Microsoft Power BI Reviews

We use Microsoft Power BI for both data manipulation and visualization, with a strong emphasis on data-driven storytelling. It allows you to clean and transform data. You can connect to various data sources, such as Excel, SQL databases, and SharePoint files, and clean and prepare your data using Power Query. Additionally, you can write DAX to create powerful measures for diverse use cases. Power BI enables the creation of highly insightful dashboards to convey information.

The data manipulation and data cleaning tasks are handled in the backend by Power Query in Microsoft Power BI.

Integrating data from multiple sources in Microsoft Power BI is very easy. For example, you can connect to SharePoint, various SQL servers, and other platforms. Power BI also offers a range of connectors and libraries for integrating data from various sources, including databases, online services, and cloud-based platforms. It saves a lot of time by handling large datasets. It can process millions of rows of data and allows users to create visualizations and analyze trends quickly. Power BI is effective for various types of data analysis and can adapt to complex data needs.

Additional features can enhance Power BI's capabilities in predictive analysis. Currently, Microsoft Fabric is integrated with Power BI. As Copilot and further integrations continue to develop, they will enhance Power BI's functionality.

It offers a range of formatting options for reports and dashboards. For example, if you have multiple headers and change one header's color, all the subheadings can automatically adopt the same color. This feature allows for extensive customization and formatting, which is important because leaders often prefer color-coded information presented in a specific manner.

I have been using Microsoft Power BI for seven years.

I rate the solution’s stability a ten out of ten.

More than 400 people utilize it. It is suitable for small and medium businesses.

You can create dashboards using Power BI Desktop and share the Power BI Desktop file itself. However, for larger organizations, Power BI offers a web-based solution through Power BI Service, where you can publish reports and dashboards.

I rate the solution’s scalability a ten out of ten.

Microsoft offers excellent products, and its community provides many options and support. If users encounter specific issues, they can find solutions in various Microsoft communities.

I have experience with both Microsoft Power BI and Tableau. Working with Tableau posed multiple challenges, such as data integration and ETL, which can be quite complex. Additionally, Tableau's measures and visualizations can be somewhat intricate. However, the flexibility in Power BI is comparable to that of Tableau.

I used Tableau for about five years before switching to Power BI, so I have a total of around eleven years of experience with these tools. As an advanced Tableau user, Power BI is simpler in comparison. Additionally, Tableau requires a paid license, whereas Power BI does not require a purchase unless you deploy it.

The initial setup is simple. You can start in about twenty minutes. However, you'll need to thoroughly understand the application to gain deeper and more critical insights. While you can learn the basics within a few hours, mastering the more advanced features involves a steeper learning curve.

Compared to other solutions, it can be relatively expensive, while the cost can be more manageable for organizations, considering the scale and the benefits.

Power BI offers several built-in AI capabilities. For instance, it includes features for sentiment analysis, generating word clouds, pattern recognition, and trend analysis. While Power BI integrates well with various external data sources and services, including advanced AI models, many analytical functions are available directly within the Power BI suite.

Overall, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

We use Microsoft Power BI to manage and visualize the control of permits to work for service companies in industrial plants in Mexico. The control of permits is crucial because all service companies must be registered with a special number by the government, and all personnel must be certified for the specific work they will perform inside the plant. For example, if installing cameras at a high level, you need a permit for that specific condition, which has specific rules to comply with to carry out the job. In Power BI, we can visualize the number of permits, open permits, closed permits, refused permits, and all types of permits we have. This allows us to manage all permits for people working on various projects inside the industrial site.

The most valuable aspect of Microsoft Power BI in my field is the insights it provides from analyzing data. Sometimes, these insights go beyond what traditional analysis can reveal due to the large volume of data involved. In terms of improving our data analysis process, it starts with identifying data sources, followed by cleaning and filtering out irrelevant data. Then, we categorize and structure the data to achieve the best visualization and insights.

Regarding Power BI's integration with other tools, although we haven't implemented it ourselves, it's known that Power BI can integrate with systems like SAP or ERP software, which could enhance our analytics capabilities if needed.

I believe Power BI could improve by making data tables and databases easier to handle, especially for non-programmers who may not be familiar with languages like Python. Simplifying these aspects would enhance the usability and accessibility of Power BI for a broader range of users.

I have been using Power BI for the last six months.

In terms of stability, it's been reliable. We haven't encountered any bugs or crashes.

We've definitely seen a return on investment. We calculated the benefits and ROI for our solution.

Regarding cost, the initial investment wasn't too high, but ongoing licensing could add up.

Overall, I'd rate Power BI as an eight out of ten. It's been quite effective for us.

We use the solution for data analysis. 

The tool's most valuable features are slicer and Microsoft Copilot integration. It also allows users to see reports on mobile devices. The solution can also integrate with various data sources. 

The limitations within Microsoft Power BI include the volume of data it can handle, as there's a cap on the number of rows you can keep. When you pull your data and build your models, you're restricted by this row limit. Additionally, certain SSRS features are deprecated, which can be a drawback for users who rely on those capabilities.

I have been working with the product for three to four years. 

I rate the solution's stability a seven out of ten. It has limitations on rows, datasets, and the things that can add to the memory. 

I rate the product's scalability a ten out of ten. It is resilient and scalable. 

I am a technical supporter and can support myself. 

Before Microsoft Power BI, we used Reporting Services. We switched to it because it is part of Microsoft's ecosystem, and Microsoft has mapped the roadmap for visualization from SSRS to Microsoft Power BI.

I rate the solution's deployment ease a ten out of ten. It is easy and can take around 14 hours to complete. 

Microsoft Power BI's deployment was done in-house. 

The solution's pricing is medium.

I would recommend Microsoft Power BI based on the use cases. I rate it a seven out of ten. 

In terms of impact, Power BI significantly improved decision-making and instilled confidence in our data. It also resulted in cost savings by avoiding the purchase of expensive Oracle integration tools like ODI. These savings were crucial for our fast-growing company, allowing scalability without increasing expenditure.

The most effective feature of Microsoft Power BI for data analysis is the ability to use Power Query directly from Excel. Power BI's integration capabilities impacted our data management by allowing us to push all reporting down to the end user, giving them the capability to perform "what if" scenarios and discover and validate their own data without needing to refer to IT. Additionally, it provided insights that we couldn't get from Oracle Cloud. We wrote an extract routine to transfer our Oracle Cloud database to Power BI, which was a game changer in terms of giving people confidence in the finances.

It was easy to implement Microsoft Power BI into our existing infrastructure, but integrating it with Oracle Cloud was very difficult. The integration with Oracle Cloud required us to build a sophisticated database replication process because the APIs for Oracle Cloud are very restricted in terms of volume, depth, and complexity of queries. However, the part of implementing Power BI into our infrastructure was very easy. It required almost no tech input because it was all part of Office 365. To overcome the integration issues, we developed an extract and update process, although it was quite complicated and involved a lot of IP.

Power BI excels in integrations and its ability to handle various data sources. It would be beneficial if it could integrate more seamlessly with cloud interfaces like Oracle Cloud, although I understand the challenges with Oracle's policies on database access. Another area for improvement would be enhancing error messaging, especially when working with Dataverse and M Code for automation.

I have been using Microsoft Power BI for the past ten years.

I would rate Power BI overall as an eight. It's a very powerful tool for users, which I appreciate. However, there are some areas that could be improved.

As for AI-driven decision processes, I believe Power BI supports them, although we haven't utilized those features ourselves.

We use it to create dashboards. We input our data and visualize it as dashboards.

While it hasn't significantly enhanced collaboration, it has greatly improved our reporting capabilities. It allows us to present visually appealing dashboards to management.

Our main focus with Power BI is dashboarding rather than collaboration.

Power BI makes it easy to visualize our data through dashboards. It is quite dynamic. We can easily modify views based on our requirements, which helps us see the data more clearly and makes it visually appealing for management.

Moreover, the integration of Power BI with other Microsoft products is quite easy. 

There are certain features that are only available in the cloud version. It would be beneficial if they could be brought down to the on-premise version without the necessity of using the enterprise SQL database, as that can be very costly. We need more cost-effective features that are available in the cloud to be accessible on-premise.

We've been using Microsoft Power BI for about three years now.

It is a stable product for me. I would rate the stability an eight out of ten. There are less than ten end users in my company using this solution. 

I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten.

The customer service and support are okay.

Positive

We're essentially a Microsoft house. We use a wide range of Microsoft products and are very happy with them. So far, we have no plans to switch, as we haven't found alternatives for essentials like Office or Windows.

Azure DevOps is something we're starting to explore to enhance our desktops. We also work with Microsoft Dynamics, DPM, Hyper-V, and Microsoft Exchange.

Cost was a decisive factor when opting for Power BI. 

I would rate my experience with the initial setup an eight out of ten, with ten being easy to set up. 

The deployment process took one to two days. 

I would rate the pricing an eight out of ten, with one being cheap and ten being expensive. 

I would recommend it, especially the Pro or Premium versions. They are better.

Overall, I would rate the solution a seven out of ten. 

I've been using it for financial data.

Flexibility and usefulness of the data.

Trend data and dashboards need improvement.

I have been using Microsoft Power BI for some time. 

The stability is a seven out of ten. 

The initial setup is straightforward. 

Overall, I would rate the solution a seven out of ten. 

I use the solution to generate analytics reports for most of the projects we are engaged in within our company.

Some controls and integration capabilities of the product require configurations with the help of NoSQL databases, as it is one area where the product has certain shortcomings.

At times, I feel that the system needs improvement in single sign-on, especially for the on-premises side of the tool.

At times, I see the product freeze in unexpected areas. Unknown exceptions appear in the tool for no reason. One problem with the tool arises from the fact that it does way too much monitoring, impacting areas like reports and performance. The aforementioned areas can be improved in the product.

The tool should provide cloud support to help users deal with problems related to the frozen servers.

I have been using Microsoft Power BI for five years. My company has a partnership with Microsoft.

It is a stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Around 100 people in my company use the product. Most of the product's users are managers in my company.

The problematic licensing part of the product influences my company's decision on whether to increase the use of the product.

I haven't seen any major problems when dealing with the product's support team. The product's support team is friendly, but I think there are problems in Microsoft's internal communication since a problem gets distributed between multiple internal teams.

The product's initial setup phase has no problems unless we choose to have it integrated on an on-premises model and not on a cloud version. 

Most of the product deployments are carried out manually by our company.

My company opens reports and publishes the report files for the projects being handled. My company gives required permission for other users to access the reports.

The solution is deployed on an on-premises model. 

The solution's deployment process is simple to handle, but problems appear in the area of domains, considering that Microsoft Power BI manages the configuration part.

My company needs to make monthly payments towards the licensing costs attached to the product. Considering my company's turnover, we need a tool that offers more flexibility and allows us to increase or decrease the solution in our environment.

Tableau offers more flexibility in service compared to Microsoft Power BI. Microsoft Power BI is simple to use compared to Tableau.

Microsoft Power BI has improved our company's data analysis and visualization tasks since it helps simplify our work. My company is able to generate data analysis and easily deal with visualization tasks.

The most valuable feature of Microsoft Power BI for data storytelling stems from the integration with different types of products along with the support option it provides to help integrate with other tools. Caching in Microsoft Power BI would improve the organization's performance.

Microsoft Power BI's Q&A feature impacted our company's data exploration efforts since it is an area used by many types of users, including those involved in management and analytics, as it helps with cross-filtering.

The product's real-time dashboard and data refreshing capabilities are good, but it freezes without showing any status during the data retrieval if the volume is high.

It is not possible to use the product's in-depth features since it requires many controls and user interfaces.

The product is mainly for managers who want to track work details.

I rate the overall tool an eight out of ten.

I use it primarily for some application services. It's primarily for government statistics.

I use it for visualization as well, mainly for filtering data, and creating graphs and dashboards.

Power BI helped me to improve the decision-making process. It was particularly useful when I had data in a table, and I was able to use it as a dashboard with filters for better insights.

The sharing features are vital, especially the ability to share and test different shared dashboards.

It's quite manageable and easy to learn. It took me about a month to learn how to use it effectively.

Better mapping capabilities and easier administration access would be beneficial, especially for understanding who has viewed reports.

I have been using it for a year. 

It is a stable product. I would rate the stability an eight out of ten. 

It is a scalable product but it could be improved to better suit the overall size of projects.

I would rate the scalability a seven out of ten. 

There are around 50 end users in my organization. We plan to increase the further usage.

The customer service and support are not as easy to access as I'd like. I don't often find a direct portal to support. I end up looking up the internet. I would rate it one out of ten, but I would put it a five out of ten. 

I have to go and look up the internet. I sometimes just bring in expertise. I would prefer some tech support instead of bringing in someone else. 

I have to run a case. I want to have something easy and readily accessible. There is good stuff on the website, but it would be better if I could easily ring somebody. 

Neutral

I've used Tableau, but now we primarily use Power BI.

Each has its advantages, but Power BI supports our needs effectively.

I would rate my experience with the initial setup an eight out of ten, with ten being easy to set up. 

We use it on the cloud. For us, deployment took six months.

The pricing is reasonable, at about 6.3 euros per user per month.

I'd recommend it for its features and cost-effectiveness. I find this product pretty okay. It works well for me. 

Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten.

We use the tool for data analysis and reporting through dashboarding, identifying trends, and mapping.

The product is intuitive and user-friendly. It could be rolled out to anyone across the business. DAX is a good feature. The real-time dashboard updates are good. The ease of integration is good. We connect it to different databases. The clients we work with work on different databases. It is easy to manage and share Power BI reports across different teams and departments.

The solution struggles with large amounts of data. It has some limitations. Sometimes, we don't know if we have the full picture.

I have been using the solution for four years.

I rate the tool’s stability a ten out of ten. I haven't come across any issues.

I rate the tool’s scalability an eight out of ten.

The deployment is not difficult. It is relatively easy to maintain the product. For our needs, we need one person to maintain the tool.

I have used MicroStrategy. Power BI is more user-friendly. When we roll it across the business, it's easier for the users to use. MicroStrategy can handle large amounts of data.

Overall, I rate the product an eight out of ten.

Across retail, logistics, legal, finance, and more, I use Power BI to craft custom solutions. From analyzing sales to optimizing operations, Power BI helps me extract actionable insights for informed decision-making across diverse industries.

I'm working with a law firm that has hundreds of professionals working across various areas for different clients. They struggle to accurately track hours worked per client and compare profitability. With Power BI, I can integrate data from their ERP systems and create insightful reports. These reports not only show the hours worked per client but also compare profitability between clients and highlight KPIs. By providing clear and actionable insights, Power BI helps the firm make informed decisions quickly, leading to improved profitability and efficiency.

The most valuable feature of Power BI is its ability to provide customized visualizations and insights tailored to specific business needs. By offering a range of visualization options and customization capabilities, Power BI enables users to quickly analyze data and gain actionable insights. Depending on the preferences and requirements of the customer, different visualization styles can be utilized, from simple and standardized views to more colorful and dynamic charts and graphs.

Areas of Power BI that could be improved are the learning curve for developers who come from non-technical backgrounds. While Power BI is a powerful tool, mastering its development aspects, including coding and formulas, can be challenging for those without a technical background. Additionally, some users find the default visualizations in Power BI Desktop to be outdated and prefer more modern and customizable options. 

One additional feature I would like to see in Power BI is tighter integration with Power Apps. This would allow for easier development without extensive coding, making it more accessible for users who aren't familiar with technical aspects like JSON files or Visual Studio Code. Simplifying the development process would streamline workflow and enhance overall usability.

I have been working with Microsoft Power BI since 2016.

I would rate the stability of Power BI at around nine out of ten. It has been consistently reliable over the past year, and any bugs are quickly addressed by a supportive community.

Power BI is scalable, but its scalability depends on factors like the amount of data, infrastructure, and database type. For large BI data, other tools might be more suitable. However, Power BI offers great flexibility, and its scalability varies based on specific needs and circumstances.

The technical support for Power BI is generally good, but it can be limited in handling diverse customer needs. While Microsoft technicians are highly knowledgeable, they may provide standard solutions based on their expertise, which might not cover all possible scenarios. Finding solutions often requires additional research, practice, and exploration of community resources. Overall, I would rate the support at a nine out of ten.

Positive

Deploying Power BI isn't difficult, but it requires time and experience. With regular updates and new features from Microsoft, staying current and understanding changes can be a continuous learning process. While it is manageable with experience, teaching someone from scratch would require significant time and effort.

The price of Power BI is very good. It is reasonable.

Power BI has revolutionized our reporting and decision-making processes. Instead of spending hours manually working with static data in Excel, we now have dynamic information at our fingertips. With Power BI, we can quickly make queries, access answers, and generate reports in minutes. By efficiently extracting data from databases and creating visually appealing visuals, such as KPI dashboards, Power BI enables us to identify trends, compare data, and make informed decisions promptly. It streamlines the entire process, from data extraction to visualization, saving us time and providing valuable insights for effective decision-making.

My advice for someone looking to use Power BI would be to start with the Pro license, as it is usually sufficient for most users. If you are dealing with a large number of customers, consider consulting with a Microsoft partner to find the best licensing solution. Based on my experience, I would recommend Power BI to others. Overall, I would rate the product as a nine out of ten.