Likelihood to Recommend 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 If you have an analytics department, Data Science is perfect for making analyses quicker. Data Science works well for web querying, automating analyses, sharing advanced analyses with others, and performing lots of other advanced analytical processes. Data Science is not a good fit if the analytics you do is stuff that Excel can do. The software is powerful, with lots of features, and unless you actually plan on using those features, it's not worth paying for.
Read full review Pros 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 It has a great user interface, easy to navigate and learn on the fly. There are lots of great options for data organization and analysis! Makes it a handy tool for presentations as well. A collaborative ability is highly valued for my company where we often work from home or on site. Being able to share the data with those in the office so multiple people can look at it is a great tool! Read full review Cons 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 Unfortunately, some functionality is hidden per upgrade to other versions. Feel data mining functionality would be useful, but not budget for software. At the current price point, would have expected more (such as Mathematica breadth of functionality for one price). It is light on optimization capability. Slow when considering very large datasets, performing things such as distribution identification Steve Wagner Director, Network Design and Logistics Analytics
Read full review Likelihood to Renew I find it helpful and easy to use
Read full review The company is hesitant to spend this much on software. They are primarily an engineering firm, and they don't understand the use of analytical software for environmental professionals.
Read full review Usability 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 Support Rating 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.
Greg Watkins Senior Customer Success Manager (Strategic Accounts)
Read full review Alternatives Considered [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 .
Dustin Ghia Lead Consultant - Solutions Architect - Software Engineer
Read full review I prefer Spotfire Data Science's approach. It is more natural and fits the way I think. I prefer to use Spotfire Data Science's VB for writing macros. It is real code, meaning that I do not need to trick the software to do what I need and there are no implied loops over solving simple problems. The graphs are publication quality and can be edited by hand or using a macro if I am building hundreds of them. Spotfire Data Science had a user-friendly approach to building lengthy data processing streams (in its workspaces). It is just so fast for analyzing a dataset that you have never seen before and efficient for ongoing work on the same data.
Read full review Return on Investment 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 Our company has had the program for less than 1 year. We don't expected a positive return this year. The goal is for Data Science to led to defined projects by the end of the end of the year and implementation in the following two. Overall, we are planning on 4 years to fully recoup the cost of the software and the cost of implementing identified projects. Read full review ScreenShots Microsoft Power BI Screenshots Spotfire Data Science Screenshots