We compared Microsoft BI and Tableau based on our users reviews in six parameters. After reading the collected data, you can find our conclusion below:
Users generally find the initial setup for Microsoft BI to be simple and effortless, requiring minimal time and effort. In comparison, Tableau's setup process can range from uncomplicated to more intricate, depending on specific circumstances and requirements.
Microsoft BI is highly regarded for its impressive capabilities and adaptability, as well as its capacity to retrieve data from diverse origins and create personalized visuals. On the other hand, Tableau is commended for its ease of use, intuitive design, and proficiency in managing substantial volumes of data.
Both Microsoft BI and Tableau have areas where they can improve. Microsoft BI could enhance its user-friendliness, support, graphical and analytical features, cost, performance, integration, metadata management, visualization capabilities, stability, security, compatibility, data management process, support for product management and customer services, and documentation. On the other hand, Tableau could focus on improving its compatibility, performance, memory data concept, architecture, charting and calculations, modeling techniques, visualization options, integration, customization process, report creation, forecast instrument, GIS features, support for business insights and trend analysis, interface, licensing options, automation, write-back capabilities, drill-down functionality, security measures, workflow, and data modules.
Microsoft BI has a potentially high setup cost, particularly for enterprise-level usage. While some users find the pricing reasonable for desktop use, it becomes costly for larger-scale implementations. In contrast, Tableau's pricing is diverse, with opinions ranging from expensive to cheap. Some users perceive Tableau as expensive, especially for smaller firms, while other tools like Power BI are seen as more affordable. Generally, there is a consensus that Tableau's pricing could be enhanced to maintain competitiveness.
Microsoft BI has been highly praised for its return on investment, with users giving it a perfect rating. It is projected to generate substantial revenue growth and achieve breakeven in a relatively short period of 2-3 years. In contrast, Tableau's specific ROI is uncertain, but it is presumed to be impressive based on existing data. Customers have observed a return on investment within a quicker timeframe of 5-6 months.
The opinions on customer service for Microsoft BI are divided, with some users finding it satisfactory while others believe it needs improvement. On the other hand, Tableau's customer service has had a range of experiences, with some customers having positive ratings and others encountering limitations and difficulties in contacting the right people.
Comparison Results
Microsoft BI is praised for its ease of setup and powerful features, but users find it difficult to learn and use, with weaker graphical and analytical features compared to Tableau. The cost is considered high, and users desire better support, a more user-friendly interface, and improved performance. On the other hand, Tableau's setup can range from simple to complex, but it is highly valued for its user-friendliness and customization options. However, Tableau lacks compatibility with certain tools, has performance issues with large data, and needs improvement in visualization options and integration capabilities. Pricing is also a mixed opinion, with some finding it expensive. Customer support for both products has mixed reviews.
"What I like about Power BI is how fast you are able to create dashboards and how fast you are able to fetch the data. You can connect to the database or data source, and then you can design your dashboards very easily."
"It is stable enough. It has a lot of powerful functions. It can also be customized with the DAX language. It is also intuitive enough and incremental. You can start with something simple, and then step-by-step, you can increase the reports and dashboards according to your needs."
"With Power BI, you're able to store your data within spreadsheets and SharePoints, and then have Power BI pull the data out and report on it. So we actually saved a ton of money not needing to load the data into databases, which is a big prerequisite for many other reporting tools."
"Its connection to every database: Whatever and wherever it is."
"Considering that it's Microsoft, it can be integrated with the Power Platform, which is also Microsoft-based, like SharePoint, Power apps, Power Automate, and Power BI, which is the most user-friendly."
"The scalability is good. We have 20 people in my organization using this solution and plan to increase usage."
"I like the fact that Power BI lets me use Excel data. At least 90% of my state data is in Excel spreadsheets. Having the ability to just attach a spreadsheet as a data source is very, very important. It's also good for training and teaching. Sometimes you don't always have access to a live production database, so having a spreadsheet with sample data is always nice."
"Microsoft BI's most valuable feature is flexibility."
"The solution deployment was straightforward."
"It has a shallow learning curve and so you can go to market very, very, very quickly."
"It is very easy to implement and to use."
"Tableau's visualization features let you present information insights quickly and practically. So it's something which I prefer with Tableau. In terms of reporting, I have to point out the sheer quality and function of the Tableau server, but the first impression is that it's a great visualization tool."
"You can create attractive dashboards that inform users using Tableau."
"It most valuable feature is its ease of developing visualizations, not just charts and graphs."
"The most important feature is the tool is very easy to use. This makes it simple to introduce it to CxOs. After a rapid demo, they are usual impressed by the results shown, because it has such a rare simplicity."
"Compared to other products, visualization features are really good."
"Microsoft BI could improve by allowing large-size data sources. We have large data sources, and we have problems loading them in Microsoft BI."
"The biggest thing with Microsoft right now is better support. There should be more timely support. We can do 90% of it ourselves by the same token. When we're into the 10%, we do not get timely support via Microsoft's support team."
"Microsoft should offer additional features for visualization and have additional features for slicing and dicing that data."
"The reporting could be a bit better."
"Real-time updating needs improvement."
"The visualization aspect, while being the most visible to business users, also happens the be the weakest point in the entire Microsoft BI stack."
"We need more integration capabilities."
"I would like them to provide a license that just allows us to see dashboards. What I don't like about this solution is that in order to just watch a dashboard, you need a license. Currently, you need to purchase a full license of Power BI Pro just to see something, which is not attractive. If you have a license, you can see a shared dashboard, but you can also build a dashboard or you can collaborate with other people. However, if you only want to see a dashboard, there is no license for that. I only want to see the dashboard, and I don't want to do anything more than watching the information on the dashboard. There is no license that allows you to see a shared dashboard. This is one of the areas of opportunity because I would like a lot of people to be able to see a shared dashboard, not to interact with it or to collaborate online with it. I would like to see more compatibility with non-Microsoft data sources. Given the fact that everything is related to Microsoft Azure and all services available on Microsoft Azure, I see that they're building more connections to Microsoft Azure services instead of other non-Microsoft services. I understand the strategy, but it would be good to have more compatibility with non-Microsoft data sources."
"Its price is a concern. It is more expensive than Power BI. The other thing that I never liked about Tableau is its ability to handle large sets of data. To present the data in the dashboards, we have to stage it up exactly like it is going to come into the dashboard. We use another tool called Alteryx that does that for us. So, we manipulate the data, get it staged, and then push it into Tableau. Tableau is terrible at handling large data sets, and we knew right away that we couldn't use Tableau to do data manipulation."
"Could have more integrations with different platforms."
"The solution could improve the scalability, it is difficult to make changes."
"The solution could use more features in data analytics."
"We did have issues with Tableau 10.1 server with the brokers failing on heavy load but since moving to 10.2, then to 10.3, this issue seems to have been resolved and the environment is now quite stable."
"It would be nice if we could export more raw data. Currently, there is a limit as to how much data you can export."
"I would like to have the product be more flexible in terms of creating online shared dashboards."
"The interface can be improved, in part because there is no indication that something is running or that it's processing."
Microsoft Power BI is ranked 1st in Reporting with 297 reviews while Tableau is ranked 2nd in Reporting with 290 reviews. Microsoft Power BI is rated 8.0, while Tableau is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Microsoft Power BI writes "A complete ecosystem with an builtin ETL tool, good integrations with python and R, and support of DAX and Power Query (M languages)". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Tableau writes "Provides fast data access with in-memory extracts, makes it easy to create visualizations, and saves time". Microsoft Power BI is most compared with Amazon QuickSight, KNIME, Domo, Oracle OBIEE and MicroStrategy, whereas Tableau is most compared with Amazon QuickSight, Domo, SAS Visual Analytics, Databricks and SAP Analytics Cloud. See our Microsoft Power BI vs. Tableau report.
See our list of best Reporting vendors and best BI (Business Intelligence) Tools vendors.
We monitor all Reporting reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.
Sorry to hear you have to move to Report Builder. Tableau is superior by a long shot! Find another gig. Don't go backwards. Move forward with Tableau !
Tableau is more suitable for somebody that is not developer and it's very easy to use and to create great visual presentation. For developers Report Builder would be more domestic.
It is really the outcome and target goals that are achieved with the right set of BI solutions,people using it to add more efficiency and productivity at all fronts is the kind of result you want to see. Tools include human and technology bonded together to produce results, After all it is the function of both parties to work together, collaborate and share resources together. In the human perspective we look at the training and how best we can create solutions . With the BI solution it is the way we distinguish between the existing solutions that will to the best of its capability serve our business interests and requirements.
Current business leadership include the VP of Finance, so determining a business case was and is a problem for him and those directly under him. So is a no my problem.
Thanks,
Rich
Rich- What is it that current leadership perceives as lacking in the current reporting tool set?
Why change if the only benefit is features or a products capabilities?
Can the products features and capabilities be exploited?
By who and when?
How does that make money for the company?
Increased profit?
Cost reduction?
Increased resource utilization?
Fewer days for order to cash?
Reduced collections?
Better on time shipping?
Faster production?
Increased gross margin?
Reduced inventory?
You get the picture. It's the people that make the difference. Not the tool!
What is it that we need to know to grow our business constantly and continuously?
Every tool mentioned can do really great "stuff".
But what "stuff" does your company need?
To answer the initial question: Every change is difficult without buy-in from the stakeholders.
People love change. What they don't like is change without benefit. Perceived or real.
I hope this helps you a little to better meet the challenges you're facing.
I wish you the best.
Reading through the responses from all you knowledgeable persons out there is so very enlightening. It's like sitting in a room and getting your experiences on these tools first hand. Thanks a lot for your inputs, which will help in putting pros and cons for the company to make a trade off and choose over the two.
Rich- What is it that current leadership perceives as lacking in the current reporting tool set?
Why change if the only benefit is features or a products capabilities?
Can the products features and capabilities be exploited?
By who and when?
How does that make money for the company?
Increased profit?
Cost reduction?
Increased resource utilization?
Fewer days for order to cash?
Reduced collections?
Better on time shipping?
Faster production?
Increased gross margin?
Reduced inventory?
You get the picture. It's the people that make the difference. Not the tool!
What is it that we need to know to grow our business constantly and continuously?
Every tool mentioned can do really great "stuff".
But what "stuff" does your company need?
To answer the initial question: Every change is difficult without buy-in from the stakeholders.
People love change. What they don't like is change without benefit. Perceived or real.
I hope this helps you a little to better meet the challenges you're facing.
I wish you the best.
I wouldn't feel too sorry, it is a very good group to work with. After a lot of years working in IT both in the US and Europe one of the things I find interesting is that Americans in business, especially with regard to software, feel they must have the latest, greatest and most feature rich everything when very often being a little behind the bleeding edge gets the job done and costs less. The real issue is to look at the problem being solved and find good enough while keeping an eye on where you are going.
Having said that took a brief look at the link you indicated and I like the fact that it runs on Linux. Thumbs up on that aspect.
Thanks,
Rich