Item: Microsoft Power BI
Rating: 9
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

The organization is currently shifting from Tableau to Power BI as its primary BI visualization tool. This began as parallel efforts both by IT to decide to make the switch due to the value proposition, as well as in some business units which had begun to use the tool for their own data needs.

Pros and Cons

Very intuitive to use, particularly if you have a background in Excel and have leveraged Power Pivot.
Excellent visuals with a wide variety of options.
Great performance, driven by the same engine used by SSAS Tabular.

For on-prem users of Power BI Report Server, it would be useful if Desktop included a compatibility level that could be set rather than having to manage desktop installs, particularly with the app-based installation option.
Formatting options can be uneven between different visuals.
Formatting for tables based on queries seem to randomly be reformatted to being difficult to read.

Return on Investment

Upon completion of conversion, the annual subscription costs covering the entire company will be less than existing maintenance costs for similar software.
Business users have been fast to embrace the technology, with departments getting ahead of IT in some cases to create their own dashboards.
The ability for any user to evaluate the free desktop version has helped drive adoption.

Alternatives Considered

Tableau Desktop, TIBCO Spotfire and Salesforce Einstein Analytics (formerly Wave Analytics)

Power BI is, in my opinion, the overall best visualization tool on the market today. While there are niche areas where others may have small advantages, the overall feature/functionality, approachability, and value proposition that Power BI provides give it the edge. Cost is a particularly significant factor, as any user can build dashboards for their personal use, providing them with an entry to the development tool with no cost. Even if using a Pro license, the individual cost per user is much lower than competitors. If you are already a SQL Server shop, or have Excel power users, the integrations and commonality of development IDEs will provide a jumpstart to developers and users alike.

Key Insights

Do you think Microsoft Power BI delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Microsoft Power BI's feature set?

Yes

Did Microsoft Power BI live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Microsoft Power BI go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Microsoft Power BI again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Salesforce CMS, Deltek Vision

Usability

Power BI is a very approachable tool for developers and end-users. For developers with experience in SSAS tabular, the model design tools will be extremely familiar. Same goes for end-users with experience in Power Pivot. Beyond that, the canvas for creating dashboards is also very easy to use. There are sufficient similarities with pivot chart/table functions that end users will not fully be starting from scratch. However, there are some nits. Formatting options can be daunting, and some of the features can be difficult to find. These could be better organized.

Support Rating

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.

Likelihood to Recommend

Power BI is an excellent choice for any company looking to get into the Visualization space, or considering a change or supplement of existing BI tools. With both cloud-based and on-prem versions available, delivery methods fit with any on-prem, hybrid, or cloud-based approach. Obviously, from a cloud perspective, this would lend itself better to companies with an existing investment in Azure. The desktop tool provides an easy-to-use experience that will be familiar with advanced Excel users. This allows power users in the business a faster track to develop data models than many other tools. The visualizations are at least on par with other top tools, and the open source nature of developing visuals has led to a rich marketplace providing additional capabilities. There is a reason Power BI is leading in the Gartner Magic Quadrant.

Power BI - Top of the Visualization Heap

Software Version

Overall Satisfaction with Microsoft Power BI