Microsoft Power BI


Microsoft Power BI










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Microsoft Power BI

by James G. Barr

Copyright 2019, Faulkner Information Services. All Rights Reserved.

Docid: 00021084

Publication Date: 1906

Report Type: PRODUCT

Preview

Business intelligence (BI) is a technology-driven process for analyzing
enterprise data and presenting actionable information to executives and other enterprise end users for the purpose of
facilitating informed decisions. Microsoft’s entry into the BI
product space is Power BI, a suite of business analytics tools designed to drive
smart enterprise actions (and reactions) in response to a
fluid, often unpredictable, business atmosphere.

Report Contents:


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Description

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Business intelligence (BI) is a technology-driven
process for analyzing enterprise data and presenting actionable information (or
"actionable intelligence") to executives and other enterprise end users for the
purpose of facilitating informed business decisions.1


Vendor
Name: Microsoft
Headquarters
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052-6399
Phone: (425) 882-8080
Fax: (425) 706-7329
Web: http://www.microsoft.com/
Type of Vendor: Operating System and Application
Software Provider
Founded: 1975
Service Areas: Global
Stock Symbol: MSFT (NASDAQ)

Microsoft’s entry into the BI product space is Power BI, a business analytics
service designed to drive smart enterprise actions (and reactions) in
response to a fluid, often unpredictable, business
atmosphere.

Power BI users can:

  • Connect to hundreds of different data sources
  • Simplify the process of data preparation (data
    prep)
  • Conduct ad hoc data analyses
  • Produce readable reports, which can be shared
    locally, on the web, or across mobile devices

Each user can craft
personalized dashboards, providing a unique, 360-degree view of their business. Also, Power BI can scale across the enterprise, with security and governance
built-in.

The Power BI environment consists of:

  • The Power BI Desktop, a
    Windows desktop application

  • The Power BI service, a
    software-as-a-service (SaaS) application

  • Power BI Mobile apps, available on Windows phones and tablets, along with iOS
    and Android devices

The Power BI Desktop is used to produce reports, while the Power BI service
and Power BI Mobile apps are used to distribute them.

Power BI Desktop

The Power BI Desktop is a free
application which users can install on their local computer to access,
transform, and visualize their business or other data.

The most common uses for the Power BI Desktop are:

  • Connecting to data
  • Transforming and cleaning the data, to create
    a data model
  • Creating charts and graphs, to provide visual
    representations of the data
  • Generating reports from the visuals, for
    subsequent distribution
  • Sharing the reports with others using the
    Power BI service or Power BI Mobile apps

While data analysts and other business intelligence
professionals use Power BI, the product is designed for individuals whose job
description does not include BI; in other words, for regular enterprise
employees with data to analyze.

Developer Options

Developers can use the Power BI service (SaaS) and the Power BI Embedded
service in Azure (PaaS) to embed Power BI dashboards and reports in their
applications.

They can also create custom visuals for use within Power BI reports, and use the
Power BI API to push data into a dataset.

Product Analysis

Power BI is a well regarded business intelligence tool.

Gartner gives Power BI high marks for:

  • Low cost, even crediting Microsoft for
    "[putting] downward pricing pressure
    on the analytics and BI market"2
  • Ease of use, citing Microsoft’s

    first five-minute experience
    , which aims to have users
    registered and
    wowed
    within five minutes3

  • Product vision, particularly "in terms of
    making better information and insights available to more users"4

SelectHub endorses Power BI for its:

  • Low cost, "one of the lowest per-user pricing
    options to companies looking for cloud-based analytics and business
    intelligence … apps"

  • Low TCO, "companies
    selecting Microsoft Power BI do so because of the low Total Cost Of
    Ownership (TCO)"

  • Ease
    of use

  • Availability of skilled resources5

Applications

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Power BI has broad utility across the enterprise, as itemized in these
Microsoft examples.

Table 1.
Power BI Applications

Sector

Applications
Finance

  • Get the full picture across different data sources in seconds.

  • See all of your data in a single
    view, from summary statements to account-level details.

  • Click to drill down into specific
    regions or segments.

  • Make decisions faster with real-time
    updates.

Marketing

  • Turn marketing data into actionable insight with interactive
    dashboards that make results accessible.

  • Analyze campaigns in real-time.

  • Identify changes in customer trends
    and sentiment.

  • Compare actual revenue, costs, and
    ROI for segments, campaigns, channels, and more.

Sales

  • Make data-driven decisions about the future based on past and
    present information.

  • Gain insight into sales progress
    against forecasts.

  • Easily analyze the performance of
    specific geographies or individual account owners.

Human Resources

  • Make informed decisions with interactive dashboards that make
    detailed data accessible.

  • Monitor the progress and growth of
    individuals against goals and role-based metrics.

  • Investigate in real-time by clicking
    down into underlying data.

  • Ask questions in natural language
    using Power BI’s intuitive Q&A format.

Information Technology

  • See everything in one place including
    network systems, services, applications, and security data.

  • Connect Power BI easily to other
    tools.

  • Integrate Power BI with your existing
    solutions for an end-to-end approach to data analytics.

  • Work equally well with Microsoft
    products like Azure Active Directory and non-Microsoft products
    like SAP.

Operations

  • Improve insight by combining data from production to
    distribution.

  • Lead stand-up meetings on the factory
    floor with live dashboards.

  • Optimize manufacturing performance.

  • Easily identify areas for process
    improvement.

Environment

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As illustrated in Figure 1, the Power BI environment consists of three
primary elements:

  • The Power BI Desktop, a
    Windows desktop application

  • The Power BI service, a
    software-as-a-service (SaaS) application

  • Power BI Mobile apps, available on Windows phones and tablets, along with iOS
    and Android devices

Figure 1. The Power BI Environment

Figure 1. The Power BI Environment

Source: Microsoft

A common Power BI workflow might look like this:

  • An analyst connects to data sources and builds
    a report in the Power BI Desktop

  • The report is then published from the Power BI
    Desktop to the Power BI service

  • From the Power BI service, the report is
    shared with other users of the Power BI service, and via Power BI Mobile
    apps

(A fourth element,
Power BI Report Server
,
allows users to publish Power BI reports to an on-premises report server.)

Support

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Microsoft offer a variety of support options, specifically:

  • Guided Learning – Videos and articles
    on how to accomplish common Power BI tasks.

  • Samples – Examples of dashboards,
    reports, and desktop files which illustrate how Microsoft partners employ
    Power BI.

  • Documentation – In-depth articles
    describing Power BI’s features and functions, from getting started to
    advanced techniques.

  • Ask the Community – An opportunity to
    solicit answers and tips directly from other Power BI users.

  • Submit an Idea – An opportunity to
    suggest enhancements to Power BI.

  • Report an Issue – An option for reporting a Power BI problem or concern
    to Microsoft support.

Pricing

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Product

Audience / Capabilities

Price

Power BI Desktop

Author

  • Connect to hundreds of data sources

  • Clean and prepare data using visual tools

  • Analyze and build stunning reports with custom visualizations

  • Publish to the Power BI service

  • Embed in public website

Free

Power BI Pro

Share and Collaborate

  • Build dashboards that deliver a 360-degree, real-time view of
    the business

  • Keep data up-to-date automatically, including on-premises
    sources

  • Collaborate on shared data

  • Audit and govern how data is accessed and used

  • Package content and distribute to users with apps

$9.99

 

Monthly price per user

Power BI Premium

Scale Large Deployments

  • Gain dedicated capacity you allocate, scale, and control

  • Distribute and embed content without purchasing per-user
    licenses

  • Publish reports on-premises with Power BI Report Server

  • Unlock more capacity and higher limits for your Pro users

$4,995

 

Monthly price per dedicated cloud compute
and storage resource

Competitors

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Microsoft’s principal competitors are Qlik and Tableau Software. According to Gartner:

  • "Qlik offers governed data discovery and agile analytics and BI via its
    lead product Qlik Sense.

  • "Tableau offers an intuitive interactive visual-based exploration
    experience that allows business users and any content author to access,
    prepare, analyze and present findings in their data without technical skills
    or coding. Tableau offers three primary products: Tableau Desktop,
    Tableau Server and Tableau Online (its cloud offering)."6

References

1 TechTarget.

2 Cindi Howson, Rita L. Sallam, James Laurence Richardson, Joao Tapadinhas,
Carlie J. Idoine, and Alys Woodward. "Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business
Intelligence Platforms." Gartner, Inc. February 26, 2018.

3 Cindi Howson, James Richardson, Rita Sallam, and Austin Kronz.
"Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms." Gartner,
Inc. February 11, 2019.

4 Cindi Howson, Rita L. Sallam, James Laurence Richardson, Joao Tapadinhas,
Carlie J. Idoine, and Alys Woodward. "Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business
Intelligence Platforms." Gartner, Inc. February 26, 2018.

5
“Tableau vs. QlikView vs. Power BI.” SelectHub. 2018.

6 Cindi Howson, Rita L. Sallam, James Laurence Richardson, Joao Tapadinhas,
Carlie J. Idoine, and Alys Woodward. "Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business
Intelligence Platforms." Gartner, Inc. February 26, 2018.

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About the Author

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James G. Barr is a leading business continuity analyst and business writer
with more than 30 years’ IT experience. A member of Who’s Who in
Finance and Industry, Mr. Barr has designed, developed, and deployed
business continuity plans for a number of Fortune 500 firms. He is the
author of several books, including How to Succeed in Business BY Really
Trying, a member of Faulkner’s Advisory Panel, and a senior editor for
Faulkner’s Security Management Practices. Mr. Barr can be reached
via e-mail at jgbarr@faulkner.com.

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