I use Microsoft BI for my own projects that are related to integrating with Excel datasets. I use the visualization and graphing functions, and I have tried using the Python integration.
Research & Development Expert at a energy/utilities company with 11-50 employees
Good visualization and graphing functions, integrates with Python
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is integration with Python."
- "The integration with third-party products could be more stable."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is integration with Python.
What needs improvement?
The integration with third-party products could be more stable.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft BI for approximately one month.
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Power BI
February 2025
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837,501 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Microsoft BI could be a little more stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have approximately 10 users. I don't expect that we will expand our usage or continue using this product.
How are customer service and support?
I have not been in contact with technical support.
How was the initial setup?
There is no complexity in the initial setup. It takes approximately 15 minutes to deploy.
What about the implementation team?
There are twenty people in the team that handles the deployment and maintenance of our solutions.
What other advice do I have?
In summary, this is a good product and I recommend it.
I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior Software Engineer - Business Intelligence at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
The interactive reports, DirectQuery and integration with the other Microsoft services are valuable features.
What is most valuable?
The interactive reports, DirectQuery and integration with the other Microsoft services are valuable features.
What needs improvement?
There needs to be support for more data sources in DirectQuery.
DirectQuery is a method of connecting your data directly, i.e. any changes in data source will reflect in report immediately. (This is very great feature if you are doing live analysis of your data). As of now there are limited number of Data Sources such as SQL, SQL Azure, which are supported by Power BI with DirectQuery. Although Microsoft keeps working on adding different data sources in DirectQuery (currently only six data sources in this method and three more in Preview), that's why I feel that still DirectQuery (method of connecting your data) has more room for improvement because there are many other data sources that are commonly used by different organization like (MySQL, Access, etc.)
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used this solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In the beginning, we did encounter some stability issues; now, Microsoft is doing great things to make this product more stable and enhanced.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were using SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS reports), now we are moving towards Power BI due to its Publish on web part, as well as the interactive cross-filtering throughout all the visuals (i.e., if you need).
How was the initial setup?
The setup is easy. It is very easy to use. If you are an Excel and SQL user, then it is very easy to get a grip on this product.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We tried Tableau. Although Tableau itself is a great product, we chose Power BI due to its pricing and Microsoft's focus to make it a better product.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: We are Microsoft Gold Partners.
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Power BI
February 2025
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Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Power BI. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
837,501 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Customer Data Analytics Specialist at Allianz Turkey
You can work easily to upload and model big data.
What is most valuable?
Power Query and Power Pivot are the most valuable features. You can easily manage your data on Excel. İf you have a professional version, you can do it. However, if you don't use Power Query and Power Pivot, then your raw number is limited. The Unpivot specialty is useful because you can't do it in the front-side of Excel.
How has it helped my organization?
If you don't have any analytical tool and you don't have any budget, then Power BI can be the best product in terms of the price-quality index. This is because you can work easily on big data; you can upload and model it.
What needs improvement?
Performance can be better; of course, it depends on your hardware but it can also be improved.
Once I tried to upload 5 million rows on Power Query from a CSV file but I got an error about my personal computer, i.e., my RAM was not enough for uploading. Also, sometimes this process takes a long time.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used this solution for about three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
There were no stability issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product is scalable.
How is customer service and technical support?
Once I asked a question to the technical support team and they answered clearly. I would give them a 9/10 rating.
What other advice do I have?
It is a user-friendly tool, but the data size is important, i.e., you have to check your data size and how you can use it effectively.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Information System Manager with 501-1,000 employees
We evaluated both SSRS and Business Objects. We chose SSRS and currently use Cognos as well.
I've been using Microsoft SSRS for 2 years. For me, the most valuable feature is the integration feature with our ERP. SSRS has room for improvement including drill down and graphs. Although I am happy with the products, I have experience performance degradation at times.
We're currently running both SSRS and Cognos. We ended up choosing SSRS after evaluating it alongside Business Objects. Once we chose to go with SSRS, we implemented through the vendor and found their level of expertise to be high which made the process very easy. I would say that our ROI is 200%. I would recommend SSRS to others.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
BI and data chief consultant at a media company with 11-50 employees
Allows you to create dashboard presentations
Pros and Cons
- "We would like it if they added more Python libraries in the Power BI service. For Power BI service right now, you can use Python, but it is limited to a few libraries or a few packages from Python."
What is our primary use case?
We are implementing it for dashboard presentation. For example, one of our customers is in the energy sector. Another one is in the government sector, so it's dashboards mainly.
What is most valuable?
The ability to create dashboard presentations for various sectors is a valuable feature. It's an excellent product.
What needs improvement?
We would like it if they added more Python libraries in the Power BI service. For Power BI service right now, you can use Python, but it is limited to a few libraries or a few packages from Python. Other than that, it's an excellent product.
Another area that could be improved is maybe more extensions or more visuals.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Power BI for four or five years. I am working with the latest version. It's a monthly release.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Microsoft BI is scalable.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution 9 out of 10.
For someone who is looking into implementing this product, my advice is to check between the two versions because Microsoft Power BI is not one solution. You have one solution which is coming with SQL services on-prem and you have the cloud solution. You need to check because there are differences in the features. Anyone who is implementing Power BI needs to be careful on which platform they're using: on-premise or on the cloud. There is a difference in the features between the two solutions.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Implementer
Project Leader at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Flexible and scalable with a great online community
Pros and Cons
- "We have found the solution to be stable."
- "There are some other visuals that are available in the Microsoft marketplace, however, you need to use them via trial and error. There needs to be a write-up about how to use them with a quick guide describing the visual."
What is our primary use case?
I have used the solution primarily for building models for different verticals. It doesn't matter which industry you are in. I do some modeling and presentations for clients in different verticals.
What is most valuable?
The solution is flexible and works across industries.
I do love the way a user can flexibly design items. You can add and use Docs, for example.
The initial setup is pretty simple.
We have found the solution to be stable.
Our team finds the solution to be scalable.
The solution has a robust online and blog community that's great for troubleshooting.
It has Power Automate available, however, I have yet to try it out. It's something I'll look at next.
What needs improvement?
Using Docs with Microsoft BI can be difficult and hard to figure out. It has a steeper learning curve at first.
There are some other visuals that are available in the Microsoft marketplace, however, you need to use them via trial and error. There needs to be a write-up about how to use them with a quick guide about the basics of visuals. That way, you would get more of a sense of if it would work for your purposes. Right now, you need to add it to Microsoft BI and then just hope it works, or go back to the drawing board.
I had one query that came in that didn't have a direct connection it was for Oracle 9 connecting to Power BI directly. They don't integrate directly. You need to do something different or look for something else that might connect them.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been working with the solution for five years now. It's been a while at this point.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is reliable and stable. There is not much downtime or anything. In terms of data, there will be more data related to or within your connection and with your set of data or gateway.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable. It's not an issue.
We have about ten people using the solution currently.
How are customer service and support?
I've used the help that's available online and within the blog community, however, in terms of going to Microsoft for support, I haven't used them so far. Therefore, I cannot speak to how helpful or responsive they are during direct interactions.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We are currently using IBM, Microsoft BI, and Qlik.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is pretty simple and pretty straightforward. It's not overly complex or difficult.
There's a bit of maintenance required as there is data coming in every month. There are just a few server updates and write-ups to keep up on.
What about the implementation team?
We handled everything in-house. We did not need to get a consultant or integrator to assist us. It's pretty easy to do within your existing team.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We have an official enterprise license. We are not on any trial license, however, I did try out the trial which lasts for 30 days. It's nice that you can really dig into the features before you buy it.
What other advice do I have?
We're an IT consulting company. We're Gold Partners with Microsoft.
I'm using the latest version of the solution. I cannot speak to the exact version number we are currently working on.
I'm using both a desktop and a cloud version of the solution.
I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten. I do work with also other software. What I recommend to clients will depend on the user as well as the scope or scoping he wants to do, how big or how small the company is, the number of users, et cetera. Making recommendations for software all depends on this analysis first.
I won't tell go directly to Power BI, however, I will study whatever the customer would require first. Based on his requirement, we'll do the recommendation of software. That said, mostly so far what happens is that people really like Power BI due to the fact that it's easy for them to navigate around and work with it.
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
Senior Manager at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees
User-friendly, stable, and integrates well with other data sources
Pros and Cons
- "The interface is very easy to use."
- "The on-premises version lacks some technical features that are available with the Cloud version."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution for our departmental reports, which are accessible from Microsoft Project Server and SharePoint.
What is most valuable?
Microsoft BI is very friendly.
The interface is very easy to use.
The integration with other data sources is very easy and very handy.
What needs improvement?
The on-premises version lacks some technical features that are available with the Cloud version.
There is definitely room for improvement.
The visualization is lacking, it needs improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft BI for one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Microsoft BI is a stable solution.
How are customer service and technical support?
We have not contacted technical support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, we did not use another solution.
How was the initial setup?
From a technical perspective, the installation is straightforward.
It took one week to deploy.
The deployment was done by the database team.
You only need one person to maintain this solution.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not evaluate other solutions before choosing Microsoft BI.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend the cloud version of this solution.
I would rate Microsoft BI an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Head of Offshore Operations & Solutions at Techcarrot
Quick reporting, high data conductivity, and reliable
Pros and Cons
- "I have found the quick reporting and the conductivity with all the data sources valuable."
- "I would like to see some AI incorporated into this solution in the future."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution for revenue forecasting and other predictive analytic reports based on specific requirements.
What is most valuable?
I have found the quick reporting and the conductivity with all the data sources valuable.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see some AI incorporated into this solution in the future.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for approximately five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of this solution is great.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability at first was not the greatest but it has turned out it can be very good.
How are customer service and technical support?
The support has been good.
How was the initial setup?
I have found the installation straightforward compared to other competitors.
What about the implementation team?
Having this solution on the could cloud allows for quick deployment. We could deliver the solution within four to eight weeks depending on the complexity.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There is a license for this solution and we purchase them annually.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Microsoft BI an eight 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?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
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Try not to use scalar functions in your SQL queries (unless you want your reports to run all day).