Which measures are genuinely expensive?
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DAX Performance Clinic
Your measures work. But do they need to be this complicated?
A focused review of DAX logic, performance and maintainability for models where the calculation layer has become difficult to reason about.
DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR?
Start with what is actually happening.
- Measures contain deeply nested CALCULATE statements.
- The same business rule appears in several different measures.
- Some visuals are slow without an obvious reason.
- Developers hesitate to change existing measures.
- Workarounds have become permanent but nobody remembers why.
WHAT WE NEED TO ANSWER
Good work starts with better questions.
Which patterns can be simplified?
Where is logic repeated unnecessarily?
Is DAX solving a problem that belongs in the model or upstream?
WHAT I REVIEW
The scope follows the problem.
I do not force every engagement through the same checklist. These are the areas that may matter; the agreed scope determines how deep we go.
Filter context and CALCULATE behaviour
Iterators and virtual tables
FILTER patterns and context transition
Repeated expressions and reusable logic
Formula Engine vs Storage Engine pressure
Measure dependencies and organisation
Readability and maintainability
WHAT YOU GET
Something you can use after the conversation ends.
The output should help you make a decision, change a practice or move the work forward. It should not exist simply to prove that work happened.
DAX Findings
The measures and patterns creating the most cost or complexity.
Refactored Examples
Concrete examples showing how selected calculations can be made clearer or faster.
Performance Priorities
Where optimisation effort is most likely to be worth it.
Reusable Patterns
Approaches the team can apply beyond the reviewed measures.
Developer Walkthrough
A technical session focused on reasoning, not just corrected code.
HOW IT WORKS
Enough structure to make the work clear. Not so much process that the process becomes the work.
Context
We start with a short conversation about what is happening, what matters and what has already been tried.
Review
I analyse the relevant parts of the solution or operating model at the depth agreed for the engagement.
Prioritise
I organise observations around impact, risk and usefulness — not around how many issues I can find.
Walkthrough
We go through the findings together, challenge assumptions and discuss trade-offs.
Next step
You decide what happens next: implement internally, continue together or stop because the focused engagement was enough.
YOUR TIME COMMITMENT
I keep the client-side time demand deliberately light. A focused assessment usually needs a kickoff conversation, access or materials, and a final review session. We agree the exact involvement before we start.
A GOOD FIT WHEN
This is likely to help if...
- The model broadly works but the measure layer has become difficult to maintain.
- You want an independent review of slow or complex calculations.
- You want developers to understand why a different pattern may be better.
IT MAY NOT BE THE RIGHT FIT IF
- The bottleneck is clearly outside DAX.
- You need somebody to write a large set of measures from scratch without review or knowledge transfer.
If the problem is real but the format is wrong, that is useful to know early. I would rather redirect the conversation than force the challenge into the wrong service.
DAX PERFORMANCE CLINIC
Your measures work. But do they need to be this complicated?
Bring me the problem, not a polished brief. A few sentences about what is happening and what you would like to change are enough to start.
Tell me what's happeningPREFER TO WRITE?
Send me a message.
You do not need a polished brief. Whether the topic is Power BI, Fabric, AI, team training, mentoring, coaching or simply a challenge that needs untangling, leave a few details and we can start from there.
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