Item: Microsoft Power BI
Rating: 9
Author: Steffany Winkelmann

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Previously, we had no real business intelligence. We had all sorts of data in our database, but we had no way to make sense of it aside of downloading and manipulating it in Excel, but this proved difficult to process many hundreds of thousands of rows of data. Microsoft Power BI has helped us make this process so much easier by connecting to our database directly and run queries directly in the system and make beautiful charts based on that data, to make sense of what's going on.

Pros and Cons

Beautiful graphical models of your data
Fast processing whether you're working with local data or pulling it from your database
Very easy to share reports within your organization
Surprisingly fairly easy to learn

It is such a powerful system that it can come across as intimidating for some without some Excel knowledge
I'm not a database analyst or administrator, so calling the data in can be difficult (not necessary the fault of the software, but something that could be difficult for teams without someone with database knowledge)
It can come across as confusing, when there is both a local Power BI and online Power BI components. They don't necessarily do the same functions. You'll definitely want to know how to use the online version as this is how you'll publish and share the results of your findings, but the local one has a lot of capabilities that don't appear to be directly available in the online version (and if so, it's not immediately apparent).

Alternatives Considered

Periscope Data

I am not a data analyst, but as a user, I prefer the UI of Power BI compared to Periscope Data. Periscope Data has some really great functionality and can build some really useful reports, but Power BI seems to have more useful visuals and is easier for non-database admins/non-data analysts to generate some interesting, basic reports that help them in their role. I've also found courses to help you learn how to use Power BI, from the simple functions up to more complex processes (and get a certification for it) for which I was unable to find for Periscope Data.

Other Software Used

Bamboo, Aha!

Likelihood to Recommend

Well suited for organizations that have a lot of client data. It doesn't necessarily mean you have a lot of clients, but rather that you've collected a large set of data-points that you can analyze, cross-compare, and report on and need higher functions than Excel. It would also be better-suited for organizations that have someone (preferably in-house) who can import & process that data into meaningful reports for other teams to use and build off of.

Less appropriate for smaller organizations that don't have someone in-house or don't have the strong ability to learn how to maximize on the abilities of this tool set. It requires knowledge of interacting with databases and someone who understands how to analyze and interpret business intelligence data. Also not very appropriate for organizations that don't collect much data on their clients, even if they have many clients.

Power BI - Excel on Steroids and So Much More

Overall Satisfaction with Microsoft Power BI

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros and Cons

Alternatives Considered

Other Software Used

Likelihood to Recommend

Microsoft Power BI Feature Ratings