Microsoft Power BI Reviews

“Impactful dashboards with Excel import”

Pros

Comes with plenty of useful tools and features for building all kinds of interactive dashboards. One thing that really helps is how easily Excel data can be brought into Power BI.

Cons

There's definitely a bit of a learning curve. It can take some time to run and test different queries before the data is displayed exactly the way you want. It also feels a little expensive for some businesses compared with other platforms like Tableau.

“User friendly”

Pros

Building visually appealing, user friendly dashboards is simple. The drag and drop feature makes it especially approachable for beginners who are just getting started.

Cons

A negative is that dashboards from a Pro account can't be shared with free users for hosting. That requires a Premium account instead.

“Interactive dashboards that leave an impression”

Pros

Interface is responsive, clear and simple to follow which makes day to day work faster and more accurate. It doesn't take much effort to understand how things work and using it feels natural overall.

Cons

Honestly, I haven't come across anything to dislike about it. Everything about the software has worked well for me so far.

“reliable reporting”

Pros

Power BI really lives up to its name when it comes to visualizing data. It feels very comprehensive and gives you the ability to build a wide range of reports and visualizations.

Cons

Something that can be a bit frustrating is when I'm looking for a specific perspective in the data but the available visualization doesn't quite show the angle I need.

“powerful KPI reporting tool”

Pros

Has become a big part of my day to day work especially when I need to present KPIs clearly. It's a really solid product and something I rely on all the time in my job.

Cons

Connecting it to an analysis cube and getting a web-based version set up properly is difficult.

“Helpful tracking and insights”

Pros

Being able to monitor all my work stats in one place is something I really appreciate since it helps me stay on top of my progress and make sure I'm on track.

Cons

The part I like the least is that the data doesn't refresh right away and usually won't update until the following day.

“amazing visuals for airline reporting”

Pros

Working with it in the airline sector has been quite satisfying for my day to day needs. The part I appreciate most is the wide variety of data visualization options it offers which fits really well with the kind of work I handle. Its analytical tools have also been very useful, helping me generate reports on sales, flights and many other areas without much trouble and making my work much more manageable.

Cons

A simpler interface especially one that is more visually supportive for older users would be nice. It would also be better if it were more accessible for people with low vision. At times, downloading data takes a little longer although that is understandable when dealing with large and heavy datasets.

“Excel friendly tool”

Pros

Feels simple to work with and is more affordable than many other tools out there. The Excel integration is a big plus especially for people who already know Excel because it makes the platform much easier to pick up. It also supports custom visualizations which adds flexibility when building reports. Microsoft keeps releasing regular updates and seems to take user community feedback into account. Overall, it's simple to understand and even someone with average Excel skills can get started with Power BI without much trouble.

Cons

Doesn't connect with Google Sheets, while other business analytics platforms do. It also feels limited when it comes to available connectors for third-party web sources. On top of that the recent changes Microsoft made to the Power BI service layout have not been very appealing.

“Broad data source coverage”

Pros

Does a really solid job of pulling in and transforming data from all kinds of systems. It covers nearly every data source I've needed which has been a huge plus.

Cons

There is a bit of a learning curve at the beginning but if you already know SQL or have worked with ETL tools before, it becomes much more manageable.

“solid analytics with flexible data sources”

Pros

Getting started with it was pretty simple especially since the Excel style familiarity helped shorten the learning curve. The analytics capabilities are strong and it works well with a variety of data sources. We used it as an addition to our existing SAS and SSRS reporting setup and it fit in nicely.

Cons

Individual licenses have to be purchased for anyone who needs to make edits. Also, subscriptions aren't supported unless you're on a premium license which can be limiting.

“quick insights”

Pros

The data views feel very complete and checking them is easy thanks to the simple, immediate way the analyzed information is presented.

Cons

At the moment, I haven't found any downsides. It covers everything a monitoring dashboard should have and stays simple and quick to consult.

“reliable sales reporting tool”

Pros

We use this software to review sales data and generate sales reports. It's a really good tool.

Cons

Using it can be a little complicated. I had to go through training courses and even then some parts were still confusing. Still, overall it's a good piece of software.

“Excel friendly reporting powerhouse”

Pros

Coming from Excel, it felt very familiar right away so getting started with report creation didn't take much effort even without knowing the tool in depth. Another big advantage is how many different kinds of data sources it can connect to which makes it really flexible.

Cons

There really isn't much to complain about since my overall experience has been very positive. If I had to point out one downside, it would be that data transformation is expected to follow a structured approach so there isn't really a manual way to handle it.

“An excellent choice for reporting”

Pros

Has been an excellent choice for reporting and presenting client insights. It's a fairly simple platform that fully supports deliverables without adding unnecessary complexity. Being able to join datasets by simply dragging primary keys together, along with changing data types without having to write scripts, makes it a capable and well rounded solution for both Data Analysts and Data Scientists. On top of that the wide range of visualization templates is more than sufficient for modern data needs.

Cons

No major downsides to this tool. That said, one point worth noting is that the automated insights can be unreliable when the underlying dataset includes a lot of variables and becomes more complex.

“powerful analytics with strong support”

Pros

One of its biggest advantages is the large community behind it that can help whenever questions or issues come up. The learning curve also isn't very steep which makes it approachable for new users. Microsoft provides plenty of official learning materials so getting started and building skills is fairly easy. It's simple to learn and work with, plus there's a marketplace for visual objects with lots of useful options. On top of that it offers a wide range of data connectors.

Cons

The only downside I've run into is that the data model can only be scheduled for up to 8 refreshes per day.

“Easy to use”

Pros

Working with it makes it simple to transform data and clearly present survey results and usage trends.

Cons

Moving between dashboards and getting around the site can feel a bit awkward.

“flexible insights”

Pros

Power BI has been really solid for data analysis and visualization and one of its biggest strengths is how well it pulls data in from multiple sources. From a single dashboard, we can get a strong overall picture of the business, including market analysis, the status of active deals, each team member's performance, gross income and the company's financial position. The filtering options are especially useful because they let us focus on the exact metric we want to examine. It also helps us review marketing spend and understand how individual team activities affect the bottom line. On top of that forecasting cash inflows and outflows is very manageable. I also appreciate being able to customize the visualizations and upload data directly from Excel for reporting and analysis. Microsoft's frequent updates keep the platform reliable and performing well. Another plus is that it offers both free and paid plans so you can test the software first and get a feel for it before deciding to buy.

Cons

Using it can be a bit confusing in the beginning because it includes several different tools and you need time to understand what each part does and how everything connects. It can also slow down when handling large datasets especially if you are using the free version. That free tier is fairly limited and doesn't really show the full capability or performance of the platform. Of course, moving up to the Pro or Premium plan helps address that. The interface can also feel cluttered at times, with a lot of icons competing for space and making the dashboard look less clear than it could be.

“A major time saver”

Pros

It has been an incredible tool for analysis. The visualization features are my favorite because they turn raw data into engaging charts and graphs that are actually enjoyable to work with. Before this, we handled everything in Microsoft Excel but once Power BI was introduced, our whole workflow changed for the better. The quality of analysis improved a lot and it has saved us more than 20 hours of work.

Cons

It does require some knowledge of formulas and Excel concepts to get the most out of it. If you don't have a team with strong analytical skills to build reports, it can take quite a while before you're able to fully understand and benefit from the analysis.

“Strong dashboards with teams integration”

Pros

Building dashboards is easy even when pulling from multiple data sources. The integration with O365 is excellent too since publishing reports and viewing them directly in Teams works really well.

Cons

A few of the visualization tools are not very easy to use so it can take time to figure out how to use them properly. There are also some features missing that are available in Excel which feels confusing and makes you wonder why they are not included here.

“useful drill down reporting”

Pros

Every day, we rely on this to check sales reports, measure progress toward goals and review customer data. There's a huge amount of information available and the added hyperlinks for deeper drill downs make it even more useful. Being able to filter the data in different ways also makes everything much easier to sort through and understand.

Cons

Reports can take a while to load. If it is going to be used during a meeting, it's worth planning for some extra time so the data has a chance to fully appear.