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reviewer1537956 - PeerSpot reviewer
MI Manager at a recruiting/HR firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Apr 2, 2021
Extremely responsive and helpful support, easy report modeling, and supports connections with multiple data sources
Pros and Cons
  • "It is good for us for onboarding the data. We can connect to multiple data sources, do transformations to make the data usable, and then model it within the transformation. Someone who has come from a Microsoft Excel environment will easily be able to use this solution. Power query and report modeling are easy to understand in this solution. Their technical support is very good. They are extremely responsive, helpful, and hands-on."
  • "It is good for us for onboarding the data; we can connect to multiple data sources, do transformations to make the data usable, and then model it within the transformation."
  • "The visual outlet or the visualization aspect can be improved because the settings piece is quite problematic. It requires a lot of time to set the visuals and check. It is quite fiddly to change all the settings and font sizes. It just needs better ability in terms of using templates or visualization templates to get the vision. Our users always benchmark based on the product, and they don't appreciate everything under the bonnet. The only rating is based on the actual reports in the settings for the dashboard. They should make it look a bit funky and a bit more aesthetically pleasing on the eye. It is quite a fiddly tool, but other than that, it is pretty slick. Because it is community-driven, the marketplace tends to be changing forever. You get the standard visualizations, and you've also got all other marketplace visualizations that require you to spend a bit more money and purchase things in the marketplace. With certain visualizations, there is no longevity. I had used certain visualizations, but they discontinued them, and I had to rebuild my reports, which is obviously very frustrating. There should be some sort of stabilization around how the marketplace visuals impact the users when they expire."
  • "With certain visualizations, there is no longevity; I had used certain visualizations, but they discontinued them, and I had to rebuild my reports, which is obviously very frustrating."

What is most valuable?

It is good for us for onboarding the data. We can connect to multiple data sources, do transformations to make the data usable, and then model it within the transformation.

Someone who has come from a Microsoft Excel environment will easily be able to use this solution. Power query and report modeling are easy to understand in this solution.

Their technical support is very good. They are extremely responsive, helpful, and hands-on.

What needs improvement?

The visual outlet or the visualization aspect can be improved because the settings piece is quite problematic. It requires a lot of time to set the visuals and check. It is quite fiddly to change all the settings and font sizes. It just needs better ability in terms of using templates or visualization templates to get the vision. Our users always benchmark based on the product, and they don't appreciate everything under the bonnet. The only rating is based on the actual reports in the settings for the dashboard. They should make it look a bit funky and a bit more aesthetically pleasing on the eye. It is quite a fiddly tool, but other than that, it is pretty slick. 

Because it is community-driven, the marketplace tends to be changing forever. You get the standard visualizations, and you've also got all other marketplace visualizations that require you to spend a bit more money and purchase things in the marketplace. With certain visualizations, there is no longevity. I had used certain visualizations, but they discontinued them, and I had to rebuild my reports, which is obviously very frustrating. There should be some sort of stabilization around how the marketplace visuals impact the users when they expire.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for about two and a half years. We use Power BI Premium, and we have its latest version.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable once you've got your ducks in a row. We live in a world of fast-paced data. The business I am working in is dealing with a lot of unstructured data, so it has to go through the data onboarding transformation piece. It is more scalable if it connects to a data warehouse, but connecting to an Excel spreadsheet or unstructured data requires enormous amounts of investment. I have seen some other tools that are more data wrangling tools, so you don't want to blur your line. You need to stick to what you're good at. Is it data visualization and modeling, or is it data transformation? They're trying to diversify and make the tool all-encompassing, but we're now having to use a different tool for data transformation or data wrangling. We then just connect it to a data warehouse, and it becomes a really slick and scalable tool.

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Microsoft Power BI
March 2026
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How are customer service and support?

They are very good. They are extremely responsive and helpful. They arrange a call quite quickly, and they actually get on the call and help you and do troubleshooting with you. They are not sending you to the Q&A page. They are quite hands-on in terms of support. So, I am really happy with their support.

What other advice do I have?

I would advise others to just make sure that whatever you're going to deploy can be scaled out. You should get your data modeling in place first. 

I would recommend this solution. They have so many releases every month, which is quite cool. They are keeping on top of it, and it is not like you have to wait six months for a release. I'm still trying to keep up with the releases of the last four or five months.

I would rate Power BI a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
Consultant en Business Intelligence
Consultant
Mar 30, 2021
Free software which is very intuitive and easy to use
Pros and Cons
  • "Very intuitive and easy to use."
  • "I like this product because it's a free software, very intuitive and very easy to use."
  • "Capacity could be improved."
  • "The capacity of the solution could be improved. If you don't need all the data it offers then don't download it because the software slows down."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case of this solution is as a reporting tool. We implement it for our clients. I'm a consultant in business intelligence and we are customers of Microsoft BI.

What is most valuable?

I like this product because it's a free software, very intuitive and very easy to use.

What needs improvement?

The capacity of the solution could be improved. If you don't need all the data it offers then don't download it because the software slows down. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this product for the last year. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's a stable solution. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is quite straightforward. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate this solution an eight out of 10. 

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
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Power BI
March 2026
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Power BI. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
886,664 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer1536369 - PeerSpot reviewer
Power BI Technical Specialist at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Mar 29, 2021
Useful for collaboration and insightful data visualizations, highly scalable, and easy to deploy
Pros and Cons
  • "We are able to collaborate on things and get insightful data visualizations."
  • "It has been helpful in getting insights; we weren't able to get insights at such a level, and it is also helpful in getting an overview of different departments, which we are able to do much faster than before."
  • "Its performance and stability can be improved. It takes time to load, and sometimes, it also breaks down for the whole region. Its usability could also be better, and it could also have more connections with different data sources."
  • "Its performance and stability can be improved. It takes time to load, and sometimes, it also breaks down for the whole region."

What is our primary use case?

We are using it for reporting ERP data, IT service data, financial data, and so on.

How has it helped my organization?

It has been helpful in getting insights. We weren't able to get insights at such a level. It is also helpful in getting an overview of different departments. We are able to do it much faster than before.

What is most valuable?

We are able to collaborate on things and get insightful data visualizations.

What needs improvement?

Its performance and stability can be improved. It takes time to load, and sometimes, it also breaks down for the whole region.

Its usability could also be better, and it could also have more connections with different data sources.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for two years. In this company, I have been using it for two months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is not completely stable. Sometimes, it goes off for the whole North Europe region. Its stability should be improved.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable, and there are no issues with its scalability. I would rate it a ten out of ten in terms of scalability. We have around 300 users of this solution.

How are customer service and technical support?

We don't have any issues with their technical support. 

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

I have worked only with Power BI.

How was the initial setup?

It is easy because documentation and a lot of tutorials are available. Its deployment took one month.

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

Power BI premium is really expensive for our market. A lot of small and medium companies would like to purchase it, but they can't afford it.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Power BI an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer1537680 - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of Analytics Director at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Mar 28, 2021
Low-cost, feature-rich, and easy to deploy, but would be nice to get faster support for new features
Pros and Cons
  • "It is low-cost and easy to deploy. It is fully-featured."
  • "It has all the features, and it is easy to deploy."
  • "They are improving it all the time. What would be nice is if they could respond to feature requests more quickly. They can provide faster support for new features."
  • "What would be nice is if they could respond to feature requests more quickly."

What is our primary use case?

It is for dashboards and reports. 

What is most valuable?

It is low-cost and easy to deploy. It is fully-featured.

What needs improvement?

They are improving it all the time. What would be nice is if they could respond to feature requests more quickly. They can provide faster support for new features.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is reasonably stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In my organization, we have around ten users. In our client's organization, we have about 100 users.

How are customer service and technical support?

I normally find whatever I need in Microsoft documentation or through Google. There is a lot of activity in the market. A lot of other people typically would have already asked the same question that I have, so it is fairly easy to find information.

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

I didn't really use any other product. I used to be a Qlik partner, and I became a Microsoft partner two years ago.

How was the initial setup?

Its installation is straightforward. The developer suite has one-click installation. The end-users just get a web URL. There is no installation for end-users. They just access it.

There is a Microsoft certification that you need to complete, but it is all deployed on the Microsoft Azure cloud. So, there are no infrastructure requirements.

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

It depends upon the tier of your Office 365 subscription. On E5, which is a Microsoft Azure subscription, you get it for free. If you are on a lower tier, you can subscribe for $10 a month per user, which is really cheap.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution. It is pretty good. Technically, it is at the same level as the other products that I've used so far. It has all the features, and it is easy to deploy. Its costs are really palatable. They are improving it all the time. I am fairly satisfied with this product.

I would rate Microsoft BI a seven out of ten. There are always areas for improvement, but I am fairly happy with it. I would not rate anything else also higher than seven.

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 has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Integrator
PeerSpot user
reviewer1381863 - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Consultant
Mar 26, 2021
Highly scalable, very stable, good data presentation, and useful for deeper insights and analysis
Pros and Cons
  • "The way data is presented is very valuable. The amount of information that we can get at a glance is also valuable. You can then drill-down and see data from many different angles in the same chart by selecting certain things. Based on the selection, everything changes automatically. If we have four parameters in a particular item, when you select a parameter, the remaining charts on that page automatically change for that particular parameter."
  • "It is a good and very useful product; I find it to be extremely useful because it gives me a deeper insight into my business, and it lets me analyze things and make decisions based on the data."
  • "Its price could be better. Its licensing cost is very high."
  • "Its licensing cost is very high."

What is our primary use case?

We are using Power BI Premium at the moment. It is an online solution, which always has the latest version.

It is for data visualization and data insights. BI means business intelligence, so it helps you understand the performance of your business better. It gives you deeper insight into the data so that you can draw meaningful conclusions from the data, and your decisions are based on data insights rather than a hunch. 

How has it helped my organization?

It is a good and very useful product. I find it to be extremely useful because it gives me a deeper insight into my business, and it lets me analyze things and make decisions based on the data.

What is most valuable?

The way data is presented is very valuable. The amount of information that we can get at a glance is also valuable. You can then drill-down and see data from many different angles in the same chart by selecting certain things. Based on the selection, everything changes automatically. If we have four parameters in a particular item, when you select a parameter, the remaining charts on that page automatically change for that particular parameter.

What needs improvement?

Its price could be better. Its licensing cost is very high.

For how long have I used the solution?

We discovered it about two months ago, and we started using it.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

You can scale it to thousands of users. It is a cloud product. Microsoft Cloud is being used by people across the world. So, there is no limitation in terms of scalability.

At the moment, we have about five users, but the number of users will increase to 50. We are absolutely going to keep using it.

How are customer service and technical support?

We generally don't approach Microsoft for support. We are able to handle things at our end.

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

We used simple Excel reports, but Excel reports are not as good as Power BI. Power BI is far ahead.

How was the initial setup?

It is a cloud product. You can access it through a web browser. It takes no time. 

It takes time only when you have to prepare the reports because you need to know how to prepare the Power BI reports. There is an MIS team, and there are Power BI designers who design the reports, but for users, it doesn't take much effort because they just have to click and see.

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

Its licensing cost is very high. It is $20 per user, which is very high, but it is a good product, so you pay for it.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution. I would rate Microsoft BI 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. Partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer1398615 - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at a training & coaching company with 201-500 employees
Consultant
Mar 24, 2021
Flexible with good support but it could be more mobile friendly and the price could be better
Pros and Cons
  • "I like the flexibility it offers."
  • "I like the flexibility it offers."
  • "The graphic interface could be better."
  • "The graphic interface could be better. I would also like to see it mobile-friendly."

What is our primary use case?

We use Microsoft BI for analytics.

What is most valuable?

I like the flexibility it offers.

What needs improvement?

The graphic interface could be better.

I would also like to see it mobile-friendly.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft BI for one year.

We are using the latest version.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

In some ways, it is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's a scalable solution. We have 10 or 15 users in our organization.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is good, and we are satisfied with it.

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

Before Microsoft BI, we used Tableau.

How was the initial setup?

I was not involved with the installation but my understanding is that it was easy to install.

We have a team of two people to maintain this solution.

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

There are licensing fees.

It's an expensive solution.

What other advice do I have?

I am not sure if we will continue to use this solution, it depends on the business requirements.

Depending on their business size and setup, I may recommend this solution.

I would rate Microsoft BI a seven 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
Business Intelligence Developer at a manufacturing company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Mar 21, 2021
Great for monitoring and reporting
Pros and Cons
  • "Premium features that used to cost $5,000 per company per month recently became a lot more accessible. Microsoft recently implemented a per user feature in Power BI Premium; it's $20 per month."
  • "What I like about Power BI compared to Tableau, for example, is that Tableau is mostly a visualization program, but Power BI is a more complete solution, because it has DAX, Power Query, and a presentation and graphic layer."
  • "I would like to be able to use more predicting data science features without having to use R."
  • "I would like to be able to use more predicting data science features without having to use R."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use cases for this product are monitoring and reporting. I have some dashboards for the sales department and a little bit for operations. I'm going to create a new dashboard for marketing. 

What is most valuable?

What I like about Power BI compared to Tableau, for example, is that Tableau is mostly a visualization program, but Power BI is a more complete solution, because it has DAX, Power Query, and a presentation and graphic layer. So, I use it not only for reporting and graphic purposes on the frontend, but also for doing things like modeling. It is very flexible, a lot more flexible for than Tableau for what I need.

One of the things that I appreciate is that premium features that used to cost $5,000 per company per month recently became a lot more accessible. Microsoft recently implemented a per user feature in Power BI Premium; it's $20 per month. I'm investigating in that because I think the price is good. 

What needs improvement?

I would like to be able to use more predicting data science features without having to use R. If I were able to do most of the data science that I normally do inside Power BI without using R, I would decrease my use of R and mostly use Power BI. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft Power BI for four and a half to five years. I have been using it since they created in basically. I started using it when it was Power Pivot in Excel and as soon as they created Power BI, I started using it. 

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

I recommend easing into Microsoft Power BI gradually. I started by creating models and graphics in Excel first. Then, when I learned a little bit about modeling, I started moving to Power BI and working there. 

So, I recommend starting with Excel and practicing there first. Power Pivot is the app that you can use in Excel for this kind of work. Before switching to Power BI, learn about data modeling and dashboarding in Power Pivot in Excel first. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Before switching to Microsoft Power BI, I evaluated Tableau. It's a lot cheaper to use Power BI. The cost per user in Power BI is around $10 per month, while the cost per user for Tableau is a lot more expensive. That was a deciding factor for me. 

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
reviewer1501212 - PeerSpot reviewer
Part Owner at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Mar 13, 2021
Great technology and some very good features
Pros and Cons
  • "Good CS and administration."
  • "The scalability is excellent, all our professional consultants use it."
  • "Creating dashboards could be easier."
  • "Compared to other solutions, the cost of the license is expensive and that could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

I am a consultant for a big company. We deal with energy companies, petroleum, sales companies and we deal with everything from financials to operations. We deal with market strategy and we provide consultancy services - I'm a part owner of the company. 

What is most valuable?

I like the CS, administration, most of the features are good as well as the technology.

What needs improvement?

I think creating dashboards could be easier. Compared to other solutions, the cost of the license is expensive and that could be improved. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for over 20 years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is excellent. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is excellent, all our professional consultants use it. Where we deploy in the banking sector, they can have 1,000 licensed users; in smaller companies there can be 50 users. 

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is quite good, but I'd like to see a quicker response time. 

How was the initial setup?

Deployment time depends on the company, it can take up to two months. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate this solution a nine out of 10. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft Power BI Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: March 2026
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft Power BI Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.