Very solid free data visualization software
March 14, 2017
Very solid free data visualization software
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Microsoft Power BI
We currently use Power BI for tracking quality metrics. It ties to a few different SQL and Access databases to access and display real time data. The primary uses at the moment are related to on time shipment and first pass yield. We also use it to track warranty returns and are working on implementing it further to track nonconformances and corrective actions.
- Adjusting displays and graphs is pretty intuitive. It's definitely Microsoft based, so if you have experience in Excel, you'll have a pretty easy time navigating.
- Access to dashboards is really easy, as simple as a static URL. The viewer only needs web access to work with it, so not everyone needs an installed copy of the software (or the web version).
- The free version of the software is not bad at all. Updates are frequent and new functionality comes online regularly. It's not quite as powerful as paid alternatives but for the price it's excellent.
- Tying together data from multiple sources can be tricky, sometimes about impossible.
- Updates to the web dashboard must be "pushed", the free option doesn't allow real time data updating.
- Customer service is largely forum based. While it's nice to crowd source answers, it can be slow.
I currently use Power BI instead of Tableau because I can't yet justify the cost of another Tableau seat to my company. Tableau is a very powerful piece of software that can do a lot of things that Power BI can't, but that comes at a high price. As our data evolves, our needs may too, but right now I get by fine with Power BI.