Microsoft Power BI vs. SAS Data Management

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Microsoft Power BI
Score 8.5 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.
$168
per year per user
SAS Data Management
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
A suite of solutions for data connectivity, enhanced transformations and robust governance. Solutions provide a unified view of data with access to data across databases, data warehouses and data lakes. Connects with cloud platforms, on-premises systems and multicloud data sources.N/A
Pricing
Microsoft Power BISAS Data Management
Editions & Modules
Power BI Pro
$14
per month (billed annually) per user
Power BI Premium
$24
per month (billed annually) per user
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft Power BISAS Data Management
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsPower BI Desktop is the data exploration and report authoring experience for Power BI, and is available as a free download.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Microsoft Power BISAS Data Management
Features
Microsoft Power BISAS Data Management
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.2
198 Ratings
0% above category average
SAS Data Management
-
Ratings
Pixel Perfect reports8.2169 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable dashboards8.7197 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates7.8180 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
7.9
196 Ratings
2% below category average
SAS Data Management
-
Ratings
Drill-down analysis8.3193 Ratings00 Ratings
Formatting capabilities7.7193 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages7.4143 Ratings00 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration8.3191 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.0
189 Ratings
3% below category average
SAS Data Management
-
Ratings
Publish to Web8.1179 Ratings00 Ratings
Publish to PDF7.9174 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Versioning7.7145 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling8.3148 Ratings00 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers7.9111 Ratings00 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
7.7
189 Ratings
4% below category average
SAS Data Management
-
Ratings
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)8.3183 Ratings00 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.1168 Ratings00 Ratings
Predictive Analytics7.3138 Ratings00 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining7.339 Ratings00 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.4
180 Ratings
1% below category average
SAS Data Management
-
Ratings
Multi-User Support (named login)8.7169 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model8.2148 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.2160 Ratings00 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control8.249 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)8.6141 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
7.9
162 Ratings
2% above category average
SAS Data Management
-
Ratings
Responsive Design for Web Access7.6152 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Application7.5133 Ratings00 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile7.9155 Ratings00 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
7.6
116 Ratings
2% below category average
SAS Data Management
-
Ratings
REST API7.9104 Ratings00 Ratings
Javascript API7.585 Ratings00 Ratings
iFrames8.055 Ratings00 Ratings
Java API6.869 Ratings00 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)7.491 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)8.444 Ratings00 Ratings
Data Source Connection
Comparison of Data Source Connection features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
SAS Data Management
8.3
10 Ratings
0% above category average
Connect to traditional data sources00 Ratings8.610 Ratings
Connecto to Big Data and NoSQL00 Ratings8.19 Ratings
Data Transformations
Comparison of Data Transformations features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
SAS Data Management
6.7
8 Ratings
20% below category average
Simple transformations00 Ratings6.18 Ratings
Complex transformations00 Ratings7.48 Ratings
Data Modeling
Comparison of Data Modeling features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
SAS Data Management
6.7
8 Ratings
16% below category average
Data model creation00 Ratings5.56 Ratings
Metadata management00 Ratings7.47 Ratings
Business rules and workflow00 Ratings6.67 Ratings
Collaboration00 Ratings7.07 Ratings
Testing and debugging00 Ratings6.17 Ratings
Data Governance
Comparison of Data Governance features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
SAS Data Management
7.9
9 Ratings
1% below category average
Integration with data quality tools00 Ratings7.69 Ratings
Integration with MDM tools00 Ratings8.27 Ratings
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User Ratings
Microsoft Power BISAS Data Management
Likelihood to Recommend
8.5
(197 ratings)
7.6
(11 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.5
(3 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Usability
8.3
(113 ratings)
6.0
(2 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(52 ratings)
7.7
(6 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft Power BISAS Data Management
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
Has significantly improved collation of data and visualisation especially with business across Europe. Has given me the ability to see the Site availability at the click of a button to see which Site is in the "money" and seize opportunities based on Market data
Read full review
SAS
When data is in a system that needs a complex transformation to be usable for an average user. Such tasks as data residing in systems that have very different connection speeds. It can be integrated and used together after passing through the SAS Data Integration Studio removing timing issues from the users' worries. A part that is perhaps less appropriate is getting users who are not familiar with the source data to set up the load processes.
Read full review
Pros
Microsoft
  • Options for data source connections are immense. Not just which sources, but your options for *how* the data is brought in.
  • Constant updates (this is both good and bad at times).
  • User friendliness. I can get the data connections set up and draft some quick visuals, then release to the target audience and let them expand on it how they want to.
Read full review
SAS
  • SAS/Access is great for manipulating large and complex databases.
  • SAS/Access makes it easy to format reports and graphics from your data.
  • Data Management and data storage using the Hadoop environment in SAS/Access allows for rapid analysis and simple programming language for all your data needs.
Read full review
Cons
Microsoft
  • It would be easier for users could Microsoft Power BI and Excel used the same programming languages.
  • Would like to see the online version of Microsoft Power BI be as powerful as the desktop version.
  • Publishing a Microsoft Power BI file online and then having to save the file is somewhat redundant.
  • Would like to export each page or chart as an image.
Read full review
SAS
  • Requires third-party drivers to connect to common data sources like SFDC, MS SQL, Postgres.
  • Debugging errors from the logs is a complicated process.
  • E-mail alert system is very primitive and needs customization to make it more modern,
  • Cannot send SMS alerts for jobs.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
Microsoft Power BI is an excellent and scalable tool. It has a learning curve, but once you get past that, the sky is the limit and you can build from the most simple to the most complex dashboards. I have built everything from simple reports with only a few data points to complex reports with many pages and advanced filtering.
Read full review
SAS
We are happy with the software and its functionality. As a SAS-shop, DataFlux is a logical choice for complex data integration.
Read full review
Usability
Microsoft
Automating reporting has reduced manual data processing by 50-70%, freeing up analysts for higher-value tasks. A finance team that previously spent 20+ hours per week on Excel-based reports now does it in minutes with Microsoft Power BI's automated Real-time dashboards have shortened decision cycles by 30-40%, enabling leadership to react quickly to sales trends, operational bottlenecks, and customer behavior.
Read full review
SAS
The main negative point is the use of a non-standard language for customizations, as well as the poor integration with non-SAS systems. However, there is no doubt that it is a high-performance and powerful product capable of responding optimally to certain requirements.
Read full review
Performance
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
SAS
It worked as expected.
Read full review
Support Rating
Microsoft
It is a fantastic tool, you can do almost everything related with data and reports, it is a perfect substitutive of Power Point and Excel with a high evolution and flexibility, and also it is very friendly and easy to share. I think all companies should have Power BI (or other BI tool) in their software package and if they are in the MS Suite, for sure Power BI should be the one due to all the benefits of the MS ecosystem.
Read full review
SAS
With SAS, you pay a license fee annually to use this product. Support is incredible. You get what you pay for, whether it's SAS forums on the SAS support site, technical support tickets via email or phone calls, or example documentation. It's not open source. It's documented thoroughly, and it works.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
Microsoft
It was integrated with our erp easily and was accessible on cloud.
Read full review
SAS
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
Microsoft Power BI is free. If I didn't want to create a custom platform (i.e. my organization insisted on an existing platform that I *had* to use), I'd use Microsoft Power BI. For any start-up or SMB, I'd just use Claude & Grok to build it quickly, also for free. Would not pay for Tableau or Sigma anymore. Not worth it at all.
Read full review
SAS
Because of ease of using SAS DI and data processing speed. There were lots of issues with AWS Redshift on cloud environment in terms of making connections with the data sources and while fetching the data we need to write complex queries.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • Power BI usage reduced the effort of analytical reports creation by about 80%
  • Empowered all the level of employee to be more vigilant of the data and business insights, gained the profit of 8% overall.
  • AI-powered predictive analytics improved forecasting accuracy by 17%, that topped the overall sales.
Read full review
SAS
  • We have more users who can connect to the many different data sources.
  • Our users do have existing SAS programming knowledge and that can carry over.
  • Business functions are starting to rely on SAS Data Integration Studio work product shortly after introduction.
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