Microsoft Power BI: Tools, Pricing, Examples and More

Despite being recognized among the leading analytics and BI platforms by companies like Gartner and Forrester, Microsoft Power BI remains a puzzle to many willing to leverage cloud-based platforms. 

In 2020, Microsoft Power BI was also listed among the top 20 business intelligence software, top 20 data visualization software, and more. 

Used by developers, analysts, IT, and other business users, Microsoft Power BI is among the growing business intelligence solutions in our world today. 

In this article, Hanna Schnaider breaks down the puzzle and reveals all you need to know about this awesome platform. Let’s explore. 

What is Microsoft Power BI?

Similar to Microsoft Excel, Power BI is a business intelligence tool that serves a variety of purposes. 

The name Power Bi is a communal name also used to describe a variety of cloud-based apps used by organizations to manage, collate, analyze data from a variety of sources using a user-friendly interface. 

Basically, Power BI gathers data and processes it, turning it into comprehensible insights, using visually compelling and easy-to-process charts and graphs. 

This further allows users to gather clear, useful, comprehensive snapshots about the current situation in their business. Power BI binds a range of data sources, from basic Excel spreadsheets to databases, and both cloud-based and on-premise apps. 

Power BI is a broad name that houses other applications including Power BI Desktop, Power BI Service, and other mobile Power BI apps available on iOS, tablets, Android, as well as Windows phones.  

What it does specifically 

Microsoft Power BI runs reports and generates helpful insights based on the available company’s data. 

Although connected with a wide range of data sets, Power BI supplies hassle-free, clear, and concise that can be easily digested and understood by any fifth grader. 

The reports generated can then be shared with other users. But that’s not all there is to this tool.

Power BI doesn’t only show you what happened in the past and the current situation, it predicts what can happen in the future, helping you to strategize and prepare accordingly. 

With built-in machine learning capabilities, Power BI can spot patterns that help make informed predictions, allowing users to forecast appropriately and prepare to meet future demands. 

Additionally, Power BI helps businesses to assemble, analyze, and visualize data from across organizations, providing great insights into both operations and performance while also allowing them to make data-driven decisions. 

Some other key benefits of Power BI goes thus:

  • Power BI processes huge quantities of data that many other tools can’t. 
  • Businesses can visualize information using power templates and thus make better sense of their data. 
  • Power BI is a cloud-based platform, allowing users to get access to cutting-edge intelligence capabilities and powerful algorithms which are updated now and then. 
  • Users can stay up-to-date with important metrics and measurements by setting up alerts on KPIs
  • Users can create dashboards using the powerful personalization capabilities embedded in Power BI to ensure they access data fast.
  • With an intuitive interface, Power BI is easy to navigate and user-friendly. 
  • Power BI integrates with other prominent business management tools like Office 365, SharePoint, and Dynamic 365, as well as other products like Hadoop, Google Analytics, SAP, Spark, Mailchimp, and Salesforce. 

Common Power BI integrations

  • Power BI and ERP. For optimizing finance and operation-related planning, sales, and marketing, manufacturing, and discovering new business opportunities.
  • Power BI + Enterprise data. For visualizing corporate data in a centralized storage. 
  • Power BI + CRM. For checking an overview of customer real-time to find sales opportunities and engage with customers. 
  • Power BI + HRMS. For making data-driven HR decisions for increasing employee productivity, attracting and managing employees, and creating a quality work environment. 
  • Power BI + IoTs device management system. For getting insight into the functions of associated products, machinery, medical services, buildings, and so forth. 

Things you can accomplish with Power BI

Microsoft Power BI brings lots of great values to the table, from easy to access analytics insight to reduction in data analysis efforts. Describing it further, with Power BI you can.

Collaborate effectively

By using this awesome cloud-based tool, you can keep your team on the same page by uploading reports to the Power BI service, distribute live reports or dashboards via text or email, and engage customers and teammates by sharing data. 

Use natural language

Power BI allows you to query your data with natural language. This tool allows users to ask questions about their data with simple natural language. As you type or speak your questions, successfully refined visualizations are displayed.

Transform data

With Power BI you can personalize report formats to suit present needs. Power BI shaping and modeling capabilities allow you to transform and clean data swiftly and more efficiently. 

Act immediately

With Power BI you can set up user-defined alerts with messaging integrations and email, allowing you to discover important insights and act on them almost instantly so you can access and interact with data at any time on any device. 

Power BI Products and their pricing 

Power BI Desktop

  • Ingest data from hundreds of data sources.
  • AI-driven analytics
  • Data transformation, data model creation, cleaning with built-in Power Query Editor
  • Creation and modification of personalized reports for every level of expertise

Pricing: Free

Power BI Pro

  • Access to self-service BI in the cloud
  • Storage up 10GB per user
  • Allows for creating, editing, and distribution of reports and dashboards among users

Pricing: $9.99 user/month

Power BI Premium

  • Paginated reporting
  • Using Power BI content without individual licensing
  • Storage up to 10GB 
  • Enterprise BI in the cloud, as well as on-premises. 

Pricing: $4,995 dedicated cloud storage/month

Conclusion.

With the amazing products and benefits that Power BI offers, you can’t but imagine the breakthroughs your business will amass using it. 

For further Power, BI consulting, and support, reach out to us at FortySeven Software Professionals