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reviewer1659204 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager.Marketing Strategy & Analysis. at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Reseller
Top 20
Integrates well, secure, but cannot handle large databases
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution integrates with other Microsoft solutions very well."
  • "If you are having millions of rows of data or you have a large database, Microsoft BI's performance depends upon how powerful your hardware is. When I am handling large amounts of data I do not use Microsoft BI or Tableau because of this, I use D3."

What is our primary use case?

We are using this solution for analytic dashboards.

What is most valuable?

The solution integrates with other Microsoft solutions very well. 

When it comes to security Microsoft BI can integrate well with Microsoft Domain Services, you are able to make it as secure as you want.

There are useful visualizations available in the dashboards.

What needs improvement?

If you are having millions of rows of data or you have a large database, Microsoft BI's performance depends upon how powerful your hardware is. When I am handling large amounts of data I do not use Microsoft BI or Tableau because of this, I use D3.

In a future release, they need to have better integration to allow any visualization that is done in other solutions, such as D3 or Tableau, to be able to be imported in Microsoft BI easily.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft BI for approximately five years.

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March 2025
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable when the database is reasonably sized. If you have large databases of 20 million rows it can begin to have difficulties requiring a purchase of more hardware.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is good. If you have a direct query, Microsoft BI can run on billions of rows of data.

Microsoft BI is available to the 70,000 users in my organization.

This solution is used extensively because everyone has access to it, not because it is the best.

How are customer service and support?

The support from Microsoft could improve.

How was the initial setup?

The solution is easy to install.

What about the implementation team?

We did the implementation of the solution.

For those customers we have that use Microsoft BI on a dedicated server, we have a technical team that does the maintenance.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I have evaluated Tableau and D3.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend Microsoft BI over Tableau if you are comfortable with Microsoft solutions. Additionally, understand your use case and choose the best solution that fits your needs.

I rate Microsoft BI a six 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
Project Manager at GlaxoSmithKline
Real User
Very good toggling feature; unfortunately some performance issues and inability to aggregate
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution has a good toggling feature."
  • "Lacks the ability to copy data from BI into PowerPoint."

What is our primary use case?

I'm a project manager and we are customers of Microsoft.

What is most valuable?

I like the toggling feature, the ability to switch from one page to another. 

What needs improvement?

I have a couple of dashboards that are weekly and monthly. I was able to download the dashboard, but I cannot paste any images into PowerPoint. There are also visuals based on the brand that should automatically pop up in the graph and which should be a toggling option. And I'm having performance issues if I want to add two or three tables at a time, which I could easily do in Tableau. Copy-pasting data to PowerPoint for presentation to the executive level should be easy but we're only able to copy the visual, not the underlying data. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for the past eight months. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable but we haven't yet migrated everyone to Power BI. Our users are not finding Power BI as good as Pique, which perhaps they're just more used to. They're trying but some of the features available in Pique are not there so they are not comprehensively using it. It's being used mainly for internal analysis for now. 

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

We initially used Tableau because our data was an internal data source, and now all of our data is migrated to tool environments, that the Power BI is more comfortable with. BI is also a free product which is another reason the company recommends it.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward, we have a Power BI admin team who take care of all that. 

What other advice do I have?

Because of performance issues and because we're unable to do all the aggregation, I rate this solution six out of 10. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud

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

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Power BI
March 2025
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Power BI. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
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Oscar Estorach - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Data-strategist and Director at Theworkshop.es
Real User
Top 10
Enables you to embed visualisation and reports into your applications
Pros and Cons
  • "It's a great tool for visualization data, and it's free for engineers."
  • "It is too slow. I hope in future it will be a comparable big data tool, such as, for example, Data Lake."

What is our primary use case?

Usually, when dealing with business intelligence projects with big data, all customers have Office 365 but within these licenses, Microsoft BI is often included.

How has it helped my organization?

The use case depends on the project. For example, in the logistics project, we need maybe four persons. For retail sales without stocks, it's a very easy project for us, but only for sales, and purchase orders, it's a standard part of the tool, to incorporate warehousing. Sometimes it's more difficult to clean the data if you have something like visualizations. It is often more difficult to understand what kind of data you need for the customer, or the strategy of the company who needs the information, to build a suitable solution. Customers often change their requirements. That's why Microsoft BI is more useful than traditional user tools, as it is flexible to changing requirements.

What is most valuable?

It's a great tool for visualization data, and it's free for engineers. Microsoft BI has a good online community. You don't need to be an engineer to use it. In Microsoft BI you can embed the visualisation and reports into your applications. Embedded items are much faster and cheaper to use. It's very easy to work with the customers using this kind of tool, rather than say, Oracle. I have used the personal edition, but some customers have been trained to use the professional version. Initially, I spent a lot of time learning the new system. As I was already experienced in other, similar technologies it was not difficult to understand the visualizations. I encouraged our clients to do more with Microsoft BI.

What needs improvement?

It should work faster and have more common languages so that you can use it more in different types of connections. It doesn't work well on big data. It is too slow. I hope in future it will be a comparable big data tool, such as, for example, Data Lake. It uses the DAX language, which is not used widely. Maybe they should develop this part of the tool to improve access to people who don't know DAX. Sometimes it needs to have a special configuration and hardware to connect to a data warehouse. So, interoperability with other systems could be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I began using it a few years ago. I was involved in testing and last year, I was tasked with some large projects in Azure which included databases, a data warehouse with SQL, and Azure SQL. It is a cloud-based service, which means that a project is easy to use and design. You can use different tools for different things, but all the visualization in Microsoft BI is all in one tool. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Microsoft BI is stable and works consistently well. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Microsoft BI is a very scalable tool. You can start small and build up your project as you wish. 

How are customer service and technical support?

I used Microsoft Azure support because we have a project. I have a good relationship with Microsoft. I don't have any problems.

How was the initial setup?

It is easy to install Microsoft BI. You simply download and install it from the Microsoft Microsoft BI website, and it is available to download on windows. It can be downloaded and installed in 5 minutes.

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

Microsoft BI is free for the personal edition, but there is also a paid-for professional version. Setting up Microsoft BI is simple.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Oracle products are well-engineered but too heavy to accomplish small tasks. However, to use it for enterprise, you need to have a lot of knowledge about the different kinds of tools available. It has more flexibility but is more complex because it's designed for enterprise-level systems. Comparing this to Oracle which is at least 10 years old. Java is also old, but it's more structured. It's more proprietary.

What other advice do I have?

Every month Microsoft puts in another update. We are likely to use Microsoft BI in future projects. Microsoft BI does not fit every business case, so for that reason, I would give it an eight 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?

Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller
PeerSpot user
IT Project Manager at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Not user-friendly and the support could be better, but the real-time reporting is good
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of this solution is real-time report tracking."
  • "It's not user-friendly; more tutorials, training, and better documentation would be helpful."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution for dashboards and reporting.

We work in manufacturing and we track any incidents that we have regarding safety.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of this solution is real-time report tracking. For example, we have a report for a human body and the human body is populated with injury data. In real-time, we can see where most of the injuries have occurred. 

What needs improvement?

It is a difficult tool to use and it's hard to figure it out.

It's not user-friendly; more tutorials, training, and better documentation would be helpful.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft BI for three months.

We are running the latest version.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I don't have any issues with the stability of Microsoft BI. It's a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's mainly used by developers. We have 10 to 20 developers who are using this solution in our organization.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support could be improved. If you are able to get someone it's great, but if you don't then you are left hanging. 

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

Previously, they were using BusinessObjects.

With the EA agreement, we get access to everything from Microsoft. It just made sense to switch.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was completed through our internal Microsoft team.

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

Licensing costs are on an annual basis. There are no fees in addition to the licensing.

What other advice do I have?

For anyone who is interested in using this solution, they should hire a dedicated Microsoft team to implement it, and get a lot of training.

I don't know it well but I would rate it a five out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud

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

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1516839 - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Architect at a government with 10,001+ employees
Real User
A simple, flexible, low-code, and scalable solution for data integration and modeling
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a pretty straightforward and flexible solution for data integration and modeling. It is a low-code solution. When you are doing data integration, you can use the GUI, which is very simple and straightforward. You can also do very intricate custom queries and model it at different levels. It is very easy to use and scalable."
  • "It is kept very current, and there is an update literally every month. However, the interface changes quite randomly with no documentation, which is difficult at the domain and architectural level where you're planning things and engaging the business. Things change frequently, and you wonder where has the button for the new report gone. They should provide better documentation on interface changes. It should be better optimized. It is supposed to be a data integration tool, but it is doing relatively simple queries. It has its limitations. For example, you can only pull a number of columns. So, there is room for optimization on its ability to integrate multiple data sources. The desktop tool is very memory-intensive, and again, this is not documented clearly. It requires a heavy CPU and memory use, and it causes your operating systems to become unstable. I would like to see the ability to create datasets within Power BI. Microsoft is promoting Azure as a cloud solution, but it is dependent upon a desktop component, which seems a little bit deceptive. Data set is the basic element that you report from, but it has to be created on the desktop and then published to the cloud. So, you're in the cloud, and you create a data structure or the data flow, but you can't report from that. You have to leave the cloud, go to your desktop, create the data set on your desktop, and publish it to the cloud. You go back to the cloud and create your report by using that published data set, which is very non-intuitive. If you go to the Microsoft Power BI community, this is a common complaint across the entire community."

What is our primary use case?

We are using it for reporting, analytics, and data science. We have its latest version.

How has it helped my organization?

Microsoft's CRM platform has very limited reporting capabilities. Power BI was able to meet the business requirements for reporting and more in-depth analytics. It is a part of the Microsoft Ecosystem, and there is a straightforward connection from Power BI to CRM. 

What is most valuable?

It is a pretty straightforward and flexible solution for data integration and modeling. It is a low-code solution. When you are doing data integration, you can use the GUI, which is very simple and straightforward. You can also do very intricate custom queries and model it at different levels. It is very easy to use and scalable. 

What needs improvement?

It is kept very current, and there is an update literally every month. However, the interface changes quite randomly with no documentation, which is difficult at the domain and architectural level where you're planning things and engaging the business. Things change frequently, and you wonder where has the button for the new report gone. They should provide better documentation on interface changes.

It should be better optimized. It is supposed to be a data integration tool, but it is doing relatively simple queries. It has its limitations. For example, you can only pull a number of columns. So, there is room for optimization on its ability to integrate multiple data sources. 

The desktop tool is very memory-intensive, and again, this is not documented clearly. It requires a heavy CPU and memory use, and it causes your operating systems to become unstable.

I would like to see the ability to create datasets within Power BI. Microsoft is promoting Azure as a cloud solution, but it is dependent upon a desktop component, which seems a little bit deceptive. Data set is the basic element that you report from, but it has to be created on the desktop and then published to the cloud. So, you're in the cloud, and you create a data structure or the data flow, but you can't report from that. You have to leave the cloud, go to your desktop, create the data set on your desktop, and publish it to the cloud. You go back to the cloud and create your report by using that published data set, which is very non-intuitive. If you go to the Microsoft Power BI community, this is a common complaint across the entire community.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for about 18 months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is pretty stable. I haven't determined any major issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is very scalable. It fits perfectly with the larger Azure Data Lake reference architecture. Power BI platform is a fundamental piece, and it becomes scalable to use with other components within that reference architecture.

We're in the process of laying out a three-phase approach. Over the next year, its usage will increase from 50% to 75%. In terms of the number of users, we have around 150 users who are data scientists and data analysts. We have around 5,500 desktop users, and it is a part of 365, which is on every desktop. 

How are customer service and technical support?

There is a lot of online support. We also have Microsoft consultants on contract, and the support comes through them. Their support is very good.

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

We also have IBM Cognos. We haven't switched. They're being used in tandem. There are different sets of requirements for two different solutions. 

How was the initial setup?

I wasn't part of the deployment, but my understanding is that it was pretty straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

We used a Microsoft consultant for implementation. Our experience was good. We don't have any maintenance crew.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Microsoft BI a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud

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

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1415637 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Analyst at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Provides easy data analysis and creates a visual representation of data from different data sources
Pros and Cons
  • "Microsoft Power BI is an easy tool for data analysis."
  • "We face multiple issues, and the connection drops off multiple times while integrating Microsoft Power BI with OAC and pulling in the data."

What is most valuable?

Microsoft Power BI is an easy tool for data analysis. It's easier to get the data from different data sources and then create a visual representation. Using the tool comes easily and naturally to people proficient with Excel. You need to have an understanding of data modeling and how the data works. Once you work with Power Pivot, I think Power BI will be a better upgrade than other tools in the market.

What needs improvement?

There are some issues with Microsoft Power BI's integration with OAC because it's currently in the beta phase. We face multiple issues, and the connection drops off multiple times while integrating Microsoft Power BI with OAC and pulling in the data. The solution's integration capabilities have created some issues for us, especially while retrieving data.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft Power BI for over seven years.

How are customer service and support?

The solution's technical support has not been very helpful. I have solved my issues by myself and found a workaround for it.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

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

I have worked with multiple data visualization tools, such as SAP One and SAP BusinessObjects, where you had different tools for data visualization. I think each tool has its own unique capabilities. The biggest advantage of Microsoft Power BI is its integration with Excel and how it is an upgraded version of Excel. We all know how Excel is used in the market, so Power BI has a strong advantage over its competitors.

What other advice do I have?

I use the solution for myself, and I recommend it to my customers. I would recommend the solution to other users.

The selection of the visualization tool clearly depends on the data sources. I would recommend Microsoft Power BI if I worked for Microsoft. Otherwise, I would recommend other better tools available in the market. It completely depends on the data source and the data volume. I would not recommend Microsoft Power BI if the data volume is very high because it will tend to freeze your report.

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

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Mohammed Ghonaim - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Oracle Application Consultants at Saudi Telecom Company
Real User
Top 5
Easy to set up with good functionality and an easy initial setup
Pros and Cons
  • "Like all Microsoft products, it is very easy to set up initially."
  • "We need more integration capabilities."

What is our primary use case?

Currently, it is used in our financial reporting and financial consideration reports.

What is most valuable?

It is stable.

It has good functionality and is fully integrated with Microsoft products. If you have already a direct connection or direct integration with Microsoft products, it is very good actually. In some cases, we just developed our BI dashboard and sent it to PowerPoint, for example. It'll be published as the power BI format, which is very good as a feature, to have that capability to just easily populate everything in PowerPoint.

Like all Microsoft products, it is very easy to set up initially.

It's pretty user-friendly.

The product can scale.

What needs improvement?

Our main concern with Power BI is it doesn't have a connection with the finance application. Power BI is used to present some financial data. However, if there is no direct connection or a ready API to be connected either to Oracle ERP or SAP or a different ERP, it won't be very useful. We need more integration capabilities. 

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using the solution for five years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is good. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability has been great. If a company needs to expand it, it can.

In my organization, there are about 10 to 20 users. The majority have shifted to Qlick.

How are customer service and support?

I haven't contacted technical support in the past. The product has been so stable we haven't needed assistance. 

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

We have multiple BI tools. We previously worked with Oracle BI. Our expectations were not met, and therefore we moved over to Microsoft BI.

In my sector, currently, we are using Qlik Sense. We started using it one year ago.

We are shifting from Microsoft to Qlik due to the fact that we have Oracle ERP as a back end. We are trying to find a technology or BI, which already has a direct connection with this ERP. We went into Qlik Sense for that reason.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward, actually. It is like any other Microsoft product. All of Microsoft's products are straightforward. It isn't complicated. This is one of the main benefits.

I'm not sure how long the deployment process was. I can't speak to how big the technical team was that handled the rollout.

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

We pay an annual licensing fee. 

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend the solution if they already have a Microsoft ERP system. If they have already Microsoft and they have already their financial system in place and if they don't have data movement, Power BI will be very powerful. If a company has different financial systems, they have to track all these data points first, build the business model and then import it to Power BI. 

I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Biswajith Gopinathan - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Analytics Specialist at GlaxoSmithKline
Real User
Top 10
Useful for non-engineers and provides helpful insights
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is that it's easy to use. It's very useful for non-engineers and it is the ultimate solution for providing information and insights. Power BI is the best visualization tool I have ever worked with."
  • "This solution's performance when handling big data could be improved. Right now, if you're handling big data, the application becomes slow and the performance is very low."

What is our primary use case?

My primary use case of Power BI is to generate dashboards and reports based on past data. Especially for people who aren't engineers, like purely business people, Power BI is helpful because it allows them to analyze and assess their complete business solutions end to end. Power BI provides insights that can help company growth, in terms of revenue and ROI. This solution is cloud-based. 

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is that it's easy to use. It's very useful for non-engineers and it is the ultimate solution for providing information and insights. Power BI is the best visualization tool I have ever worked with. 

What needs improvement?

This solution's performance when handling big data could be improved. Right now, if you're handling big data, the application becomes slow and the performance is very low. 

Other than that, their licensing costs could be lowered. Microsoft handles everything. For example, if I want to publish a report order from Powerpay, Microsoft doesn't allow me to do this. It's a complete business, but the licensing is very costly. I don't think Microsoft will change their pricing system, though. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Power BI for the past five years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Power BI can handle a maximum of one to four gigabytes of data, but the performance becomes very slow if you handle big data. Since this solution is cloud-based, it's always updated to the latest version. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The development is very easy because it depends on each computer. Power BI is a desktop solution that you install on your computer. Once I complete my development, I publish through the internet, which the external users are using. The number of users doesn't matter. 

How are customer service and support?

There is a Power BI community, which I'm very happy about. They're there for anything and they're very helpful. In the past, Microsoft has helped us with infrastructure problems. 

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

In the past, I worked with other Python data visualization tools like Dash and Panel. Compared to those tools, Power BI is very easy.  

How was the initial setup?

The installation is very straightforward. I did it myself and it took barely ten minutes. 

What about the implementation team?

I implemented this solution myself. 

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

You don't need a license for the development, but if you want to publish to external users, you need a license. The licensing is very costly, but I think that since the advantages and benefits of Power BI are so high, people are willing to pay. I can't blame them. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Another visualization tool I've heard of is Splunk, which helps to handle and visualize huge amounts of data. In the future, if Power BI is unable to handle this sort of streaming data, I may consider switching to Splunk. When I extract huge amounts of data with Denodo, Power BI becomes very slow—for example, it takes more time for the display to load. Right now, Power BI can handle a maximum of around one to four gigabytes, whereas Splunk can handle very large amounts of data. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate Power BI an eight out of ten. I recommend this solution because it's the best visualization tool I have ever worked with, but the licensing is costly. 

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: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft Power BI Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.