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8.1

Spot Score

Microsoft Power BI Desktop - Business Intelligence Software

Microsoft Power BI Desktop Review: Is It The Right Business Intelligence Software For Your Team?

Best for Enterprise

Free Trial & Free Plan Available

SOC 2
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Fordham UniversityFordham University

Trusted by many companies including OSIsoft

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What is Microsoft Power BI Desktop?

Microsoft Power BI Desktop helps you uncover hidden business value by quickly accessing actionable insights. Streamline your data-preparation tasks with powerful modeling tools while regaining hours in your day through the intuitive and commonly-known self-service Power Query feature in Excel. Delve deeper into data to surface patterns and make data-driven decisions. With features such as Quick Measures, Grouping, Forecasting, and Clustering, uncover the full potential of your data and successfully predict future outcomes

Pricing

  • Free Trial available

Best For

Enterprise-grade — typically requires a procurement process

Security & Compliance

SOC 2
  • SSO & MFA supported

  • Data residency:Global

Platform

  • Desktop only — no mobile app

Microsoft Power BI Desktop Software Demo

Microsoft Power BI Desktop was reviewed internally using user feedback, in-house testing, and market research to assess its performance, reliability, and user experience. Learn how we review products and our evaluation process.

Who should consider Microsoft Power BI Desktop

Team types
Enterprise, Large Enterprises

Why teams choose Microsoft Power BI Desktop

  • Seamless integration with Excel enhances usability.

  • Powerful modeling tools streamline data preparation.

  • User-friendly interface makes data analysis accessible.

Is Microsoft Power BI Desktop right for you?

What buyers should know before shortlisting Microsoft Power BI Desktop

Microsoft Power BI Desktop is a powerful tool for uncovering business insights through data. Its integration with Excel and user-friendly interface make it a popular choice for data analysis.

Pros and cons

Microsoft Power BI Desktop pros and cons

  • Microsoft Power BI Desktop pros
  • Seamless integration with Excel enhances usability.

  • Powerful modeling tools streamline data preparation.

  • User-friendly interface makes data analysis accessible.

  • Microsoft Power BI Desktop cons
  • Limited functionality outside the Microsoft ecosystem.

  • Complex features may require training.

4.3/5 rating
25 verified reviews
Free trial available

Ready to try it?

Get started with Microsoft Power BI Desktop

Start your free trial — no credit card required.

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See how it stacks up

Compare Microsoft Power BI Desktop side-by-side with top Business Intelligence Software alternatives.

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Microsoft Power BI Desktop reviews and ratings

Buyer sentiment

Buyer sentiment is positive across 25 reviews, with strong overall satisfaction.

What buyers like

  • Actionable insights
  • Powerful modeling tools
  • Data-driven decisions

Common complaints

  • Limited to Microsoft ecosystem
  • Can be complex for beginners
  • Requires Excel knowledge

4.3

Very Good

Based on 1137 ratings & 25 reviews

Rating Distribution

Excellent

(22)

Very Good

(2)

Good

(1)

Poor

(0)

Poor

(0)

What users are saying

NK

Nikhil K

01/11/24

5 out of 5

"Microsoft BI: Empowering Data-Driven Decision Making"

What do you like best about Microsoft Power BI? 1. User freindly interface 2.Advance analytical capabilities 3.Cutomization and Visualization Power BI ...

Read more

SS

SAURAV S

01/09/24

5 out of 5

"Power Bi review"

What do you like best about Microsoft Power BI? The best thing is the ease to use, I guess power bi is the best software for visualization. I use this ...

Read more

MA

Muhammad Asim K

01/03/24

5 out of 5

"Data Analyst"

What do you like best about Microsoft Power BI? It's a great and easy to use tool for displaying the insights of the data and play with the ...

Read more

NS

Nelson S

01/02/24

5 out of 5

"Microsoft Power Bi has transformed all aspects of recruitment & Onboarding activities at Ok Tedi."

What do you like best about Microsoft Power BI? Microsoft Power Bi is very easy to implement and makes work more easier. We use it everyday at work ...

Read more

TA

Tausif A

12/26/23

5 out of 5

"Productive application for data analyst"

What do you like best about Microsoft Power BI? The best part of PowerBI is the feasibility to prepare dashboard and publishing to the wider community ...

Read more

AU

Anonymous User

12/22/23

4 out of 5

"Ideal for our data vizualization but not only"

What do you like best about Microsoft Power BI? I appreciate the ease of use and the number of features. Although I am not a specialist, I find it ...

Read more

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  • Real pricing — no sales pressure
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What are the features of Microsoft Power BI Desktop?

20%

Feature coverage

5 of 25 tracked features

Ad hoc analysis is a powerful tool that allows users to perform data analysis on demand without the need for predefined criteria or reports.…

Ad hoc query is a powerful software feature that allows users to perform immediate and customized data analysis. It is commonly used in data…

Ad hoc reports are a powerful tool used in software applications to generate customized, on-demand reports. These reports provide users with…

Cleaning, converting, and modeling data to discover relevant information for business decision-making is what data analysis is all about. Da…

Strategic planning is the process of recording and establishing a company's trajectory by assessing its current and future position. A strat…

Security & Compliance

Microsoft Power BI Desktop security and data handling

Key compliance certifications and security features for IT and security teams evaluating Microsoft Power BI Desktop.

Certifications

SOC 2✓ Certified
HIPAA✗ Not certified

Security features

Single Sign-On (SSO)✓ Yes
Multi-Factor Authentication✓ Yes
Data Encryption✓ Yes
Audit Logs✓ Yes

Developer & data

Data residency
🌐

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Microsoft Power BI Desktop Customers

OSIsoft-logo

OSIsoft

Fordham University-logo

Fordham University

Frequently Asked Questions About Microsoft Power BI Desktop

Common questions buyers ask before choosing Microsoft Power BI Desktop.

Microsoft Power BI Desktop is a Business Intelligence Software. Microsoft Power BI Desktop offers Strategic Planning, Data Analysis, Ad hoc Reports, Ad hoc Query and many more functionalities.

Buyers commonly note the following limitations of Microsoft Power BI Desktop: Limited functionality outside the Microsoft ecosystem.; Complex features may require training.; Not ideal for non-Excel users..

Some top alternatives to Microsoft Power BI Desktop includes Entrinsik Informer, Tableau, Microsoft Power BI, Dundas BI and dataSights.

Microsoft Power BI Desktop offers Free Trial, Freemium pricing models

We don't have information regarding integrations of the Microsoft Power BI Desktop as of now.

The starting price is not disclosed by Microsoft Power BI Desktop. You can visit Microsoft Power BI Desktop pricing page to get the latest pricing.

Ready to try it?

Get started with Microsoft Power BI Desktop

Start your free trial — no credit card required.

Disclaimer: This research has been collated from a variety of authoritative sources. We welcome your feedback at [email protected].

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