Product and Systems Director at SPCM
Real User
It's good for tracking indicators like KPI, sales, and a bunch of other essential metrics for our company's strategic planning.
Pros and Cons
  • "Power BI has strong support from Microsoft. If you need help, they answer promptly. There are also several discussion groups where you can get information, like the product roadmap and any new things coming up."
  • "Microsoft has made a lot of progress with Power BI in the past couple of years, but there is still some room for improvement. For example, Integration is one area they could work on. They are adding more integration with other Microsoft tools, but I would like it if they sped up the process."

What is our primary use case?

Power BI is used internally to track indicators like KPI, sales, and a bunch of other essential metrics for our company's strategic planning. Power BI creates reports and compiles data coming from various sources, and we create dashboards for managers and executives to monitor these indicators.

There is also an external use case. We also have a team that provides BI as a service. Let's say your company collects all your data manually in Excel sheets and creates reports. We get rid of the Excel files and automate everything using Power BI to create dashboards and reports.

What needs improvement?

Microsoft has made a lot of progress with Power BI in the past couple of years, but there is still some room for improvement. For example, Integration is one area they could work on. They are adding more integration with other Microsoft tools, but I would like it if they sped up the process.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been a Microsoft partner for 12 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Microsoft Bi is stable. 

Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Power BI
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Power BI. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Microsoft BI is scalable. 

How are customer service and support?

Power BI has strong support from Microsoft. If you need help, they answer promptly. There are also several discussion groups where you can get information, like the product roadmap and any new things coming up. 

How was the initial setup?

Everything is in the cloud, so you don't do anything. You only need to download a client, and that's it. If you have to create an embedded solution, it only takes five minutes.

The entire deployment takes a couple of hours, but you don't need a specialist to deploy it. Obviously, you need someone who understands the technology and how to follow instructions, but it's pretty straightforward stuff.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Power BI's price is good relative to its competitors. It has more than 400 or 500 different connectors. A lower price would always be welcome. The price is fine, but the licensing is complicated. Quantum mechanics is easier to understand than Microsoft licensing.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Microsoft BI nine out of 10. If you are thinking about using Microsoft BI, go for it. Microsoft BI is worth it. It's one of the products Microsoft got right from the beginning. It's perfect.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
IT RM at KNV
Real User
Dashboards allow for reporting to higher levels of management, and navigation is simple enough for ordinary users
Pros and Cons
  • "We encourage end users to use Power BI because it's quite easy for them to interact with the menus and the navigation bar. Even for ordinary users, they can create their own dashboard using Power BI."
  • "There's always room for improvement for Microsoft Power BI, especially for the UX and the menus to make it more accessible to business users."

What is our primary use case?

The IT department has dashboards for reporting to the higher levels of management.

The solution is deployed on a hybrid model: cloud-based and on-premise. We always get the latest version because we have the Enterprise Agreement with Microsoft.

What is most valuable?

We encourage end users to use Power BI because it's quite easy for them to interact with the menus and the navigation bar. Even for ordinary users, they can create their own dashboard using Power BI.

What needs improvement?

There's always room for improvement for Microsoft Power BI, especially for the UX and the menus to make it more accessible to business users. These improvements wouldn't be too technical.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft BI for a very long time—since it was first released.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable enough, but I think Tableau has a better interactive UX and user experience. We are not using Tableau right now.

We have tens of thousands of users, and we are willing to increase the number of users.

How are customer service and support?

Support is amazing.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have experience with Tableau.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The license is on a yearly basis.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution 8 out of 10. I would recommend this solution for others. 

We don't have any other solution out there right now, so I would say we are satisfied with it. There are some disadvantages, some weaknesses of Microsoft Power BI that we have addressed to the Microsoft team.

The IT department has a good relationship with the Microsoft team, so they always give input to Microsoft's department teams.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Power BI
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Power BI. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Managing partner at a tech vendor with 1-10 employees
MSP
Low cost, good reporting, and simple installation
Pros and Cons
  • "In my opinion, Microsoft BI is a low-cost solution, and it could be an interesting solution for a tourism company."
  • "I believe the price should be degressive, and we should have a lower, or better unit price if we have more users."

What is our primary use case?

I am a reseller for Sage business solutions and will start to sell Microsoft BI.

Microsoft BI is primarily used for sales, financial, and production reports.

What is most valuable?

I believe that it's a good solution. 

It is not an expensive solution. The price is very important in the solution selection process. In my opinion, Microsoft BI is a low-cost solution, and it could be an interesting solution for a tourism company.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft BI for a few months.

As a cloud solution, we are always working with the latest version.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In our company, we have five users.

The price is an important consideration when upgrading or adding new users. In my opinion, it would be better for the price to be degressive by the user. For example, if you have five users, you simply multiply five by the unit price to find the total cost of the solution. 

I believe the price should be degressive, and we should have a lower, or better unit price if we have more users.

How are customer service and support?

I hadn't really needed Microsoft's technical support until now. We have not had any issues to resolve.

How was the initial setup?

The installation is not a difficult thing, it is very simple.

We only need one IT manager, to deploy this solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others who are considering this solution, which is the reason that I will be selling it.

I would rate Microsoft BI an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
BI Analyst at Infosys Technology
Real User
Has valuable reporting and printing features
Pros and Cons
  • "I find Power BI's reporting feature the most valuable. The solution has improved a lot. There are new features getting added day by day. In the past, they didn't even have the printing feature, but now they have it."
  • "If you look at the new tool, even though they promised that you could do data modeling, that you could do everything from the Power BI side, if your data is really large in volume, sometimes it doesn't work on the Power BI. More feature testing from their side would certainly help users."

What is our primary use case?

I use this for its analysis service.

What is most valuable?

I find Power BI's reporting feature the most valuable. The solution has improved a lot. There are new features getting added day by day. In the past, they didn't even have the printing feature, but now they have it.

What needs improvement?

Every tool has room for improvement. Microsoft also has a lot of room for improvement. If you look at the new tool, even though they promised that you could do data modeling, that you could do everything from the Power BI side, if your data is really large in volume, sometimes it doesn't work on the Power BI. More feature testing from their side would certainly help users.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used this for eight years. I've used this solution within the last 12 months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This solution is stable. It's a nice solution to have.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This solution is very much scalable.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is good. It's not really very helpful sometimes, but it is good.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used a different solution for a different location, a different customer. If a customer decides to go for one vendor, they stick to that vendor, so changing a vendor is not an option most of the time.

How was the initial setup?

Initial setup is straightforward, but it depends on the business case. It's straightforward, but sometimes it is complex, but compared to any other tool, the setup for this solution is straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

My experience with them is okay.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I wasn't able to evaluate other options before choosing because it was already chosen by the customer.

What other advice do I have?

Deployment for this solution in our organization is mixed: on-premise and through Microsoft cloud.

If you have a source on the Microsoft side then it's always easier to use one vendor for end-to-end solution. Even if there are some other sources, Microsoft has a big and varied area. Take the reporting ETL analysis as an example, everything's built as part Microsoft. It's always good to have one vendor than multiple vendors.

How long deployment of this solution takes all depends on how much data you have. Sometimes it takes a long time if you have a billion rows of data e.g. it could take hours. It also depends on the architecture. It depends on so many things.

There are a hundred users of this solution in our organization. The real users are customers who require reporting to make business decisions. Mostly the users are business analysts.

This solution is pretty much automated, so no maintenance. For AD, some are there as a team, so they help.

No plans of increasing usage of this solution. Maybe in the future, but not right now.

My advice to other people looking into implementing Power BI is to go for it. It's one tool that has everything, and they should always try to evaluate Microsoft compared to open source. Like in open source, you'll always have a lot of libraries, a lot of different tools that you would be using. It's great to try Microsoft Suite because at the end, you'll only have to deal with one vendor so maintenance will be less.

The lesson that I have learned from using Power BI is to try it out. Don't just rely on the features and promises about the solution. You first try it out, then share your experiences with the customer.

My rating for this solution would be seven or eight out of ten because it has everything in it and I don't see anything missing in it. It is efficient for our needs.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
MIS Specialist at a agriculture with 201-500 employees
Real User
It's easy to conduct analysis but needs more work to make it stable
Pros and Cons
  • "Microsoft BI is better than most solutions we have. It's pretty easy to conduct analysis with it."
  • "Microsoft needs to do some more research and development to make it more stable."

What is our primary use case?

In our sector, we're dealing with lots of FinDocs and routine FinDoc activities. So all these things are managed locally, with data coming from some secondary source. By that, I mean our in-house technicians provide a data service that is locally developed on our end, and we analyze data in Microsoft Power BI. We have about 10 to 12 users working with it.

What is most valuable?

Microsoft BI is better than most solutions we have. It's pretty easy to conduct analysis with it.

What needs improvement?

Microsoft needs to do some more research and development to make it more stable.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using Microsoft BI for about six months.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I think Microsoft BI is scalable.

How are customer service and support?

We have some technical partners from Microsoft, so we contact them for any issues.

How was the initial setup?

Installing Microsoft BI is fast and easy. We just downloaded it from Microsoft. That's it. It only takes about half an hour. It takes a little longer for the overall deployment, depending on the data volume. If we're getting the data from a secondary source, it depends upon both the source and volume. The greater the volume, the greater the time. Usually, we can manage to get it done in one or two hours plus the testing. It takes around four people to deploy and manage the solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We haven't thought much about licensing because we're still dealing with some administrative hang-ups. Once all these things are resolved, then we go for the license. It is in process.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Microsoft BI six out of 10. I would recommend it.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PMO at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Highly performance, easy to use, but needs more data flexibility
Pros and Cons
  • "What I have found valuable about Microsoft BI is its performance and ease of use. The interface is very simple and it is accessible to everyone. If someone is new to this type of solution it is straightforward to understand."
  • "In the future, Microsoft BI can be better by increasing user-friendliness"

What is our primary use case?

I use Microsoft BI for the reports and our displaying the data in different ways. As a project manager, I need to follow the budget and receive confirmation about our projects. We have an SAP database and we follow and check all the budget data of the project including data usage.

What is most valuable?

What I have found valuable about Microsoft BI is its performance and ease of use. The interface is very simple and it is accessible to everyone. If someone is new to this type of solution it is straightforward to understand.

What needs improvement?

The solution could improve by having more options to manipulate the views of the data on the dashboards. I sometimes need to make them myself but there should be more customizable with drag-and-drop elements and filters on that data differently than it was designed. There are filters in the design stage but there are times you need something else other than how it was designed. For example, if you did not have some of the information at the time of the design. Having the ability to design, or request the data from the database as an end-user is very important. It would be beneficial to have more autonomy on the design of the requested data. You are not able to change the fields or the request data because it was done in the backend and you are not able to see how that request happened. Sometimes you need to make your own requests or have different requests regarding the data. We do not have access because we are not administrators.

In the future, Microsoft BI can be better by increasing user-friendliness.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for approximately three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I have found it to be scalable.

We have approximately 1,000 people using the solution in my organization.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have previously used QlikView and Qlik Sense.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate Microsoft BI a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
BI Solution Engineer at DataSelf
Reseller
Easy to use for buildings charts and graphs and doing calculations
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a little easier at buildings charts and graphs than Tableau."
  • "It has limited performance capabilities in terms of connecting to large transactional databases, but it is fine for simple and quick queries from Excel spreadsheets or one table. The premium level is going to be more applicable for the higher transaction-level databases."

What is our primary use case?

I've been a consultant, so I've built some reports for some clients. I use and prefer its desktop version. 

What is most valuable?

It is a little easier at buildings charts and graphs than Tableau.

What needs improvement?

At the enterprise level, it is a little expensive. To get the full capacity of integrations, you need to go premium.

It has limited performance capabilities in terms of connecting to large transactional databases, but it is fine for simple and quick queries from Excel spreadsheets or one table. The premium level is going to be more applicable for the higher transaction-level databases. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been in the Business Intelligence Industry for about seven years. I use this product off and on.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is complex to scale. There are just too many things you have to put in place. You got to have the gateways, and you got to have the premium service. There are a lot of components that get involved. It is not very straightforward. 

We sell our own BI tool. So, we have hundreds of clients. They are mid-sized organizations. We're building out our Power BI stack because people do like it, but right now, we have most of our stuff in Tableau.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I also use Tableau. They're very comparable products. I worked for different companies that built their own proprietary stuff, and mainly for visualization, Tableau and Power BI were the connectors to go to. So, there wasn't a switch.

I really like Tableau's web version over Power BI's web version. It is just easier to drag and drop things and blend data on the backend. It has a little simpler process in that regard. I don't like the charting in Tableau. Its charting is a little more complex than Power BI's charting.

Calculations are a little harder in Tableau. They can be a little more complex in Tableau as compared to Power BI. Tableau is a little more detailed in terms of creating calculations. You can't just add two columns together. Tableau should have the ability to add or subtract columns. They should make it like a wizard.

How was the initial setup?

The simple stuff is easy. When you want to get into the calculations and building DAX-type formulas, I don't think DAX is that great. I find Tableau's coding a little easier.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Its pricing is reasonable for the desktop stuff, but for enterprise-level, it is a little expensive. 

What other advice do I have?

I would advise others to just do their research and figure out what they want to do with it so that they know if it is going to be hard or easy.

I would rate Microsoft BI an eight out of 10.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
PeerSpot user
Assistant Vice President at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Consultant
A complete and in-demand solution with good price, integration, and features
Pros and Cons
  • "Most of the clients I am interacting with are looking towards Power BI because of the cost and simplicities. It provides an entire feature set and a complete solution. It has tight integration with Office 365, Dynamics 365, Microsoft Technology Stack, and datatypes like R and Python."
  • "It should be more scalable for an enterprise-level implementation. When you deploy large data sets, the response has to be faster in Power BI. This is one thing that needs to be improved in it."

What is our primary use case?

I lead the data visualization competency. As a competency leader, my responsibility is to make people grow in this technology. It could be Power BI, Tableau, or QlikView. We are service-oriented, and depending upon the demand, we have to have experienced people and a resource pool ready in these areas. Depending upon the requirement, I decide how many people need to be trained or hired.

What is most valuable?

Most of the clients I am interacting with are looking towards Power BI because of the cost and simplicities. It provides an entire feature set and a complete solution. It has tight integration with Office 365, Dynamics 365, Microsoft Technology Stack, and datatypes like R and Python. 

What needs improvement?

It should be more scalable for an enterprise-level implementation. When you deploy large data sets, the response has to be faster in Power BI. This is one thing that needs to be improved in it.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for close to two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We found no issues. It is an aggregated reporting tool. It cannot handle a detailed level of data. It is meant only for the dashboarding purpose. You need to have your underlying data in an aggregated way, and then it would be faster. It depends on whether you have a live connection or you don't have a live connection.

How are customer service and technical support?

We don't see many issues, but whenever we put a request, they at least respond.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have worked on Tableau. Before Tableau, I have worked with traditional tools, such as SAP BusinessObjects. My team has got experience with Spotfire, but we are not seeing a great demand for Spotfire.

If you ask me for the top three, I would qualify Power BI, then Tableau, and then QlikView. That's the demand that I'm seeing in the market from various customers.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I am satisfied with its price. Its price is very less as compared to Tableau and QlikView.

What other advice do I have?

My first advice is to learn SQL. The foundational knowledge and SQL skills are the most important. You have to be very strong in writing SQL code. You have to improve your mind so that you know what you are writing in Power BI. After that, it is very easy to pick up any front-end reporting tool, such as Power BI or Tableau. After you have good expertise in Power BI, you can slowly learn Python so that you can do good integration. All these efforts would be great for your career.

Being a gold partner of Microsoft for the past few years, we work directly with Microsoft product teams. Sometimes as part of a pre-launch, they also connect with us. If we see a feature or functionality that a client requires, we at least put it across to them. How they prioritize it within their product team is up to them. They prioritize depending on the need of the market and demand from various clients, and they release features accordingly. Sometimes, we also work on a pre-release.

They release new features and functionalities every month. They have also recently released data protection smart narratives. If you look at the Gartner report, they are leading. I see a lot of demand for this solution.

I would rate Microsoft BI an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft Power BI Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: March 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft Power BI Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.