Power BI – what is it and what is it used for?
Power BI is an advanced data analysis and reporting tool developed by Microsoft. It is part of a family of business intelligence products that help companies transform raw data into useful information. Power BI allows users to create interactive reports and dashboards that the entire team can easily share and analyse. The tool integrates with multiple data sources, both on-premises and cloud-based, allowing comprehensive data analysis from different sources in one place.
Who can use Power BI?
Power BI is a tool that can be used by different groups of users in companies, regardless of their size. For example, the system is a support for:
- Entrepreneurs and managers – can use Microsoft Power BI to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs), analyze business trends and make data-driven decisions.
- Data analysts – can use Power BI’s advanced analytical features to process and analyze large data sets.
- IT teams – can manage the integration of data from different systems and maintain the Power BI infrastructure.
- Operations staff – with an easy-to-use interface, they can quickly access necessary reports and analysis without the need for technical expertise.
Advantages of Power BI
Microsoft Power BI offers several advantages, making it a precious tool for small and medium-sized businesses. Among the key benefits, it is worth mentioning:
1. Ease of use
Power BI is designed for users of varying levels of technical expertise. The intuitive user interface makes creating reports and data visualizations easy, even for those without analytical expertise. Drag-and-drop, or drag-and-drop, and ready-made report templates mean users can quickly generate valuable analysis without writing code.
2. Integration with various data sources
Microsoft Power BI can connect to various data sources, such as SQL databases, Excel files, cloud services (Azure, Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services), SaaS applications (Salesforce, Dynamics 365) and many others. This enables companies to centralize data from different systems in one place and facilitate comprehensive analysis.
3. Interactive visualizations
Power BI offers a wide range of interactive visualizations, such as line charts, bar charts, pie charts, and geographic maps, as well as advanced visualizations, such as flow charts and word clouds. Users can easily customize these visualizations to understand the data better and identify key trends.
4. Real-time updates
Microsoft Power BI enables automatic data refresh, ensuring that users are always working with the latest information. The ability to set update schedules allows you to monitor business performance continuously and respond quickly to changing market conditions.
5. Mobile availability
The Power BI system is a mobile app for iOS, Android and Windows devices. This allows users to access reports and dashboards from anywhere and anytime. Power BI’s mobility allows for flexible data management, which is especially important for managers and employees who are often on the go.
6 Data security
Another advantage of Power BI is that it provides advanced security features such as access control at the report and data level, encryption of data during transmission and storage, and compliance with international security standards. This gives businesses confidence that their data is protected from unauthorized access.
7. Flexibility and scalability
Power BI is a scalable solution that can grow with a company. Whether a company has a few employees or hundreds, Power BI can adapt to its needs. As your business grows, you can easily expand your analysis and data integration without changing platforms.
8. Cooperation and sharing
Microsoft Power BI makes it easy to share reports and dashboards across the organization. Users can collaborate on reports in real-time and add comments and annotations, which supports collaboration and information sharing across departments. Integration with Microsoft Teams and SharePoint further facilitates collaboration across teams.
9. Personalization
Users can customize reports and dashboards to meet their individual needs. Power BI enables the creation of personalized views that meet the specific requirements of different departments and users in the company. This allows for better data use and more precise analysis.
10. Speed of implementation
With ready-made templates and easy-to-use data import tools, Power BI can be quickly deployed in a company. Short deployment times mean that companies can immediately start reaping the benefits of data analysis and make more informed business decisions.
How does Power BI support the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises?
Power BI is a comprehensive tool that benefits small and medium-sized businesses. With its ease of use, extensive integration capabilities, advanced analytics and flexibility, Power BI supports digital transformation and enables companies to manage data better and make decisions based on reliable information. Digital transformation is undoubtedly a key element in the development of today’s businesses. Power BI supports this process in several ways:
- Data centralization: Power BI allows data from different sources to be consolidated in one place, making analysis and decision-making easier. This enables companies to respond quickly to changing market conditions.
- Improved operational efficiency: by automating reporting and data analysis processes, Microsoft Power BI reduces the time required to prepare reports, allowing employees to focus on more strategic tasks.
- Better data visualization: interactive data visualizations help understand complex information and identify hidden patterns, which supports better business decisions.
- KPI Tracking: Power BI enables you to monitor KPIs in real time, allowing you to manage business performance on an ongoing basis and respond quickly to any deviations.
- Facilitate collaboration: the tool makes it easy to share reports and dashboards across the organization, which supports collaboration and information sharing across departments.
- Scalability: Power BI is a scalable solution that can grow with your business. Whether a company has a few employees or hundreds, Power BI can adapt to its needs.
Do you want to implement Power BI? Entrust this task to the experts at EBIS
If you are a small or medium-sized business owner and want to implement Power BI in your company effectively, contact the experts at EBIS. EBIS has specialized for years in implementing Power BI in various companies, regardless of their size. Thanks to their experience and knowledge, the implementation process will be quick and seamless, and your company will be able to take full advantage of the potential of this advanced tool. Contact us to learn more and start digital transformation with Power BI.
