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Vice President - HSE Engineering at Reliance Industries Ltd
Real User
Identifies customer purchasing patterns and provides good visualization
Pros and Cons
  • "It has provided customer purchase patterns and great visualization."
  • "This solution needs integration with SAS and more deep analysis functionality."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use for this solution is geospatial analysis.

How has it helped my organization?

This solution has provided an accurate analysis of our customers repurchasing the same plan for telecom Jio. It has provided customer purchase patterns and great visualization.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features are the visualization and integration with Office365.

What needs improvement?

This solution needs integration with SAS and more deep analysis functionality.

Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Power BI
May 2025
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Power BI. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2025.
853,823 professionals have used our research since 2012.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft BI for 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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    Data Scientist at Packen SAS
    Real User
    Automation of real-time and batch analytics are fast and help us to better explain our data
    Pros and Cons
    • "This solution has improved our ability in making decisions and explaining data."
    • "We would like to have better SQL support for queries."

    What is our primary use case?

    Our primary use is real-time & batch analytics on Postgres databases in combination with MS Excel.

    How has it helped my organization?

    This solution has improved our ability in making decisions and explaining data.

    What is most valuable?

    The most valuable features are the automation of analysis and already prepared tools to do the analytic work rapidly.

    What needs improvement?

    We would like to have better SQL support for queries. It means to have a kind of development environment trying to correct bad sintax in SQL query, or having an intellisense like style for code completion being aware of table's fields and having a preview of the query response without needing to run the whole procedure. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    We have been using Microsoft BI for two months.

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

    Previously we used MS Excel but continue using it mainly for prototyping.

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

    Power BI free layer is attractive and second stage with Power BI online is not expensive.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    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?

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

    PeerSpot user
    Rich text editor
      Buyer's Guide
      Microsoft Power BI
      May 2025
      Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Power BI. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2025.
      853,823 professionals have used our research since 2012.
      BI Analyst at eVision Industry Software
      Real User
      Easy to use, good self service functionality, facilitates collaboration with other users
      Pros and Cons
      • "If you are not very technical this tool could be very useful."
      • "Adding paginated reports to this tool could be of great help for users who want to move away from SSRS."

      What is our primary use case?

      Power BI is a great tool for analytics. It is useful if you have a requirement to create a dashboard with self-service capability, along with KPIs, and you want to drill down to the data details.

      How has it helped my organization?

      I have tried SSRS and later moved to Power BISSRS requires every analytical feature to be implemented separately. However, with the appropriate granularity of data, you can drill down and drill up easily which gives you a different view of the dashboards. Now with having on-premises availability, it makes this tool even more powerful.

      What is most valuable?

      If you are not very technical this tool could be very useful.

      The most valuable features are:

      • Self service
      • Inbuilt analytics
      • Custom visualization
      • Printing of dashboard helps a lot
      • Dashboard scheduling
      • Easy collaboration with other users on Power BI
      • Learning curve for this tool is small
      • Dashboard refresh rate can be configured
      • Power BI works both on-premises and cloud

      What needs improvement?

      Adding paginated reports to this tool could be of great help for users who want to move away from SSRS. 

      I would like to see built-in Git support, incremental loading of data, and a machine learning model for predictive analysis.

      Custom colouring from the dashboard itself would be helpful.

      For how long have I used the solution?

      I have been using Microsoft BI, SSRS, and Power BI for four years.

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

      PeerSpot user
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        reviewer1212726 - PeerSpot reviewer
        Microsoft Dynamics Specialist at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
        Real User
        Good reporting, and provides data insights that help to improve efficiency and profit
        Pros and Cons
        • "The feature I find most valuable is the ability to publish Power Bi reports, using an embedded link, directly onto a website."
        • "I would like to see Machine Learning for Power Bi Pro users or an intermediate license to enable Machine Learning if you don't have access to a Premium account."

        What is our primary use case?

        I have developed and deployed more than twenty separate customer solutions. I am a Business Intelligence Deployment Specialist. The most significant implementation was to reduce the Financial consolidation time for one hundred and twenty companies into one shareholder report, from thirty days to four minutes.

        How has it helped my organization?

        We help customers deploy and analyze sophisticated analytics models. These models have helped them all to get a better insight into their data and many of them have found very valuable insights that made them more profitable, more efficient, and in some cases changed the direction of the business.

        What is most valuable?

        The feature I find most valuable is the ability to publish Power Bi reports, using an embedded link, directly onto a website. Data that is not classified as confidential can very easily be exposed to customers, vendors, or even just visitors to the web site.

        What needs improvement?

        I would like to see Machine Learning for Power Bi Pro users or an intermediate license to enable Machine Learning if you don't have access to a Premium account.

        The minimum embedded capacity for Machine learning is currently an A3 capacity, and this should be reduced to include A1 level licenses.

        For how long have I used the solution?

        I have been using this solution for three years.
        Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Microsoft Gold Partner

        PeerSpot user
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          Consultant at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
          Consultant
          Valuable dashboard and automated reporting features but should have better integration with RPA and Tableau platforms
          Pros and Cons
          • "There was a lot of manual work involved with Excel, whereas once we moved on to Microsoft Power BI, it was a cleaner dashboard and it was faster too."
          • "I think because I'm moving more into RPA, I'd definitely like to see integration across the RPA, Power BI, or Tableau platforms, because that integration could then make automation and mundane reporting much faster."

          What is our primary use case?

          The primary use case was mainly to create dashboards and present them for reporting purposes. We use Microsoft Power BI to create dashboards, provide insights, and use its various analytical and insight functions to send to either the departmental manager or the general manager of marketing and sales or retail ops.

          How has it helped my organization?

          In short, we had to create sales reports. The sales reports needed to be emailed to the different sales managers all across New Zealand. The Excel file data had to be filtered manually, whereas, in Power BI, you can set restrictions. For example, if you have North, South, East and West branches, you can set corresponding restrictions, while allowing the national sales manager to view the entire data without having to do a lot of filtering, because of the restrictions involved.

          It is time-saving for the person who creates the report and also a lot of that is automated, whereas with Excel you've got to keep working on it and keep filtering it all the time.

          What is most valuable?

          Our most valuable features are the dashboard and the reporting feature because, before that, our organization used to only use Excel. There was a lot of manual work involved with Excel, whereas once we moved on to Microsoft Power BI, it was a cleaner dashboard and it was faster too. The end user also had an opportunity to alter the reporting as per requirements with Power BI.

          What needs improvement?

          I haven't experienced any issues with it right now, so I can't really advise on that part.

          I think because I'm moving more into RPA, I'd definitely like to see integration across the RPA, Power BI, or Tableau platforms because that integration could then make automation and mundane reporting much faster.

          You'll always require some more complex reports that the analyst could work on, but the very standard sales reports could then be automated very quickly using Power BI and RPA together.

          For how long have I used the solution?

          I've been using this solution for one year.

          What do I think about the stability of the solution?

          Stability is pretty good. I've been using other services from Microsoft and the support also has been really good so it's a very stable platform and the support services are excellent.

          What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

          I've been using it for a year and it's only across my single department so I've not yet had to scale it to a very large level.

          Across my department, there are two users. Across other departments at my company, there are many more. Most users are commercial or insights analysts.

          Across our organization, Power BI is not extensively used, although I'm not privy to every department and their plans. I think it's being used moderately, but could be used more.

          How are customer service and technical support?

          In terms of Microsoft Power BI, if there was ever a query, you can find support online. There's a lot of help available but what I generally meant was I have been using Microsoft Office products through the Office 365 subscription business and the support of Microsoft Office, in general, has always been really good. They usually come back on the very same day and try and solve the problem. This is not something I've experienced with other platforms in the past.

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

          We hadn't previously used another solution. We were just using Excel and decided to go to a much better platform.

          How was the initial setup?

          The setup was straightforward for me because as part of an organization, I didn't have to set it up myself. It was set up via the organization, through the IT department, so it was pretty straightforward.

          What about the implementation team?

          I adopted it in my team, but it was already being implemented across other parts of the company. I just brought it into my department, so I wouldn't be able to tell the time frame for the actual implementation strategy. For my team alone, it probably took me around two months or so.

          Which other solutions did I evaluate?

          The other departments in my company were using Power BI, so it would not make sense to get another solution when they already had Power BI in other parts of the organization.

          What other advice do I have?

          Microsoft Power BI is definitely a good product and Microsoft has a good integration of a good suite of products across the range. I think if you take UI parts recent release, for example, I'm not sure that does it with Power BI but it definitely integrates it across the Microsoft Office activities, so I think it's only a matter of time before a majority of the Microsoft Office products start integrating with UI parts. That would take analysis, reporting, and automation to the next level and we could free up time for the general reporter.

          I would rate this solution as seven out of ten because it's easy to use and there is a lot of support online. I think Microsoft Office itself has a lot of support being provided. In addition, I like its features and it's growing much faster than some of the other analytical tools out there, although it started off later.

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

          PeerSpot user
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            Consultor at Scitum
            Consultant
            Works very well for updating indicator boards,and for quick visualizations in demos
            Pros and Cons
            • "The uploading of information is very easy, as you just use an Excel sheet to start work right away and obtain the benefits of Power BI."
            • "I would like to see the product offer more graphics to impact different audiences."

            What is our primary use case?

            We use this for data analysis and the creation of indicators. It is one of the most powerful tools for BI in my experience. It works very fast, is intuitive, and useful. You just drag and drop, as soon as you download it.

            How has it helped my organization?

            This solution works very well for updating indicator boards, and for quick visualizations in demos. You can present results in many ways to improve the presentation.

            I have used it on a variety of applications where it is important to show analysis and present information in a graphical perspective, and also to modify and present information to developers and executives.

            What is most valuable?

            One of the features I really like is that there are a lot of different graphics that are very nicely presented. The uploading of information is very easy, as you just use an Excel sheet to start work right away and obtain the benefits of Power BI.

            When you start, right from the beginning it can help you. Once you upload the data you can start to play with the different options you have from the graphics available, and also from the different mathematical and logical conversions that it offers.

            I also work with other data processors and the facilities that Power BI offer can help to better understand the traditional database tools such as SQL, or others.

            Another advantage is that you don't have to have a lot of knowledge about databases. This is because you use Power BI knowing your goal and what you want to achieve with respect to the data that you are processing.

            What needs improvement?

            I would like to see the product offer more graphics to impact different audiences. Also, I would like more ease in connecting with the different database drives.

            For how long have I used the solution?

            Less than one year.

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

            This is different from other solutions in that Power BI offers ease of use. It is different from any SQL tool because you can use it right away.

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

            If you are looking for free tools to process data in different ways for an easy to medium analysis then you have the free version available. However, if you want a complex analysis from multiple sources of data then you should look for the charge and support version.

            In my opinion, both options are good.

            Which other solutions did I evaluate?

            I evaluated some other tools but I think they had very different objectives. Power BI looked more generic and has an easy and quick way to present the information in different forms.

            What other advice do I have?

            It is important to say that the information cannot be confidential or secret. This is because the platform processes all data from the Microsoft cloud and you have to be certain of the security issues that someone could face if a security breach happens.

            I very much recommend the free trial mode.

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

            PeerSpot user
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              it_user1057365 - PeerSpot reviewer
              Regional PDS - Director of Business Intelligence at JLL
              Real User
              I like it's ability to do almost anything to create the necessary calculated fields and measures (DAX)

              What is our primary use case?

              • Running a team to build end-to-end BI solutions for large enterprises. 
              • Data typically stores in SQL Server. Some ad-hoc data pulled from SharePoint lists or Excel files.
              • Use of SSAS Tabular in some models.
              • Currently, no deployment of premium. A large deployment of PBI Pro.
              • We also use Tableau Desktop and on-prem server, but Power BI was a go-to product.

              How has it helped my organization?

              • An easy learning curve for analysts. If they know how to use Excel pivot tables, then they can self-serve building visitations on curated data. 
              • Full stack end-to-end ETL and viz in one tool. 
              • Power Query for ETL, and externally easy to use. Majority of activities are low or no code.
              • Creating a model and augmenting with additional calculations and measures extremely easily. 
              • Viz layer build is super fast. Very much like a PowerPoint experience. 
              • All elements together allowed for the rapid deployment of PoC products that could be tested and validated by businesses before being deployed. 

              What is most valuable?

              • Power Query: The data prep tool allows for very easy ingestion, shaping and prepping of the data before loading into the model.
              • DAX: Its ability to do almost anything to create the necessary calculated fields and measures. 
              • Viz layer: It's just easy to lay out a page.

              What needs improvement?

              The only real need is a lower tier pricing plan around premium. It’s a big step-up unless you have a very large user base (1000).

              For how long have I used the solution?

              One to three years.
              Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

              PeerSpot user
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                IT & Projects Development at Anfasic Dokhoon
                Real User
                Quickly shares data from the source to business users

                What is our primary use case?

                • Management BI/dashboard reporting
                • Quick sharing of data from source to business users which is very useful.

                How has it helped my organization?

                • Giving visibility to management/business users about the business by mobility.
                • Easy to develop and manage.

                What is most valuable?

                • Mobility.
                • It's easy to use.
                • Multiple data sourcing.
                • Quick development and deployment.
                • Mobility and ease of use.

                What needs improvement?

                • Dependency on data warehousing and pricing.
                • Clarity on the Power BI (free) compared to Power BI (pro).

                For how long have I used the solution?

                Less than one year.
                Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

                PeerSpot user
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                  Buyer's Guide
                  Download our free Microsoft Power BI Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
                  Updated: May 2025
                  Buyer's Guide
                  Download our free Microsoft Power BI Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
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