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Microsoft Power BI

Microsoft Power BI

Overview

What is Microsoft Power BI?

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…

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Recent Reviews

Power Packed Microsoft Power BI

8 out of 10
October 04, 2023
I used Microsoft Power BI for regular data analysis and report generation.
I use to deal with a lot of financial data and Microsoft Power …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Popular Features

View all 29 features
  • Customizable dashboards (138)
    8.0
    80%
  • Drill-down analysis (138)
    7.2
    72%
  • Report sharing and collaboration (134)
    7.0
    70%
  • Formatting capabilities (137)
    6.4
    64%

Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Pricing

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Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttps://powerbi.microsoft.com/en…

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Starting price (does not include set up fee)

  • $10 per month per user
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Product Demos

Microsoft Power BI Guided Tour

powerbi.microsoft.com
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Features

BI Standard Reporting

Standard reporting means pre-built or canned reports available to users without having to create them.

7.2
Avg 8.2

Ad-hoc Reporting

Ad-Hoc Reports are reports built by the user to meet highly specific requirements.

7
Avg 8.1

Report Output and Scheduling

Ability to schedule and manager report output.

7.8
Avg 8.4

Data Discovery and Visualization

Data Discovery and Visualization is the analysis of multiple data sources in a search for patterns and outliers and the ability to represent the data visually.

7.5
Avg 8.1

Access Control and Security

Access control means being able to determine who has access to which data.

8.2
Avg 8.6

Mobile Capabilities

Support for mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.

7.9
Avg 8.0

Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding

APIs are a set of routines, protocols, and tools for used for embedding one application in another

8.4
Avg 7.9
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Product Details

What is Microsoft Power BI?

Power BI: Comprehensive Business Intelligence Platform


Capabilities:

  • Discover Insights with AI: Utilizes advanced data-analysis tools, AI features, and a report-creation tool to transform complex data into accessible visuals, making it easier to uncover valuable insights.

  • Consolidate Data with OneLake: Integrates datasets from diverse sources into OneLake, creating a centralized, reliable source of truth for data. This integration reduces data duplication and simplifies analysis.

  • Drive Decision-Making: Infuse actionable insights into everyday applications like Microsoft 365, enhancing decision-making processes across the organization.

  • Empower Data Teams with Microsoft Fabric: Revolutionizes organization's data management and usage by incorporating Microsoft Fabric into the Power BI experience.


Key Differentiators:

  • Scalability: Power BI offers exceptional scalability, capable of transforming petabytes of data and supporting thousands of users without compromising performance.

  • Integration with Microsoft Ecosystem: Seamlessly embed and share insights across Microsoft services like Teams, PowerPoint, Excel, and the Power Platform, ensuring coherent and unified data handling.

  • Advanced AI Capabilities: Features AI tools that automatically find patterns, generate reports, and provide insights, enhancing efficiency and accuracy.

  • Robust Data Governance: Ensures data security and compliance with Microsoft's comprehensive governance and protection measures.


Copilot in Power BI:

  • Efficient Report Generation: Generates reports rapidly using conversational language. Copilot in Power BI enables quick creation of DAX calculations, summaries, and tailored reports.


Integration with Microsoft Fabric:

  • Enhanced Accessibility: Allows interaction with reports and data across Microsoft Fabric workloads, even for users without paid licenses.

  • OneLake Data Hub: Facilitates the connection and curation of data from varied sources, promoting efficient data engineering.


Power BI PRO:

  • Self-Service Analytics: License individuals for self-service analytics, enabling them to publish and share reports, fostering a culture of self-service BI.


Free Account Options:

  • Power BI Desktop & Free Trial: Offers a free app for data connection, modeling, and visualization, along with an easy-to-use report canvas.

  • Comprehensive Training: Access step-by-step Microsoft training courses to fully leverage Power BI capabilities.


Key Benefits:


  • Unified Data Management: Connect disparate data sources to establish a governed, unified source of truth.

  • Empower All Users: Ensures accessibility and ease of use for everyone, supported by free training resources and numerous accessibility features.

  • Immediate Start: Quickly begin with report creation, AI-generated reports, and a wide range of templates.

  • Customer Engagement: Enhance user engagement in apps by embedding Power BI reports.



Microsoft Power BI Features

BI Platform Features

  • Supported: Administration via Windows App
  • Supported: Administration via Web Interface
  • Supported: Live Connection to External Data
  • Supported: Snapshot of External Data
  • Supported: In-memory data model
  • Supported: OLAP (Pre-processed cube representation)
  • Supported: ROLAP (SQL-layer querying)
  • Supported: Multi-Data Source Reporting (Blending)
  • Supported: Data warehouse / dictionary layer
  • Supported: ETL Capability

Supported Data Sources Features

  • Supported: MS Excel Workbooks
  • Supported: Text Files (CSV, etc)
  • Supported: Oracle
  • Supported: MS SQL Server
  • Supported: IBM DB2
  • Supported: Postgres
  • Supported: MySQL
  • Supported: ODBC
  • Supported: Cloudera Hadoop
  • Supported: Hortonworks Hadoop
  • Supported: EMC Greenplum
  • Supported: IBM Netezza
  • Supported: HP Vertica
  • Supported: ParAccel
  • Supported: SAP Hana
  • Supported: Teradata
  • Supported: Sage 500
  • Supported: Salesforce
  • Supported: SAP
  • Supported: Google Analytics

BI Standard Reporting Features

  • Supported: Pixel Perfect reports
  • Supported: Customizable dashboards
  • Supported: Report Formatting Templates

Ad-hoc Reporting Features

  • Supported: Drill-down analysis
  • Supported: Formatting capabilities
  • Supported: Predictive modeling
  • Supported: Integration with R or other statistical packages
  • Supported: Report sharing and collaboration

Report Output and Scheduling Features

  • Supported: Publish to Web
  • Supported: Publish to PDF
  • Supported: Output Raw Supporting Data
  • Supported: Report Versioning
  • Supported: Report Delivery Scheduling
  • Supported: Delivery to Remote Servers

Data Discovery and Visualization Features

  • Supported: Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)
  • Supported: Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization
  • Supported: Predictive Analytics
  • Supported: Support for Machine Learning models
  • Supported: Pattern Recognition and Data Mining
  • Supported: Integration with R or other statistical packages

Access Control and Security Features

  • Supported: Multi-User Support (named login)
  • Supported: Role-Based Security Model
  • Supported: Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)
  • Supported: Report-Level Access Control
  • Supported: Table-Level Access Control (BI-layer)
  • Supported: Field-Level Access Control (BI-layer)
  • Supported: Single Sign-On (SSO)

Mobile Capabilities Features

  • Supported: Responsive Design for Web Access
  • Supported: Mobile Application
  • Supported: Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile

Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding Features

  • Supported: REST API
  • Supported: Javascript API
  • Supported: Java API
  • Supported: Themeable User Interface (UI)

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 growScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Data Governance

Microsoft Power BI Competitors

Microsoft Power BI Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise, Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsWindows
Mobile ApplicationApple iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Mobile Web
Supported CountriesAsia Pacific, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Europe, France, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States
Supported LanguagesArabic, Basque - Basque, Bulgarian - Български, Catalan - català, Chinese (Simplified) - 中文(简体), Chinese (Traditional) - 中文(繁體), Croatian - hrvatski, Czech - čeština, Danish - dansk, Dutch - Nederlands, English - English, Estonian - eesti, Finnish - suomi, French - français, Galician - galego, German - Deutsch, Greek - Ελληνικά, Hebrew, Hindi - हिंदी, Hungarian - magyar, Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia, Italian - italiano, Japanese - 日本語, Kazakh - Қазақ, Korean - 한국어, Latvian - latviešu, Lithuanian - lietuvių, Malay - Bahasa Melayu, Norwegian (Bokmål) - norsk (bokmål), Polish - Polski, Portuguese (Brazil) - Português, Portuguese (Portugal) - português, Romanian - română, Russian - Русский, Serbian (Cyrillic) - српски, Serbian (Latin) - srpski, Slovak - slovenčina, Slovenian - slovenski, Spanish - español, Swedish - svenska, Thai - ไทย, Turkish - Türkçe, Ukrainian - українська, Vietnamese - Tiếng Việt

Frequently Asked Questions

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.

Microsoft Power BI starts at $10.

Tableau Cloud, Looker, and Domo are common alternatives for Microsoft Power BI.

Reviewers rate Javascript API highest, with a score of 9.6.

The most common users of Microsoft Power BI are from Enterprises (1,001+ employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(1781)

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(76-100 of 140)
Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
July 06, 2019

Microsoft Power BI review: A way to optimize and improve visualization

GO
Gabriel Oliveira
Programmer Analyst
Alcoa Aluminio S.A (Mining & Metals, 10,001+ employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
The recommendation for a company would be that with this free/low-cost tool for desktop it can help a lot in making decisions and thereby get a result that you can visualize if your company is on the right path. The user will also get some more creativity about the creation of the panels.
July 05, 2019

A great and interactive business analytics tool

AR
Adriano Rosa
Programmer
Alcoa Inc (Mining & Metals, 10,001+ employees)
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Just like Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Power BI has many types of graphs and charts, but when it comes to creating a tableau of information, the data can be transformed into maps and gauges. There is even a KPI visualization and one called R visualization. Of course, the scenario in which the user has advanced experience in Microsoft Excel is the best scenario—Power BI makes data analysis extremely easy for them. And more, you can see the raw data behind the visualization opening Excel.
June 24, 2019

Enterprise adoption of Power BI

Verified User
Analyst in Legal
Computer Software Company, 5001-10,000 employees
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Power BI is a really good value for your money and I think it is well suited to all scenarios. In the age of data, we can glean metrics from ANYTHING and having PowerBi allows a quick return on your investment. You can very quickly create valuable visuals and dashboards. I went from never having used the software to a power user very quickly, just by viewing the robust training videos and instructions provided by Microsoft.
June 13, 2019

Data Visualization and Data Analyzes

Maria Carver | TrustRadius Reviewer
Maria Carver
Production Specialist
The Dow Chemical Company (Chemicals, 10,001+ employees)
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
For generating value out of data, the dashboards are very intuitive and showcases a great volume of data. Very easy to make decisions out of it. Also, report generation and sharing has become very easy which makes it easier for the top management. Production reports are generated daily, weekly, monthly and yearly.
May 20, 2019

Power BI - enabling do-it-yourself dashboards and analytics

Verified User
Project Manager in Product Management
Telecommunications Company, 10,001+ employees
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
It is really well suited if you want to build dashboards and data visualization with metrics, KPIs and charts, but it's not suitable if you want to build a complete portal, for example. If you want to aggregate other features and functions which are basic elements of a software (data entry, workflows and etc.) you need to consider also other development solutions and techniques.
May 13, 2019

Power BI - Good, and Getting Better Constantly

Scott Herring | TrustRadius Reviewer
Scott Herring
Database Support Specialist
Lehigh Career & Technical Institute (Education Management, 201-500 employees)
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Quick visual representation of datasets is the strong point here when working with reasonable sized files.
Large dataset files are problematic in quickly giving that representation due to application limitations.
Internal operations being guided by the dashboards is a well suited scenario, but as is the case when working in a collaborative environment, external users will lack your functionality that you have internally.
May 10, 2019

Microsoft Power BI for better visulization and data analysis

Verified User
Administrator in Information Technology
Food Production Company, 10,001+ employees
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft Power BI may not be suitable for information and reports where governed data is paramount. For instance, statutory reports or information that is needed by the regulatory or government body may not be suitable thru Power BI. For day to day business, there is no other better alternative than Power BI. For instance, to see the status reports to run your departments business, Power BI is a great choice.
April 26, 2019

Wonderful Data Visualisation Platform. Perfect for Smaller Organisations At Lower Price Point.

Peter Baker | TrustRadius Reviewer
Peter Baker
Senior Consultant Analyst
Praxidia (Management Consulting, 51-200 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
This is probably my favorite BI platform I have used to date. It feels a bit younger though, missing some features other platforms have. However, it makes up for this with its low price point for small businesses and great feature set that allows easy elimination of bugs and errors in your dashboards through to the ability to layer visuals on top of each other to get around things like limited numbers of Axis in certain visuals.

There are a few things you have to tweak constantly, tucked away in dropdown menus, that could be much more intuitive actions by clicking on components in visuals, like changing a title, axis name, etc. But the foundations are solid.
April 24, 2019

Microsoft Power BI was the best choice for our organization

Verified User
Project Manager in Information Technology
Computer Software Company, 201-500 employees
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Power BI is the best / easiest option when:
  1. You want to be able to leverage non-development staff to author reports
  2. You need to be able to embed your reports
  3. You need security around the data you are presenting
  4. You need to be able to access a wide variety of data sources
  5. You want to have access to a large online community for support/learning
Microsoft Power BI may not be the best choice if you have a limited dataset, few reports you are interested in, don't require much functionality in the report, and don't have resources familiar with Power BI.
April 11, 2019

The Power Of Business Intelligence

Jewemars Christian Riano | TrustRadius Reviewer
Jewemars Christian Riano
System Administrator
UnionBank of the Philippines (Banking, 1001-5000 employees)
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
I would recommend this based on the free use of Power BI desktop for personal usage, practice in data analytics and understanding of data structure. It can help a business in operating its daily business or business critical decision also allows users to have a creative aspect in terms of design and structuring of dashboards.
March 20, 2019

Power BI - Excellent Tool

Maria Piccoli | TrustRadius Reviewer
Maria Piccoli
Head of Business Intelligence
Talon Outdoor (Marketing and Advertising, 51-200 employees)
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Power BI is suited for almost every situation - from web analysis to booking/revenue review. Power BI has been used in every department. It is easy to set up connections to different sources and build dashboards with different data views.
February 15, 2019

Power BI: bringing life to your disparate data

Mathieu Gaouette | TrustRadius Reviewer
Mathieu Gaouette
Consultant BI senior/Administrateur - spécialité SAS
Prospective MG inc. (Banking, 10,001+ employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Do:
  • One time data analysis/reporting where you want to have some visual representations to help you understand your data.
  • Create dashboards that can help you take business decisions and just generally help you know if your business is on track.
  • With a pro license: deploy dashboards that can be consumed by other users.
Don't
  • Use a Pro install for regulatory reports (Static reports should be created with a reporting tool if available to avoid duplicating tools and costs).
  • Deploy at large (anyone can have it installed) if data governance is important in your organization. It should really be a tool used by people that really understand the data and how to merge it (integrating different sources).
January 07, 2019

Microsoft Power BI can em-Power data visualizations and analyses

Verified User
Analyst in Research & Development
Biotechnology Company, 1001-5000 employees
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
It is handy for projects where different groups of people may want to analyze/visualize different aspects of the data. Visualizations can be changed on the fly simply by clicking around, so it's good for projects involving audiences who don't need coding experience to size up the data. It is however not so good at handling gigantic/complex datasets.
January 06, 2019

Microsoft BI makes data visualization easy to implement and easy to use.

Verified User
Analyst in Information Technology
Government Administration Company, 5001-10,000 employees
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft BI is well suited for a small or large department that really wants to get into the details of their data. It is not that difficult to set up, and it is easy for those coming from a Microsoft background. The downside is the cost, especially for on-prem installs. It is not cheap to host your own instance.
December 07, 2018

Great Business Intelligence solution for Low Cost

Brian Munn | TrustRadius Reviewer
Brian Munn
Network Services Manager
M. J. Electric, LLC (Construction, 1001-5000 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
If you are a Microsoft shop and have users that live and die by Microsoft Excel, Power BI will be a great addition. It is easy to get started and provides powerful professional looking reports without a high cost associated. Power BI is a great solution and easy to implement business intelligence solution.
November 28, 2018

Microsoft Power BI can provide the right data, in the right format, wherever you are.

Verified User
Manager in Information Technology
Food Production Company, 1001-5000 employees
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft Power BI can easily and efficiently replace those complex spreadsheets that all areas have and spend ton of hours every month to update with manual ERP extracts, formulas and vlookups.
November 26, 2018

O365 bundle, might as well use it

Verified User
Analyst in Other
Management Consulting Company, 51-200 employees
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Best scenario is for new users to any sort of BI. Great platform for learning and since most companies have access to it already with their O365 licenses it doesn't incur additional costs. Less appropriate when you have more advanced users that have experience with products like Tableau, which provides a more refined BI experience than power BI.
November 21, 2018

Power BI for quick and affordable insights

VM
Viktor Mulac
Senior Consultant
A.T. Kearney (Management Consulting, 1001-5000 employees)
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
I would recommend this solution (and we have started to use it) since it is cheap. Even our developer started to use it in a cloud version before the project officially started. For a few bucks per month. So there is a really low entry barrier. Basically it will fit in a situation where you need a short development time. Not very well suited for big data analysis in production system though.
October 22, 2018

Power BI is a powerful visual tool that does not disappoint. User friendly and rich content...Elegant!

Verified User
Employee in Finance and Accounting
Medical Devices Company, 51-200 employees
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Power BI is great at dynamically reflecting real time data. It has wonderful views of data and can narrate a story that is powerful and impressive. Decisions can be made on the overall visuals shown. BI can show you where your sales are picking up while showing you areas to focus on. The quality of your BI dashboard tremendously improves with the overall quality of your incoming data. BI has great capability to share results across the organization in a secure and safe way in almost any computer platform. Mobile phones welcome too!
September 27, 2018

Power BI from an enterprise perspective

Angad Singh | TrustRadius Reviewer
Angad Singh
Data Architecture Co-op
Johnson & Johnson (Hospital & Health Care, 10,001+ employees)
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Power Bi does well when working with databases to create visualizations or to report certain metrics. It would be ideal for large corporations that collect a lot of data and have to use it to improve their business. It can still be beneficial for smaller businesses and its cheap price tag makes it accessible to anyone.
September 10, 2018

Power BI is a very good low cost option to democratize BI

Gonzalo Angeleri | TrustRadius Reviewer
Gonzalo Angeleri
Regional Product & Solution Architect Manager
GRUPO DATCO (Information Technology and Services, 501-1000 employees)
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Likelihood to Recommend
I would recommend this solution because it provides good analytical capabilities at a low cost. It is even evolving monthly adding new features. For users who currently use Excel, it is a very good evolution that allows you to improve the analysis and governance of the BI environment, being able to reuse the Excel spreadsheets as data sources in Power BI.
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