Microsoft Azure vs. Microsoft Power BI

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Microsoft Azure
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing platform and infrastructure for building, deploying, and managing applications and services through a global network of Microsoft-managed datacenters.
$29
per month
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
Microsoft AzureMicrosoft Power BI
Editions & Modules
Developer
$29
per month
Standard
$100
per month
Professional Direct
$1000
per month
Basic
Free
per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft AzureMicrosoft Power BI
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsThe free tier lets users have access to a variety of services free for 12 months with limited usage after making an Azure account.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Microsoft AzureMicrosoft Power BI
Considered Both Products
Microsoft Azure
Chose Microsoft Azure
Although some regions have dedicated workflows running on AWS, Microsoft Azure was chosen our Global Standard due to contract negotiation with Microsoft. It is also available in more regions than AWS, and we found its services and integrations more interesting for our use …
Chose Microsoft Azure
Azure has been the easiest to work with because it is a MS product and integrates so easily with the rest of their options.
Microsoft Power BI
Chose Microsoft Power BI
Just because we wanted single-party integration environment and a player which can take ownership of Big Data Analysis. Microsoft Power BI is better in these features as compared to other key BI players like Tableau.
Chose Microsoft Power BI
Since our organization runs on Microsoft based solutions Power BI was our first obvious choice to investigate. Our analisys proved that Power BI will deliver what we need with adequate cost and within a reasonable timeline. As a solution within our IT environment without the …
Chose Microsoft Power BI
Power BI is usually the cheapest solution and most user-friendly for most people (since we are all used to the Microsoft Suite). However the connectivity to non-Microsoft soft tools (databases and data analysis tools) are somewhat limited, especially when compared to its …
Chose Microsoft Power BI
Microsoft Power BI has a full course dedicated to teaching you how to use the software. If anyone one wanst to learn how to better use it all they have to do is take the course which helps you to under the tool. Also, Microsoft Power BI has a free version which you can use …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Microsoft AzureMicrosoft Power BI
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
Comparison of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Azure
8.6
17 Ratings
6% above category average
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Service-level Agreement (SLA) uptime8.716 Ratings00 Ratings
Dynamic scaling9.316 Ratings00 Ratings
Elastic load balancing8.816 Ratings00 Ratings
Pre-configured templates7.016 Ratings00 Ratings
Monitoring tools8.016 Ratings00 Ratings
Pre-defined machine images8.415 Ratings00 Ratings
Operating system support9.516 Ratings00 Ratings
Security controls9.016 Ratings00 Ratings
Automation8.715 Ratings00 Ratings
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Azure
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
7.2
138 Ratings
12% below category average
Pixel Perfect reports00 Ratings6.5118 Ratings
Customizable dashboards00 Ratings8.0138 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates00 Ratings7.2126 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Azure
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
7.0
139 Ratings
14% below category average
Drill-down analysis00 Ratings7.2138 Ratings
Formatting capabilities00 Ratings6.4137 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages00 Ratings7.5102 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration00 Ratings7.0134 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Azure
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
7.8
133 Ratings
7% below category average
Publish to Web00 Ratings8.1128 Ratings
Publish to PDF00 Ratings8.1121 Ratings
Report Versioning00 Ratings7.3101 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling00 Ratings8.7103 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers00 Ratings6.773 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Azure
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
7.5
135 Ratings
7% below category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)00 Ratings7.5130 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization00 Ratings7.7121 Ratings
Predictive Analytics00 Ratings7.3101 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Azure
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
8.2
126 Ratings
4% below category average
Multi-User Support (named login)00 Ratings8.2120 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model00 Ratings8.9102 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)00 Ratings8.4110 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)00 Ratings8.694 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Azure
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
7.9
117 Ratings
1% below category average
Responsive Design for Web Access00 Ratings8.0111 Ratings
Mobile Application00 Ratings7.493 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile00 Ratings7.4112 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Azure
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
8.4
80 Ratings
6% above category average
REST API00 Ratings8.172 Ratings
Javascript API00 Ratings9.656 Ratings
iFrames00 Ratings8.055 Ratings
Java API00 Ratings7.946 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)00 Ratings8.263 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)00 Ratings8.444 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Microsoft AzureMicrosoft Power BI
Small Businesses
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Score 9.0 out of 10
BrightGauge
BrightGauge
Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
SAP on IBM Cloud
SAP on IBM Cloud
Score 9.1 out of 10
Reveal
Reveal
Score 9.9 out of 10
Enterprises
SAP on IBM Cloud
SAP on IBM Cloud
Score 9.1 out of 10
Jaspersoft Community Edition
Jaspersoft Community Edition
Score 9.7 out of 10
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User Ratings
Microsoft AzureMicrosoft Power BI
Likelihood to Recommend
8.5
(88 ratings)
7.9
(140 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(15 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(27 ratings)
9.0
(56 ratings)
Availability
6.8
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.8
(27 ratings)
7.9
(52 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft AzureMicrosoft Power BI
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
In terms of cloud computing, Microsoft Azure is the only comprehensive result the company offers. Regardless of how big or small an organization is, it can make use of this system. As a cyber-security professional, this is your best option for data management. A business that wants to minimize capital expenditures can use Microsoft Azure. Many Microsoft services accept it. People with little or no knowledge of cloud computing may find it impossible. It isn’t the solution for companies that don’t want to risk having only one platform and infrastructure vendor.
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.
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Pros
Microsoft
  • Azure simply provides end to end life cycle. Starting from the development to automated deployment, you will find [a] bunch of options. Custom hook-points allow [integration] on-premise resources as well.
  • Excellent documentation around all the services make it really easy for any novice. Overall support by [the] community and Azure Technical team is exceptional.
  • BOT Services, Computer Vision services, ML frameworks provide excellent results as compare to similar services provided by other giants in the same space.
  • Azure data services provide excellent support to ingest data from different sources, ETL, and consumption of data for BI purpose.
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
Microsoft
  • In our experience, Azure Kubernetes Survice was difficult to set up, which is why we used Kubernetes on top of VMs.
  • Azure REST API is a bit difficult to use, which made it difficult for us to automate our interactions with Azure.
  • Azure's Web UI does a good job of showing metrics on individual VMs, but it would be great if there was a way to show certain metrics from multiple VMs on one dashboard. For example, hard drive usage on our database VMs.
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
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Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
Moving to Azure was and still is an organizational strategy and not simply changing vendors. Our product roadmap revolved around Azure as we are in the business of humanitarian relief and Azure and Microsoft play an important part in quickly and efficiently serving all of the world. Migration and investment in Azure should be considered as an overall strategy of an organization and communicated companywide.
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Microsoft
I find it helpful and easy to use
Read full review
Usability
Microsoft
Microsoft Azure's overall usability has been better than expected. Often times vendors promise the world, only to leave you with a run-down town. Not the case with our experience. From an implementation perspective, all went perfect, and from the user-facing experience we have had no technical issues, just some learning curve issues that are more about "why" than "how"
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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.
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Reliability and Availability
Microsoft
It has proven to be unreliable in our production environment and services become unavailable without proper notification to system administrators
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Microsoft
Support is easy with all the knowledge base articles available for free on the web. Plus, if you have a preferred status you can leverage their concierge support to get rapid response. Sometimes they’ll bounce you around a lot to get you to the right person, but they are quite responsive (especially when you are paying for the service). Many of the older Microsoft skills are also transferable from old-school on-prem to Azure-based virtual interfaces.
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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.
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Implementation Rating
Microsoft
As I have mentioned before the issue with my Oracle Mismatch Version issues that have put a delay on moving one of my platforms will justify my 7 rating.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
As I continue to evaluate the "big three" cloud providers for our clients, I make the following distinctions, though this gap continues to close. AWS is more granular, and inherently powerful in the configuration options compared to [Microsoft] Azure. It is a "developer" platform for cloud. However, Azure PowerShell is helping close this gap. Google Cloud is the leading containerization platform, largely thanks to it building kubernetes from the ground up. Azure containerization is getting better at having the same storage/deployment options.
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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 .
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Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • Brings down Capex to customers.
  • Some of the built-in security features of DDoS Basic protection that comes with VNET on Azure or even WAF on AGW brings huge advantages to customers.
  • Hybrid benefits for those who have software assurance can save even more costs by moving to Azure.
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

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