data Factory, and Azure Databricks
Hey there, BI enthusiast! 🌟
We totally get it. In this whirlwind of a data-centric universe, being a BI pro is both a blessing and a challenge. On one hand, you’re in high demand (yay!), but on the other, those interviews? They can be a real brain-teaser. 🤯
If you’ve spent sleepless nights mastering Power BI, MSBI, Azure Data Factory, and Azure Databricks, you deserve a high-five! 🙌 But, we also know that facing a barrage of architectural questions in interviews can feel like walking through a maze blindfolded.
Fear not! We’re here to light up that maze for you. 🌈
In this blog post, we’ve whipped up a list of scenario-based architectural questions, especially for you champs with a knack for BI tools. Whether you’re gearing up for that big interview or just in the mood for a knowledge check, dive in! We promise, by the end of it, you’ll feel like you’ve got a BI superpower. 💪
Let’s conquer this together! 🚀
Set 1: Scenario-Based Architectural Questions
- Data Integration Challenge:
- “Imagine you have data sources from on-premises SQL Server, Azure Blob Storage, and a third-party API. How would you design a solution using MSBI and Azure Data Factory to integrate these data sources and present the consolidated data in Power BI?”
- Performance Optimization:
- “A Power BI report connected to an SSAS cube is loading very slowly. Walk me through the steps you’d take to diagnose the issue and optimize the entire architecture.”
- Data Transformation:
- “You’re receiving raw data in Azure Blob Storage that needs significant transformation, including cleaning, aggregation, and enrichment. How would you leverage Azure Databricks and Azure Data Factory to achieve this before visualizing the data in Power BI?”
- Security and Compliance:
- “Your organization has strict data compliance requirements. How would you architect a solution using Azure Data Factory and Power BI to ensure data is securely transferred, stored, and accessed, with specific attention to role-based access?”
- Real-time Analytics:
- “Your company wants to analyze streaming data for real-time insights. Describe an architecture leveraging Azure Databricks for stream processing and how you’d integrate it with Power BI for real-time dashboards.”
- Data Lake Architecture:
- “You’re tasked with setting up a data lake architecture that integrates with MSBI tools and Azure Databricks. How would you design this solution, ensuring scalability and performance for downstream Power BI reports?”
- Hybrid Architecture:
- “Your organization operates both on-premises databases and cloud-based storage solutions. Describe a hybrid BI architecture that integrates MSBI tools, Azure Data Factory, and Power BI to provide unified insights.”
- Disaster Recovery:
- “How would you design a disaster recovery plan for your BI solutions leveraging Azure Data Factory and Azure Databricks? What considerations would you take into account for data backup, redundancy, and quick recovery?”
- Collaboration and Versioning:
- “Your BI team is spread across different geographical locations. How would you set up a collaborative environment for developing and maintaining Power BI reports, Azure Data Factory pipelines, and Databricks notebooks, ensuring version control and seamless integration?”
- Cost Optimization:
- “Your current BI architecture involving MSBI, Azure Data Factory, Azure Databricks, and Power BI has escalating costs. Walk me through the steps you’d take to analyze, optimize, and reduce costs without compromising performance.”
When answering these questions, interviewers will be looking for a clear understanding of each tool’s capabilities, how they integrate, best practices, your problem-solving approach, and the latest release updates. It’s beneficial to discuss trade-offs, potential challenges, and how you’d address them in each scenario.
https://synapsefabric.com/2023/08/27/your-complete-roadmap-to-software-career-preparation-unpacking-key-terms-and-making-wise-choices/
Set 2: Deep Dive into BI Architectures
- Data Lineage and Tracking:
- “How would you set up a system to track data lineage across Azure Data Factory, Azure Databricks, and MSBI tools, ensuring transparency in data transformations for Power BI reports?”
- Migration Challenge:
- “Your organization is transitioning from an entirely on-premises MSBI solution to a cloud-based approach with Azure Data Factory and Databricks. Describe the steps and considerations for this migration.”
- Advanced Analytics Integration:
- “How would you integrate machine learning models developed in Azure Databricks into Power BI reports to provide predictive insights?”
- Large Data Volumes:
- “You’re dealing with terabytes of data that need to be processed daily using Azure Databricks and visualized in Power BI. How would you architect the solution to ensure timely data processing and report refreshes?”
- Data Quality:
- “Describe an end-to-end solution that ensures data quality, from ingestion using Azure Data Factory to visualization in Power BI, integrating MSBI tools where necessary.”
- Change Data Capture (CDC):
- “Your source systems have implemented CDC. How would you design your Azure Data Factory pipelines and Power BI datasets to handle and reflect these changes efficiently?”
- Multi-tenancy Challenge:
- “You need to design a multi-tenant BI solution where each client can view their data in Power BI, but the data processing is centralized using Azure Databricks. What would be your approach?”
- External Data Integration:
- “Your organization wants to integrate external data sources, like weather data or social media feeds, into the existing BI reports. Describe the architecture and tools you’d use to fetch, process, and visualize this data.”
- Monitoring and Alerts:
- “How would you set up monitoring and alerting across Azure Data Factory, Azure Databricks, and Power BI to be notified of any failures or performance issues?”
- Scaling with Demand:
- “Your Power BI reports see sporadic usage, with massive spikes at month-end. How would you design the underlying architecture with Azure Databricks and Azure Data Factory to scale with this demand efficiently?”
When addressing these scenarios, it’s essential to consider the strengths and limitations of each tool, integration points, best practices, and potential pitfalls. Demonstrating a holistic understanding of the entire data and BI ecosystem will be crucial.
https://synapsefabric.com/2023/09/06/a-deep-dive-into-bi-tools-analyzing-the-pros-and-cons-of-power-bi-msbi-azure-data-factory-and-azure-databricks/