Microsoft Power BI Reviews

Name: Microsoft Power BI
Brand: Microsoft
Rating: 4.0 (318 reviews)

Vendor: Microsoft

4.0 out of 5

318 reviews
93% willing to recommend

13K followers

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What is Microsoft Power BI?

Microsoft Power BI is a powerful tool for data analysis and visualization. This tool stands out for its ability to merge and analyze data from various sources. Widely adopted across different industries and departments, Power BI is instrumental in creating visually appealing dashboards and generating insightful business intelligence reports. Its intuitive interface, robust visualization capabilities, and seamless integration with other Microsoft applications empower users to easily create interactive reports and gain valuable insights.

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Microsoft Power BI is the #1 ranked solution in top Business Intelligence Tools and top Reporting Tools. PeerSpot users give Microsoft Power BI an average rating of 8.0 out of 10. Microsoft Power BI is most commonly compared to Tableau: Microsoft Power BI vs Tableau. Microsoft Power BI is popular among the midsize enterprise segment, accounting for 48% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a educational organization, accounting for 42% of all views.

Helped 830,824 peers since 2012

Featured reviews

Shoury Priyanshu

Senior Manager, Strategy & Consulting at Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd

One of the key factors why I use Power BI is because it's very flexible with other Microsoft tools. The entire ETL process is easy and supports many databases, allowing data pipelines from multiple sources to be gathered in one place for visualization. This is the key aspect I like about it.

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PedroNavarro

BI Development & Validation Manager at JT International SA

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.

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Deepak Damodarr

Data Office Lead at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees

Over the last six years, Microsoft Power BI has evolved, matured, has brought in a lot of new features. Six years back, when I first started using Microsoft Power BI, it was just one of the tools among the crowd of tools that I had access to and may not have been that interesting, at that point in time. It was fairly rudimentary and fairly basic in terms of its feature capabilities. However, in the last six years, Microsoft has put a lot of focus and effort into developing it further, and has, on a regular incremental basis, started deploying and enabling capabilities and features, which now makes Microsoft Power BI one of the leading BI tools in the industry. We realized the benefits very quickly. In 30 minutes, a company can begin to realize the benefits. In the most basic use case, which is for a user to be able to just access a data which he or she normally would not have been able to himself or herself, since they don't have SQL query knowledge, or they don't know how to access, log into a SQL Server or a database. They can do that using Power BI within half an hour or less.

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Microsoft Power BI mindshare

Product category:

As of January 2025, the mindshare of Microsoft Power BI in the BI (Business Intelligence) Tools category stands at 22.6%, up from 22.5% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

BI (Business Intelligence) Tools

PeerAnalyst reports

Type	Title	Date
Category	BI (Business Intelligence) Tools	Jan 14, 2025	Download
Product	Reviews, tips, and advice from real users	Jan 14, 2025	Download
Comparison	Microsoft Power BI vs Tableau	Jan 14, 2025	Download
Comparison	Microsoft Power BI vs Amazon QuickSight	Jan 14, 2025	Download
Comparison	Microsoft Power BI vs SAP Analytics Cloud	Jan 14, 2025	Download

Title	Rating	Mindshare	Recommending
Tableau	4.2	19.7%	89%	295 interviews Add to research
Teradata	4.1	N/A	87%	76 interviews Add to research

Valuable Features

Microsoft Power BI offers extensive data visualization capabilities, seamless integration with other Microsoft products, and advanced self-service analytics. Users appreciate its user-friendly interface and efficient data handling for reporting and dashboard creation. The platform allows for dynamic datasets, real-time insights, and detailed visual customization, making it ideal for businesses seeking robust analysis tools without extensive technical requirements. Its ability to connect multiple data sources and incorporate powerful data modeling features enhances organizational decision-making processes.

"The ROI is high for small teams or basic use cases with limited datasets."
"One of the key factors why I use Power BI is because it's very flexible with other Microsoft tools."
"In a world surrounded by data, tools that allow navigation of large data volumes ensure decisions are data-driven."

Room for Improvement

Microsoft Power BI users seek improvements in performance, ease of use, and integration. The learning curve poses challenges, especially for non-technical users. Improved visualizations, real-time data refresh capabilities, and enhanced mobile support are also desired. Users express a need for more connectors and better error messaging, scalability, and licensing options. Enhanced customization features, better documentation, and seamless integration with other systems and services would benefit the user experience significantly.

"Real-time data integration is an area for improvement. Although I've worked on several solutions involving real-time integration, it's not very user-friendly and often lags, especially with over a million data rows."
"Real-time data integration is an area for improvement."
"The significant drawback I notice is that Microsoft's size makes it hard to get specific change requests addressed unless they involve a bug."

ROI

Microsoft Power BI offers high return on investment with cost savings, improved reporting, and enhanced data accessibility. Companies saved costs by replacing existing tools and reducing manual work, leading to increased efficiency. Microsoft Power BI paid for itself quickly and is valuable for various use cases and teams, especially in small datasets or scaling environments. Users appreciate its ease of use and scalability. The return is evident in increased revenue and streamlined operations, resulting in significant overall benefits.

Pricing

Microsoft Power BI offers flexible pricing options suited for various organizational needs. For individual users, Power BI Desktop is free. The Pro plan costs approximately $10 per user monthly, providing essential features for smaller groups. Premium options start at $5,000 monthly, accommodating large-scale enterprises. These pricing tiers allow for scalability, although the premium version is often deemed expensive. Many organizations find Microsoft Power BI competitively priced compared to tools like Tableau and other BI products.

"The solution's costs are quite reasonable given the range of features provided."
"I rate the product pricing a ten."
"Downloading Power BI Desktop is free."

Popular Use Cases

Microsoft Power BI is primarily used for data visualization, reporting, and analytics across various industries. Its applications include enterprise reporting, dashboard creation, financial analysis, and data integration. Users leverage it for real-time analytics, business intelligence, KPI monitoring, and automating workflows. Power BI connects to multiple data sources, enabling the creation of interactive dashboards and insights for sectors such as healthcare, finance, logistics, and more, facilitating data-driven decision-making and performance tracking across organizations.

Service and Support

Microsoft Power BI's customer service is rated positively, with timely assistance and knowledgeable representatives. Many users find solutions online and rarely contact technical support, with mixed experiences. While some praise the responsiveness and community support, others note areas for improvement in response times and issue resolution. Online forums and documentation are frequently utilized. Users appreciate the extensive community resources, but some find direct support inconsistent or slow, often relying on self-research and community forums.

Deployment

Microsoft Power BI's initial setup generally presents an easy experience, particularly for those using the cloud-based version. Nonetheless, complexity arises with extensive configurations or large datasets. While technical expertise simplifies the process, new users may encounter challenges without guidance. Setup can vary from a few minutes to several months, depending on deployment specifics and organizational requirements. Adequate training and experience facilitate smoother integration within existing ecosystems.

Scalability

Microsoft Power BI is generally scalable, offering flexibility across different sizes of organizations. It integrates well with Microsoft products and supports both cloud and on-premise usage. However, scalability can be limited by data size and infrastructure. Users find it suitable for medium and enterprise levels but costly with increasing data and users. The tool's design and deployment require specialized skills. Performance issues may arise with larger datasets, impacting its effectiveness.

Stability

Microsoft Power BI is generally stable and reliable, though some users experience occasional data refresh issues or slow performance with larger datasets. Many find it robust and capable, benefiting from Microsoft’s constant improvements. Some attribute potential instability to external factors like network or hardware. Users appreciate its continuous updates and find it dependable for daily operations, often rating its stability highly. Certain organizations encounter challenges with updates or extensive data, but these are typically manageable.

These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.

Download our Microsoft Power BI Buyer's Guide for additional reliable information.