My primary uses of this solution are BI reporting using SQL server reporting, Power BI online reports, and BI dashboards. We connect to SQL server databases plus other sources, including data warehouses in the cloud and on-premise.
Director of technology alliances at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Stable and scalable solution for data reporting
Pros and Cons
- "I've seen no issues with BI's stability."
- "BI is scalable, but there are some problems with limited online storage."
What is our primary use case?
What needs improvement?
There are areas where BI lags behind its competitors - for example, Qlik has an in-built data manipulation engine while BI does not. I also do not like transformation in BI, as we have to go back to the data for this process instead of being able to do things on the fly, as with Qlik. Other areas for improvement include the language that BI uses, the ability to do data manipulations, and the flexibility of the licensing models. In the next release, I would like to see manipulation and internal analytics, as well as some analytics features.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I've seen no issues with BI's stability.
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Microsoft Power BI
December 2024
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
BI is scalable, but there are some problems with limited online storage and always having to go back to the data warehouse.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution as eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Implementer
Data Scientist at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees
Reports creation easy, useful dashboards, and good online community support
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features are the easy creation of reports, dashboards, and the ability to perform analysis. It is important for us to create reports because we have some operations during certain hours and we can use this tool to track the information."
What is our primary use case?
We are using this solution to create dashboards and reports for business analytics. We are in the early stages of testing and we have yet to determine if we are going to continue using the solution. We have to fully evaluate the solution first.
How has it helped my organization?
The use of the dashboards with analytics has helped our organization.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are the easy creation of reports, dashboards, and the ability to perform analysis. It is important for us to create reports because we have some operations during certain hours and we can use this tool to track the information. Additionally, it is a benefit they are adding more features all the time, such as machine learning.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution within the past 12 months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
How are customer service and technical support?
I never needed to use technical support. However, they have a good online community where I found documentation, a lot of general information, and tutorial videos on YouTube and Google.
How was the initial setup?
The installation is simple.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price for this solution is reasonable. However, there is an additional cost if you want to publish the dashboard privately.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Microsoft BI a nine 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.
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Power BI
December 2024
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Power BI. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
831,020 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Senior Manager with 10,001+ employees
Ease of development and maintenance
Pros and Cons
- "Ease of development and maintenance."
- "Needs single sign-on."
What is our primary use case?
- P&L
- Revenue
- Logistics
- IT services
- Stock control
- Costs
- Sales
How has it helped my organization?
- Established a culture of management by indicators.
- Improvement of services
- Greater visibility of results
What is most valuable?
- Predictable cloud environment
- High performance
- Ease of development and maintenance
What needs improvement?
- Delta update
- More than 10 GB of space
- Single sign-on
- More than 30 Windows to update by Power Bi gateway.
For how long have I used the solution?
One to three years.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Analyst in XBRL Projects at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Poor support for XML, but it has good integration with other Microsoft products.
What is most valuable?
All the features are valuable.
How has it helped my organization?
We empower users with Enterprise BI and Self Service BI by Microsoft BI.
What needs improvement?
Microsoft has poor support for XML.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used it for four years.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
There were no issues, and it has good integration with other Microsoft products.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We do have issues, but we can solve them ourselves.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We do have issues, but we can solve them ourselves.
How are customer service and technical support?
Customer Service:
It's good.
Technical Support:We are more expert than they are.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used Infobeacon and then we added Microsoft BI to Cognos. We are currently looking for a better product and are evaluating Tableau.
How was the initial setup?
It is easy to implement Microsoft BI.
What about the implementation team?
Several projects we implemented through vendors and most we implemented in house. We are more expert than they are.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We didn’t have another option.
What other advice do I have?
Quality of data, flexibility and the performance of the tool(s) are the critical aspects of BI. Test the critical aspects by doing a proof of concept using a huge amount of data.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Project Business Analyst RPA at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Compatibility with different databases, complete tool, helpful technical support
Pros and Cons
- "The most useful features are the ability to connect different databases to Microsoft BI and explore them. Once the database information has been extracted, you have the ability to construct indicators and dashboards from the information."
- "The solution could improve by simplifying the user interface and adding integration or compatibility with APA."
What is our primary use case?
We use Microsoft BI primarily for analyzing data to construct indicators and dashboards. We use the information to better understand our business to make effective decisions about our business for the future, such as keeping competitive with other companies.
What is most valuable?
The most useful features are the ability to connect different databases to Microsoft BI and explore them. Once the database information has been extracted, you have the ability to construct indicators and dashboards from the information.
Microsoft BI is a complete tool, it has all the functions needed for its purpose.
What needs improvement?
The solution could improve by simplifying the user interface and adding integration or compatibility with APA.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft BI for many years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable. We are able to see the users and the capability from the cloud platform.
How are customer service and technical support?
Microsoft provides good technical support.
How was the initial setup?
The installation is easy. However, there are many options and areas to configure that can be difficult.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend those wanting to use this solution to take some courses to at least learn the minimal knowledge to analyze and construct indicators. This is a very powerful tool and if you understand it you can get the most out of it.
I rate Microsoft BI a nine 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.
CEO at a tech company with 51-200 employees
Great wizard that is valuable in designing and implementing complex queries
Valuable Features:
• SQL Reporting and Analysis services provide me with a suitable way of analyzing queries and data objects.
• Automated reports can be generated using SQL Reporting and Analysis in XML and PDF formats which are easier to read and understand.
• Reports can be generated on demand using Reporting Services or can be delivered based on a subscription.
Room for Improvement:
• Reporting and analysis tools require additional skills rather than basic database programming such as Reporting Definition Language which may be a challenge for inexperienced developers.
• The installation requirements are quite demanding and only computers with relatively high processing power and large primary memory are able to run some SQL Reporting and Analysis tools.
Other Advice:
I'm a big fan of the Report Server Project Wizard which comes with the development studio - very helpful as I become more advanced in BI. I find such help valuable in designing and implementing complex queries as well making it look simpler.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Updated: December 2024
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