I am sure you have come across either of these tools or you have heard of them before. Personally, I have used both tools and, on this blog, I am going to share with you my perspective on both most talked about analytical tools used by many.
Firstly, let us look at Gartner magic quadrant: it shows a graphical competitive positioning of four types of technology providers in fast-growing markets: Leaders, Visionaries, Niche Players and Challengers.
Disclaimer:
Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms, February 15, 2021, James Richardson, Kurt Schlegel, Rita Sallam, Austin Kronz, Julian Sun
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request here.
On the Gartner Magic Quadrant, Microsoft and Tableau are seen consistently the leader of the analytics technology provider based on a set of capabilities such as Security, Manageability Cloud analytics, Data source connectivity, Data preparation, Catalog, Automated insights, Data visualization, Data storytelling, Natural language query (NLQ), Natural language generation (NLG) and Reporting.
We are going to narrow down to the Top 2 reporting tools that have been consistently rank the highest fighting for the top spot.
Microsoft Power BI:
There is a high chance that you know Microsoft, well most of us have used their software at least once in our lifetime. Without a doubt, Microsoft has impacted the technology world making us smarter and more efficient. Microsoft Power BI offer a suite of software / programme for all needs and chances are if you are using Microsoft product you would want to stick with this as your top choice as it offers streamline services across the Microsoft product such as Office 365 and Teams. With the increasing integration means that it will increases the Power BI reach in the word of remote working.
The highlight of Power BI is that it releases many notable visionary features such as augmented analytics and anomaly detection capabilities using AI and ML. With its More affordable with low initial cost and no minimum users means and Easy to use (template), familiar Microsoft interface and Office 365 means that it is a good starting ground for all including people who are either new or already using Microsoft product.
Tableau:
Tableau is always seen as a powerful analytical tool giving Microsoft a run for its money. Chances are if you are comparing Tableau means you have an experience in these dashboard/analytics tools.
In my opinion, Tableau data modelling capabilities are better than in Power BI. It enhances the usability to analyse data between tables at different scope (If you are advanced enough you would use these functionality). It is richer and more intuitive analytical experience would be recommended if you know how these tools work to your advantage. All these functionality and features do come with a premium price and if you require a rich and dynamic function and capabilities it will be worth it.
What’s the difference between Power BI and Tableau?:
| Cloud Service | Power BI Pro | Tableau Online |
| Cost | Power BI Pro S$14*/month per user/month *(rounded up) wide range of licensing options depending on the specific role individuals play in the organization. https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/ | For Tableau Creator S$93* per user/month *(rounded up) wide range of licensing options depending on the specific role individuals play in the organization. https://www.tableau.com/pricing/individual |
| Features and Capabilities | Easy to use (template), familiar Microsoft interface and Office 365, | Interactive drag and drop (build from scratch) |
| Performance | Limited volume of data | Huge volume of data with better performance |
| Data visualization | Real-time data manipulation and simplify data reporting | Complex scaling and interesting visualizations |
| Integration | API access: Microsoft Office 365, Google Analytics, Salesforce dashboard, email platforms | Native connectors built and optimized for many databases and files—from spreadsheets and PDFs to big data, cube, and relational databases on-premises |
| Quality and convenience | Integrated Power Query tools | Designed for already preprocessed data |
| Ease of Use | Easy to learn | Slightly complex |
| Great for | Reports, Dashboards | Data Exploration and Rich Visualization |
Summary:
Here is my summary for both the analytical tools.
Both offers great usability and modelling capabilities but offer different interactive experience you will not go wrong with either of the tools. But regardless of your choice, the main advantage that both tools provide is that users can visualize data so that they can make their decisions faster. Personally, I would recommend Microsoft Power BI for its affordability, ease of use and streamlined services across Office 365 and its efficient dashboards reporting whereas Tableau would lean towards someone with advanced data analytical needs.
If you are still unsure of which tools to go for or need further advice on your business requirement, you can contact us anytime for a free consultation. We will advice you based on your preference and suitability.
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Davoy – Business Analytics Solutions
