Power Query Updates in Power BI Desktop October 2021 Release
Power BI Desktop
The Power BI Desktop October 2021 Release contains many Power Query-related updates, summarized below for easy reference. To view the full list of feature releases in Power BI Desktop October 2021, read the full Power BI blog post here.
NOTE: The release of some features may be delayed in some regions. We are working hard to ensure they are available in all public regions as soon as possible.
Amazon Redshift (Connector Update)
We are excited to announce support for native database queries for the Amazon Redshift connector.
Similar to SQL and Snowflake connectors, this will allow you to input an Amazon Redshift native query and build reports on top of it.
Dataverse (Connector Update)
We updated the Dataverse connector to support environment discovery. Users will be able to view a list of environments that they have access to, instead of being required to specify an environment URL.
Google Analytics (Connector Update)
The Google Analytics Connector has been updated to use V4 APIs. Additional features in this update include better API reliability and exposure of additional dimensions and measures not available in V3.
Azure Databricks (Connector Update)
The Azure Databricks connector has been updated. Here are the notes from the Databricks team.
- Added support for navigation through catalog hierarchy in workspaces with Unity Catalog support
- Enabled ‘Fast Evaluation’ by default, providing faster processing of large imports, and enabling direct SQL passthrough, to provide lower latency for Databricks SQL and Databricks Runtime 8.3 and later.
Amazon Athena 
This connector is now generally available.
SIS-CC-SDMX (New Connector) 
We are excited to announce the release of the new SIS-CC SDMX connector. Below is a description from the SIS-CC-SDMX team.
SIS-CC SDMX connector allows to easily query any public SDMX REST web service endpoint that supports the SDMX-CSV output format to analyse, visualise and share data from Power BI. Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange (SDMX) is an ISO international open standard adopted and used by statistical organisations (national, sub-national, regional, and international) for the production and dissemination of official statistics.
The SIS-CC SDMX connector is an open-source project provided by the Statistical Information System Collaboration Community (SIS-CC).
Visit the SDMX Connector documentation page for more information and how to get started, and the SDMX official website for more information on the SDMX standard.
SumTotal (Connector Update) 
The SumTotal connector has been updated and is now generally available. Here are the updates from the SumTotal team.
- Removed hardcoded list of OData entities; now pulls all OData APIs dynamically
- Added logic to allow bypassing of SSO login via query string parameter
Usercube (New Connector) 
We are excited to release the new Usercube connector. Here are notes from the Usercube team:
Usercube is the first no-code full-featured solution for Identity Governance and Administration (IGA), configurable for your unique organization, process, and policies.
Identity life cycle management becomes seamless: all users, including the internal workforce, partners, RPA bots and IoT devices, automatically receive the necessary access permissions – nothing more, nothing less – enforcing your security policies and the segregation of duties (SoD) based on your unique role model.
With Usercube’s Power BI integration, business reports benefit from data such as users’ identities, entitlement details (accounts and fined-grained permissions) and approval workflow tracing (WHO did WHAT and WHEN).
These reports are easy to create and to share. They integrate data from multiple applications, and they provide clarity to the whole company:
-Entitlement management and security performance are closely monitored and analyzed.
– Business teams benefit from easy and best-in-class reports for data-driven decisions.
Feel free to contact Usercube for a demo.
Download Power BI Desktop
The full list of updates for the October release of Power BI Desktop can be found in the Power BI blog post. To access these features, and more, use the link below to download Power BI Desktop!
Feedback
The Power Query team is interested in your feedback! Feel free to leave a comment below with your thoughts.