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Shrikrishna Kashid - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Technical Service Engineer Expert at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
MSP
Top 5
Aug 1, 2025
Efficient integration with ecosystem enhances workflow creation
Pros and Cons
  • "Microsoft Power BI is used extensively throughout the organization."

    What is our primary use case?

    There are multiple workflows used in SharePoint and Salesforce. In ServiceNow, workflows are generated for each of the corporate functions such as HR, finance, ORM and others.

    What is most valuable?

    Microsoft Power BI is used extensively throughout the organization.

    We are seeking agentic AI or analyzing AI which can help automatically analyze requirements and create workflows. Currently, we are creating these manually and must be involved in end-to-end testing. This involves two major parameters. To reduce the need for highly skilled personnel, we can engage someone who is just familiar and has a basic understanding of Microsoft Power BI, while AI can handle the major tasks through either agent AI or requirement analysis.

    For example, as a lead, I can produce requirements that can be fed to the AI, which can then generate the workflow. It may also recommend how testing should be conducted, and test cases can be automatically generated by the agentic AI.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using the solution for a couple of years. I serve as a lead for assessing tools, and whatever tool is being assessed is given to our team to use in their daily work.

    What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

    This is a separate solution which we have implemented for some of our use cases that require the partition approach. On-demand basis operations can be performed without subscribing to the entire platform. We have subscribed to specific features of the platform and are paying for only those features.

    Buyer's Guide
    Microsoft Power BI
    June 2026
    Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Power BI. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2026.
    900,277 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The system operates in real-time.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    We have not experienced any scalability issues. They are quite supportive with an online community and service desk available. If someone encounters any problems, we utilize these resources.

    How are customer service and support?

    They are quite supportive with an online community and service desk available. If someone encounters any problems, we utilize these resources.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    We previously used a different solution called UForge.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup was completed with this German product.

    What about the implementation team?

    The organization maintains a platinum partnership which provides certain discounts and other benefits from this partnership.

    What was our ROI?

    The return on investment rating is eight out of ten.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    There are associated setup costs.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    There are multiple alternative solutions, particularly in SharePoint and Salesforce.

    What other advice do I have?

    This is a separate solution which we have implemented for some of our use cases that require the partition approach. On-demand basis operations can be performed without subscribing to the entire platform. We have subscribed to specific features of the platform and are paying for only those features.

    We are a platinum partner with Microsoft, so the tools automatically become part of our ecosystem. This follows the usual process of Microsoft.

    On a scale of 1-10, I rate this solution an 8.

    If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. partner
    PeerSpot user
    Raymond De Rooij - PeerSpot reviewer
    Product Owner at ABN AMRO Bank N.V.
    Real User
    Top 5
    Apr 28, 2025
    Sharing data easily drives insights while date handling and performance need refinement
    Pros and Cons
    • "One of the most valuable features of Microsoft Power BI is its easy way of sharing data within the organization or outside."
    • "Performance can be an issue when there's too much data, and getting data into Microsoft Power BI via APIs can be slow."

    What is our primary use case?

    I use Microsoft Power BI as a customer and within the organization to create dashboards and insights into data. I also build dashboards and use Microsoft Power BI to analyze data.

    What is most valuable?

    One of the most valuable features of Microsoft Power BI is its easy way of sharing data within the organization or outside. Users can publish dashboards easily. Additionally, within the organization, Microsoft Power BI is used to create dashboards and gain insights into data, enhancing data-driven decision-making.

    What needs improvement?

    One area where Microsoft Power BI could improve is the handling of date calculations. It takes effort to organize dates in graphs in the correct order, often requiring programming conversions or manipulations. Performance can be an issue when there's too much data, and getting data into Microsoft Power BI via APIs can be slow. This may be due to the technology used to import the data. Enhancing performance and data uploading, especially with APIs, would be beneficial.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been working with Microsoft Power BI for four or five years.

    What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

    I'm not sure about the technical setup time as another department handled it. However, the rollout took a couple of months, and it took close to a year to make the functionality fully available to everyone.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    On average, Microsoft Power BI is quite stable, though there are occasional hiccups related to performance or issues which might be due to other factors like network or user errors.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Microsoft Power BI scores around six out of ten for scalability. As more data is processed, performance issues may arise.

    How are customer service and support?

    I haven't interacted much with technical support, but it seems okay, around a six or seven. There's a lot of available knowledge and training on Microsoft Power BI.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Neutral

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    Before Microsoft Power BI, we used Splunk to create similar dashboards. Many switched to Microsoft Power BI as it was easier to learn and publish. Splunk is more log-based, whereas Microsoft Power BI is more generic. We also used Excel previously.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup was not complicated for me. However, the dual nature of the desktop and online versions can be confusing, leading to uncertainty about where certain tasks should be performed.

    What other advice do I have?

    I recommend Microsoft Power BI to others. I rate the solution overall around a seven as it accomplishes its tasks most of the time. However, performance issues or lack of certain features can arise in certain cases. I would rate the overall solution a seven out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Public Cloud

    If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

    Other
    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Microsoft Power BI
    June 2026
    Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Power BI. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2026.
    900,277 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Programmer Analyst at Cognizant
    Real User
    Top 10
    Aug 1, 2025
    Interactivity and seamless transitions enhance decision-making and user experience
    Pros and Cons
    • "With AI in Microsoft Power BI, when we ingest the data and use the GenAI tools at our disposal, AI helps automate the process and represent the visualizations to our customers and clients."

      What is our primary use case?

      Microsoft Power BI is a business intelligence tool, and we take the data which was preprocessed, refined, cleaned, transformed, and loaded so that it can be used by Microsoft Power BI to get insights from it.

      We represent the data using various visualizations such as bar charts and diagrams. By utilizing these functionalities, we gain better insights about the data. It also provides connectivity through various data sources such as SSIS, SSAS, Azure SQL, Synapse Analytics, and Data Lake, allowing Microsoft Power BI to be used efficiently. Additionally, it plays a major role in ETL tasks as well.

      The interactive elements in Microsoft Power BI enable us to perform drill-up, drill-down operations, and drill-throughs, and the various types of visualizations, including charts, graphs, maps, matrices, tables, and slices, make it highly adaptable for different case scenarios. The measures help us carry out aggregations and calculations to provide the necessary business insights, such as representing total sales or tracking growth year by year.

      For business use cases, real-time data from Microsoft Power BI could be very impactful. With AI in Microsoft Power BI, when we ingest the data and use the GenAI tools at our disposal, AI helps automate the process and represent the visualizations to our customers and clients. For instance, if we want to analyze the growth pattern in the last quarter, the tools can assess the visualization presented and provide us with specific responses.

      What is most valuable?

      The interactive elements in Microsoft Power BI enable us to perform drill-up, drill-down operations, and drill-throughs, and the various types of visualizations, including charts, graphs, maps, matrices, tables, and slices, make it highly adaptable for different case scenarios.

      The measures help us carry out aggregations and calculations to provide the necessary business insights, such as representing total sales or tracking growth year by year.

      With AI in Microsoft Power BI, when we ingest the data and use the GenAI tools at our disposal, AI helps automate the process and represent the visualizations to our customers and clients. For instance, if we want to analyze the growth pattern in the last quarter, the tools can assess the visualization presented and provide us with specific responses.

      The low-code, no-code feature in Microsoft Power BI is quite beneficial for business analysts and related associates to work better with it and create meaningful and valuable insights.

      What needs improvement?

      The low-code, no-code feature in Microsoft Power BI could be enhanced for business analysts and related associates to work better with it and create meaningful and valuable insights.

      If changes are made in the data lake or Synapse and analytics, a useful feature would be for Microsoft Power BI to sense these updates and apply them automatically.

      For how long have I used the solution?

      I have been working with Microsoft Power BI for around one year.

      What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

      I haven't faced any issues while working with Microsoft Power BI. Every time I log into Microsoft Power BI, it works seamlessly without crashes or performance issues, providing a good overall experience.

      What do I think about the stability of the solution?

      I haven't faced any issues while working with Microsoft Power BI. Every time I log into Microsoft Power BI, it works seamlessly without crashes or performance issues, providing a good overall experience.

      How are customer service and support?

      Reaching out to technical support regarding Microsoft Power BI is very rare; mostly, our work can be carried out efficiently without needing assistance. I would rate Microsoft technical support an eight on a scale of one to ten.

      How would you rate customer service and support?

      Positive

      How was the initial setup?

      The initial setup of Microsoft Power BI was managed by another team that set up the VDI, so I didn't encounter challenges during its introduction.

      What about the implementation team?

      The initial setup of Microsoft Power BI was managed by another team that set up the VDI, so I didn't encounter challenges during its introduction.

      What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

      The pricing of Microsoft Power BI is affordable compared to Tableau, making it accessible, especially with a wide Microsoft community and strong enterprise support.

      Which other solutions did I evaluate?

      I have an understanding of Tableau in addition to Microsoft Power BI. Some UI features highlight the differences between Microsoft Power BI and Tableau. The pricing of Microsoft Power BI is affordable compared to Tableau, making it accessible, especially with a wide Microsoft community and strong enterprise support.

      What other advice do I have?

      I am currently working in the field of data engineering, utilizing tools such as PySpark, PySpark SQL, Python, integration services through SQL Server, and analytical services.

      Since the work has been done on migration, I also possess knowledge about AWS and Azure.

      I work with Python and have experience with both PyCharm and Visual Studio IDEs.

      Reaching out to technical support regarding Microsoft Power BI is very rare as most of our work can be carried out efficiently without needing assistance.

      Based on my experience, I would rate Microsoft Power BI a 9 out of 10.

      Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

      Public Cloud

      If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

      Microsoft Azure
      Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
      PeerSpot user
      Samuel Njenga - PeerSpot reviewer
      Relationship Manager at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
      Real User
      Top 5
      Jul 24, 2024
      Role-level security, user-friendly real-time refresh and
      Pros and Cons
      • "Real-time refresh is quite interesting and user-friendly, provided you have access to a gateway. It works well."
      • "Although there are many visualizations, most of them are paid separately because they have been developed by private developers. The visualizations that come off the shelf are quite few."

      What is most valuable?

      Dataverse is quite mature in terms of visualization. There are many interesting features for Power BI, such as role-level security, which allows you to control who sees what based on their roles. This is a cool feature, as you can separate reports depending on user departments or roles.

      Real-time refresh is quite interesting and user-friendly, provided you have access to a gateway. It works well.

      We have integrated it into the data warehouse.

      It's not AI-driven. Although it has Copilot, which is in test mode, so it's not fully used.

      What needs improvement?

      Although there are many visualizations, most of them are paid separately because they have been developed by private developers. The visualizations that come off the shelf are quite few. 

      You won't have very many common visualizations; you will have to download them from private developers, which come with their own limitations, or you have to pay.

      For how long have I used the solution?

      I have been using it for more than three years. 

      What do I think about the stability of the solution?

      Stability is quite high. I haven't had any outages, so stability is also good. Maybe an eight or a nine.

      What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

      I haven't had any issues with scalability. 

      We are quite a big organization, and many of us use it without any issues. So far, I haven't had any hitches. I'll give it an eight out of ten. I haven't had an opportunity to use it in a very large organization, but for the number of users we have, it's been used without any issue.

      If it's someone consuming the reporting, that could be over a thousand. But the people actually creating those reports are much fewer.

      I personally use it daily. 

      How are customer service and support?

      As a user, I haven't had any reason to contact them.

      Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

      I have also used Tableau, but not to a very great extent. I have also used Oracle BI.

      Power BI is more user-friendly and practical because it can democratize data. Anyone can use it, compared to other solutions that you might not be able to use unless you're in IT.

      How was the initial setup?

      I would rate my experience with the initial setup a ten out of ten, with one being difficult and ten being easy. It is very easy and straightforward. 

      We use it on the cloud, on 365.

      What was our ROI?

      It's saving a lot of time. You can submit some of the processing, so you spend less time on it.

      What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

      The licensing can be complicated because there are so many options. Maybe they can make it a bit simpler to understand.

      What other advice do I have?

      It's one of the solutions I've used and been happy with.

      Overall, I would rate it a nine out of ten. I would recommend it. 

      Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
      PeerSpot user
      Ammar Rajab - PeerSpot reviewer
      Senior Data Analyst at NeoMedia Technologies Inc
      Real User
      Top 20
      Aug 1, 2024
      Crunch the data faster, good speed of building a visual and the transformation feature
      Pros and Cons
      • "Power BI's integration with other tools is very good."
      • "The real-time data refresh capabilities is one of the things I had issues with"

      What is our primary use case?

      We use it specifically for pure data analysis. 

      What is most valuable?

      I like the speed of building a visual and the transformation feature where you can make changes to the data, and then revert back very fast. These features, where you make transformations and then delete that step when you don't need them, are some of the best.

      Power BI's integration with other tools is very good. With Power BI, if there are other systems on the network, you can easily connect to anything like SQL Server, Oracle, Amazon, Salesforce, SAP...anything you can easily connect. I have not faced difficulties with that.

      What needs improvement?

      The real-time data refresh capabilities is one of the things I had issues with. The refresh sometimes doesn't really work very well because there are two ways of connecting: direct and import. 

      When it's direct, it's refreshed, but then you have limitations. But when you import the data, I feel there is always a limitation in the refresh. It is kind of like a room for improvement for Microsoft Power BI to work more on these real-time data refresh capabilities.

      Microsoft Power BI changes almost every month; make changes regularly. I sometimes even see features that disappear, change, and update. So, I'm not keeping up. They are already doing a lot of changes. They keep updating regularly.

      For how long have I used the solution?

      I have been using it for six to seven years. 

      What do I think about the stability of the solution?

      It's quite stable. Power BI is very stable.

      What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

      It is very scalable. Almost everyone in our company uses it. 

      I personally use it daily. 

      How are customer service and support?

      I don't usually deal with customer service and support. It's our technical team that deals with them, but I don't see them complaining.

      Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

      I used Excel. Power BI can crunch the data faster, and you can build a dashboard nicer and faster. Building a visual in Power BI is always easier, quicker, and simpler than Excel. It's Excel on steroids. 

      I used to use Excel pivot tables a lot, but with Power BI, it's faster. It's easier to play with the data. If I want to make a list or put some formulas and stuff, Excel is good. But if I want to visualize the data, crunch it properly, and build measures quickly, Power BI is better.

      How was the initial setup?

      I would rate my experience with the initial setup an eight out of ten, with ten being easy and one being very difficult. 

      It is deployed both on-premises and the cloud. 

      The deployment time varies and depends on the company. Every company is different. Here, internally, we have Microsoft Power BI Cloud, so it's easy. 

      But in the previous company, we did not have Microsoft Cloud. So, to install, we had to install Microsoft Reporting Server and then Power BI internally. That took quite a while. 

      But if you have Microsoft Cloud in your company, that's easy. And it's quicker on the cloud than on-premises.

      What about the implementation team?

      Maybe a third party helped with the deployment. 

      What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

      Downloading Power BI Desktop is free. But when you want to use the cloud, this is where I think it's per user payment. I'm not really very familiar with the licensing because I think they have more than one level. 

      But to use Power BI internally for yourself, it's free. You download it. It's a free application.

      What other advice do I have?

      I would recommend Power BI to other people. Overall, I would rate it an eight out of ten. 

      Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
      PeerSpot user
      Luca La Via - PeerSpot reviewer
      Software Engineering Manager at Biesse
      Real User
      Top 10
      Jul 24, 2024
      Increased scalability may lead to dashboard-related concerns but offers good data integration capabilities
      Pros and Cons
      • "The dashboard is very nice and it is very simple to understand every single component."
      • "Whenever you work on the same dashboard or on the same code, Microsoft Power BI doesn't have a good architecture that allows multiple people to work on the same project."

      What is our primary use case?

      In my company, we use Microsoft Power BI only for monitoring because now it is the only software you can use to connect to Azure DevOps. We use the tool to monitor our environment, activities, and KPIs and evaluate bug rates and future values. In our company, we use agile scrum methodology, and for every activity that we create in our backlog, we monitor the life of the activity in our backlog. When we deliver the above-mentioned features, we use the Microsoft Power BI to monitor and create KPIs.

      What is most valuable?

      The dashboard is very nice and it is very simple to understand every single component. You would use a new task manager to monitor goals to manage your team, but I don't like that and would prefer to work with and learn a new tool that does monitoring. Sometimes, we use Azure to measure every dashboard and to monitor the activity in the scrum, but only under the dashboard. For example, more or less the two or three KPIs can be monitored using your monitoring tool.

      What needs improvement?

      In our company, we don't have any big problems with the tool because I have only one member from the main team who works on Microsoft Power BI to create, or sometimes, when we push the request to bring a new dashboard in the tool. I currently have two members working on the same dashboard, but only one member can work on the dashboard at a time. Whenever you work on the same dashboard or on the same code, Microsoft Power BI doesn't have a good architecture that allows multiple people to work on the same project.

      For how long have I used the solution?

      I have been using Microsoft Power BI for a year.

      What do I think about the stability of the solution?

      It is a stable solution. The tool is static after you create the language and put it inside the dashboard. You can schedule the report at a particular time in the day, making it a very simple tool with a scheduler to run your reports. I think it is a stable tool, but we don't stress a lot on our infrastructure with Microsoft Power BI. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

      What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

      For me, scalability is hard to learn. I don't think it is a good tool for which the scalability part should be evaluated.

      Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a five out of ten.

      How are customer service and support?

      The technical support for the solution is very fast, but finding the right technical person is not easy. I rate the technical support an eight out of ten.

      How would you rate customer service and support?

      Positive

      How was the initial setup?

      The problem with Microsoft Power BI is that we can use any language or developer language. Now, we have a small problem when different members of my team work on the same project on the same dashboard. We now connect Microsoft Power BI to Git, and we deliver it, but, of course, the tool is not engineered to function in such a manner. We face issues when lots of members work together.

      The solution is deployed on a private cloud model, but I don't know what infrastructure is needed to use it. Five months ago, my company switched from the tool's on-premises version to the cloud one.

      What other advice do I have?

      I find Microsoft Power BI to be the most effective for data integration.

      Microsoft Power BI actually dramatically improved our company's data visualization, and if we are lucky, then we have the features inside of the tool itself, which we can develop, and it is a very fast process. When you need a new feature or a new dashboard, and when we don't have any good news on the internet from Microsoft, we need to develop such features from scratch, for which we spend a lot of time creating a new dashboard for monitoring purposes.

      Microsoft Power BI impacted our operational costs, and the benefits are nice because you can monitor everything. The advantage that we have in Microsoft Power BI is something we need to learn, especially the new language and new tool, but it is not our focus because I am the leader of the software engineering team. Microsoft Power BI Power is a tool to support my team, and my first activity involved managing tasks.

      Microsoft Power BI has handled scalability as our company's data analytics needs have grown because you can use the tool's scalability feature on the cloud. If I need to add a new member to work on Microsoft Power BI, I don't think it is good because every single person can work on a single dashboard offered by the tool, but if you would scale up, then you won't be able to work using one dashboard.

      Though I have no idea how the maintenance is done, I know that it is a process carried out by our company's team members.

      I rate the tool a five out of ten.

      Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

      Private Cloud
      Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
      PeerSpot user
      Tugrul TASCI - PeerSpot reviewer
      IT Professor at Sakarya University
      Real User
      Top 5Leaderboard
      Oct 8, 2024
      Optimal data visualization with seamless integration and fits well into the Microsoft ecosystem
      Pros and Cons
      • "The best features of Microsoft Power BI include its integration with other Microsoft products and its ability to connect applications within the Microsoft ecosystem."
      • "Spatial data support should be enhanced."

      What is our primary use case?

      I use Microsoft Power BI for data visualization and IT studies. It is used primarily in my academic studies and courses, particularly in my visualization course, which is part of a master's program for individuals currently working in the industry. Students also use similar programs like Excel to monitor various issues.

      How has it helped my organization?

      Using Microsoft Power BI has significantly helped in analyzing large datasets. The solution allows for visualizing and connecting different Microsoft applications, which is beneficial for academic purposes.

      What is most valuable?

      The best features of Microsoft Power BI include its integration with other Microsoft products and its ability to connect applications within the Microsoft ecosystem. The product's overall integration within Microsoft's ecosystem is one of its strong points.

      What needs improvement?

      There are a few areas where Microsoft Power BI could be improved. For instance, spatial data support should be enhanced. Currently, it supports only topoJSON format for spatial files; other formats such as shapefiles or KML should also be supported to broaden the library.

      For how long have I used the solution?

      I have been using Microsoft Power BI for at least five years.

      What do I think about the stability of the solution?

      The stability of Microsoft Power BI is quite good. I would rate it a nine out of ten. However, there can be some difficulty in handling very large datasets, but overall, the stability is strong.

      What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

      Dealing with very large datasets can be a bit difficult, which impacts the scalability to some extent.

      How are customer service and support?

      I would rate Microsoft's customer support a seven out of ten. This rating may be influenced by my location in Turkey, making access to support somewhat challenging.

      How would you rate customer service and support?

      Neutral

      Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

      I have used several other solutions, including Tableau and Looker. Each has its advantages, but generally, I prefer Microsoft Power BI first, followed by Qlik, and then Tableau.

      How was the initial setup?

      The initial setup of Microsoft Power BI is straightforward and can be managed without significant issues. Using it for academic purposes, we mainly use the desktop version.

      What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

      For companies, the program is cost-efficient. Academically, we use Microsoft Power BI for free through the licenses provided.

      Which other solutions did I evaluate?

      I evaluated Tableau, Looker, and Qlik before deciding on Microsoft Power BI. Each of these solutions has its own unique advantages.

      What other advice do I have?

      Given the increasing need to analyze large datasets, I would definitely recommend Microsoft Power BI. It is a valuable tool for both academic and practical applications, particularly for those involved in data analysis and IT studies.

      I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. 

      Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

      On-premises
      Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
      PeerSpot user
      Database Administrator at Gap
      Real User
      Top 20
      Sep 15, 2024
      Integrates with different data sources and handle large data sets
      Pros and Cons
      • "One of the key benefits of Power BI is how easy it is to develop reports."
      • "We identified a couple of issues in the reports. Some reports took too long to load, particularly at the end of our data refresh."

      How has it helped my organization?

      We have created the reports and are continuing to work on them. We are deploying them to the proxy, and the users are utilizing them for various business processes.

      I work in Tableau or Tableau and Power BI. It can handle large data sets. You can just get the raw data. When it comes to Power BI, if you have to get the raw data and want to refresh it, the refresh at a point in time would degrade performance.

      What is most valuable?

      One of the key benefits of Power BI is how easy it is to develop reports. Even non-technical users can easily download the report and learn to include slicers and data filters once provided with a template. The platform is very user-friendly. Another advantage of Power BI is that if the report developer encounters any issues, they can quickly find solutions through Microsoft’s help resources. You can get your assistance by visiting the Microsoft support site or posting queries. This makes developing and delivering reports much easier. Microsoft Power BI provides much support and flexibility, making it a great tool for report generation.

      It can integrate with different data sources. You can connect seamlessly to Databricks, SQL Data Warehouse, third-party sites, and multiple other sources.

      What needs improvement?

      We identified a couple of issues in the reports. Some reports took too long to load, particularly at the end of our data refresh. To address this, we optimized the data model using multiple tables, improving performance. Now, all reports are refreshing properly using DBP, and we’ve implemented these improvements in Power BI.

      For how long have I used the solution?

      I have been using Microsoft Power BI for two years.

      What do I think about the stability of the solution?


      What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

      The availability of Power BI is excellent. Once a user is set up, they can easily access and work with the Power BI files from the repository. There are also various modes for adding features, allowing users to combine data in different ways to make informed business decisions. 

      Based on business discussions, there are 25 to 100 business users. The users work with templates, and we collect UAT feedback from them.

      How was the initial setup?

      The initial setup was straightforward. Based on the current requirements, I've been able to develop the reports independently. It's easy to use and allows for faster reporting.

      Once we generate the reports, we schedule and publish them on the website and then share the process with the users.

      We're able to refresh the Power BI reports and create data models to support the business at this stage.

      What other advice do I have?

      I'm working with a company that manages detailed sales data for the clothing industry. We're tracking orders, brands, seasons, and which facility handled the order, along with audits. We're focusing on metrics like fabric consumption and fiber content for reporting. 

      We can develop reports in Power BI, including RxTx reports. Many of the business teams are also using Power BI. For support, we use Slack to manage tickets and TableLab for some tasks. Power BI offers a trial version, and you can get a pro license at a relatively low cost, with users having access to AV accounts. The main advantages are that it’s easy to use and more affordable compared to other reporting tools.

      Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

      Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

      Public Cloud
      Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
      PeerSpot user
      Amol Rane - PeerSpot reviewer
      Solutions Architect M365 at Sogeti UK
      Real User
      Top 20
      Jul 30, 2024
      Supports AI initiatives in terms of predictive analytics
      Pros and Cons
      • "The AI support is really good, and we have plans to use the AI mechanisms and algorithms that Power BI uses to publish more easy-to-understand reports for our customers."
      • "The dashboards lack a user-friendly appearance, and the permissions should be easier to understand."

      What is our primary use case?

      My company, we work as consultants. We help set up the environment for our customers. We do the initial setup for the customers so that they can use it. 

      To a certain extent, we also set up dashboards and workplaces within Power BI for customers and run automation.

      Our customers are mostly in security, finance, and some marketing companies.

      What is most valuable?

      The dashboards are valuable. We use them to help customers who are scattered across multiple countries. We can scope the access and information so that only relevant parties have visibility to what is relevant to their environment.

      I haven't used real-time data processing much. It's more about the dashboards, where we play around. We work on Microsoft 365 and Azure and populate the dashboards with that information. Then, the dashboards are published to the end users so they can view relevant information.

      The AI support is really good. We have plans to use the AI mechanisms and algorithms that Power BI uses to publish more easy-to-understand reports for our customers. We don't have to start things from scratch when we have metadata via AI. It integrates with the existing Power BI system and pulls up the data. It feels like they are being more open so that the data can be easily readable, and then using AI, it can be published in a better way.

      What needs improvement?

      The only issue is with permissions. Sometimes, despite granting granular permissions, dashboards are visible to people who shouldn't have access. It's difficult to understand why the permissions slip out.

      Sometimes dashboards are visible to stakeholders even though they should not have permission. It's a bit difficult to understand why the permissions slip out.

      The dashboards lack a user-friendly appearance, and the permissions should be easier to understand. At this point, we have to go through a lot of details. It takes a lot of time to understand the permissions, so if there were better options available within the Power BI setup, it would be quite beneficial, especially for admins.

      So, there should be a more user-friendly dashboard appearance and easier-to-understand permissions.

      For how long have I used the solution?

      I have been working with Power BI for two years. 

      What do I think about the stability of the solution?

      It is quite stable. I would rate the stability a nine out of ten. I haven't heard any complaints from our customers. 

      What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

      I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten. It still needs some more things within the system.

      Our customers are mostly medium and enterprise businesses. 

      How are customer service and support?

      The support has been good. It takes time for them to respond, but when they do, they are helpful. I would give it an eight.

      How would you rate customer service and support?

      Positive

      How was the initial setup?

      The initial setup is easy. It's quite easy. Not that complicated. You just need the license, and then you're done.

      I would rate my experience with the initial setup a nine out of ten, with ten being easy. 

      It takes a couple of hours, four hours to eight hours. 

      What about the implementation team?

      We are the integrators.

      What was our ROI?

      It did positively impact ROI. From a time perspective, at least four to six hours are saved because a lot of manual work is eliminated. Things are easily available, so people can do their work more efficiently.

      What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

      When you have more number of users, like we have one customer with 200,000, it's a bit expensive. But I feel it's reasonable for small-scale customers.

      What other advice do I have?

      I would recommend exploring it. A lot of features are available within Power BI. People complain that they want this or that, but everything is there. Explore it more, read through the documentation, and that would be helpful.

      Overall, I would rate it a nine out of ten. 

      Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

      Public Cloud
      Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
      PeerSpot user
      Alyosh Agarwal - PeerSpot reviewer
      Managing Director/ Consultant at Applaud GmbH
      Reseller
      Top 20
      Jul 30, 2024
      Used to build business intelligence dashboards and provides good graphic representation
      Pros and Cons
      • "The solution's most valuable feature is the graphic representation."
      • "The dynamic browsing tables could be better in Microsoft Power BI."

      What is our primary use case?

      We use the solution to build business intelligence dashboards.

      What is most valuable?

      The solution's most valuable feature is the graphic representation.

      What needs improvement?

      The dynamic browsing tables could be better in Microsoft Power BI.

      For how long have I used the solution?

      I have been using Microsoft Power BI for three years.

      What do I think about the stability of the solution?

      I have not faced any issues with the solution’s stability.

      I rate the solution an eight out of ten for stability.

      What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

      I am satisfied with the solution’s scalability. Our customers for Microsoft Power BI are enterprise businesses in the engineering sector.

      I rate the solution’s scalability ten out of ten.

      Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

      Microsoft Power BI is a simpler solution than Tableau.

      How was the initial setup?

      The solution's initial setup is easy. The solution can be deployed in a few hours.

      On a scale from one to ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy, I rate the solution's initial setup ten out of ten.

      What was our ROI?

      Microsoft Power BI is a comparable tool that provides very quick ROI, and it's as good as or better than other products like QlikView or Tableau.

      What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

      Microsoft Power BI is not an expensive solution. The solution’s pricing is reasonable.

      What other advice do I have?

      The solution's real-time data processing feature benefits our organization because most managers want to have real-time data compilations. They want to integrate SQL and expect the data to be current. Different clients have different environments. Sometimes, the tool is deployed on the local server, and sometimes in the cloud.

      Microsoft Power BI is worth trying because it's very popular and easily adopted by organizations. It's easier to adopt than third-party products. Microsoft Power BI provides good graphical overviews, good graphic preparation of data, good integration with SQL, and good data integration.

      Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

      Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Consultant
      PeerSpot user
      Buyer's Guide
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      Updated: June 2026
      Buyer's Guide
      Download our free Microsoft Power BI Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.