Microsoft Power BI Reviews

“Reliable insights”

Pros

Bringing this into our organization has made a big difference in how we handle data visualization and analysis across large volumes of gaming and customer information. It has been extremely useful for turning that data into meaningful insights and analysis and the range of tools and visualization options available gives us plenty of ways to present the information clearly.

Cons

The initial deployment and setup took some time to get in place but it ended up being worth the effort once everything was up and running.

“user friendly dashboards”

Pros

Its user friendly interface which makes working with reports and visualizations much more approachable. The data import and integration capabilities are also very strong, letting me connect information from different sources without much hassle.

Cons

Does an excellent job when it comes to Key Performance Indicator (KPI) monitoring making it very useful for tracking performance and staying on top of important metrics.

“fast insights”

Pros

Easy to use and comprehensive enough that teams across the company can work with it without much trouble.

Cons

Building the data setup can be complicated when the company's systems are complex.

“familiar layout for excel users”

Pros

Coming from Excel, the interface felt familiar right away so learning Microsoft Power BI was more approachable than picking up other data visualization tools like R.

Cons

At the same time, there are a lot of buttons and options packed into the interface which can feel confusing and even a bit difficult to figure out when you're new even if it does resemble other Microsoft products.

“easy to use filters”

Pros

Right from the start, it has felt very user friendly, with an interface that's clear and simple to work with. Being able to filter multiple graphs at the same time is especially helpful and makes analyzing data much more efficient.

Cons

Up to this point, I haven't come across any feature in Microsoft Power BI that really bothers me. If anything, it could be a bit faster at times but that seems more related to handling large amounts of data than to the software itself.

“interactive dashboards”

Pros

Building interactive dashboards and reports in Power BI has been the biggest advantage for me. It connects to many different types of data sources, lets us customize reports the way we need and even gives us the option to create our own visualizations.

Cons

My overall experience has been very positive and honestly I don't have any particular dislikes to mention.

“powerful automation feature”

Pros

There is so much learning material is available for this software. Webinars, forums, Microsoft's own learning platform and LinkedIn Learning. It makes it possible to learn at your own speed. Getting started is fairly easy and while becoming truly proficient takes more time and patience, it still feels quite accessible especially for people already used to other Microsoft tools like Excel. Another big advantage is how widely the product is used across companies which makes the skills you build very transferable. I also appreciate the clearly structured workflow from Query to BI to Visualization, along with the built in editors that really help people like me who are not developers by background. On top of that the automation for importing data, analyzing it and building visualizations is a huge step forward for anyone who used to rely heavily on Excel.

Cons

Where it falls short for me is in the lack of user friendly guidance once you move into more advanced development. When things get more technical, I don't feel supported enough and the available information around those deeper product details could be much clearer and better guided.

“works well!”

Pros

This worked really well for our team. It lets us connect to a wide range of data sources, whether the files are stored locally on individual computers or shared across company drives. The dashboards we can build are fairly user friendly and Microsoft also offers plenty of useful resources for anyone who is new to the platform or still getting up to speed.

Cons

Setting up a calculated field can be a little frustrating even though it's still possible to use. It just doesn't feel as user friendly as some competing tools.

“practical for heavy workloads”

Pros

Very practical to use especially when there are lots of tasks to handle at the same time.

Cons

I've been happy with all of its features and honestly have nothing to complain about.

“Amazing data prep”

Pros

The wide range of connectors available make it much simpler to connect to several databases at the same time. Power Query also saves a lot of effort when it comes to cleaning, transforming and organizing data before building reports.

Cons

When there are errors in DAX formulas, it can be very hard to figure out exactly where the problem is.

“solid integrations”

Pros

Putting together visualizations is easy and it works exceptionally well with other Microsoft tools as well as Google Sheets. The support documentation is helpful and easy to access when needed.

Cons

The AI features used in visualizations and reporting still need some improvement.

“easy to build dashboards”

Pros

There's an enormous amount of flexibility in the way data can be presented and I can tailor different dashboards for different audiences depending on what they need to see.

Cons

Getting everything set up can be challenging. There are so many options available that it's not always obvious where to find the exact feature or setting you need.

“a very versatile tool”

Pros

It has a wide range of features available and getting around them is fairly simple once you're in the platform.

Cons

To really make full use of the product, you need a strong grasp of Excel, formulas and some training in the software itself.

“many powerful features for analysts”

Pros

There are a lot of capabilities packed into this and it works especially well for staff who already know their way around data tools.

Cons

Its hard for some team members to understand how to use this program especially if they do not have much experience with such platforms.

“dashboards that elevate management”

Pros

A real asset to my management routine. With it, I can build dashboards, create comparisons and generate charts which adds a lot of value to both my commercial and administrative management.

Cons

The initial learning curve felt a bit complex but considering everything the tool delivers, taking a course to learn it is absolutely worth it.

“Better than Excel!”

Pros

Coming from Excel, this felt like a major step up. Power BI takes what we were already doing and pushes it much further with a lot of advanced capabilities, including stronger data connectors, embedded reporting, better dashboards and workflows and the ability to work with much larger datasets.

Cons

A bigger library of dashboard and report templates would definitely help and we've also run into cloud syncing problems before that created a lot of frustration for our team.

“broad connectivity”

Pros

Pulling in data from multiple sources is a huge advantage for my analysis work and that's something I really rely on. The charting and graphing tools are also simple to use and make it quick to visualize the data.

Cons

Honestly, I haven't come across anything specific that I dislike.

“impactful visuals for presentations”

Pros

It's one of the best tools for presenting data in a visually impressive way, whether it's for top management or a public audience.

Cons

The formulas and connectors are not as simple as they are in some other analytics tools and the AI capabilities are still quite limited in comparison.

“A reliable software”

Pros

This tool works really well. When the database is properly organized, creating a custom dashboard with the tables and charts you want is very easy. The refresh rates are excellent and the platform is very stable too.

Cons

You do need a bit of training to get started the right way. And if the dashboard you want to build is too complex, you'll probably need some developer-level skills to make it happen.

“dynamic tool that stands out”

Pros

One thing that really sets it apart is how impressively it analyzes and visualizes data. I haven't come across another tool that handles dynamic visuals quite like this. For instance, if you click on a specific city, the sales figures, charts, product mix pie and the rest of the dashboard instantly update to display only that city's data.

Cons

Despite the high level of customizability the software provides with data visualization I'm not able to really use it to its full potential. I still struggle with using formulas and creating new fields which makes the reporting side feel pretty limited. On top of that connecting Power BI to an ERP system is not user friendly at all.