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.
"The scalability is good. We have 20 people in my organization using this solution and plan to increase usage."
"It is a good platform for data analysis, organization, and all of the other interim performances that are necessary."
"The most valuable features in Microsoft BI are the analysis using the feature drag and drop function. It's very easy to load and use different data sources."
"The most valuable feature is integration with Python."
"Power BI is a complete ecosystem. It has an integrated ETL tool and good connectivity with applications such as Office 365 and SQL. There are also solutions for RPA, such as Microsoft Power Automate and Microsoft Power Apps. Power BI now has integration with Power Query, which has an AI feature for text analytics. Text analytics is a very good feature. This feature is also there in Tableau, but I like it in Power BI because you can write something like, "What is the total sale in the Eastern region?", and it will give you the answer. For example, when you have different types of user opinions, you just run one algorithm and you will have the output that provides the number of positive and negative responses. You can even have a dashboard with positive remarks. This feature has been introduced recently. Power BI supports the DAX and Power Query M languages. These languages are making Power BI very strong in data analytics, and you can do many types of analysis."
"The visualization part and its inclusion in a cloud-based application are valuable features."
"Microsoft BI is easy to use and to design. I found Microsoft BI a lot easier than Tableau."
"My primary use is for view of the dashboard."
"It's intuitive and highly mature"
"The most valuable features of the solution are the permission management and the user management."
"The most important feature in Tableau is visual analytics."
"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."
"I have found Tableau easy to use and the features are superb."
"Tableau is easy to use. That's the first and most important thing. I not only provide consulting but I also train people to use it, so with its ease-of-use it's not as difficult for me to train executives and management staff, because they don't have the IT background, unlike when I'm using Python."
"The solution allows for the possibility for end-users to do their own reporting."
"The solution is being delivered to our customer, who appreciates the insights generated from the reports. It is easy for them to drill into the details and use interactive charts."
"Real-time updating needs improvement."
"I have a little problem with Synapse Analytics because it's very new. It's a product that has many capabilities, but it is not very well developed. I have to see the list of permissions from one object. I can't do this in Synapse. I have to search on the web for a solution because I don't have the tool for it."
"We haven't used it that long and I haven't come across anything that's stood out as needing to be fixed."
"The UI is the main improvement that could be made. Specifically, there is something called DAX, in Power BI, which is complicated compared to calculated fields used in Tableau."
"The maps in Power BI could be improved. You deal with many maps over the years, like maps of America and Saudi Arabia. The maps aren't detailed enough, and there aren't enough visualization tools. Whenever I want to use a map, I struggle with choosing the right visualization."
"If I compare it to Tableau, I'd say the visualizations can be better. We should have multiple options. By that I mean, while there are multiple options for the visualization, the look and feel of the dashboard when you compare to Tableau is on the lower side. Tableau has a much better visualization."
"The integration with other solutions could be improved for reporting aspects."
"I think that the solution is harder to use for people who are not experts in data."
"Creating empty extracts is not easy."
"Maybe the price could be a bit cheaper, especially if you're a personal developer that uses Tableau just to explore smaller data sets and you're not a company or something like that."
"I would like to be able to set the parameters in a more specific manner."
"I am a BI consultant. I have worked on different reporting tools, such as Power BI and MicroStrategy. As compared to other tools, Tableau lags behind in handling huge enterprise-level data in terms of robust security and the single integrated metadata concept. When we connect to large or very big databases, then performance-wise, I sometimes found Tableau a little bit slow. It can have the single metadata concept like other tools for the reusability of the objects in multiple reports."
"Its price should be improved. Its price is much higher than Power BI and QlikView. Programming is not easy on Tableau. For programming, you have to have a separate model. They should include programming directly on the web portion of the Tableau desktop so that people can write Python or JavaScript code for customizations instead of using a different model. Currently, Tableau Data Prep is a separate application that you have to purchase. It would be helpful if they can include Tableau Data Prep and programming languages such as R, Python in the next version. Tableau Public, which is a community version, doesn't allow you to save your work on your desktop. They should allow it. Currently, you can only upload it in the community."
"SAP BusinessObjects has some semantic layer designs that give the flexibility to do ad hoc reporting or dashboard designing. If that can be brought into Tableau, it would be great. We have the data in the database, but we should also be able to bring something between the database and the dashboard and do some semantic layer modeling for ad hoc reporting requirements."
"It will be good if the server, could be more stable, and I would like to have the technical service to be more reliable."
"People are migrating to Microsoft BI due to the speed, which is quite slow to load, and the lack of visualization options."
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