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    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

    Visual KPI

    Score8.2 out of 10
    N/AVisual KPI is a business intelligence software offering from Transpara.N/A
    Pricing
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Visual KPI
    Editions & Modules
    Power BI Pro
    $14
    per month per user
    Power BI Premium
    $24
    per month per user
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Visual KPI
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Visual KPI
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Transpara
    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)Visual KPI
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Visual KPI
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    9.0
    53 Ratings
    10% above category average
    Visual KPI
    8.2
    2 Ratings
    0% above category average
    Pixel Perfect reports8.546 Ratings7.32 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards9.653 Ratings9.12 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates8.951 Ratings8.22 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Visual KPI
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    53 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Visual KPI
    8.4
    2 Ratings
    5% above category average
    Drill-down analysis8.548 Ratings9.12 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities8.253 Ratings9.12 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages8.342 Ratings8.22 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration8.953 Ratings7.32 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Visual KPI
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    52 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Visual KPI
    8.2
    2 Ratings
    0% below category average
    Publish to Web9.348 Ratings9.12 Ratings
    Publish to PDF9.148 Ratings9.12 Ratings
    Report Versioning7.444 Ratings8.22 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling8.547 Ratings8.22 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers8.426 Ratings6.42 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Visual KPI
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.7
    52 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Visual KPI
    7.6
    2 Ratings
    5% below category average
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)9.651 Ratings8.22 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.748 Ratings9.12 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics7.845 Ratings5.52 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 Visual KPI
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    9.3
    53 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Visual KPI
    7.3
    2 Ratings
    15% below category average
    Multi-User Support (named login)9.449 Ratings7.32 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model9.347 Ratings7.32 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.949 Ratings7.32 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control9.36 Ratings00 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)9.431 Ratings7.32 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Visual KPI
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.0
    42 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Visual KPI
    7.8
    2 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Responsive Design for Web Access8.239 Ratings7.32 Ratings
    Mobile Application8.030 Ratings8.22 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile7.839 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Visual KPI
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    24 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Visual KPI
    8.0
    1 Ratings
    3% above category average
    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 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)7.319 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Visual KPI
    Small Businesses
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score7 out of 10
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Visual KPI
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.9
    (77 ratings)
    8.2
    (2 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.0
    (25 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.9
    (19 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Availability
    9.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.9
    (15 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    6.9
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    8.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.6
    (7 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    8.5
    (42 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Data Sources
    8.4
    (41 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Visual KPI
    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
    Transpara
    [Visual KPI is well suited for:] 1. Maintenance or field worker in oil & gas/chemical/ process industry mostly; machines status on the map & functionality for tracing exact location of the machines. 2. Key personnel of the site is always in move within the site/plant; useful for monitoring key performance indicators of the plant 3. KPIs to be built based on multiple data sources as well as integration with ERP tool
    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
    Transpara
    • The latest user interface makes it easier to use.
    • The search function helps find projects quickly.
    • It covers a lot of areas of your business so there is intrinsic value to how robust it is.
    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
    Transpara
    • Intelligent prediction & AI
    • Deep integration is limited to OSISoft's PI AF; bit time consuming for large integration for other historians > mapping hierarchy
    • Template to create Apps like OEE, Cycle time etc for rapid deployment
    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
    Transpara
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Transpara
    1. At large it was successful implementation. - [Users] are empowered to find out performance measures easily - issues like machine downtime, trend analysis, location specific downtime information, roll out functionalities, up time of the machines or area, alert based on run hour of the machines/ pumps, manual data entry to capture reason code for any downtime
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Microsoft
    The product has been reliable.
    Read full review
    Transpara
    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
    Transpara
    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
    Transpara
    1. Online documentation 2. How to do videos 3. Very supportive customer support 4. Excellent & user centric sales team
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    Microsoft
    This training was more directed toward what the product was capable of rather than actual programming.
    Read full review
    Transpara
    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
    Transpara
    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
    Transpara
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Transpara
    Most of these products serve as the master source for managing data, but they all seem to have their own focus for what kind of data and metrics they monitor, visualize and analyze. I think Visual KPI holds its own against the competition because it serves so many purposes for so many departments at your organization.
    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
    Transpara
    • Duration to realize the benefit is less
    • OpEx requirement is steady since system is very robust
    • Minimum to no training required for users; VisualKPI is very intuitive
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots