Why Power BI is better than Excel – A detailed comparison for modern businesses
Excel is to the office world what the pit pony once was to the mining industry: not necessarily glamorous, but effective. For years, spreadsheets have served as reliable tools for data management, analysis, and reporting. However, modern businesses need to work efficiently rather than just effectively! Companies still relying on Excel as a supposed business intelligence solution risk falling behind their competitors. Taking part in modern economy requires tools that process data faster, more accurately, and intelligently.
Characteristics, ambitious business will find in Microsoft Power BI: We’ll explore the major advantages of Power BI compared to Excel and show you how to combine the effectiveness of a pit pony with the high-performance capabilities of a thoroughbred dressage horse to maximize productivity across your departments.
Data management: Manual effort vs. automatic efficiency
Excel offers basic data operations but quickly hits its limits with larger, more complex datasets. Anyone maintaining Excel data knows the frustration: every change, update, or new data source requires manual effort, making the process tedious and prone to errors.
Power BI, in contrast, relies on automated data updates and integration. It seamlessly connects various data sources such as CRM systems, ERP systems, and web services. Data updates occur automatically, reducing errors and saving valuable work hours.
Data volume and speed: Excel is limited, while Power BI scales
Every Excel user knows the frustration: as files grow, so does the sluggishness. Excel becomes slow, unstable, and impedes efficient work, especially with complex analyses and large data volumes.
Power BI, thanks to its more efficient In-Memory-Processing, is specifically designed for handling large datasets, enabling quick report generation and analysis. Leveraging powerful cloud technology, delivering fast and precise real-time analysis. This enables businesses to respond quickly to changes and make data-driven decisions without waiting for further information for too long or struggling with performance issues.
Visualization: Static tables vs. Interactive dashboards
Excel offers a limited range of charts and visualizations that are often static and not very insightful. Creating complex, interactive dashboards is challenging. Charts typically resemble the dry presentations familiar to those we all know from middle school.
Power BI includes an integrated tool called Power Query, allowing users to connect to multiple data sources, perform complex transformations, and load data into Power BI. It shines with impressive interactive visualization tools. Users create intuitive dashboards with drag-and-drop functionality. These dashboards are not only visually appealing but offer interactive features like drill-down and drill-through, enabling more profound data insights.
Collaboration: Working alone vs. winning as a team
Another significant weakness of Excel is collaborative teamwork. Excel files are usually isolated documents. When multiple people work simultaneously, it frequently results in chaos with uncountable file versions, duplicates, and conflicting information. After just a few months, the entire team feels frustrated, and managing a single Excel table surpasses its usefulness.
Power BI is designed for collaboration from scratch. Dashboards and reports shared in the cloud are always up-to-date and accessible to all relevant team members. This simplifies collaboration, enhances data quality, and ensures consistent results throughout the organization. Sharing occurs via links, emails, or embedded codes, with individually manageable access rights and user roles. Additionally, Power BI allows setting row-level and object-level security, precisely controlling which user groups access-specific data. Using Power BI as a central reporting tool with controlled access, standardized enterprise-wide reporting policies, and seamless integration of various data sources significantly reduces shadow IT in your organization.
AI-driven data intelligence and innovation with Power BI
Power BI elevates data analysis in SMEs to a new level: integrated AI functions and predictive analytics methods help uncover hidden patterns and valuable insights. In contrast, Excel offers solid analysis and visualization capabilities but lacks comprehensive integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).
Power BI provides advanced tools continuously updated—like “Questions and Answers,” where users get visualizations in natural language, or “Quick Insights,” automatically highlighting trends and anomalies. Additional features like “Key Influencers” or the “Decomposition Tree” allow detailed investigation into factors significantly affecting metrics. Unlike Excel, these innovative capabilities are seamlessly integrated into Power BI, enabling more in-depth analyses. Moreover, Power BI offers extensive automation capabilities—from automatic data refresh and scheduled reports to threshold alerts. Processes like data preparation, updating, and distribution become significantly simpler and faster, a clear advantage over traditional Excel solutions.
Extensibility and Integration: Excel isolates, Power BI connects
Excel often exists in an isolated environment. While there are integration possibilities with other Office applications, the software quickly hits its limits with complex data sources and modern cloud systems.
Power BI seamlessly integrates into the entire Microsoft ecosystem and beyond. With native support for Azure, Dynamics 365, SharePoint, and numerous third-party providers, businesses can flexibly expand their BI solution, ensuring future-proofing.
Switching to Power BI pays off!
While Excel still has its place for simple tasks, Power BI clearly outperforms Excel for modern businesses’ complex requirements. From automatic data integration and powerful handling of large datasets to interactive dashboards and efficient teamwork—Power BI is the tool your business needs to grow data-driven.
Excel vs. Power BI direct comparison:
Polygran Supports your move to Power BI
Switching from Excel to Power BI is a crucial strategic move! As an experienced provider of Business Intelligence solutions, Polygran supports your business seamlessly and effectively establish and fully leverage Power BI:
- Strategic Consulting: We analyse your existing data landscape and develop a customized strategy tailored specifically to your BI requirements.
- Dashboard Design and Implementation: We create user-friendly dashboards that clearly visualize your key KPIs and optimize your decision-making processes.
- Data Integration: Polygran assists you in seamlessly integrating data from various sources and implementing automated updates.
- Training and Support: Our experts provide comprehensive training for your team, ensuring all employees fully benefit from Power BI. Long-term support guarantees smooth operation of your BI solutions.
- Forecast & Scenario:
We help you accurately forecast business developments and simulate various scenarios, enabling proactive and strategic decision-making. - Documentation & Support:
Comprehensive documentation ensures transparency and easy understanding of your BI processes, complemented by continuous support to maintain efficient operation and rapid issue resolution.
Leverage Polygran's expertise to ensure a smooth and effective transition to Power BI.
Find out more and kick-start your journey with Power BI and Polygran now!
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