6 Reasons to Use Microsoft Power BI for Business Intelligence
Businesses operate in unique and diverse markets that bring unique opportunities and challenges. Even their customers have different business requirements, budgets, and objectives. This is why it is important for companies to formulate engaging marketing and sales strategies.
Today’s business environment is primarily driven by huge volumes of data and information. Most businesses have turned to powerful business tools to analyze data and make informed business decisions. This process of collecting, storing, and analyzing data is known as Business Intelligence (BI).
Businesses that have identified the importance of Business Intelligence have scaled at an incredible rate. BI continues to span its wings across businesses around the world.
One of the factors that are driving this trend is the ability of BI tools to deliver a personalized customer experience. One such tool that has garnered popularity is Microsoft Power BI.
SEE ALSO: Top 5 Business Software Tools in 2021
What is CRM Power BI?
Power BI is a relatively new cloud-based BI software developed by Microsoft. It is one of the most dynamic business intelligence solutions that enable companies to convert data into actionable data. It is powered by cutting-edge tools that analyze data and deliver valuable insights.
When we talk about the best BI tools, Microsoft Power BI easily makes the cut.
In this blog, we have listed down the 6 major reasons why we think Power BI is the best BI solution in the market.
1. Ease of use
One of the main reasons why some tools are more in demand than others is their ease of use. CRM Power BI is extremely easy to use and has a very neat user interface. Even users with absolutely no programming experience can use it without facing any difficulties.
The platform is powered by a built-in intelligence technology that helps users select attributes for their reports by highlighting the most important reporting elements.
For instance, when you select a data source and select sales and category, the tool automatically recommends a column chart for you. In the same way, when you select sales and location, it will choose a map chart.
The tool’s user interface can be connected to a data source. When you choose a data source, you can select attributes with its drag & drop tool to create reports.
2. Learning curve
Since Microsoft Power BI is primarily developed on Microsoft Excel’s founding platform, it uses a similar approach to design reports. Besides, since Excel is extensively used across the world, it is easy to learn Power BI.
Data modeling is based on the principles of Microsoft Access and the Microsoft SQL Server database. This means that programmers will not face major hurdles while getting accustomed to Power BI’s data modeling.
3. Collaboration
The tool is packed with easy collaboration features. You can collaborate with team members to create engaging dashboards and reports from the “app” workspaces. In addition, you can also group reports and dashboards into apps and publish them to a wider audience.
There’s more! You can print and export reports into a PowerPoint presentation format. You can also publish dashboards and reports to public websites, giving access to anyone in the world to interact with it.
4. Cost-effective
Power BI Desktop is a free tool that allows users to create dashboards and reports that can be easy and complex in nature.
The pro licenses fall in the affordable bracket, starting from $10 per month.
5. Coverage of data sources
Not many platforms can compete with Power BI when it comes to integrations. CRM Power BI integrations allow users to integrate the platform to different data sources.
Popular data sources that can be connected:
- Oracle database
- Amazon Redshift
- Azure SQL database
- IBM Informix
- MySQL database
- MailChimp
- GitHub
- Salesforce
6. Features
Visualization, data modeling, and data shaping are the core features of Microsoft Power BI that make it stand out from the rest.
- Visualization
Microsoft has earned brownie points here! The software giant has opened a visualization SDK in CRM Power BI. The software comes with a bundle of options for custom visualizations. With this, you can personalize the user interface as per your liking.
- Data shaping
The platform provides a flexible and robust tool known as the Query Editor. One of the key points to remember is that it is self-documenting.
- Data modeling
In our books, if a BI software has a well-rounded BI model, it can be classified as a top business solution. This BI software is loaded with very efficient data modeling choices that are based on Microsoft’s experience of Cube technology and SQL database.
What is the potential for Sales Managers?
While we have spoken extensively about Power BI in this blog, Dynamics 365 CRM is another business tool that is widely used by customers from around the world.
According to ToolsMetric, when the capabilities of Power BI and Microsoft Dynamics 365 combine, it creates an unstoppable BI solution. Although a lot of users are satisfied with the reporting power of Dynamics 365 CRM, using it with Power BI can take business intelligence to a whole new level.
Power BI has strong potential for small to midsize companies that are not looking for an enterprise-grade BI solution. Besides, it is also an ideal fit for companies that are not looking to splurge cash on high-end tools.
All in all, Power BI has all the core features one desire in a business intelligence software.
There are several vendors that give Power BI tough competition. These alternatives provide similar features and also offer tailored solutions based on their customers’ needs.
Some popular CRM Power BI alternatives include Zoho Reports, Google Analytics, Sisense, and IBM Watson Analytics to name a few.
You can also check out our Power BI review to learn more about its features, integrations, pricing, and specifications.
SEE ALSO: 6 Powerful Business Intelligence (BI) Tools in 2021
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