I am a Lead Information Technologist at a large tech services company. I am working on a project to compare BI tools such as OBIEE, Tableau, and Power BI.
Financial Systems Advisor - US Controller Group at McDonald's
Real User
Feb 14, 2023
As a user of multiple BI ETL and visualization tools, each has a place in the BI landscape. Power BI with Power Automate can offer a powerful ETL and visualization process depending on your ability to model your data and understand ETL activities. OBIEE is a large self contained environment that can build extensive and complex subject areas on which to build reports and dashboard. OBIEE report and dashboard development is much more difficult and involved than either Power BI or Tableau. Tableau has more traditional ETL capabilities than Power BI but significantly less visualization capabilities than Power BI. Another alternative is Alteryx. It also has less visualization than Power BI but is easier to master than Tableau.
Senior Manager at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Reseller
Jan 2, 2023
Microsoft Power BI requires an independent data source in order to model inputs for display and analytics. MS Power BI outputs are typically "flat files" that potentially could be imported into another analytical tool, but one has to question why? ETL tools are only required to map or translate data from an original data source (i.e. existing ERP systems) to enable that data to be read by other specialised analytical FPM tools, covering uses such as Financial Consolidation, Planning, or Forecasting solutions. Most frequently, ERP source data is held in relational table-based sources (e.g. SQL or SAP) whereas many of the "best" and/or proprietary analytical solutions (such as Board) make use of data cubes for their "guided data analysis" and graphical presentations, along with "drills" to source documents and/or data inputs. Most BI solutions along with virtually all modern financial reporting tools do have in-built ETL tools (or pre-built ERP connectors) to the common ERP solutions, without any need for third-party applications. Java scripting enables remaining, less common, data sources to be included within "best of breed" reporting applications, i.e. Fluence Technologies.
Group DWH and BI Senior Manager at Virgin Mobile Middle East and Africa
Real User
Jan 2, 2023
Definitely not. Power BI is mainly used for enterprise BI platforms and it's an efficient self-service tool. On the other hand, Qlik BI supports ETL to a large extent.
Microsoft Power BI is a powerful tool for data analysis and visualization. This tool stands out for its ability to merge and analyze data from various sources. Widely adopted across different industries and departments, Power BI is instrumental in creating visually appealing dashboards and generating insightful business intelligence reports. Its intuitive interface, robust visualization capabilities, and seamless integration with other Microsoft applications empower users to...
As a user of multiple BI ETL and visualization tools, each has a place in the BI landscape. Power BI with Power Automate can offer a powerful ETL and visualization process depending on your ability to model your data and understand ETL activities. OBIEE is a large self contained environment that can build extensive and complex subject areas on which to build reports and dashboard. OBIEE report and dashboard development is much more difficult and involved than either Power BI or Tableau. Tableau has more traditional ETL capabilities than Power BI but significantly less visualization capabilities than Power BI. Another alternative is Alteryx. It also has less visualization than Power BI but is easier to master than Tableau.
I have trained end users on both Power BI and Tableau, but more with Power BI.
The question is will they use it?
A) End users (they use excel) or
B) Data analysts
Power BI is friendlier and easier for end users.
The price is more comfortable.
Microsoft Power BI requires an independent data source in order to model inputs for display and analytics. MS Power BI outputs are typically "flat files" that potentially could be imported into another analytical tool, but one has to question why? ETL tools are only required to map or translate data from an original data source (i.e. existing ERP systems) to enable that data to be read by other specialised analytical FPM tools, covering uses such as Financial Consolidation, Planning, or Forecasting solutions. Most frequently, ERP source data is held in relational table-based sources (e.g. SQL or SAP) whereas many of the "best" and/or proprietary analytical solutions (such as Board) make use of data cubes for their "guided data analysis" and graphical presentations, along with "drills" to source documents and/or data inputs. Most BI solutions along with virtually all modern financial reporting tools do have in-built ETL tools (or pre-built ERP connectors) to the common ERP solutions, without any need for third-party applications. Java scripting enables remaining, less common, data sources to be included within "best of breed" reporting applications, i.e. Fluence Technologies.
Definitely not. Power BI is mainly used for enterprise BI platforms and it's an efficient self-service tool. On the other hand, Qlik BI supports ETL to a large extent.