Microsoft Power BI Reviews

I use the platform primarily to create visualizations and reports from data to gain insights. It is utilized for operational, decision-making, and managerial reports.

The product's most valuable features are DAX functions for formulas and calculations.

I would suggest improvements in visualization standards, particularly in customization and appearance, to match tools like Tableau.

I have been working with Microsoft Power BI for two years.

I rate the platform stability a seven and a half or eight out of ten. 

The product is suitable for medium-sized companies with straightforward requirements. It can handle thousands of users, but its effectiveness depends on the data volume and reporting needs.

I rate the scalability an eight. 

The technical support team's response quality can vary based on the engineer's expertise and availability.

Power BI is more cost-effective, whereas Tableau provides more advanced features and higher-quality visualizations. For critical business needs and high data volumes, Tableau might be more suitable. 

The initial setup process is simple. 

I have worked with both the cloud version and the desktop model. Each has its advantages depending on the need for high-quality visualizations or the volume of data.

I rate the product pricing a ten. 

The solution supports integration from various applications well enough to meet most business requirements. 

I rate it a nine 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.

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.

We have many projects in the company. Some of them are self-service where they can connect on their own to local on-premises databases. Some of them are with big databases on the cloud, such as Azure SQL or Azure Synapse, and some of them are with local sources, such as Excel files, etc.

It is really flexible. The charts and reports are really nice. You have the flexibility of self-service.

It is not yet ready for enterprises. For a big enterprise data model, it is not so stable, and it also doesn't scale so well.

I am not really satisfied with their support. Their support should be faster. They should also be more knowledgeable.

I have been using this solution for two and a half years.

It depends. It is not really for enterprises. Even though Microsoft is trying, it isn't yet ready for enterprise use. For self-service, it is pretty fine. If you don't have a huge data set, it is quite stable.

If you try to have a big enterprise data model, it doesn't scale so well. You wouldn't get results similar to some of the other on-premises tools.

In terms of its users, I don't know the exact number, but we have about 10,000  to 20,000 users. Its usage is increasing.

I have contacted them a lot of times. I am not really satisfied with their support. Lately, it has become even worse. They are probably overloaded, and it takes really long. Many times, they just say, "That's how it works." In reality, it is a bug.

Many times, their first-level support doesn't understand what the problem is, and they don't reach out to the proper people to get into the issue. It is not really good.

We have been using different tools, such as QlikView, on-premises OBIEE, Tableau, Excel, etc. We are trying to migrate almost everyone to Power BI. So, eventually, we will have only Power BI. Its usage is growing.

It is really easy. It is mostly automated. You simply publish the dataset. 

It doesn't take too long. It takes about 5 to 10 minutes.

I'm a part of the team that manages all the projects that are done with Power BI within the company. We guide them and help them with the development and all the architecture.

The number of people required depends on the size of the project. For one of the big projects we have, there are a couple of developers. There is one person for the management of Power BI. We also have 10 to 12 people doing the reports, etc.

We have premium licenses, but you can use it for free. You can share the content with anyone else, so you can use it for free.

I would recommend it, but if you want to use it enterprise-wide, you need to be really careful because you might face problems. In general, it's really a great tool. For self-service, it is more than okay, but when you try to use it enterprise-wide, it doesn't really work well.

Overall, I would rate it a seven out of 10.

I use the solution to visualize charts and graphs that provide data insights.

The product is user-friendly.

Power BI shows reports on actual data, not metadata.

I have been using the solution for a few months.

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

The tool is scalable. We can create multiple reports. We have two to three customers who use the solution. Within the client organizations, teams can use different solutions. It depends on the client’s needs.

Creating a report takes 10 to 30 minutes, based on our requirements. It is easy if we have simple requirements. If it is complex, building a report can take days. The product is cloud-based.

People use other tools in the market, like Tableau and Qlik Sense. They are good competitors.

I work in data management. I focus on connecting to the source and getting the metadata information from the tool. I'm interested in metadata, not actual data. Integration with other tools is possible. The solution provides APIs.

I will recommend the solution to others, but my recommendation depends on the clients. If a customer uses Microsoft products, they can use Power BI. If someone wants to build good reports and perform data analysis, Power BI is a good choice. Any dashboarding tool is good for data analysis. Overall, I rate the product an eight out of ten.

My company uses Microsoft BI for reporting purposes. In my company, we extract data from different sources, put it in the staging area, and then use Microsoft Power BI to build the reports and dashboards.

The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is an easy-to-use tool.

Microsoft BI lacks integration capabilities, so it needs to consider increasing its integration capabilities. Microsoft BI needs to improve its mobile application compatibility so that people view their reports and dashboards through a mobile app since, nowadays, people move towards tools that are in the digital transformation phase.

I have experience with Microsoft BI. I recently joined a new organization where I see Microsoft BI being used extensively.

Considering that most people in my organization use Microsoft BI, I can say that it is a stable solution.

Microsoft BI is a part of Microsoft Power Platform, because of which Microsoft can increase its capacity based on the needs and licenses of its users.

Around 20 people in my company use Microsoft BI.

My company plans to increase the use of Microsoft BI.

The initial setup of Microsoft BI is straightforward since it comes along with Microsoft Power Platform.

The solution is deployed on the cloud.

I am unsure about Microsoft BI's deployment process since it was already deployed when I joined the organization.

In my company, we have two developers and two testers to look after the deployment and maintenance of the solution.

The company's in-house team did the installation process of Microsoft BI.

When my company compared the price of Alteryx to Microsoft BI, we found Alteryx's price to be higher than Microsoft BI's price.

In general, Microsoft BI's price is lower compared to Alteryx.

I am not a user of the solution at the moment. I am an architect taking time to evaluate and see how my company can use Microsoft Power BI.

Our company hardly finds a tool where we can say one size fits all, so we need to use other tools for larger amounts of data and data cleansing.

It would be effective for those planning to use the solution to find the best solution that suits their requirements.

I rate the overall solution a seven out of ten.

It’s not just a specific tool I use when providing solutions. In these scenarios, clients often have a significant Microsoft presence with servers for data collection, whether it's in a data lake, data warehouse, or a data lake house. Their users typically require reporting, dashboards, or ad-hoc queries based on their specific business needs. However, most vendors tend to offer inflexible solutions, focusing on predefined reports.

Power BI stands out because it provides considerable flexibility in creating reports, dashboards, and various types of analytics to meet those dynamic requirements. It is lightweight and easy to use with good support.       

Microsoft BI typically connects to a database, often SQL Server, but it's also capable of connecting to multiple databases, pulling data from them, and allowing for data consolidation. You can then aggregate and generate dashboards and reports from this combined data. Personally, I wouldn't claim to have the expertise to suggest significant changes or additional features, as it functions quite well as is.

I have been using this solution for the past five years. 

It is a stable solution. 

It's a cloud-based platform, and it scales seamlessly based on your usage, which is one of the key advantages of cloud services. You pay according to your usage, without worrying about licenses or ownership. However, there are some limitations to consider. While it's a front-end tool for visualization and analytics, it lacks extensive customization options. If you require complex reports or queries, Microsoft offers support to help you achieve those goals. In my experience over the past five years, I haven't encountered any use case that couldn't be addressed with Power BI. On the contrary, I faced performance issues with other tools like Spotfire, which prompted us to explore different solutions. The effectiveness of Power BI also depends on factors like architecture, deployment, and network quality. If network configurations aren't optimized, it can lead to slow data transfer. However, being a cloud-based solution, the cloud infrastructure often manages these issues. Nevertheless, if you want the best performance, you might need to invest in improving your network infrastructure.

Positive

I'm not very familiar with the licensing aspect, as it operates in the cloud as a SaaS (Software as a Service) model. Essentially, you pay based on cloud cost models, which might include hourly rates or similar billing structures introduced by Microsoft. Many organizations utilize it and pay for its services, somewhat like Office 365. It's a cloud-based platform that provides the necessary services, including support, for development, and you pay accordingly for the usage.

 would recommend the solution, rating it eight out of ten. There’s no such thing as an ideal product. In my perspective, perfection remains an unattainable goal. However, I can't rate it lower than eight because Microsoft actively invests in BI's development and expansion. They have a roadmap and allocate resources to it, which is evident in the growing user base. This continuous growth adds value to the product and benefits its users.