Did you know that the Microsoft Power BI solution was originally designed for non-technical users? The intent was to give business professionals across the board access to critical data; a privilege once reserved for only IT and data personnel.
All roads lead to Microsoft Power BI
Since its 2014 launch, Microsoft Power BI has often been cited as the preferred cloud-based SaaS data analytics and business intelligence (BI) solution for businesses worldwide because it:
- Assists businesses in establishing a data-driven culture
- Enables better access to higher volumes of information for more people
- Empowers companies to acquire never-gained-before insights
Still unsure whether your organization needs Microsoft Power BI?
Here are the top six reasons why it is a good idea to opt for Power BI (and benefit from reduced time-to-market, higher revenues and better customer service):
- Getting started quickly – Power BI is an extremely versatile, easy-to-use business intelligence solution because its user interface is simple (similar to Microsoft Excel); it does not require technical expertise – or training – to operate; and it can integrate with all kinds of data sources (be it an Excel spreadsheet or a collection of cloud-based/ on-premises hybrid data warehouses). Right now, Microsoft offers Power BI Desktop for free.
- Increasing business user productivity – Power BI saves time because it gives business users faster access to important information in real time through interactive, immersive Power BI dashboard Viewers are able to solve problems and identify opportunities quickly. Studies suggest average savings are to the tune of 1.25 hours per week with composite organizational efficiencies touching the $3.6 million mark.
- Reducing the total cost of ownership (TCO) – Power BI enables democratization of data meaning that the solution gives a broad range of users access to visual data sources in a matter of minutes which helps in its customization, analysis and visualization. In other words, Power BI increases the amount of usable data for users without growing the core IT and analytics team. Forrester reports that the total TCO savings over three years is $2.3 million.
- Meeting compliance and regulation needs – Power BI helps you to build your business on secure data analytics by enabling data segregation. Users are not able to access information they should not as a result. Data security gets enhanced and assists internal and regulatory compliance.
- Actioning user-driven innovation – Power BI provides companies with a much-needed single platform to meet their self-service as well as enterprise data analytics needs. By unifying self-service and enterprise analytics, the solution gives users access to ‘powerful semantic models, an application lifecycle management (ALM) toolkit, an open connectivity framework, and fixed-layout, pixel-perfect paginated reports. This makes it possible for users to ‘receive weekly and monthly updates that improve Power BI features and capabilities—based on thousands of ideas submitted annually from a community of more than half a million members worldwide.
- Enhancing employee satisfaction – Since Power BI promotes data democratization, it helps create a data-centric culture within organizations. Employees feel more empowered because they are more data aware and data driven. This translates into better employee retention.
There are several pre-emptive and proactive benefits that Microsoft Power BI offers. To learn how you can leverage them, how a partnership with Columbus can give your entire workforce direct access to specific data insights through Power BI, and Power BI-related costs, write to us at us-marketing@columbusglobal.com.