Microsoft Power BI vs Oracle HFM comparison

"I have found the quick reporting and the conductivity with all the data sources valuable."

"It is quite easy to use and it helps me to achieve the projects that I've been assigned."

"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."

"I liked that Microsoft Power BI handles a large amount of data. I can handle hundreds of rows from Postgres in a few minutes. I also like how it detects the relationship between the tables without explicitly saying that. It just detects the relationship automatically. That made it easier to work with the data."

"Power BI, once made available, can connect to various data sources, irrespective of the application, whether it be HR or business applications. The bank has many applications, but all eventually need to generate reports for tracking, distribution, or problem-finding based on analysis. Power BI was made available as part of the productivity suite to all businesses, which can connect to their applications and provide the reports and analysis they require."

"Easy to use and the visualization is valuable."

"The dashboard is very nice and it is very simple to understand every single component."

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

"It is an expensive product but delivers what it promises, ensuring regulatory compliance, reducing risks associated with spreadsheets, and providing a better return on investment based on usage."

"The most valuable features are around consolidations, eliminations, conversions."

"The tool is stable."

"You can bring in data from any source and from multiple sources, and you can consolidate that data in HFM."

"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

"Financial consolidation and reporting tool with good built-in features such as currency exchange and elimination."

"It is a very user-friendly software."

"The most valuable feature is the flexibility and ease of configuration in terms of testing and formula creation."

"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."

"It's not really complicated, but I didn't find the things I was looking for. The ones I used to work with within Dash are more open, and there are more choices. But with Power BI, there are only limited types of plots that I can use. For example, when I wanted to put the plots in Power BI, there was no extendable space. You have a limited page where you can place a maximum of three plots in that, and you can't do more than that on a single page. You have to create a new page, a different page for that. That made it a bit annoying, and the filtering part is limited, with basic functions. If you want to make custom filtering or custom functions, you can't do that."

"My main complaint is that the error messages need to be made more clear. Currently, they are either too generic or outright misleading, and finding the real problem is like searching for a needle in a haystack."

"Power BI's administration could use some work, and the user experience needs to improve because it is a client-based tool. If you want to generate a model or report, you need to use client tools, but client tools are limited for end-users who don't have enough hardware. For example, maybe a client lacks enough memory or CPU power for report generators. If you use a model that requires a massive amount of data, your client will face several problems."

"It has come a long way in terms of how it was working two years ago, but there are some things that you still can't do with it. For example, permission management and user access management are still a bit limited. It is basically based on the idea that everybody from the organization can see everything or limit the type of data they can see. If I want you to see only one report and the other guy to see another report, I can't do it. There should be a better way to manage permissions and users. It should also support external users much better."

"here are some limitations with the data models needed to build the report."

"If I compare it to Tableau, I'd say the visualizations can be better. We should have multiple options. By that I mean, while there are multiple options for the visualization, the look and feel of the dashboard when you compare to Tableau is on the lower side. Tableau has a much better visualization."

"I would like to see a feature that connects with a Machine Learning platform like a RapidMiner or Azure Machine Learning Studio. It would be great to have a Machine Learning application link to connect."

"It's a difficult process to try to edit, configure, or change the business rules that exist and work within HFM."

"In terms of improvement, one challenge with Oracle HFM is the need for technical knowledge in writing SQL syntax for custom extensions."

"Integration is an area where it lacks and can be improved."

"The intercompany reporting function in this tool needs improvement, particularly being able to run reports in batches, rather than one at a time."

"The complexity is okay. I don't see it as super complex. The solution could have more functionality to make it a little bit more flexible."

"If there could be data integration between HFM and the accounting software that would be ideal."

"Improvements can be made by possibly different interfaces to modernize it, more automation in scripting, and better integration with third-party solutions and reporting capabilities."

"The solution has integration challenges. We need a simple tool that is fool-proof for the data that is submitted not only for consolidation purposes but also for performance management and reporting purposes."

"The pricing is good. It's pretty competitive because I have worked on a few other tools as well, and Power BI is on the cheaper side."

"Pricing, that's where Microsoft beats Tableau. It is priced much cheaper."

"The solution’s pricing is reasonable."

"All of the licenses are on an annual basis, but Microsoft will amortize it to an extent. If it's five years, they'll include the possible interest they might have the following year. Ideally, their licensing scheme is an annual license, but they make it easier for some of our clients to take a five-year license but package everything inside for them to buy the license for five years."

"Microsoft BI is considered to be competitively priced when compared to other similar solutions in the market."

"For my primary use case, i.e. teaching students, the free version of Power BI is adequate."

"As far as I am aware you do not need a license for the solution."

"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."

"Oracle Hyperion Financial Management (HFM) uses the named user licensing model. There's different pricing depending on HFM and Essbase planning."