TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Microsoft BI (MSBI)

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft BI is a business intelligence product used for data analysis and generating reports on server-based data. It features unlimited data analysis capacity with its reporting engine, SQL Server Reporting Services alongside ETL, master data management, and data cleansing.

    $14

    per month per user

    Simply Measured (discontinued)

    Score7.2 out of 10
    N/ASimply Measured was a social media analytics and measurement tool for business users that competed with Socialbakers and the Dachis Group Social Business Index. It was acquired by Sprout Social in 2017, and is no longer available. However its features are now contained in the Sprout Social Premium Analytics add-on.

    $89

    per month per user

    Pricing
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Simply Measured (discontinued)
    Editions & Modules
    Power BI Pro
    $14
    per month per user
    Power BI Premium
    $24
    per month per user
    Standard
    $89
    per month per user
    Professional
    $149
    per month per user
    Advanced
    $249
    per month per user
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Simply Measured (discontinued)
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—Sprout Social’s pricing starts at $99 per user per month for the Standard plan. The Professional plan offers additional features for businesses at $169 per user per month, and the Advanced plan offers solutions for businesses at scale at $279 per user per month. Annually, the Standard plan costs $1,068 per user, the Professional plan is $1,788 per user annually, and the Advanced plan is $2,988 per user per year.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Simply Measured (discontinued)
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    15 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    15 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    15 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    13 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    11 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Simply Measured (discontinued)
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Simply Measured (discontinued)
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    9.0
    53 Ratings
    10% above category average
    Simply Measured (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Pixel Perfect reports8.546 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards9.653 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates8.951 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Simply Measured (discontinued)
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    53 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Simply Measured (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Drill-down analysis8.548 Ratings00 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities8.253 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages8.342 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration8.953 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Simply Measured (discontinued)
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    52 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Simply Measured (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Publish to Web9.348 Ratings00 Ratings
    Publish to PDF9.148 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Versioning7.444 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling8.547 Ratings00 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers8.426 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Simply Measured (discontinued)
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.7
    52 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Simply Measured (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)9.651 Ratings00 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.748 Ratings00 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics7.745 Ratings00 Ratings
    Pattern Recognition and Data Mining8.76 Ratings00 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Simply Measured (discontinued)
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    9.3
    53 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Simply Measured (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Multi-User Support (named login)9.449 Ratings00 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model9.347 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.949 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control9.36 Ratings00 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)9.431 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Simply Measured (discontinued)
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.0
    42 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Simply Measured (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Responsive Design for Web Access8.239 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile Application8.030 Ratings00 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile7.739 Ratings00 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Simply Measured (discontinued)
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    24 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Simply Measured (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    REST API9.221 Ratings00 Ratings
    Javascript API8.821 Ratings00 Ratings
    iFrames8.820 Ratings00 Ratings
    Java API8.718 Ratings00 Ratings
    Themeable User Interface (UI)8.021 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)7.319 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Simply Measured (discontinued)
    Small Businesses
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Talkwalker by Hootsuite
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Talkwalker by Hootsuite
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score7 out of 10
    1-Social
    Score5.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Simply Measured (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.9
    (77 ratings)
    7.5
    (13 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.0
    (25 ratings)
    9.2
    (7 ratings)
    Usability
    8.9
    (19 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    Availability
    9.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.9
    (15 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    6.9
    (3 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    8.5
    (2 ratings)
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.6
    (7 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    8.5
    (42 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Data Sources
    8.4
    (41 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Simply Measured (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Microsoft
    Microsoft BI has a lot of features and is a very powerful tool, especially if you have folks on your team that know how to utilize all of its capabilities. To truly unlock all that it can do, it does require people to have a deep understanding of its capabilities. That's where the software really shines. If you are looking for a simpler, more basic reporting tool, there are other programs available that do not require such a steep learning curve.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    When we we're determining what's important to us we think budget, are we stuck in a contract; can it grow with our needs without hurting our pockets; can it solve our needs because we're such a large company that we almost need several solutions in one. Reporting - am I able to provide management the details they need to know to prove ROI? Also can we prove that demand generation efforts lead to closed deals?
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Microsoft
    • Comparatively easy to use compared to other data analytics solutions, collaborating with other colleagues on data work is simple.
    • Using Visual Studio for database, ETL, reporting, and analytics development save time and money.
    • Transfer of data from one application to another via Excel and comparison of data attributes between applications
    • Dashboard functionality, as well as Python support, are available, allowing you to add additional charts and graphs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Customer service analysis has been extremely useful for determining sentiment and adding context to real time crisis situations.
    • Convenience of pulling data for all social channels at one time is extremely effective in making decisions in real time and to compare against other channel performance. The cross channel export minimizes a great deal of time for exporting data. Nearly all social channel data is available.
    • Reports are extremely user friendly, visual and easy to export. Also the ability to see the raw data and to have it for historical reference is great.
    • Key insights generated in the dashboard page help add fast context for performance.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Microsoft
    • MSBI designs can work on increasing data processing capabilities enough to handle the huge datasets etc.
    • It would be a lot better if it is a little low on cost.
    • it needs to create opportunities little more than they do regarding customization of some very unique visualization effects
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • While it incorporates MOST platforms not all of them, I believe Pinterest was still in trial. They will need to keep up to date as new platforms emerge.
    • Not a super user friendly interface. I found it to be a bit clunky and dated looking.
    • While their training was good, and they had good support resources, I think they good do more with marketing and education to help my team uncover more value from the software.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Microsoft
    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.
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    For my current client, it's not right - they would not be actionable with the data to really need this tool. For my past clients, I would suggest they stay on it and i think they would agree.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Microsoft
    The Microsoft BI tools have great usability for both developers and end users alike. For developers familiar with Visual Studio, there is little learning curve. For those not, the single Visual Studio IDE means not having to learn separate tools for each component. For end-users, the web interface for SSRS is simple to navigate with intuitive controls. For ad-hoc analysis, Excel can connect directly to SSAS and provide a pivot table like experience which is familiar to many users. For database development, there is beginning to be some confusion, as there are now three tool choices (VS, SSMS, Azure Data Studio) for developers. I would like to see Azure Data Studio become the superset of SSMS and eventually supplant it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    The interface is very simple and organized around the core elements of the platform : the reports.
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Microsoft
    The product has been reliable.
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Microsoft
    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.
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Microsoft
    MSBI natively has a site that allows you to vote on user enhancements and bug fixes. This allows the largest nagging issues to float to the top and the development team can prioritize accordingly. As mentioned earlier, the large community base of MSBI developers assist technical resources in handling technical questions.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    Extremely fast response and they go above and beyond without asking. The support team has provided me data beyond our limit before and it was not an issue and not an extra cost, really good business support.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Microsoft
    This training was more directed toward what the product was capable of rather than actual programming.
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Microsoft
    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.
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Microsoft
    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.
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    Very good implementation.
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Microsoft
    We have used the built in ConnectWise Manager reports and custom reports. The reports provide static data. PowerBI shows us live data we can drill down into and easily adjust parameters. It's much more useful than a static PDF report.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    Simply Measured has more in-depth reports than other tools in this category. Other tools may feature a lower price and are easier to learn. Others focus on only one channel, let's say Twitter. Simply Measured is comprehensive, extensive and has the depth to match. It's one of the few tools that can measure the impact of an individual message as opposed to the account in aggregate.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Microsoft
    • 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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Increased efficiency of reporting. Although I still keep my own spreadsheets and create a few charts and graphs, Simply Measured's reports have saved me countless hours.
    • Greater Visibility: Simply Measured's reports have helped increase the visibility of what the social media team is doing. What executive doesn't like a smart report?
    Read full review
    ScreenShots