Ward and Microsoft Power BI for Home Improvement
Ward connects to Power BI and tracks 50,000+ SKUs throughout your stores. No config changes, no data warehouse project.
What Microsoft Power BI gives a home operator
For Home Improvement retailers, that means watching 50,000+ SKUs throughout stores. Project-based purchasing, long-tail SKUs, and seasonal volatility. Ward manages the complexity of 50,000+ SKU environments with ease.
The connection itself. Ward connects to the same data sources Power BI uses. Or reads Power BI datasets via REST API. Your reports stay untouched.
Chat
Ask anything. Ward routes to the right agent and returns cited answers.
I pulled the spring pre-build against the last three seasons and the weather signal for the 22 Southeast stores.
| Signal | Finding |
|---|---|
seasonal_prebuild | Mulch on-hand hit 61% of plan the week temps broke 70°F |
dc_push | DC push started 9 days after the first-warm-week trigger, LY it was 2 |
attach.project | Soil and edging attach fell 18% at stores that gapped on mulch |
Recommend: tie the push trigger to the 10-day forecast instead of the calendar week, pre-position two truckloads at the 8 stores that gapped, and re-set the attach endcap.
seasonal_prebuild…
Reporting
Pinned views built from saved data-lake queries. Every number re-derivable from its SQL.
| Model | Horizon | MAPE |
|---|---|---|
holt_winters | 4wk | 4.1% |
arima_sarimax | 13wk | 8.9% |
gbm_demand | 1wk | 2.1% |
bayes_hier | new store | 11.4% |
Sources
Connect external systems to the data lake.
| Name | Type | Last sync |
|---|---|---|
epicor_pos_transactions | import | 2m ago |
epicor_special_orders | import | 2m ago |
netsuite_inventory_snapshot | import | 14m ago |
retail_seasonal_prebuild | import | 1h ago |
retail_sku_velocity | import | 1h ago |
retail_pro_account_sales | import | 1h ago |
retail_weather_daily | import | 1h ago |
Policies
Browse and manage Cedar access policies for your tenant.
| Policy ID | Effect | Resources |
|---|---|---|
merch-read-default | permit | Model::* |
pro-team-read-accounts | permit | Model::"pro_account_sales" |
vendor-blocked | forbid | Model::"labor_*" |
supply-read-orders | permit | Model::"special_orders" |
Metrics Ward monitors
Home challenges Ward solves
- Project basket identification
- Seasonal pre-positioning
- Long-tail inventory
- Pro vs DIY segmentation
- Weather-driven demand
What Ward has eyes on.
Ward keeps a running read on 50,000+ SKUs across your stores, at the store-category level rather than the chain roll-up. The metrics under watch include project basket value, seasonal accuracy, long-tail turn. A roll-up hides a single-store problem inside a healthy average, which is how project basket identification stays invisible for a quarter.
Ward reads Power BI rather than replacing it. Power BI REST API datasets, underlying SQL/Azure data, dataflow outputs come across on a read-only connection, get enriched with contextual data, and come back as cards. Your BI is untouched.
Why this combination
is its own problem.
Running Ward on Power BI in a home store base skips the usual first step. There is no ingestion project, because Microsoft Power BI already holds power BI REST API datasets, underlying SQL/Azure data, dataflow outputs. Ward pulls from what is there.
How Ward connects to Microsoft Power BI
Ward sits alongside Power BI. Your dashboards visualize. Ward detects and explains what changed. No dashboard login needed for your morning brief.
Setup: Ward connects to the same data sources Power BI uses. Or reads Power BI datasets via REST API. Your reports stay untouched.
Data Ward reads from Power BI
Impact metrics with Power BI
Data lake enrichment
Ward enriches Power BI data with: Power BI datasets, Underlying SQL/Azure data, Weather & events, Demographics, Custom feeds
Home KPI impact
Frequently asked questions
Ward connects to the same data sources Power BI uses. Or reads Power BI datasets via REST API. Your reports stay untouched. Data points include: Power BI REST API datasets, Underlying SQL/Azure data, Dataflow outputs.
Yes. Ward reads Power BI data and combines it with contextual signals (weather, events, demographics) to generate Home-specific insight cards. No custom development required.
First insight cards arrive within 48 hours of data connection. Ward needs approximately 2 weeks to establish stable baselines for your specific operation.
No. Ward sits on top of your existing stack. It is the proactive intelligence layer that watches your data continuously and delivers insight cards, so your team acts on findings instead of hunting for them.
Related solutions
See what Home problems Ward catches.
Root causes, not just alerts. See it on your data.
Read-only to start · your LLM keys · SOC 2 Type II underway · or book a call directly
Find out what your data has been hiding.
Tell us about your operation. We’ll show you the problems Ward catches, and the ones your current tools miss.