Microsoft Power BI Reviews

“Impactful dashboards without coding”

Pros

One thing I really appreciate is that you don't need an IT background to build strong reports or dashboards. As long as you know what you want to measure, putting the data together and creating useful visuals is pretty simple.

Cons

I'd still like to see more consistency between DAX and the Query Editor. There are times when you need the extra feature in the Query Editor but that language isn't nearly as simple to work with.

“powerful anomaly insights”

Pros

Does a really efficient job of profiling data anomalies across multiple datasets. The visualizations are another big advantage especially for bringing those anomalies to the surface in a clear way.

Cons

Getting started with the program can be frustrating especially when trying to track down possible errors in imported datasets. As a beginner, it often feels like a trial-and-error process.

“interactive dashboards”

Pros

Setting up tables and relationships is simple and it lets you build multiple tables using features such as joins or appending one table to another. It's also excellent for creating interactive dashboards making it a very effective tool for presenting graphs, tables and results during quarterly meetings or other business reviews.

Cons

Writing code in it is not very convenient. While coding is possible, it works much better when you rely on the built in tools available by default. While it works perfectly for smaller data sets, it struggles with very large datasets especially when working with more than three tables that each contain over a million rows. If the project involves a lot of relationships, formulas and measures, then this is probably not the best choice.

“student friendly platform”

Pros

As a student, getting access to it for free is a big advantage and it makes data visualization very simple to understand and work with.

Cons

There isn't a Mac version available for students and the only older version offered doesn't perform very well.

“great dashboard customization options”

Pros

Very customizable the dashboards, and great for digging into data analysis. It makes it possible to tailor reports in a way that really fits what you need.

Cons

Biggest negative for me was the pricing. It felt too expensive to fully put into practice so I ended up relying on the free version and sharing screenshots with my boss instead.

“Very capable software”

Pros

Felt like a very capable platform thanks to its huge range of data source connectors. The interface is simple to work with and the data visualization features are outstanding. It has basically become the standard BI visualization tool across our organization.

Cons

One frustration is that sharing reports and dashboards can require paying a significant amount which ends up creating a lot of complications when it comes to publishing dashboards.

“Impressive dashboards that deliver”

Pros

Makes it possible to create polished, professional dashboards that tend to be very well received in senior management meetings. Having the most relevant numbers readily available works much better than presenting something overly detailed and confusing especially since leaders usually prefer concise executive summaries that help them make faster, better-informed decisions.

Cons

Even though it is meant to help teams automate manual work, it still takes a significant amount of time to really learn the platform, prepare the data, build the visuals and keep both the dashboards and connected data sources maintained. On top of that the visuals are not as flexible as in other Microsoft tools like Excel so customization options feel somewhat limited.

“Easy to build dashboards”

Pros

One thing I appreciate most about it is how easily it lets you build dashboards that are efficient, interactive and visually appealing. It's also impressive how it automatically sets up data relationships.

Cons

The part I enjoy the least is how slowly the program starts up, along with how sluggish DAX editing feels inside the tool. That really makes the work process slower.

“Versatile data connections”

Pros

Lets me pull data from multiple databases and different sources, then connect everything in one place. It also handles all kinds of calculations directly inside the program so there's no need to prepare the numbers in advance. DAX follows a logic that feels very close to MS Excel which makes it familiar to work with.

Cons

A frustrating part is with bar chart formatting. If you build a chart in a single-color style and later want to switch it to multiple colors, you have to assign the color for each category one by one. There's no automatic option to distribute colors across all categories.

“Power BI fits Microsoft workflows”

Pros

Feels very natural when you're already using the Microsoft suite since the integration is built in and data moves across automatically. It's also quick to pick up and doesn't put much strain on computing resources which makes adoption pretty easy.

Cons

It's a proprietary Microsoft product and I'm still not fully confident about how well it would handle very large datasets coming from multiple sources.

“solid reporting”

Pros

Being able to connect Power BI to multiple data sources is easily one of my favorite parts of the product. There used to be huge piles of data that were hard to do anything useful with but now I can bring that information into Power BI and build reports that simply wouldn't have been possible before.

Cons

This isn't the kind of tool you can open and immediately start using without any guidance. It takes some training and a basic understanding of how the product works before you can really get comfortable with it.

“powerful data analytics tool”

Pros

Its an impressive tool in terms of what users can create with it and it feels like an essential part of the Microsoft ecosystem.

Cons

Even though it's incredibly useful, Power BI is not as easy to work with as many other Microsoft products.

“simple dashboards”

Pros

I use it to build KPIs from several different databases and its biggest strengths are the dynamic visualizations and how simple it is to work with.

Cons

Mobile view could be improved. It was added more recently but it still depends on a few extra clicks to update the same way it does on a computer.

“flexible visuals and Excel style flow”

Pros

A very flexible platform with a wide range of data visualization options. Since it feels quite similar to Excel, advanced Excel users can transition to it without much trouble.

Cons

One downside is that publishing dashboards can be quite complicated and there are extra costs involved just to create shared spaces for distributing reports and dashboards.

“impressive visuals for analytics”

Pros

Having both real time and static data displayed visually is a big advantage. Power BI is a strong analytics tool.

Cons

Getting started can take some time because the learning curve is fairly steep especially if you are not already comfortable with basic analytics tools like Microsoft Excel.

“Accurate insights”

Pros

Connects well with our phone statistics and gives us a really strong dashboard to work from. The platform feels versatile and capable, with plenty of power behind it.

Cons

At first glance though, it can feel pretty overwhelming. There are a lot of filters and options and they are a bit difficult to figure out.

“Strong data linking”

Pros

Pulling data together from multiple sources, building relationships between them and turning everything into well-structured, analyzed information is one of the biggest strengths here. It really helps with making decisions because the data can be broken down into a level that's much easier to understand. On top of that creating dashboards in it makes reports look more appealing and gives the data a more user friendly, interactive feel.

Cons

Loading time especially on the desktop version could be better. It tends to take a while to open and I'm not sure what causes it but it would be very helpful if that issue were reviewed and fixed.

“Easy to build polished dashboards”

Pros

Building polished dashboards and reports feels very practical because of the built in features it comes with. It also offers plenty of ready made tools and dashboard templates that can be adjusted to fit specific needs. The integration with other Office 365 apps makes it even more useful in day to day work. Collaboration is convenient as well, with real time visibility into who is viewing or making changes. Another helpful part is the built in AI which understands the data well and helps produce better insights and results.

Cons

When working with large amounts of input data, the platform can take quite a while to load. The number of features can also feel overwhelming at the beginning especially for someone new to it. Because of that, getting comfortable with the product takes time and the learning curve is fairly steep. It's also disappointing that there still isn't a dedicated application for macOS.

“stunning visuals for complex data”

Pros

A very capable tool for building impressive visual reports even when the data structure behind them is quite complex.

Cons

Getting everything set up takes a fair amount of time and know-how so it's not really suited to beginners. On top of that data refresh can be tricky and sometimes just fails to work.

“fast insights”

Pros

Getting started is pretty easy and the interface feels dependable and well organized. It saves a lot of time because the tool handles much of the work in the background before you even realize it. The integration with third party visuals, along with its own marketplace, puts it ahead of many competing products. There is also plenty of flexibility to customize dashboard designs and sharing dashboard access publicly is simple. On top of that it includes many of the most in-demand and current visuals available in the market.

Cons

One limitation is that the software performs best on newer machines. Older systems usually need upgrades especially to the OS and RAM, in order to run it properly. Another issue is that working with multiple dashboards at once can cause the whole system to freeze or hang.