Board vs. Microsoft Power BI

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Board
Score 7.7 out of 10
Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
BOARD is a business decision-making platform for organizations of any size. BOARD hosts several business modeling, planning, and analysis all in one cloud-based platform.N/A
Microsoft Power BI
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Power BI is a visualization and data discovery tool from Microsoft. It allows users to convert data into visuals and graphics, visually explore and analyze data, collaborate on interactive dashboards and reports, and scale across their organization with built-in governance and security.
$10
per month per user
Pricing
BoardMicrosoft Power BI
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BoardMicrosoft Power BI
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
BoardMicrosoft Power BI
Considered Both Products
Board
Chose Board
Board is much much easier to setup than compared to Azure Power BI. Power BI also has a lot of challenges around data refresh with their web interface. While talking to support, we were made aware that for full feature-set, we should use the desktop version. Clearly something …
Chose Board
We check previous reviews of the product and used a trial run of both products in a trial period. Most of our users voted for Board because of the features so our organization chose Board.
Chose Board
Board is a non-traditional reporting tool. It uses the latest data sciences advances to organize data. Board’s advanced In-memory Server Cluster architecture allows Board server workloads to be shared on a virtually unlimited number of nodes. This functionality ensures full …
Chose Board
These tools are handled for different purposed across the Product Groups however Board has an edge on the getting the best things upfront rather than becoming the jack of all trades. It has highly specific use cases for better Business Analytics and Decision making.
Chose Board
We selected Board for its broader capabilities for reporting, dash-boarding, and planning/forecasting as well as its ability to house alternative hierarchies within the tool.
Chose Board
Again, we chose Board ultimately for the BI and CPM functionality. PowerBI and Tableau lack the CPM capability. PowerBI has better features from a dashboard standpoint (data load model, formatting distribution) while PowerBI is a lot easier to use. Tableau stacks in third due …
Chose Board
I have used Microstrategy, Cognos, SSMS WBI Stack, Infor BI. BOARD is fantastically more user-friendly. Capable of building a production model far quicker than any tool I've used previously and provides a complete solution where the others have separate applications, also …
Microsoft Power BI
Chose Microsoft Power BI
Power BI stacks up robustly on a visuals standpoint. It has great slicer tools and visuals that are stunning. Content is fresh, easy to transmit and the design of a new dashboard is easy. Power BI is useful in identifying outliers in your data (even data integrity issues). …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
BoardMicrosoft Power BI
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Board
6.4
93 Ratings
20% below category average
Microsoft Power BI
6.8
138 Ratings
18% below category average
Pixel Perfect reports6.380 Ratings6.1118 Ratings
Customizable dashboards6.493 Ratings7.3138 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates6.486 Ratings7.0126 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Board
6.4
98 Ratings
25% below category average
Microsoft Power BI
6.8
139 Ratings
17% below category average
Drill-down analysis6.496 Ratings6.5138 Ratings
Formatting capabilities5.594 Ratings6.1137 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages6.466 Ratings7.6102 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration7.289 Ratings7.0134 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Board
6.8
90 Ratings
19% below category average
Microsoft Power BI
7.5
133 Ratings
10% below category average
Publish to Web6.479 Ratings7.7128 Ratings
Publish to PDF7.287 Ratings7.5121 Ratings
Report Versioning6.480 Ratings7.2101 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling7.378 Ratings8.8103 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers00 Ratings6.173 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Board
7.1
73 Ratings
7% below category average
Microsoft Power BI
6.8
135 Ratings
16% below category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)6.472 Ratings6.8130 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization7.366 Ratings6.9121 Ratings
Predictive Analytics7.364 Ratings6.7101 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining7.31 Ratings00 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Board
7.2
74 Ratings
19% below category average
Microsoft Power BI
8.1
126 Ratings
5% below category average
Multi-User Support (named login)7.372 Ratings7.6120 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model7.269 Ratings8.9102 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)6.472 Ratings8.8110 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)8.169 Ratings8.394 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Board
6.4
77 Ratings
19% below category average
Microsoft Power BI
7.9
117 Ratings
1% below category average
Responsive Design for Web Access5.572 Ratings8.0111 Ratings
Mobile Application5.557 Ratings7.693 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile5.568 Ratings7.6112 Ratings
Budgeting, Planning, and Forecasting
Comparison of Budgeting, Planning, and Forecasting features of Product A and Product B
Board
7.2
79 Ratings
14% below category average
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Long-term financial planning7.274 Ratings00 Ratings
Financial budgeting7.278 Ratings00 Ratings
Forecasting6.475 Ratings00 Ratings
Scenario modeling8.171 Ratings00 Ratings
Management reporting7.377 Ratings00 Ratings
Consolidation and Close
Comparison of Consolidation and Close features of Product A and Product B
Board
7.0
74 Ratings
13% below category average
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Financial data consolidation8.170 Ratings00 Ratings
Journal entries and reports6.371 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-currency management7.261 Ratings00 Ratings
Intercompany Eliminations7.262 Ratings00 Ratings
Minority Ownership7.256 Ratings00 Ratings
Local and consolidated reporting6.468 Ratings00 Ratings
Detailed Audit Trails6.465 Ratings00 Ratings
Financial Reporting and Compliance
Comparison of Financial Reporting and Compliance features of Product A and Product B
Board
6.7
77 Ratings
20% below category average
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Financial Statement Reporting7.272 Ratings00 Ratings
Management Reporting6.476 Ratings00 Ratings
Excel-based Reporting6.473 Ratings00 Ratings
Automated board and financial reporting7.270 Ratings00 Ratings
XBRL support for regulatory filing6.350 Ratings00 Ratings
Analytics and Reporting
Comparison of Analytics and Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Board
7.1
79 Ratings
12% below category average
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Personalized dashboards7.378 Ratings00 Ratings
Color-coded scorecards7.274 Ratings00 Ratings
KPIs6.476 Ratings00 Ratings
Cost and profitability analysis7.372 Ratings00 Ratings
Key Performance Indicator setting7.371 Ratings00 Ratings
Benchmarking with external data7.262 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration
Comparison of Integration features of Product A and Product B
Board
7.2
77 Ratings
15% below category average
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Flat file integration7.276 Ratings00 Ratings
Excel data integration7.275 Ratings00 Ratings
Direct links to 3rd-party data sources7.271 Ratings00 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
Board
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
8.4
80 Ratings
7% above category average
REST API00 Ratings8.072 Ratings
Javascript API00 Ratings9.956 Ratings
iFrames00 Ratings8.055 Ratings
Java API00 Ratings8.046 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)00 Ratings8.163 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)00 Ratings8.444 Ratings
Best Alternatives
BoardMicrosoft Power BI
Small Businesses
IBM Planning Analytics
IBM Planning Analytics
Score 8.2 out of 10
Cyfe
Cyfe
Score 8.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Centage
Centage
Score 9.5 out of 10
Reveal
Reveal
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Prophix
Prophix
Score 8.9 out of 10
Jaspersoft Community Edition
Jaspersoft Community Edition
Score 9.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
BoardMicrosoft Power BI
Likelihood to Recommend
6.3
(99 ratings)
7.4
(140 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
(7 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
7.7
(5 ratings)
9.0
(56 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(3 ratings)
7.4
(52 ratings)
In-Person Training
7.3
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.2
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
BoardMicrosoft Power BI
Likelihood to Recommend
Board International
Board is a useful tool with a great set of features. We migrated from human apps to board and we find it relatively fast in search results and better-managed threads and forums. There are some areas, such as UI and interactions which could be improved but overall a great product. The learning section is also pretty good.
Read full review
Microsoft
In operations we use the tool for many different topics, from factory quality systems to high level reviews. We have created kind of an internal "App Store" based on Power BI where you have a lot of different dashboards for different solutions (cost, cash, health and safety, sales, factories, distribution centers...) and you as an user just need to get in that "App Store" and enter in whatever tool can be useful for you. It is open to all the operations employees and can use on demand. Also it has raised the imagination of our colleagues, as they are not only working by themselves creating new reports, but also raising fantastic ideas that can be extended for the usage of all the community.
Read full review
Pros
Board International
  • The user interface is intuitive and easy to navigate
  • You don't need programming knowledge to create dashboards which is a great flex for non-technical users
  • You can seamlessly convert large, raw, and complex data to meaningful reports to visualize better and plan to act accordingly
  • The financial forecasting that Board provides post-analysis is truly reliable
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Quickly filter and view granular data sets with easily configurable reporting figures.
  • The ability to quickly switch between tabs allows for historical data comparisons and progress tracking.
  • It's helpful to dive into the data and break it down from high levels to small.
  • Achieve actionable insights faster by using real-time data. It's incredible to have online access to reports.
Read full review
Cons
Board International
  • Board BI tool has a steep learning curve and can be challenging for a new user to reach to board's full capacity.
  • We have to use a windows scheduler to schedule data import tasks; it would be great if Board could provide its own scheduler.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • The desktop app is great but needs a lot of performance improvements
  • No MacOS Version for the Desktop app, this is a big limitation for business since executives prefer Macs
  • Premium Cloud Version of Power BI is awfully expensive
  • On-Premise Version of the Power BI Reports Server is bundled only with SQL Server Enterprise License and cannot be purchased separately and requires Software Assurance Subscription
  • On-Premise Power BI Report Server doesn't support ADFS, AzureAD or any Claims-Based authentication platform, a sad disadvantage for enterprises
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Board International
Board is a fantastic product for swift BI solution delivery when compared with its peers. Ease of use, support and integration with Microsoft Office Addin open a wide horizon of opportunities for further enhancements to solutions. Easy bespoke app development capabilities make it a winner for us. BOARD is just like a white canvas, it lets you explore your creative side while designing and delivering a solution
Read full review
Microsoft
I find it helpful and easy to use
Read full review
Usability
Board International
From a user perspective, Board is quite simple to use. You
can evaluate the presentation of the data, the navigation, the configuration of
the users, the selection of the data etc ... It would have a better rating if
it were even more intuitive as regards the construction of a project, starting
from the database, to the info-cubes, to entities, to data acquisition
procedures from other servers.
Read full review
Microsoft
At this point, I think we all know who has taken the lead in the business intelligence and analytics market worldwide. With fresh new updates every other day on top of an already robustly built product with all features that one can dream of is a no brainer, I feel. Microsoft will invariably be synonymous with quality and professionalism.
Read full review
Performance
Board International
very fast and no integration problems
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Board International
The only time I needed assistance was due to a problem in
the prints: the colors of the brochures as they were on the screen were not
reproduced in the print, but a series of standard colors were reproduced. This
fact made colored numbers on a colored background illegible. From the
assistance they confirmed that it was a problem of version 10.2 that occurred
when leaving the brochures with the default colors proposed by Board. To obtain
the desired colors, they had to be personalized ... I didn't like the solution
very much and the technician who recommended it didn't like me either, but they
would have solved the problem with the following versions. In any case, the
assistance was quick and effective even if not exactly efficient.
Read full review
Microsoft
I can't really speak to the support overall, [but] I will say that in the almost three years I have used the system, I have only needed to contact their support team once. I think the team was helpful, but it did take some time for us to resolve the issues/ request that they had. I guess the good news is that the system is pretty stable, and I personally have rarely needed to contact their technical support team.
Read full review
In-Person Training
Board International
Board is fairly simple and straight forward. Advance training on workflows and procedures is a good one but the training content only touches through the interesting areas. training content needs to cover a few areas more in-depth
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Board International
The problem of user profiling in our context is certainly
quite complex. The complexity is given by the fact that the company is divided
territorially into logistic points of sale, but at the same time they are
virtually divided into divisions (or specific implementation areas) and points
of sale of competence. The same operator can have access to data at different
logistic sales points, sales points of competence and divisions.
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Board International
Board has been more complete when compared to Anaplan. Although I didn't participate in the buying decision of any of those products I have used both and by far Board just has more features. It's more than a CPM, it's BI and CPM put together. If I had to make a choice now it would be Board.
Read full review
Microsoft
[Microsoft] Power BI is practical and effective, like a hammer for a nail, it is easy to use and produces very quickly the results that in most cases are urgently required by clients (nice reports to share on the web). To start using [Microsoft] Power BI you need a business email address, with that you create an account in Power BI Service and in less than 1 hour you will have installed Power BI Desktop, a report will have been created and it will have been published on the web .
Read full review
Return on Investment
Board International
  • Board facilitates proactive decision making - it gives all the insights of the company's needs, which includes predictive analytics and manipulation of data to make different types of reports.
  • Easy to use for non-programmer and integration with other software is seamless. It has [the] ability to handle large amounts of data.
  • It facilitates advanced decision-making.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • It helps us track and achieve company goals.
  • It shows us [our] performance in areas we could not previously track and allows us to see and work on how to improve their performance.
  • Quick easy access for executives to use in helping teams and addressing issues.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Board Screenshots

Screenshot of PlanningScreenshot of Sales PlanningScreenshot of ProfitabilityScreenshot of GeomapScreenshot of ForecastScreenshot of Financial Plan

Microsoft Power BI Screenshots

Screenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Turns insights into impact for business usersScreenshot of Power BI integrates easily with Microsoft 365Screenshot of Microsoft Power BI - AI-Powered CapabilitiesScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Copilot can be used to create reportsScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Data HubScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Scales as organizational needs grow