10 advantages of Power BI that you will not be able to do without

Sarah Seddiki

You’ve dreamed of it one day or another: see all your business data in one place, in real time, to make the best decisions, with full knowledge of the facts. You searched for tools to get there, but to no avail. Too long, too difficult, too expensive … Those days are over: say hello to Power BI!

Power BI, what is it?

By definition, Power BI (for Power Business Intelligence) is the is the ability to process, analyze and interpret, automatically and intelligently, business data.. So far this has been nothing very revolutionary. I agree with you! What makes Power BI really interesting is itsconnection to various data sources to extract information and data in order to simplify decision making..

Before Power BI, you had to have a solid knowledge of Excel – or hire a consultant – to make pivot tables in order to analyze your company’s sales, your project data or even your customers’ information. Admit that it is long and tedious! Especially since this practice becomes more and more cumbersome to manage as your business grows. Power BI is certainly one of the technological innovations that can make your job easier. So much so that you will not be able to do without it

Pourquoi dire oui au Power BI?

1. So easy to use

Of course, there are other IT tools that allow you to analyze and interpret your business data. The question is not there. No, the question is rather: which of these tools can help you do it in a simple and effective way? This is where Power BI differs from other dashboard creation software that combines data into a single view.

Thanks to its very simple and intuitive interface, Power BI is really easy to use and its learning curve almost nonexistent! Creating reports and graphs customized to your needs becomes really accessible to everyone – or almost! You can even use predefined dashboards and reports. No need to turn to IT consultants for each of your requests: you can now do it yourself. And if you’re already comfortable with Excel, Power BI will practically be a breeze for you!

2. Compatible with SharePoint and several other applications

Another strong argument from Power BI? It isfully compatible with SharePoint and a host of other applications that you already use!

Like SharePointPower BI is part of the Office 365 family of Microsoft If you already use Microsoft tools and other applications like Teams, Office 365 groups or SharePoint, you will have no trouble finding your way around.

As we’ve seen in our other blog posts, SharePoint is becoming more popular around the world. It is estimated that 78% of the world’s 500 largest companies (Fortune 500) use SharePoint. That’s saying something!

Thus, by allowing a connection to SharePoint for the analysis of your data, Power BI takes the experience even further by creating reports from SharePoint data. You can then display this report in the form of your choice (graphic or other) in SharePoint.

But that’s not all: Power BI is also designed to export data from other popular applications such as Excel, GitHub, Mailchimp and Google Analytics. What more?

3. Reports accessible to all

What we like about Power BI is its ability to make reports available to everyone who needs to see them. There are different ways to view the reports:>

  • with a browser like like Chrome, Internet Explorer or FireFox (ijust Share the URL);

  • on a SharePoint site(you only have to integrate the report);

  • on a mobile application (Android, Apple et Windows).

With Power BI, sharing information is really simplified. Aren’t you using SharePoint? No problem, just click on the URL that your colleague will email you to see the latest sales comparison. No matter what medium you use (tablet or smartphone), you will have access to it, anytime while on the go. Fantastic, isn’t it?

4. Real-time information

Power BI is the artificial intelligence that works for your business. Or rather for you – should I say! With real-time dashboards, you can quickly detect an anomaly or a situation that requires rapid intervention. Power BI works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. While you sleep, it continues its analysis …

Even if you are on leave, your factory sensors or your social networks do not take a break. And neither does Power BI. So you always know what is going on to be able to make the right decision at the right time. In very competitive industries, this inevitably becomes a key success factor, believe me

5. Alerts on key performance indicators 

Real-time information is very practical. But you still have to be able to know when to intervene. After all, you can’t spend 24 hours a day in front of your screen monitoring Power BI data!Alerts on key performance indicators are the solution to not miss anything.

configure email alerts based on your key performance indicators:

  • Right click on the dashboard visual;

  • Select “Manage alerts”, then the option to configure alerts will appear. You can then manage everything according to your business needs

6. Answers to your questions

You have a question? Ask Power BI. As simple as that! Thanks tothe Power BI Questions and Answers functionality,, it is possible to request information using your natural language. 

For example, would you like to know which products have generated the most sales in recent weeks? Power BI will give you the answer based on your data model

7. Owner of your data

As Power BI is a tool at your disposal, the data belongs to you again and again. In fact, Power BI only extracts them and presents them in the form of tables, graphs, or other custom reports. Butdata remains your property at all times-unlike other software or applications-

Choosing Power BI is a great way to keep your data confidential in a world where IT security is becoming more and more important. You also have everything to gain financially from doing your data analysis internally with Power BI.A profitable investment across the board!

8. Various roles for better data security

Obviously, handling data and information requires a great deal of confidentiality. You don’t want everyone in your business to be able to see all of the data. Power BI understands this and gives you the ability to create filters for different rolesbased on the permissions and permissions of different users.

Here is the procedure for configuring RLS (Row-Level Security):(Row-Level Security) :

  • In the Security tab of the Modeling menu, select “Manage roles”»;

  • Create roles for different user groups (e.g., by position or by department) with DAX((Data Analysis Expressions)expression filters.).

Are you already usingOffice 365 groups? Good news : you can add them to different roles with the Power BI service

9. International reputation

The Power BI community has over a million members worldwide.. Internationally renowned companies use it every day like GE Healthcare, Aston Martin and Heathrow Airport.The success stories are just as spectacular: improving travel experiences and launching new and innovative products – to name a few.

In fact, Power BI is suitable for multinationals as well as local SMEs.. It is entirely possible to make use of Power BI on your scale. It’s just like SharePoint or Office 365: all businesses and organizations, regardless of size and reach, can access it. You just have to make a personalized use of it according to your real organizational needs. Would we dare to deprive ourselves of Word or Excel, for example, under the pretext that large multinationals also use them? To ask the question, is to answer it.

10. Continuous support and innovation

Another very important fact to know:Power BI Power BI is a business analysis service from Microsoft.. So you will understand that it comes with professional and recognized support, in addition to including new features on a regular basis. There are also very well-established training courses to optimize your use of Power BI..

To try Power BI is to adopt it! At LS2, we know something about this, since we support local businesses every day in the use of Power BI. Whether for configuration, training or support, we answer the call. In short, we are well placed to see how this tool allows organizations to perform even better day after day. So will you be next?

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