Top 4 Advantages of Power BI

Then, it’s time to stop sending data in the form of spreadsheets. Instead, embrace the actionable insights a powerful business intelligence tool, like Power BI, can give. Microsoft’s Power BI transforms big data into insightful visualizations that can be absorbed in a glance.

This improves your business decision-making at all levels.

But simply having more data isn’t the only reason to deploy Power BI. Here are 4 Power BI advantages that are more profitable and easier to use than you might think.

Power BI was built to integrate with Microsoft tech, such as SharePoint documents or SQL databases. But it enhances non-Microsoft solutions, too. In fact, Power BI currently connects to 60 common software solutions your business already uses and pulls data into a centralized, easy-to-digest dashboard. Here are just a few:

Since data modeling is a primary Power BI service, users don’t have to model data in native systems before integrating it. This means data can be extracted directly from cloud, on premise, and hybrid systems (depending on your software package). There is no need for complicated manual exports and imports!

Very little engineering or IT resources are needed to implement Power BI. In fact, some instances don’t require any engineering at all. Managers simply need to create an API key and plug it into the software.

If your organization already uses Microsoft systems (such as Office 365), using Power BI will feel natural. It integrates easily with Office 365 Groups and Microsoft Teams.

Without steep build costs or extensive training, the financial benefits of implementing Power BI are immediate.

Power BI sets up access control through Active Directory (AD), the same control panel your organization uses for other Microsoft solutions.

But what makes Power BI different is row level security, which allows your team to grant and rescind access on a very controlled level.

For example, through Power BI automation, you can control which team members have access to specific rows of data on reports. This means you can use the easy-to-implement access controls to set rules like, “Only show Steve from Accounting rows 6-10,” while executives could see the entire report.

Not only does this make data more secure, it greatly enhances the usefulness of your reports. You can invest time building one single report, then use access controls to restrict which data users can see. This type of filtering is much easier – and less expensive – than creating and maintaining reports for every team member.

It’s also more efficient for your team members. If your organization is a global sales company, for example, Maryland-based sales managers don’t need to see data from California sales reports.

Another one of Power BI’s security advantages is “content packs” – data users can see without having access to the database. This allows users to see charts and graphs but not manipulate raw data. This protects data from human error but also makes Power BI compliant as a system, since data is encrypted at rest.

One of the best Power BI advantages is its simple learning curve. Everyone uses Microsoft products, so the ribbons and other user interface elements will be instantly familiar to your team. This means basic users can explore simple Power BI services right away, and advanced users can jump right into exploring advanced data modeling.

The interface also allows users to easily export data to other systems (like Excel), which gives users the flexibility to work with their data in other environments if they choose.

Power BI has many advantages that could help improve your business intelligence, and the Power BI consultants at Withum would love to help your business maximize its effectiveness. Our experienced team can get Power BI up and running quickly, clearing away any obstacles and providing the training you need to improve decision-making fast.