What users are saying about
245 Ratings
<a href='https://www.trustradius.com/static/about-trustradius-scoring' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener noreferrer'>trScore algorithm: Learn more.</a>Score 8.4 out of 100
Based on 245 reviews and ratings
841 Ratings
<a href='https://www.trustradius.com/static/about-trustradius-scoring' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener noreferrer'>trScore algorithm: Learn more.</a>Score 8.2 out of 100
Based on 841 reviews and ratings
Likelihood to Recommend
Hadoop
Apache Hadoop (and its subsequent add-ons) are well-suited to larger, unstructured data flows, such as aggregation of web traffic or advertising. Geospatial algorithms and their outputs are well-suited for this kind of aggregation as structuring that data is challenging, but leaving it unstructured and performing queries as-needed is a better fit for most business models. With the advent of data science, I would expect Hadoop fits a LOT of their initial outputs quite well.
Senior DevOps Engineer
Simpli.fiOnline Media, 201-500 employees
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
It works great for our purposes. I highly recommend hiring a consultant to set it up for you though. I don't think we would have gotten very far had we tried to setup the reports and views ourselves. We're very happy with the results we've seen so far. We've been using it for about 3-4 months.
Director of IT Services
CompuType IT SolutionsInformation Technology & Services, 11-50 employees
Feature Rating Comparison
BI Standard Reporting
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
8.3
Pixel Perfect reports
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
8.0
Customizable dashboards
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
8.8
Report Formatting Templates
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
8.2
Ad-hoc Reporting
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
7.8
Drill-down analysis
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
8.3
Formatting capabilities
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
7.8
Integration with R or other statistical packages
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
7.1
Report sharing and collaboration
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
7.9
Report Output and Scheduling
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
7.5
Publish to Web
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
7.2
Publish to PDF
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
8.2
Report Versioning
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
7.5
Report Delivery Scheduling
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
7.5
Delivery to Remote Servers
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
7.3
Data Discovery and Visualization
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
7.8
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
7.6
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
7.8
Predictive Analytics
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
8.0
Access Control and Security
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
8.4
Multi-User Support (named login)
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
8.4
Role-Based Security Model
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
7.9
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
8.8
Single Sign-On (SSO)
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
8.5
Mobile Capabilities
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
8.1
Responsive Design for Web Access
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
8.3
Dedicated iOS Application
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
8.1
Dedicated Android Application
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
8.2
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
7.7
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
7.4
REST API
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
7.3
Javascript API
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
7.5
iFrames
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
7.8
Java API
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
7.6
Themeable User Interface (UI)
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
7.1
Customizable Platform (Open Source)
Hadoop
—
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
7.1
Pros
Hadoop
- HDFS is reliable and solid, and in my experience with it, there are very few problems using it
- Enterprise support from different vendors makes it easier to 'sell' inside an enterprise
- It provides High Scalability and Redundancy
- Horizontal scaling and distributed architecture
Sr. Engineering Manager/Delivery Manager
Nisum Technologies, Inc.Retail, 10,001+ employees
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
- The layout of Power BI is very intuitive. Someone that is familiar with Excel and working with Charts and Graphs in that environment will find the learning curve a rather short one to start using Power BI.
- I like the way Power BI fits an assortment of users and how the functionality that you engage is replicated in Excel, that being Power Query and Power Pivot. So what you learn in one tool can be readily applied towards the other which allows you to more effectively apply your training.
- I appreciate how Microsoft is working to develop tools that go a long ways to empowering the end user. Prior to Power BI I would have had to consult with a "BI" professional to develop a dashboard. With Power BI I don't have to consult with anyone, I can work to put together the dash board I want and using a tool set that is really robust and allows me to engage an enormous amount of data. It's provides a great deal of flexibility and the types of data I can connect to.
- Updates...Microsoft is working diligently to keep Power BI current with monthly updates. They do a really good job of listening to the end user, if there is functionality not currently present just give them a month or so.
- Just to be clear, even though it's easy to get going right out of the gate with Power BI it provides plenty of opportunities to create some really sophisticated reporting solutions. With DAX in Power Pivot and M language in Power Query, you are provided with plenty of head room to do some really amazing things in Power BI.
- Training...there are resources across the web for learning and growing your skills and Power BI. And what's even better is the majority of those resources are free.
- Data engagement, when presenting the data to the end user Power BI goes a long way to allowing that end user to engage the data and begin to identify root cause by simply interacting with the graph/chart/data set. It allows for really fluid engagement. Prior to Power BI so many times during the presentation of data we often times ended the engagement with that data with more questions than what were answered. With Power BI, more often than not, the end user is able to get answers to the questions by simply clicking on the data in the graph/chart/dataset to see the details. This tool really does have the capacity to make you look like a rock star.
Program Cost Schedule and Control Analyst
WoodAirlines/Aviation, 10,001+ employees
Cons
Hadoop
- Hadoop is a batch oriented processing framework, it lacks real time or stream processing.
- Hadoop's HDFS file system is not a POSIX compliant file system and does not work well with small files, especially smaller than the default block size.
- Hadoop cannot be used for running interactive jobs or analytics.
Senior Software Engineer
San Jose State UniversityComputer Software, 51-200 employees
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
- The race to perfect gathering of Non-Traditional datasets is on-going; with Microsoft arguably not the leader of the pack in this category.
- Licensing options for PowerBI visualizations may be a factor. I.e. if you need to implement B2C PowerBI visualizations, the cost is considerably high especially for startups.
- Some clients are still resistant putting their data on the cloud, which restricts lots of functionality to Power BI.

Verified User
Contributor in Professional Services
Computer Software Company, 51-200 employeesLikelihood to Renew
Hadoop
Hadoop 9.6
Based on 8 answers
Hadoop is organization-independent and can be used for various purposes ranging from archiving to reporting and can make use of economic, commodity hardware. There is also a lot of saving in terms of licensing costs - since most of the Hadoop ecosystem is available as open-source and is free
Senior Vice President
IpsosInformation Technology and Services, 10,001+ employees
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
Microsoft BI (MSBI) 8.0
Based on 25 answers
Microsoft BI is fundamental to our suite of BI applications. That being said, Northcraft Analytics is focused on delighting our customers, so if the underlying factors of our decision change, we would choose to re-write our BI applications on a different stack. Luckily, mathematics are the fundamental IP of our technology... and is portable across all BI platforms for the foreseeable future.
President
Northcraft AnalyticsComputer Software, 11-50 employees
Usability
Hadoop
Hadoop 8.5
Based on 5 answers
Great! Hadoop has an easy to use interface that mimics most other data warehouses. You can access your data via SQL and have it display in a terminal before exporting it to your business intelligence platform of choice. Of course, for smaller data sets, you can also export it to Microsoft Excel.
Senior Financial Analyst
Lowe's Companies, Inc.Retail, 10,001+ employees
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
Microsoft BI (MSBI) 9.0
Based on 9 answers
Usability is great. This product will make most feel right at home. I feel like this question should be asked from two points of view:1. Creator of reports, Data Models, Views etc: Most Advanced users will still rate the usability as very high. Its capabilities are still robust. However when compared to other Enterprise Class products it will not do many of the advanced application queries. 2. End user, Consumer: All end users will feel right at home. Many will be able to create connections to already created data models and other external publicly available sources like twitter, Facebook, World Health order etc... These connections are then in turn very very easily available to publish to SharePoint and Power BI. It took me a while to understand what I think is Microsoft's strategy. This will handle all but the most of robust needs. Much like many American made cars and my favorite Corvette, Microsoft is fast, has it own break downs from time to time but all of these are really to tolerate when the price is considered and the next one up that can out perform it is three to four times as much money makes this an easy one to still recommend
CIO (Chief Information Officer)
Mountain MedicalHospital & Health Care, 201-500 employees
Reliability and Availability
Hadoop
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
Microsoft BI (MSBI) 9.5
Based on 4 answers
The product has been reliable.
Director, Business Intelligence & Analytics
Georgetown University5001-10,000 employees
Performance
Hadoop
Hadoop 8.0
Based on 2 answers
No answer on this topic is available.
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
Microsoft BI (MSBI) 7.0
Based on 4 answers
SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) can drag at times. We created two report servers and placed them under an F5 load balancer. This configuration has worked well. We have seen sluggish performance at times due to the Windows Firewall.
Director, Business Intelligence & Analytics
Georgetown University5001-10,000 employees
Support Rating
Hadoop
Hadoop 6.9
Based on 6 answers
We went with a third party for support, i.e., consultant. Had we gone with Azure or Cloudera, we would have obtained support directly from the vendor. my rating is more on the third party we selected and doesn't reflect the overall support available for Hadoop. I think we could have done better in our selection process, however, we were trying to use an already approved vendor within our organization. There is plenty of self-help available for Hadoop online.
Vice President, Chief Architect, Development Manager and Software Engineer
WySTAR Global Retirement Solutions, a Wells Fargo CompanyFinancial Services, 10,001+ employees
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
Microsoft BI (MSBI) 8.7
Based on 16 answers
While support from Microsoft isn't necessarily always best of breed, you're also not paying the price for premium support that you would on other platforms. The strength of the stack is in the ecosystem that surrounds it. In contrast to other products, there are hundreds, even thousands of bloggers that post daily as well as vibrant user communities that surround the tool. I've had much better luck finding help with SQL Server related issues than I have with any other product, but that help doesn't always come directly from Microsoft.
National Practice Director - Business Intelligence
Neudesic
In-Person Training
Hadoop
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
Microsoft BI (MSBI) 6.9
Based on 3 answers
This training was more directed toward what the product was capable of rather than actual programming.
Business Intelligence Analyst
PraesesInformation Technology and Services, 51-200 employees
Online Training
Hadoop
Hadoop 6.1
Based on 2 answers
Hadoop is a complex topic and best suited for classrom training. Online training are a waste of time and money.
Senior Vice President
IpsosInformation Technology and Services, 10,001+ employees
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
Microsoft BI (MSBI) 8.5
Based on 2 answers
I have used on-line training from Microsoft and from Pragmatic Works. I would recommend Pragmatic Works as the best way to get up to speed quickly, and then use the Microsoft on-line training to deep dive into specific features that you need to get depth with.
Business Intelligence Architect
BAASS Business SolutionsTransportation/Trucking/Railroad, 5001-10,000 employees
Implementation Rating
Hadoop
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
Microsoft BI (MSBI) 9.6
Based on 14 answers
We are a consulting firm and as such our best resources are always billing on client projects. Our internal implementation has weaknesses, but that's true for any company like ours. My rating is based on the product's ease of implementation.
National Practice Director - Business Intelligence
Neudesic
Alternatives Considered
Hadoop
Not used any other product than Hadoop and I don't think our company will switch to any other product, as Hadoop is providing excellent results. Our company is growing rapidly, Hadoop helps to keep up our performance and meet customer expectations. We also use HDFS which provides very high bandwidth to support MapReduce workloads.

Verified User
Engineer in Engineering
Computer Software Company, 51-200 employeesMicrosoft BI (MSBI)
Looking at the visualization portion of BI, there are three types of tools.
- Programming packages. Free and powerful, they let you make any diagram, at the cost of difficulty of use.
- Specialist software like Tableau and Microsoft BI. This is the best choice in most cases due to ease of use and quality of output.
- More generic software offered by the big IT companies, often part of a BI suite. There's really a lot of variety here. Use this when it fits the workflow and you are already using the relevant software. But, personally, I'd still use the specialist software.
Technical Leader for Modeling and Simulation
MITREManagement Consulting, 5001-10,000 employees
Return on Investment
Hadoop
- Hadoop has allowed us to scale out a few of our tier-1, customer facing applications to provide very fast access to reports and analytics.
- Hadoop was easily implemented by our Linux team and onboarded by our Hadoop Admins.
- Hadoop has been a very stable platform and only goes down due to server patching or other maintenance.
Senior Network Administrator
Vizient, Inc.Hospital & Health Care, 1001-5000 employees
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
- As a SaaS provider we see being able to provide self-service BI to our client users as a competitive advantage. In fact the MSSQL enabled BI is a contributing factor to many winning RFPs we have done for prospective client organisations.
- However MSSQL BI requires extensive knowledge and skills to design and develop data warehouses & data models as a foundation to support business analysts and users to interrogate data effectively and efficiently. Often times we find having strong in-house MSSQL expertise is a bless.
BI Reporting Specialist
Impac Services - Risk & Safety Management SolutionsProfessional Training & Coaching, 51-200 employees
Pricing Details
Hadoop
General
Free Trial
—Free/Freemium Version
Yes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
No
Hadoop Editions & Modules
—
Additional Pricing Details
—Microsoft BI (MSBI)
General
Free Trial
—Free/Freemium Version
Yes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
No
Microsoft BI (MSBI) Editions & Modules
Edition
Power BI Pro | 9.991 |
---|---|
Power BI Premium | $4,9952 |
- per user/per month
- per month