Analyzing SharePoint with Power BI has become a key topic for internal communication professionals. As SharePoint increasingly acts as the central hub for internal information, collaboration, and corporate content, understanding how employees actually use the intranet is no longer optional.
Power BI is often seen as the go-to analytics tool within the Microsoft ecosystem. But how can it really be used to analyze SharePoint? What data can you access? And is Power BI truly adapted to the needs of internal communication teams?
In this article, we’ll explain how to analyze SharePoint with Power BI, step by step, from a communication-focused perspective, not an IT one.
Why analyzing SharePoint matters for internal communication
For internal communicators, SharePoint is no longer just a document repository. It has become:
- a strategic communication channel
- a digital workplace entry point
- a driver of employee engagement
Analyzing SharePoint helps answer critical questions such as:
- Are employees actually reading the content we publish?
- Which pages and documents generate the most engagement?
- Is information easy to find?
- Which teams or regions are actively using the intranet—and which are not?
Without analytics, internal communication relies on assumptions. With data, it becomes measurable and actionable.
What SharePoint data can be analyzed in Power BI?
Before connecting Power BI to SharePoint, it’s essential to understand what data is actually available.
Usage and traffic data
SharePoint allows access to metrics such as:
- page views
- unique visitors
- traffic evolution over time
- basic engagement indicators (depending on configuration)
These metrics help identify:
- high-performing pages
- low-visibility or unused content
Content and document data
With SharePoint data, you can analyze:
- most viewed documents
- unused or outdated files
- active vs inactive document libraries
- content update frequency
This is particularly useful for improving editorial quality and cleaning up the intranet.
User data (limited)
Some user-level insights are available, often segmented by:
- site
- time period
- sometimes audience (depending on permissions)
However, detailed analysis by department, role, or country usually requires additional data modeling.
How to connect SharePoint to Power BI
1. Use the SharePoint Online connector
Power BI provides a native connector to:
- SharePoint lists
- document libraries
- structured SharePoint data sources
This approach is commonly used to retrieve:
- file metadata
- content structure information
2. Use Microsoft Graph for advanced use cases
Some organizations rely on Microsoft Graph to extract:
- usage logs
- activity data
This method is more flexible but usually requires technical expertise and collaboration with IT teams.
3. Clean and model the data
This is often the most time-consuming step:
- cleaning inconsistent page names
- removing duplicates
- managing historical data
- structuring metrics in a usable model
For internal communication teams, this phase can quickly become a bottleneck.
Power BI dashboards for SharePoint analysis
SharePoint page performance dashboard
A common starting point includes:
- most viewed pages
- traffic trends over time
- engagement by site
This provides a high-level view of intranet visibility.
Content and document usage dashboard
This type of dashboard helps:
- identify unused documents
- highlight high-value content
- prioritize editorial updates
It’s especially useful for improving content relevance.
SharePoint site activity dashboard
You can also analyze:
- activity by site
- most active sites
- inactive or “ghost” sites
This supports better intranet governance and architecture decisions.
Limitations of Power BI for SharePoint analysis
While Power BI is powerful, it has clear limitations when used for internal communication analytics.
Data-centric, not communication-centric
Power BI shows numbers, but it doesn’t:
- explain why content performs well
- provide communication insights
- contextualize employee behavior
Siloed analysis
Power BI analyzes SharePoint in isolation.
However, internal communication is:
- cross-channel
- interconnected
- influenced by multiple tools (SharePoint, Viva Engage, newsletters, email…)
High dependency on technical resources
Building and maintaining Power BI dashboards often requires:
- data expertise
- ongoing maintenance
- IT support
This can be challenging for communication teams with limited technical capacity.
Going beyond Power BI to analyze SharePoint
Analyzing SharePoint with Power BI is a solid first step to better understand intranet usage. It helps structure data, track key indicators, and support evidence-based decisions.
However, when communication teams need to:
- analyze multiple internal channels together
- understand engagement by audience
- automate reporting
- measure campaign impact across tools
Power BI alone may no longer be sufficient.
In those cases, specialized solutions like Communication Insights can complement Power BI by offering a more communication-focused, cross-channel perspective without adding technical complexity.
The goal is no longer just to collect data, but to understand employees better and communicate more effectively.
- Internal Communication Reporting: Why It Has Become Essential Today
- Why a Digital Workplace Connected to Communication Insights Boosts Your Internal Communication KPIs
- Improve Employee Engagement with Your Intranet and Digital Workplace
- How to Create an Internal Communication Reporting with Power BI
- Improve Your Internal Campaign ROI with Power BI and Communication Insights