it_user876765 - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder with 1-10 employees
Real User
Users can access data much more easily than before, and it works with Excel
Pros and Cons
  • "Other people can access data much more easily than before. Its usability is the main advantage, people in the company are using it."
  • "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."

    What is our primary use case?

    It's primarily for reporting, and the performance has been very good.

    How has it helped my organization?

    Other people can access data much more easily than before. Its usability is the main advantage, people in the company are using it.

    What is most valuable?

    It works mostly with Excel, and it's a very good price.

    What needs improvement?

    The Report Server is pretty expensive on-premise. But as long companies are happy to use the cloud version, that's very cost effective.

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    For how long have I used the solution?

    One to three years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The stability is very good now; it was definitely really poor a year ago.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Because it's cloud-based, it's very scalable.

    How are customer service and support?

    I haven't used tech support specifically for Power BI but, in general, for Office and Office 365, it has been very responsive.

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

    Before, we just had a whole bunch of spreadsheets lying around all over the place. So we really needed to get things tightened up but we weren't ready to invest in a database. But 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.

    My most important criteria when selecting a vendor are usability and support.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup was very straightforward.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    The shortlist was, obviously, Tableau because they're in everyone's face and a couple of other smaller tools.

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate it a nine out of 10 because it's very cost-effective, so it's very accessible in that respect, and a lot of folks do use spreadsheets so it helps ease the transition from using just spreadsheets to a more mature reporting environment.

    My advice is, speak to your users because, at the end of the day, if they don't use it, you've failed, which was the case with other reporting tools.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Brian  Rowland - PeerSpot reviewer
    Brian RowlandSenior IT Project Manager at a local government with 501-1,000 employees
    User

    The above review is consistent with the findings in my organisation.
    Cloud hosting is the way to go to avoid expensive on premises support costs.

    Project Manager with 51-200 employees
    User
    It helped identify bad data
    Pros and Cons
    • "Helped identify bad data, enabling the corrections needed to the data for management."
    • "​It needs more graphics and overlays."
    • "​It needs more analytic tools."

    What is our primary use case?

    Our primary use cases for this solution are Health and Wellness claims and short-term and long-term disability data.

    How has it helped my organization?

    It helped identify bad data, enabling the corrections needed to the data for management.

    What is most valuable?

    • Ease of use
    • Dashboard
    • Easy access to databases and spreadsheets
    • Multi-table access

    What needs improvement?

    • More graphics and overlays
    • More analytic tools
    • More interfaces to databases, especially multi-table management

    For how long have I used the solution?

    Three to five years.
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
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    Microsoft Power BI
    May 2024
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    Partner at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
    Real User
    Competitors' products have more functionality, though the self-service aspect is good
    Pros and Cons
    • "We can see that it's really improved the way end users can do their own graphs and pick their own fields of information and present that in a nice way."
    • "The way you navigate the product, compared to other products in this industry, that could be improved a bit."

    What is most valuable?

    The self-service part.

    How has it helped my organization?

    We are a consultancy firm, helping our clients with billing and business intelligence solutions. We can see that it's really improved the way end users can do their own graphs and pick their own fields of information and present that in a nice way.

    What needs improvement?

    The navigation. The way you navigate the product, compared to other products in this industry, that could be improved a bit. It's user friendly, but you would like to have it even more user friendly.

    When you do selections in one tab in Report, and then you move to the next tab, then you have to do your selections again. So one tab as a global, central selection possibility would help.

    If you compare to QlikView, there's still a lot of functionality that QlikView has that Power BI doesn't. For most companies, Power BI is good enough, especially if you consider the price tag it's an easy choice. But it still has some catching up to do to match the functionality in QlikView.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    Eight to 10 months.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It feels very stable. A bit slow sometimes when you change stuff and you want to refresh data and apply it to the data model in your queries. You want to apply that to your reports and dashboards and it can be a bit slow sometimes.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    We don't have that experience yet. We still don't know how it is to deploy it in larger scales. So, that's my concern, but I haven't seen the scalability issues at our clients.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    No, not yet. There are a lot of self-training videos and such out there on the internet and on the Microsoft websites.

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

    QlikView and Qlik Sense. We felt demand in the market for Microsoft Power BI. Also, within my company we are selling services around Microsoft Dynamics, and Microsoft Power BI hooks very well into the other Microsoft products.

    How was the initial setup?

    It was pretty straightforward. Not much to set up. Cloud service and desktop client that you need to download and install, but if you have worked with other similar tools then you and know about that.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We are constantly looking for what is hot in the market and this has really come up as a rising star on the BI market, so it was not so much of a question about it at all. Quite obvious.

    What other advice do I have?

    There are some limitations in regards to the navigation part.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    PeerSpot user
    Developer at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
    Consultant
    It offers high performance & low cost BI solutions with ability to integrate with other third party tools.

    Valuable Features:

    Microsoft SSRS biggest advantage is its ability to integrate with other third party components. You could integrate it with Share Point web part or you can access it from a Web browser, depending on your existing scenario you don’t need to change much to be able to integrate SSRS with your existing application. Microsoft SSAS offers low cost BI solutions comparing with IBM Cognos, licensing for SSAS is core-based or you could opt for server + CAL-based license which is very low in comparison with IBM Cognos. Microsoft SSRS & SSAS suite is uncompromising when it comes to performance. It provides very high performance and it could be connected to many different data sources. It requires very less time to build Microsoft SSRS & SSAS solution.

    Room for Improvement:

    Microsoft SSRS is unable to provide a mechanism where poor performance reports could be prevented to run on production environment. In case if a user creates a report which can cause huge impact on server resources / performance it should not be allowed to run on production server during normal working hours. Alternative that is provided is to use subscription option to deliver reports to particular directory or email them at scheduled time (preferably non-working hours).Microsoft SSRS does not offer any interoperability with Andriod or iPad at this time (need to consider this if you are planning to develop reports for these environments) Microsoft SSRS & SSAS suite is very easy to configure and maintain. You don’t need any license if you are looking to try out Microsoft SSRS; you can simply download and use Microsoft SQL Server Express (with Advanced Services). You can create dashboards, drill through reports, charts, graphs, maps, dynamic grouping using Microsoft SSRS.

    Other Advice:

    It offers a very vibrant MSDN community along with Microsoft support staff for assistance.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user

    I found Microsoft BI stack to be far better and it's "free" since it comes along with sql server. Since it is free people usually do not care much about its advantages but more loud about its disadvantages. SSRS is one of my favorite tools, it provide flexibility and good web support and strong AD integration for security. SSRS should not be running in the production server instance as it will kill your performance. Second, make sure it runs in a scale out manner (more than one server) based on total load. Third, change the memory setting in your SSRS configuration so that it can utilize more memory in the server rather than default, it will cut down the rendering. Fourth, never run big reports on the production server, find an alternative solution, if that's not possible then use resource governor so that your production database will not get the performance hit. Check query response time and actual query plan for long running reports match up with dba's performance baseline for that day.

    See all 4 comments
    PeerSpot user
    Founder & Principal Architect at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
    Consultant
    Most complete business intelligence suite for the least money

    Valuable Features:

    Microsoft SSRS is a fantastic means for end users to access, run, and schedule delivery of reports. - Core functionality is simple to use for business users of all skill levels - Report models even allow end users to adjust their own reports using a model of your data - Report builder provides an even easier method for users to build their own reports - Report data can even be scheduled for periodic delivery with the report data as an attachmentMicrosoft SSAS is one of the best BI suites on the market. It is also one of the least expensive, and the features bundled rival competitors with prices many more times as expensive. - This feature is one of the most exciting areas of database technologies today - Very powerful and relatively easy to use when compared to other Bi suites

    Room for Improvement:

    - Active Directory authentication requires an additional login for users without Internet Explorer - Learning curve behind any business intelligence package is quite steep - Price of the SQL Server bundle is potentially cost prohibitive for smaller businesses

    Other Advice:

    I am quite passionate about the SQL Server suite of tools, and am a fervent user of SSRS. I use SSAS less, only because I am focused more on administration and have not moved into the SSAS space - yet. I am looking to head into the BI arena later on this year, and SSAS is my BI suite of choice!
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    it_user4014 - PeerSpot reviewer
    it_user4014Developer at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
    Consultant

    Hi Kleegeek !

    Nice to read your review, while I was reading it I noticed some of the points which you might still not be aware of. Let’s analyze those;

    SSRS: SSRS is a good reporting tool, but mostly it is used for static reporting, detail level reports, it doesn't provide the ability to dynamic dashboard with drill up / drill down options unless you define Action Item for each text box.

    Microsoft provides Dynamic Dashboard with PPS or Power View where End-User can change the layout of the dashboard or grid on the fly, add different measures at rum time.

    SSAS: The biggest selling point of Microsoft BI is its powerful Multidimensional Model, some of us known it as "Cube". With a craftily designed OLAP Model you can leverage the End-User to perform deep data analysis.

    I would like to disagree with you on the point, that cost is the only selling factor or Microsoft BI, because QlikView and Tableau are both very cheap if you compared them with Microsoft BI, and they both provide nice dashboard and charts.

    The selling point of Microsoft BI is its architecture and ability to handle the needs of enterprise requirements. In smaller industries QlikView and Tableau gives really tough time on pricing.

    Regards,
    Hasham Niaz

    Educator at a university with 51-200 employees
    Real User
    Great teaching tool for data transfers
    Pros and Cons
    • "Being able to transfer data with the Power Query feature is great for teaching with about one to two hundred rows of data. I am also able to see the relationship between multiple tables and create various sheets and dashboards."
    • "The Power Query feature needs to be improved to handle large amounts of data. This feature is also slow for large data transfers making it better to use some kind of script."

    What is our primary use case?

    I have been a professor at a program mastery at UISEK University for the past two years where I teach students how to use these tools.

    What is most valuable?

    Being able to transfer data with the Power Query feature is great for teaching with about one to two hundred rows of data. I am also able to see the relationship between multiple tables and create various sheets and dashboards.

    What needs improvement?

    The Power Query feature needs to be improved to handle large amounts of data. This feature is also slow for large data transfers making it better to use some kind of script.

    Additionally, in the next release, I would like to be able to export thing, such as charts, as a PDF.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using this solution for two years.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    General Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
    Real User
    A generally uncomplicated installation, but stability fairs at only 70 percent
    Pros and Cons
    • "The solution is not that difficult to install, although this will vary with the experience of the person responsible for its installation."
    • "I find the solution to be 70 percent stable."

    What needs improvement?

    I would rate the stability of Microsoft BI at 70 percent. 

    While the solution is scalable, it certainly has its limitations.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    I find the solution to be 70 percent stable. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Although the solution comes with limitations, it is scalable. 

    How are customer service and support?

    Technical support is not that bad, fairing in the average range. 

    How was the initial setup?

    The solution is not that difficult to install, although this will vary with the experience of the person responsible for its installation. 

    What about the implementation team?

    There are five people responsible for the deployment, their roles comprising a mixed bag, some of them being managers. 

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

    Our customers definitely incur a licensing fee. 

    The only other cost, besides the licensing fee, would be to cover support. 

    What other advice do I have?

    There are only three customers using the solution at present. 

    I always offer more than one solution and the person must choose which he feels best suits his needs. All solutions have plusses and minuses and these should be carefully weighed before one decides which one to go with. Once the client has settled on a solution, this is what I will go with. We are talking about Microsoft store. Generally speaking, our clients prefer to make use of Microsoft. 

    I rate Microsoft BI as a seven out of ten. 

    This rating is based on what we have observed about the solution thus far, although it may be amended over the next few months as we become more acquainted with it. 

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Director at Magnamious Systems Pvt. Ltd.
    Reseller
    I like how the Query Editor lets me manipulate the data
    Pros and Cons
    • "I like how the Query Editor lets me manipulate the data, and the available visuals are good. You can do everything using the UI."
    • "Integration with artificial intelligence would help. Humans take time to review the data and eliminate errors. Artificial intelligence based on machine learning and understanding can bring the same functionality."

    What is most valuable?

    I like how the Query Editor lets me manipulate the data, and the available visuals are good. You can do everything using the UI.

    What needs improvement?

    Integration with artificial intelligence would help. Humans take time to review the data and eliminate errors. Artificial intelligence based on machine learning and understanding can bring the same functionality.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've worked with Microsoft BI for a few years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Power BI has been stable so far. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Power BI is scalable. 

    How are customer service and support?

    I haven't called technical support about Power BI. I've consulted the documentation when necessary and checked blogs to rectify my issues. 

    How was the initial setup?

    It's fairly easy to set up Power BI.

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

    I think the price is fair, but I can't speak for most Indian customers.

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate Microsoft Bi nine out of 10. 

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