Microsoft Power BI Reviews

With the out-of-the-box Data Platform and Business Intelligence ecosystem, you get the entire platform with a single license.

Previously, I was working for a retail company and when I got there, there weren't any analytics implemented yet.

So, what I did was, firstly, I implemented an EDW solution so as to gather all the possible data in a single repository.

After that, I developed a self-service model so the company could take advantage of their ad hoc analysis.

Then, I implemented some standard reports to understand some basic indicators, together with the delivery subscriptions so that all the organization's levels could receive this valuable information, i.e., for more than 500 users.

Lastly, I connected this platform to the cloud (Power BI) together with a top BI solution (QlikView) so as to take full advantage of the second data insights' step journey.

The Windows OS dependency needs to improve. There are some bugs with the new features that have released.

It is getting better but still, there are opportunity areas in some aspects, especially the Windows OS dependency.

I have used this solution for 10 years and still counting.

There were no stability issues.

Technical support is very good.

I was using Oracle before, we switched to Microsoft because Oracle is very expensive for the benefits that they offer.

The setup was easy, actually, a single instance installation can be installed by clicking next and next. Maybe a cluster installation could be a little more complex, but it is still easy.

This is one of the best out-of-the-box solutions on the market. Microsoft has to improve their Data Governance solution, but for a data platform and BI solution, it is very good.

We evaluated products such as Oracle, MySQL, and Postgres.

It is very straightforward. Maybe you won't like the Windows OS dependency, but, in the 2017 version, you can install the engine on Linux.

We use this solution for reporting around data migration.

BI provides us with strong computing power and calculations with quality visibility which helps with the whole pipeline.

I like having the ability to connect Excel files as data inputs.

BI also allows us to make functional dashboards, perform queries, and display data in various ways. And, there are always new features being released.

I would like for the next release to have better desktop performance, especially for big databases. Additionally, I would like to have more integrations with programs like Salesforce in order to get more live data coming in.

I have been using BI on and off for the past two years.

Stability is very good.

This solution is scalable.

I have not needed to contact support.

Originally, we were only using Excel, trying out different dashboards for the data. This was not powerful enough for us. It was not easy to use or streamline so we made the switch.

The initial setup was straightforward and deployment took about a week plus another few weeks to do work within the BI.

Our deployment was performed by our in-house team of one.

There is a free version of the Power BI which may be worth looking into for small teams prior to purchasing a license. I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Our company is a manufacturing firm. We have an ERP running in our company. I develop the reports for the business that include sales, stock and production related information. These dashboards are used for analytics purposes by management, enabling them to make decisions regarding the products and business improvement.

We use the BI text file and summarize the information on dashboards to help management make the right decisions for the business. The information includes production figures, running status, forecasts and actual positions. 

We have 10  users of this solution.

The most valuable feature of Microsoft BI is the ease of use. The data can be accessed from anywhere. We control access through Office 365.

I would like to see a more user-friendly interface with Microsoft BI. Microsoft does regular updates, new features are added every month or so.

I have been using Microsoft BI for one year.

Microsoft Power BI is stable with no issue.

The solution is scalable.

Overall, technical support is good.

Prior to using Microsoft BI, we had been using OBIEE. Oracle is a complicated product with poor visuals. Comparing with Microsoft BI, we found Microsoft to have better handling, graphics, features, and easier development and coding. 

The initial deployment of Microsoft BI was relatively easy. We installed it to the machine and connected it to our Oracle database.

We were able to install the solution ourselves internally.

Microsoft BI requires licenses.

Microsoft Power BI is an easy product. If you have some idea about the business intelligence solutions and some technical knowledge, it is a self-deployed solution.

I would rate the solution an 8 out of 10.

We use this data visualization tool for the business to understand data in a graphical manner. It is similar to Tableau, a tool also used for data visualization. A tool like this is used mostly by the leadership team to make decisions. 

Power BI allows you to create user-defined charts which is really useful. 

The Power Query button in the power tabs is a unique selling point and is very useful.

The UI is the main improvement that could be made. Specifically, there is something called DAX, in Power BI, which is complicated compared to calculated fields used in Tableau. 

I have been using this solution for six months. 

This is a stable solution. 

This is a scalable solution. We have 500 users. 

The initial setup was easy. 

The main difference between Power BI and Tableau is the cost. Power BI is much cheaper. Tableau is the best BI tool that I've worked on and is easier for developers to work with. However, there are many things that can be done in Power BI which can't be done in Tableau.

If you're starting working with Power BI, then I would suggest first getting experience with the free version of Tableau to understand and learn about data visualization. From there, moving to Power BI will be much easier as the tools are so similar. 

I would rate it a nine out of ten. 

We use Power BI for dashboards and various reports. It's primarily a visualization tool. We don't use it for business intelligence— just visualization.

I like that I can use Power BI to upload data. That is very important for me. The visualization is also convenient and easy to use.

The maps in Power BI could be improved. You deal with many maps over the years, like maps of America and Saudi Arabia. The maps aren't detailed enough, and there aren't enough visualization tools. Whenever I want to use a map, I struggle with choosing the right visualization.

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

Microsoft BI is scalable. There are some limitations depending on the amount of data you need, but it's enough for me so far. We have about 50 users, and we'll likely increase our usage in the coming years as Microsoft adds more features and our people train themselves to do more with it. 

Setting up Microsoft BI is straightforward. It took about one week if you include training on how to send reports and other things. We were able to do it by ourselves with a team of about five people. 

The license is annual. If you need a fancy visualization, you have to pay a bit more, but a valid license covers everything else. I'm developing reports and rolling them out to some users who are not developers, so I need the visualization and have to pay for the license. In the case of Tableau, you don't need to pay, or maybe you spend a little less because you're not a developer. 

I rate Microsoft BI 10 out of 10. 

We have some monitoring data from turbines, and we want to plot the data to monitor the health state of turbines in different time stamps. I tried to download some data from the Postgres database and then do some plotting with that. I also tried to link different plots with each other to filter them and things like that.

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.

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.

Suppose you want to code a plot, Python available. You can code the plot you want, and you don't have to use a predefined one. But when you want to plot it and you want to import like five or ten packages in Python, there are limitations. It doesn't support all the libraries that Python has. Microsoft BI only supports a few, like three or four libraries at most. When I want to use my old code in Power BI, it doesn't handle it, and that was also annoying.

In the next release, it'll help if they added a coding area where you are more open to make custom things. Especially for a developer, it needs to be improved. For a Power BI person, it's fine, I think, because it doesn't require much technical knowledge, but a developer will need it. Maybe they should create a space for that.

I have been using Microsoft BI for the last three months. 

It's stable, but it's so slow. Sometimes it takes some time to respond, especially when you put two or three plots with big data. It becomes very slow.

I didn't contact technical support as I used the support on the internet. I'm satisfied with the documentation, but I didn't find what I was looking for.

I was using Dash Open Source, but when I discovered that it would take a lot of time, I wanted to define a platform for that. So, Power BI was the solution. Now I want to try Tableau, but I haven't had a chance to do that yet.

I used a two months free trial to see if it had what I needed. I can pay later for a full license, but I don't think I will do that.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give Microsoft BI a six.

I primarily use this for creating dashboards and reports for the oil and gas industry.

Power BI is always updating. I receive multi mail from Power BI with new visualizations, new analytics, new webinars and I'm going to Microsoft here locally in order to have a updated presentation about the new features of Power BI. For me it's very versatile. I can publish on my iPad. I have a Power BI application in order to manage the visualization of my report and my dashboard. Also I can speak to Power BI and ask about production and Q&A. But, I don't have compilation with other tools yet. For me, Power BI is the best.

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 was straightforward. We had no problems with implementation.

The pricing is fine for our company. It is reasonably priced.

Because this solution is very easy, and very visual, you can have results in minutes.