Item: Microsoft Power BI
Rating: 7
Author: Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Microsoft Power BI

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Currently in the construction industry, and the company is a bit newer to visualized data and reporting software as powerful as Microsoft Power BI is. It's used for Operational data (ViewPoint, Bid 2 Win, Power Platform, etc.) and specific IT-focused data (trends, anomalies, general aggregates). We bring business units together and show them how their actions affect others. Both time & money. Incorrect data or antiquated processes can be hard for users to see. However, they have cascading effects that can feel like normal business until you see the full picture. That's one of the coolest things that Microsoft Power BI does for us: gives us that full picture. More recently, we've convinced our VP of Finance to let us bring in data from Planful. We'll elevate the financial data they already know and trust while tying in data from other platforms/databases. Planful is incredible software, but it doesn't tie into our other data sources as gracefully. Their drill downs are very focused, and he's excited to get a broader grasp of the what and why.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Options for data source connections are immense. Not just which sources, but your options for *how* the data is brought in.
Constant updates (this is both good and bad at times).
User friendliness. I can get the data connections set up and draft some quick visuals, then release to the target audience and let them expand on it how they want to.

Cons

Over the years, I've always asked for and wanted one seemingly minor improvement, but it's such a weakness for a reporting platform... A built in function to show Deltas. It just doesn't exist, so you have to do some very interesting workarounds to do it yourself.
Constant updates. There are direct vendor connections that are only functional on older versions of the software, but then I manage other reports on latest versions to get greater functionality. Sure, this is on the vendor in most ways, but the update cadence certainly complicates things.
This is most every company at this point, but I very specifically don't want "AI" in every little thing I use, and feel like it's getting rather forced at this point.

Return on Investment

We're still early in the adoption process at this company, but we've illustrated how bad data keeps us from being more productive. ~25% of a team's work week was dedicated to effectively cleaning up entries, but it was always seen as a normal to them.

Usability

It's gotten better and better over the years, but they still won't implement a native Delta solution.

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?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Microsoft Power BI go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy Microsoft Power BI again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Viewpoint Vista, B2Win Suite, Microsoft Power Automate, Microsoft Azure, Litmos

Likelihood to Recommend

Well suited: -Visualizing structured databases -Showing people how seemingly unrelated actions can affect other things -Showing data-driven opportunities for improvement Less appropriate: -Deltas... I swear to biscuits -If your are wanting things to look like Excel (just use Excel) -If you have very unstructured data with no possibility of interconnectedness