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.
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?
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.
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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
Strategic Market Development Sr. Manager at a pharma/biotech company with 201-500 employees
Easy to use, flexible, but mobile application needs improvement
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is easy to use and flexible."
- "The solution could improve the mobile application design. It is difficult to use compared to the desktop version."
What is our primary use case?
I am using this solution to monitor the dashboards that someone else has created.
What is most valuable?
The solution is easy to use and flexible.
What needs improvement?
The solution could improve the mobile application design. It is difficult to use compared to the desktop version. Additionally, we have experienced a problem when attempting to update the desktop application. When we click to update we are unable to open the file to update.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for approximately two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have found the solution to be stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have approximately 50 people using this solution in my organization.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have previously used Microsoft Excel.
How was the initial setup?
The installation was simple and it takes approximately five minutes.
What about the implementation team?
I did the implementation of the solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We have a professional license for Microsoft BI and the price is fair.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others.
I rate Microsoft BI a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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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.
Consultant at a training & coaching company with 201-500 employees
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."
- "The graphic interface could be better."
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: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Managing Director at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
It reduces the time needed to generate reporting and provides an overview of company performance
What is most valuable?
Standardized solution that comes with data warehouse and BI cubes straight out of the box for deployment for both Dynamics NAV and AX products. Enhanced wizard allowing for customization of BI Solution without having to go through SQL scripts to generate additional measures and dimensions.
How has it helped my organization?
It reduces the time needed to generate reporting for an organization, allowing management to have an overview of how the company performs. Afterwards, it allows the company to formulate strategies to improve itself.
What needs improvement?
To add-in the functionality of AI into the reporting, so this can improve further on the product as it is currently. The BI reporting still relies on historical transactions.
For how long have I used the solution?
Five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
No. It works on all versions of NAV and AX.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The current deployment of the solution is up to 2TB. Do note that it still is not to the “Big Data” level.
How is customer service and technical support?
We have our own technical team who supports the BI solution. We usually solve 95% of the issues encountered. For those that can’t be resolved, it is escalated to our HQ.
How was the initial setup?
It is fairly straightforward. As long as there is a connection to the server which houses the NAV/AX database and all the data warehouse, since bi cubes are generated from the BI solution, without any need for user intervention.
What other advice do I have?
For the first project, we will advise using consultants to assist on the implementation, so the dos and don’ts of the solution can be known in the first instance without having to trial and error the solution.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: We are a direct distributor of the solution in Asia market.
Consultant MOA BI at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
MS BI comes with all the tools and it is to the best of my knowledge the most affordable solution.
Pros and Cons
- "MS SQL & SQL Server Analysis Services."
- "SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) is not user friendly."
What is most valuable?
MS SQL & SQL Server Analysis Services.
How has it helped my organization?
We provide BI solutions to the users at every level in order to monitor business. We can deploy DWH, cubes and reports from scratch within weeks of implementation.
What needs improvement?
SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) is not user friendly, requires development. Power BI will surely provide a huge boost to MS BI in terms of self-service BI. Then again, SSRS developers are plenty, thus not so expensive.
For how long have I used the solution?
Ten-plus years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability issues are due to bad hardware sizing, bad forecast of volumes, or bad data modeling.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Only when data models were faulty of when the infrastructure was not compliant to MS recommendations.
How are customer service and technical support?
Tech support from Microsoft, when needed, is as efficient as can be.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Worked in different technical environments but never saw a switch from MS BI.
How was the initial setup?
Developers and architects are easily available for this technology.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
MS BI comes with all the tools and it is, to the best of my knowledge, the most affordable solution.
What other advice do I have?
Watch your data model, use data marts when possible, set your archiving/purge policy from the beginning, size your hardware well (unless on cloud).
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
MSBI Technical Lead at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
It's been stable for over eight years, but is lacking a data warehouse manager.
Valuable Features
- It's a user-friendly tool
- Very stable
- It always helps us to achieve organizational goals
Improvements to My Organization
It's been stable for over eight years, and all the latest products/versions have backwards compatibility, or an upgrade facility. It has helped to fetch many projects, and to deliver them on time, as well as helping to resolve complex business challenges. The product has continual updates so we can stay on top of the market.
Room for Improvement
- Data warehousing manager is not available, which can be introduced
- Reporting or SharePoint needs a lot of learning so you can build reports
Use of Solution
I've used it for 10 years.
Deployment Issues
No issues encountered.
Stability Issues
No issues encountered.
Scalability Issues
No issues encountered.
Customer Service and Technical Support
Customer Service:
Microsoft has a great level of customer service.
Technical Support:There are great public forums available for tech support.
Initial Setup
- Straightforward - installation, development, deployment, and maintenance
- Little complex - Learning the tool
Implementation Team
We did it in-house.
ROI
I am not sure how to calculate this. The solution significantly improved BI and reporting capabilities. Without this solution, the business can’t think of successful operations.
Pricing, Setup Cost and Licensing
It is not costly when compared with other competitor products. This is a rock solid solution for any BI organization.
Other Solutions Considered
We didn't do much evaluation as our dev teams experience is with Microsoft BI.
Other Advice
This product is hassle free to utilize for your BI environment.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Microsoft BI Consultant with 51-200 employees
Good product for End Users but there are some problems with huge chunks of data.
What is most valuable?
Data Integration and Cleansing & Warehousing are the most valuable
What needs improvement?
End-user tools such as Excel is not good enough for all business scenarios.
For how long have I used the solution?
8 years
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
There are some issues with 2005/2008 releases, but most of them were fixed starting with 2012 release
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Sometimes in the starting few months of every new release.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
There are some problems with huge chunks of data. Some of these can be addressed with appropriate hardware appliances and a lot of tweaking.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I do work on projects to switch clients to MS BI usually due to its attractive pricing and tight integration with MS Office suite. Also the learning curve for users is flattened due to their fluency with Excel.
How was the initial setup?
MS products are great but security is always a concern to make the whole ecosystem work smoothly. The latest BI suite is tightly integrated with SharePoint which is great; but the set-up process and deployment is still painful.
What other advice do I have?
Have knowledgeable people to make the right choices for you.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Updated: November 2024
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2016 is significantly improved as does Power BI with monthly releases. TCO is very inexpensive (Pro is 9.95 per month per user) with many data connectors, constant updates, well-integrated with Azure, powerful data blending tool and Power BI portal. Seems like comments here are not recently and this suite of tools is WELL worth the time to evaluate.