Are you considering implementing a platform that helps you extract useful and actionable insights from your data? You’re in the right place. In this article, we’re going back to basics to explore what exactly Microsoft’s flagship BI software Power BI is all about.

Data is the driving force of modern enterprises, and we’re generating more of it than ever before. But collecting terabytes of digital information is pointless unless an organization knows how to make sense of it. That’s exactly where business intelligence software comes into play.

So what is Power BI?

Power BI is a collective name for a suite of Business Intelligence tools and services—largely cloud-based—that help organizations collect, manage, process, and analyze data from various sources using a user-friendly interface.

What can Power BI do?

Power BI enables real-time data extraction from multiple systems and lets users build interactive management dashboards that track the KPIs most relevant to the organization. The solution also allows users to drill into data and literally ask questions about it.

From a BI report developer’s point of view, one of the most important features of Power BI is the ability to extract and process data from a wide range of sources: spreadsheets, accounting and ERP systems, sales software, CRMs, time-tracking tools, or dedicated project management systems. It also integrates efficiently with Microsoft’s data ecosystem (Azure, Dynamics, SharePoint, Power Apps, Dataverse, etc.) and on-premise SQL databases. And that’s just the beginning—Microsoft continuously expands the platform’s flexibility in this area.

Some sources are quick and easy to connect (e.g., Excel files, certain cloud-based systems), while others require specialized knowledge. Creating relationships between disparate datasets is another essential feature of Power BI. That’s why many companies choose to work with BI implementation experts to ensure the process is handled professionally.

Report developers work primarily in Power BI Desktop—a Windows application used to create reports, build data models, and define logic for data cleansing and transformation. Once relational datasets are structured, developers can design dashboards with a variety of visuals: tables, charts, KPI cards, and more. Designing effective and user-friendly reports is a discipline of its own and is best left to experienced professionals.

Reports built in Power BI Desktop are usually published to the cloud-based Power BI Service. This is a secure Microsoft-hosted platform that allows users to view dashboards, reports, and Power BI apps via a browser or mobile apps (Windows, iOS, Android). Reports or specific components can then be shared with selected team members.

It’s within Power BI Service that end-users can explore actionable insights using centralized dashboards, replacing many of the manual reporting tasks traditionally done in Excel, Word, or PDFs.

Why do data-driven organizations use Power BI?

Power BI is a next-level business intelligence platform for companies seeking more flexible reporting and analytics than what Excel or other standard tools offer. It enables firms to consolidate, analyze, and visualize data across the business, giving them deeper insight into performance and enabling more informed, data-driven decisions.

Key benefits of Power BI include:

• The ability to import massive volumes of data that would overwhelm many other platforms.
• Built-in machine learning features that help detect trends and make accurate forecasts.
• A rapid development cycle—Power BI evolves faster than any BI tool on the market, keeping users ahead with cutting-edge functionality.
• Advanced personalization options so users can create dashboards tailored to their actual needs—not limited by the standard modules of ERP or accounting systems.
• KPI alerting to keep users updated on critical metrics and thresholds.
• A highly intuitive UI, making it far more user-friendly and accessible than complex spreadsheets or legacy systems.
• Seamless integration with business tools such as SharePoint, Office 365, and Dynamics 365—as well as third-party platforms like Spark, Hadoop, Google Analytics, SAP, Salesforce, and MailChimp.
• Strong data security, including granular access control for both internal and external stakeholders—a key concern for modern enterprises.
• Flexible and affordable pricing that lets you scale usage as your organization and data volumes grow.

Power BI in your organization

If you’re considering implementing Business Intelligence tools in your company or would like to learn more, get in touch with us. We’ll gladly walk you through Power BI’s capabilities, our experience, and how we can help your business become data-driven.

hello@enterium.pl