Microsoft Power BI Reviews

“very userfriendly”

Pros

Feels very user friendly, offers a wide range of data source connectors and delivers outstanding data visualization capabilities.

Cons

Free version has a limited refresh cycle.

“great fit for Excel users”

Pros

Being part of the Office 365 suite is a big plus and if you already work with Excel, using this program is very easy.

Cons

Coming from a Qlik consulting background, the part I'm less happy with is that data analysis and exploration don't feel as flexible as they do in some other BI dashboarding tools.

“My Power BI review”

Pros

Its easy to use, budget-friendly and works really well with other Microsoft products which makes everything feel more connected.

Cons

Has a bit of a learning curve at the beginning but it doesn't take long to get up and running.

“helpful visual insights”

Pros

Right away, the visual charts made the biggest difference. They let me quickly see which insurance company had the strongest presence in my office. I was also able to review Accounts Receivable and understand which insurance companies and third-party payors were paying within 30 days, within 31-60 days or taking more than 60 days. Having that visibility gave me a much clearer picture of when my business would be reimbursed for the services we provided. It also made it easier to decide where to focus my time and attention when it came to marketing.

Cons

One inconvenience on the IT side was that it felt a little frustrating to isolate specific information since I had to switch between tabs or change radio buttons quite often.

“solid dashboards and data flows”

Pros

Managing data flows and building dashboards has been the best part for me. That's the standout feature and the one that delivers the most value.

Cons

Something that could be better is the limited availability of demos for newly released features.

“great at summarizing information”

Pros

Being able to work both online and offline is a big plus and it does a really good job of transforming data into different formats. Another thing I appreciate is how quickly it can summarize information across different levels.

Cons

Troubleshooting can be difficult at times although there are plenty of online resources and solutions available when issues come up.

“Interactive dashboards done right”

Pros

When raw data turns into 1,000+ rows and columns, this is a really strong option for turning it into an interactive dashboard. It does a better job than Excel's traditional pivot tables when you need something more dynamic and building those dashboards is pretty quick. Another big plus is that it's not limited to Excel files. You can also pull in data from sources like SQL databases and several other connectors available. We also connect our data to its servers and publish dashboards online which makes it simple for everyone in the organization to access the data anytime, from anywhere.

Cons

I honestly don't have any complaints about this software. I really enjoy using it.

“Excellent for big data reporting”

Pros

Working with large datasets feels very manageable. The interface is user friendly especially if you already spend a lot of time in Excel. It's an excellent tool for building reports and pulling useful insights from data and the free version already gives me everything I need.

Cons

The charts and graph options aren't as strong or polished as the ones available in some other software.

“stunning data visualization”

Pros

Using this data visualization tool feels very easy and it's simple to work with on a daily basis.

Cons

At the same time, there are plenty of other tools on the market that offer similar capabilities at a lower cost.

“solid analytics for big data”

Pros

Right from the start, it has been incredibly useful for data analysis. It includes tools that make managing dashboards and charts much more practical which really helps when it comes to making decisions. The interface is also user friendly even for people without much experience and it offers strong benefits for companies that need to work with and analyze large volumes of data.

Cons

One downside of the free version is that it comes with limited resources and tools which makes it harder to work with data in greater depth and carry out more detailed analysis.

“versatile features”

Pros

There's a wide range of features available and the visualizations are really powerful.

Cons

It can be a little too complex to pick up quickly and integrating data is difficult.

“Accurate insights”

Pros

After using this platform for many years, I can say it's an incredibly powerful platform for getting business insights. It lets us build our own custom reports and with its advanced capabilities, we can even write our own scripts to uncover whatever insights we need.

Cons

Comes packed with a huge number of features but in more complex scenarios, we still need to code certain things which usually requires a developer. Because of that, it can become quite expensive to use Power BI in many cases.

“flexible reports with strong visuals”

Pros

Its highly flexible and lets me build reports that are both very useful and visually appealing.

Cons

Getting comfortable with it took quite a bit of time. Even with a background in report writing and databases, I had to unlearn and relearn a lot before I really started feeling like I was making real progress with Power BI.

“love using it”

Pros

The overall user experience is good and there isn't much of a learning curve if you already have experience with other Microsoft products. It's also a very useful platform when it comes to integrations, with support for third-party applications like Tableau, Excel and others. A lot of people say Power BI is more for a general audience while Tableau is better suited for data analysts but I honestly think Power BI works extremely well for both. When you pair it with other applications, it becomes a powerful tool that can deliver really impressive results.

Cons

There honestly isn't much I dislike about it but one issue is that things can become complicated pretty quickly when you start working with large data sets. On top of that the interface can begin to feel crowded in those situations.

“dependable tool”

Pros

A dependable tool for analyzing and visualizing large volumes of data. It helps turn complex information into clear insights which makes data driven decision making much more practical.

Cons

I haven't run into any limitations so far.

“Impactful visuals”

Pros

One of the best tools for reporting and data visualization. It comes with a wide range of features that help us get work done much faster. Tasks that used to take hours can now be completed in just minutes. During MEC, it really made things much more manageable.

Cons

Like any tool, there's still some room for improvement, it takes a bit more time to process data when working with non Microsoft applications.

“impressive dashboards and strong support”

Pros

Comes with a wide range of features and tools that help you figure out the best way to present your data. When the dashboard is built by someone who understands the platform well, it can be set up so users have several helpful visualizations focused on the data that matters most to them. Another big advantage is the amount of online community support available so if you understand your data well enough, you can usually find plenty of resources to build effective, practical dashboards.

Cons

Takes some time to learn how to use it properly. It's simple enough for most people to get started and create basic data views but the more advanced you want to get, the more time and effort you'll need to put in. Like many powerful tools, getting the most out of it comes with a bit of a learning curve.

“solid BI flexibility”

Pros

It comes with a wide range of data connectors and its self service capabilities are hard to match. Using the desktop app together with the cloud service gives a lot of flexibility when building BI reports and sharing them across large teams and user groups. Creating visualizations is fairly simple and the built in visual marketplace gives you plenty of choices when it comes to selecting visual elements.

Cons

One thing that does get frustrating is the overall look and feel setup. It is kind of complicated and changing the styling of elements or the dashboard takes more effort than it should. That becomes annoying pretty fast when a report has many visuals and the client keeps asking for frequent design or formatting updates to the dashboard.

“Great built in table relationships capability”

Pros

Built in relationships between data tables are a really useful feature and make working with connected data much more convenient.

Cons

Configuring data sort permissions can be a bit tricky and takes some effort to get right.

“Easy to interpret analysis”

Pros

There's a lot to appreciate especially when it comes to its comprehensive visualization tools. The smart widgets and wide range of charts make it much easier to interpret data and turn complex information into something clear and useful.

Cons

The downside is that the pricing feels a bit expensive and the interface can be overwhelming at times especially when navigating all the available options.