I am using this solution to monitor the dashboards that someone else has created.
Strategic Market Development Sr. Manager at a pharma/biotech company with 201-500 employees
Easy to use, flexible, but mobile application needs improvement
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is easy to use and flexible."
- "The solution could improve the mobile application design. It is difficult to use compared to the desktop version."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The solution is easy to use and flexible.
What needs improvement?
The solution could improve the mobile application design. It is difficult to use compared to the desktop version. Additionally, we have experienced a problem when attempting to update the desktop application. When we click to update we are unable to open the file to update.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for approximately two years.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have found the solution to be stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have approximately 50 people using this solution in my organization.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have previously used Microsoft Excel.
How was the initial setup?
The installation was simple and it takes approximately five minutes.
What about the implementation team?
I did the implementation of the solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We have a professional license for Microsoft BI and the price is fair.
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: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

Engagement Professional at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
An intuitive business analytics service with tons of connections
Pros and Cons
- "The best feature for me is Power Query. I know that probably sounds strange, but you can't do too much with visuals and reports if the backend stuff is horribly dirty and just bad. But for me, that is absolutely fantastic. I can load the data and do the transformation and be able to load it in a useful way. There are tons of connections, which is absolutely fantastic as well. It's been fairly easy, and it's intuitive."
- "It would be better if they had some video tutorials. Most people from an Excel background may struggle with measures in Microsoft BI."
What is our primary use case?
I have used Microsoft BI for sales analysis. I've also used it to analyze people. Pretty much across the board, whether it's the number of people, number of dresses, number of hamburgers, number of widgets and then creating the dashboards and the metrics and so forth.
What is most valuable?
The best feature for me is Power Query. I know that probably sounds strange, but you can't do too much with visuals and reports if the backend stuff is horribly dirty and just bad. But for me, that is absolutely fantastic. I can load the data and do the transformation and be able to load it in a useful way. There are tons of connections, which is absolutely fantastic as well. It's been fairly easy, and it's intuitive.
What needs improvement?
It would be better if they had some video tutorials. Most people from an Excel background may struggle with measures in Microsoft BI.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used Microsoft BI over the last 12 months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I haven't really had any issues, but I haven't given it the full whammy or the full monty. It's been stable for my use.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was easy for me.
What other advice do I have?
I would tell potential users that there are many other tools out there, but I think it's a steep learning curve. For example, Alteryx and Domo, and Trifacta can be difficult to learn unless you have a SQL background. But if you're a Microsoft person, the transition is fairly easy for Microsoft BI. It's intuitive, and I would recommend it from that perspective.
On a scale from one to ten, I would give Microsoft BI an eight.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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May 2025

Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Power BI. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2025.
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Senior Manager at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees
User-friendly, stable, and integrates well with other data sources
Pros and Cons
- "The interface is very easy to use."
- "The on-premises version lacks some technical features that are available with the Cloud version."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution for our departmental reports, which are accessible from Microsoft Project Server and SharePoint.
What is most valuable?
Microsoft BI is very friendly.
The interface is very easy to use.
The integration with other data sources is very easy and very handy.
What needs improvement?
The on-premises version lacks some technical features that are available with the Cloud version.
There is definitely room for improvement.
The visualization is lacking, it needs improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft BI for one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Microsoft BI is a stable solution.
How are customer service and technical support?
We have not contacted technical support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, we did not use another solution.
How was the initial setup?
From a technical perspective, the installation is straightforward.
It took one week to deploy.
The deployment was done by the database team.
You only need one person to maintain this solution.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not evaluate other solutions before choosing Microsoft BI.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend the cloud version of this solution.
I would rate Microsoft BI an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Director at Decision Science
Saves time in preprocessing stage, but it needs to be more user-friendly for non-technical users
Pros and Cons
- "I like the downloadable visualizations a lot. I think that they give the user a very nice starting point in creating awesome dashboards, with the right way to tell their data story."
- "Some kind of expression wizard, where the user can build a complex expression without any knowledge of DAX, can be a good addition to the product."
What is our primary use case?
Since we are a consulting company, our cases vary from customer to customer and from department to department, but mainly we have found two "standard" cases: Business users connecting to a DWH, or trying to consolidate several Excel workbooks to create business dashboards.
In the DWH cases, it is simpler since most of the data transformations and modeling are done by IT, but in the 'spreadsheet world', it becomes more complicated.
Users try to move from a huge table filled with numbers and "color-coded" cells to data visualizations, sometimes not even knowing how to write a simple Excel expression.
How has it helped my organization?
The biggest improvement comes from a "do it once, refresh many" concept. The users used to perform a lot of massaging on the data itself prior to the analysis phase. Now, they build their reports and refresh the data, so they have a lot more time to perform analysis, which is the real added value to the business.
Unlike other tools (like Tableau), getting to this point took a lot of resources in training, but when the users got there, it is a real time saver for them, allowing them to focus more on analysis, not on data manipulation.
What is most valuable?
I like the downloadable visualizations a lot. I think that they give the user a very nice starting point in creating awesome dashboards, with the right way to tell their data story.
Data Modeling is very simple and powerful for an experienced user, but I think it needs some improvement for the non-technical people. Besides this, it allows us to save a lot of time in data "massaging" prior to the analysis phase.
Reports are quite easy to build, even when some programming concepts are needed. Some users struggle with DAX a lot!
What needs improvement?
I think Power BI needs to focus more on the end-user (i.e. the business user). Solving things in DAX is not a nice approach to a user that has no knowledge of IT nor wants to get it.
Some kind of expression wizard, where the user can build a complex expression without any knowledge of DAX, can be a good addition to the product.
I see a lot of materials on how to go about doing things in Power BI, but Microsoft can add a "learning path". It would instruct users where to start, then what to learn next, etc, to sort out their learning journey.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft BI for ~four years.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Certification Division at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
Feature-rich, scalable, and is easy to install
Pros and Cons
- "Microsoft BI is scalable."
- "I would like to see better, undisturbed stability without any interruptions."
What is our primary use case?
I am using this solution for official purposes and for my personal needs. I use it to sort my documents.
What is most valuable?
I have yet to experience all of the useful applications. I need to experience a lot more.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see better, undisturbed stability without any interruptions.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Microsoft products for three decades.
I believe we are using Version 10.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Because our internet here is not constant, it fluctuates, which is why I don' use the cloud-based version.
It is not stable. The stability could be improved.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Microsoft BI is scalable.
We have more than 50 users in our organization. More of the users are technical people.
How are customer service and technical support?
We have an IT technical expert in our organization. If we have any issues, he is the person who resolves them.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. It is very easy to install.
What about the implementation team?
I completed the installation myself. I did not need the help of an integrator or consultant.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I am considering personalization but I don't know what the possibilities and the advantages of it are.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others who are considering it.
I would rate Microsoft BI an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Associate Director at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Suitable for smaller businesses, scalable, but large data challenges
Pros and Cons
- "In my experience the scalability is good. You are able to increase users and add more data."
- "When there are large amounts of data being processed there are additional tools needed to handle it."
What is our primary use case?
Microsoft BI can be used for business data visualization.
What needs improvement?
When there are large amounts of data being processed there are additional tools needed to handle it.
In an upcoming release, there could be an associative experience, such as in Qlik.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for approximately four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is good but as you add more data the stability decreases.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In my experience the scalability is good. You are able to increase users and add more data.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup can be easy if you have a small amount of data being used. I have found Qlik is better if you have large amounts of data.
What about the implementation team?
We have a team of approximately 20 people that handle BI operations.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is priced well for what they offer. However, the premium version is very expensive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I have evaluated Tableau and Qlik.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to those that have smaller businesses where they have lower user numbers and not a lot of data points. If they have a larger business I would choose an alternative, such as Qlik.
I rate Microsoft BI a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
BI technical analyst at a government with 11-50 employees
Priced well, responsive technical support, but needs to be simplified
Pros and Cons
- "The scalability is good. We have 20 people in my organization using this solution and plan to increase usage."
- "In an upcoming release, the solution could be simplified and have a more complete product package rather than a suite of products that we have to put together."
What is our primary use case?
This solution can be used for enterprise reporting, ad hoc visualization, and statistical analysis.
What needs improvement?
In an upcoming release, the solution could be simplified and have a more complete product package rather than a suite of products that we have to put together.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for approximately one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In my experience, I have found this solution scalable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is good. We have 20 people in my organization using this solution and plan to increase usage.
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical support has been good and the responses have been fast.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used other business intelligence solutions previously and I switched because this solution was cheaper and is on a Microsft platform.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is more complicated than other solutions. Microsoft typically has more involved installations.
What about the implementation team?
I did the implementation myself. We have three administrators doing the deployment and maintains of the solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Power BI is cheaper for smaller groups when comparing to competitors. It requires a monthly per-user subscription.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I have evaluated Tableau.
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: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Owner at Richard Duggan Pty Ltd
Powerful visualizations, easy to use, and integrates well with Microsoft products
Pros and Cons
- "It integrates better with other Microsoft products. It is very easy to use and has very powerful visualizations. It has also got a lot of development going on."
- "It should have more integrations."
What is most valuable?
It integrates better with other Microsoft products. It is very easy to use and has very powerful visualizations. It has also got a lot of development going on.
What needs improvement?
It should have more integrations.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for probably two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is scalable. I have a few large customers of this solution.
How are customer service and technical support?
I don't have any experience with their support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I also use Tableau. Tableau and Power BI are similar in terms of capability.
How was the initial setup?
It was easy. It was done in minutes.
What about the implementation team?
I can do it on my own. You would require external consultants or in-house experts.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Licensing is on a monthly basis, but I am not sure.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Microsoft BI a nine out of ten.
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: Partner

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