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Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Microsoft Power BI provides seamless integration with Office tools and overcomes the limitations of Excel by offering more powerful features.
The tool is praised for its easy setup, scalability, and flexibility, making it suitable for users without a technical background.
Users appreciate its ability to quickly visualize data, which enhances decision-making with dynamic and user-friendly dashboards.
Its real-time data integration capabilities support connections with various sources, enhancing data analysis processes with options for AI and predictive analytics.
Microsoft Power BI offers excellent technical support, and its widespread use ensures abundant online resources, helping users to maximize its functionality.

CONS

Microsoft Power BI lacks integration capabilities with non-Microsoft data sources and third-party tools.
There is a concern about its performance, particularly when handling large datasets or requiring real-time data updates.
Real-time data integration features are limited and often lag, especially with substantial data volumes.
Users have noted challenges with error messages, which are often too generic or misleading, complicating problem resolution.
Functionality related to collaboration on the same project or dashboard is limited, making it difficult for teams to co-develop efficiently.
 

Microsoft Power BI Pros review quotes

it_user4524 - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder & Principal Architect at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Feb 28, 2013
Microsoft SSAS is one of the best BI suites on the market.
it_user6414 - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at a tech company with 51-200 employees
May 6, 2013
Automated reports can be generated using SQL Reporting and Analysis in XML and PDF formats which are easier to read and understand.
it_user117558 - PeerSpot reviewer
BI Junior consultant at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Jun 5, 2014
Power BI reduced time to develop and deployment projects.
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Power BI. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user171969 - PeerSpot reviewer
Microsoft BI Consultant with 51-200 employees
Dec 14, 2014
I do work on projects to switch clients to MS BI usually due to its attractive pricing and tight integration with MS Office suite.
it_user171975 - PeerSpot reviewer
MSBI Technology Architect/Developer at a pharma/biotech company with 51-200 employees
Dec 22, 2014
With MSBI, we realized automation from data loading, transformation and reporting.
it_user181869 - PeerSpot reviewer
Microsoft BI Architect at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Jan 15, 2015
For example, I recently migrated an application from TeraData to SQL Server and the response times for some functions were cut down from 90 seconds to about less than 1 second!
it_user194682 - PeerSpot reviewer
Database Analyst at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Feb 15, 2015
Very high, as it is a very cost effective application compared to any BI tools in the market.
it_user221220 - PeerSpot reviewer
Analyst in XBRL Projects at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Apr 22, 2015
All the features are valuable.
it_user289488 - PeerSpot reviewer
MSBI Technical Lead at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
Aug 13, 2015
Without this solution, the business can’t think of successful operations.
it_user229761 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant | Architect at DHL
Aug 23, 2016
You should get it and implement it.
 

Microsoft Power BI Cons review quotes

it_user4524 - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder & Principal Architect at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Feb 28, 2013
Price of the SQL Server bundle is potentially cost prohibitive for smaller businesses
it_user6414 - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at a tech company with 51-200 employees
May 6, 2013
The installation requirements are quite demanding and only computers with relatively high processing power and large primary memory are able to run some SQL Reporting and Analysis tools.
it_user117558 - PeerSpot reviewer
BI Junior consultant at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Jun 5, 2014
PowerQuery is so long and something exists in SSAS cube but I cannot do the same in tabular.
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Power BI. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user171969 - PeerSpot reviewer
Microsoft BI Consultant with 51-200 employees
Dec 14, 2014
End-user tools such as Excel is not good enough for all business scenarios.
it_user171975 - PeerSpot reviewer
MSBI Technology Architect/Developer at a pharma/biotech company with 51-200 employees
Dec 22, 2014
The aggregate functions in SSRS.
it_user181869 - PeerSpot reviewer
Microsoft BI Architect at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Jan 15, 2015
The SQL Server Reporting Services can certainly use some more help.
it_user194682 - PeerSpot reviewer
Database Analyst at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Feb 15, 2015
The robustness of the stack could be improved as it fails when we import/extract large amounts of data.
it_user221220 - PeerSpot reviewer
Analyst in XBRL Projects at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Apr 22, 2015
Microsoft has poor support for XML.
it_user289488 - PeerSpot reviewer
MSBI Technical Lead at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
Aug 13, 2015
Reporting or SharePoint needs a lot of learning so you can build reports
it_user229761 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant | Architect at DHL
Aug 23, 2016
Well definitely the connectors, which is always a huge space for improvement in configurations, especially the amount of connectors etc.