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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

View all pricing

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.

7.3
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.

7.6
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 7.9

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

(1783)

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(26-50 of 53)
Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
May 12, 2021

Reporting Super Program

Christian Maxwell | TrustRadius Reviewer
Christian Maxwell
Process Manager
Okland Construction (Construction, 501-1000 employees)
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Support Rating
8
I did not have a ton of interaction with the Power BI support team. When we ran into some minor issues my co-worker was the one who was working with support to get that resolved and get our questions answered. From his experience it seemed like the process went well and the support team was responsive and helpful.
May 12, 2021

Useful and effective tool and at a very good price

Dustin Ghia | TrustRadius Reviewer
Dustin Ghia
Lead Consultant - Solutions Architect - Software Engineer
Ghia & Associates Engineering and Consulting Group (Computer Software, 1-10 employees)
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Support Rating
9
Microsoft's support is standard, and typically the difficulties that arise when using Power BI correspond to managing Azure. Regarding the use of Power BI to do reports and analysis, the support of Microsoft is regular; However, the Power BI Users Community is active and frequently publishes manuals and tutorials on YouTube, with which practically all doubts regarding the basic and intermediate use of the tool can be resolved.
May 10, 2021

Bring most out of your data

Verified User
Professional in Information Technology
Information Technology & Services Company, 201-500 employees
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Support Rating
8
Microsoft site has detailed documentation that pretty much covers all the essential scenarios and also provides free training courses to users. Also, Microsoft Power BI listens to user feedback and forums to bring new features. It has a huge developer community and a wide range of users to find help.
May 08, 2021

Power BI- More powerful reports and dashboards

AJ
Annie Jain
Consultant
Tata Consultancy Services (Information Technology and Services, 10,001+ employees)
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Support Rating
8
I only had 1-2 instances where I needed to reach out to support teams for Power BI. Though the touchpoints for support teams are limited and only option is to create a support ticket, the response on email was prompt and required to exchange only 2 messages before we solved the issue. I also want to mention that I learnt a lot from the amazing community forums and learning videos available. However, I am not happy with the depth of the documentation.
May 04, 2021

Microsoft Power BI - Gets the Job Done

Alex Brielmann | TrustRadius Reviewer
Alex Brielmann
Sales Operations Manager
Conga (Computer Software, 1001-5000 employees)
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Support Rating
7
I didn't have to deal directly with the support team, but they seemed to be responsive with our team of developers. If we had an urgent issue, we were typically able to get it resolved with a quick turnaround time. They are experienced employees, so I would assume nothing less, so it was nice to have those expectations met.
April 30, 2021

The Industry Standard

Verified User
Project Manager in Information Technology
Financial Services Company, 5001-10,000 employees
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Support Rating
5
I have not interacted with the Power BI team specifically, however, in interacting with Microsoft's support teams and customer success teams, I have been a little disappointed with the quality of their assistance. We've tried engaging them for the free trainings they offer as part of our Microsoft package and they have been very underwhelming.
April 28, 2021

Power BI Saves Analysts Time

Gabrielle Wayman | TrustRadius Reviewer
Gabrielle Wayman
Product Manager, iTRACK™
The Raymond Corporation (Machinery, 201-500 employees)
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Support Rating
7
I have not interacted with their support team. When I need help, I refer to YouTube videos and forums of peer users. I wasn’t able to complete this review without assigning a number, and I didn’t want to tank their support rating in case others find them very helpful.
April 27, 2021

Power BI offers excellent value and feature sets, with rapid implementation.

Verified User
Team Lead in Information Technology
Biotechnology Company, 501-1000 employees
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Support Rating
8
Support has been excellent. I can't say enough about the training that's available from Microsoft directly, and online. It's truly a Power to the People type of platform. Direct tickets to Microsoft can be a bit challenging at times, although this is not a product of the product so to speak, more the nature of working with a large organization.
April 27, 2021

As a marketer I'd pass

Berlynn Pierce | TrustRadius Reviewer
Berlynn Pierce
CRM senior digital associate
1-800 CONTACTS (Consumer Goods, 501-1000 employees)
Score 3 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Support Rating
I have never had to use the Power BI support team - if I have had questions I've reached out either to our analysts or the Marketing team. The request for help is obvious with various options that can be researched before reaching out for assistance. I don't love that that support ticket option is the very last option. When I select "report an issue" I'm taken to a community page to suggest an idea or report an issue and vote. The CTA is to suggest an idea and the headline is to share ideas for future features. This doesn't make any sense.
April 27, 2021

Microsoft Power BI - a solid choice for data visualization and a great add to the Microsoft Suite

Verified User
Engineer in Research & Development
Biotechnology Company, 10,001+ employees
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Support Rating
9
Haven't used the support team a lot, but the time I reached out with a query, the response was timely and they were able to let us know that the feature we were looking for did not exist currently but may exist in a future release which helped us to move on.
April 27, 2021

Do try PowerBi !

Ilektra Skepetari | TrustRadius Reviewer
Ilektra Skepetari
Senior Forecasting Analyst
Sainsbury's (Retail, 10,001+ employees)
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Support Rating
8
Microsoft are very fast to reply to any queries and if the query is hard to implement they provide resources to help you and facilitate solutions to problems. Also, there is a lot of online material to self-serve any bugs or errors you might have to deal with - even if the IDE of [Microsoft Power BI] is already very helpful and user friendly.
April 27, 2021

It's POWERful. It's INTELLIGENT. It's POWER BI.

Verified User
Manager in Marketing
Marketing & Advertising Company, 1001-5000 employees
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Support Rating
8
[Microsoft] Power BI has good community forums surrounding it, as well as YouTube videos to give ideas and help troubleshoot issues that arise.

Most of the time, any issue that can't be resolved is likely a feature request that can go to the [Microsoft] Power BI team to be considered in a future release.
April 27, 2021

Power BI great now and positioned well for the future

Verified User
Analyst in Finance and Accounting
Information Technology & Services Company, 51-200 employees
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Support Rating
10
Power BI has been great. One of the things that I love the most is that they do substantial updates monthly and have a very large and knowledgeable user base. Often times whenever I find something I wish I could do I inevitably find out how in the communities or it ends up being in the next month's release. There is an option to submit a ticket to Microsoft in the traditional support way but I have never found myself having to do that.
April 26, 2021

Power BI - Top of the Visualization Heap

Verified User
Employee in Information Technology
Architecture & Planning Company, 1001-5000 employees
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Support Rating
8
Support needs have been minimal. Our overall experience with Microsoft support when needed has been positive. However, most of my questions had already been answered on either the Power BI community boards, or on 3rd party boards. Fortunately, the Power BI user base is huge, so finding existing answers to questions is relatively easy, as is getting them answered on one of the boards. I do often see Microsoft employees answering questions on the Power BI community boards.
April 23, 2021

Game changer for organizing sales data, identifying metrics, insights, and arriving at actionable outcomes

Verified User
Executive in Sales
Furniture Company, 501-1000 employees
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Support Rating
6
I have only had limited experience with support for this tool, but I found the response time slow and the support I received was in the form of a templated response with links to their help section. Other than that, the support I've received is pretty standard, being able to troubleshoot this software on your own is more useful.
April 22, 2021

Microsoft Power BI is a Great Entry Level BI Tool That Anyone Can Use

Verified User
Analyst in Human Resources
Paper & Forest Products Company, 1001-5000 employees
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Support Rating
7
I'm not a fan of Microsoft Support in general. I have better luck searching forums and talking to 3rd party integrators. Microsoft's self-help is usually way too generic for my needs. This is especially true with visualizations and calculations.
April 13, 2021

A powerhouse for deep insights and better decision making

JM
Jay Mistry
Business Analyst
Nestle Canada Inc (Food & Beverages, 1001-5000 employees)
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Support Rating
10
Support for Power BI is very extensive with many online chat groups and plenty of resources via search engines. Within the organization, we have a number of chat groups and training and support from IS/IT teams. Cross-functional collaboration is also helping to support functional areas to share, learn & grow the Power BI platform.
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